Friday, February 14, 2020

The Pillar of Balance



This is the ‘middle pillar’ which runs up the centre of the Tree. It is associated with balance, holism and integration. It represents the balance between the male and female pillars. 


The middle column contains four Sephiroth (plus a hidden Sephirah – Da'ath – which we shall discuss later): Kether, Tiphereth, Yesod, and Malkuth. Unlike the Sephiroth in the other two columns, the Sephiroth here are a bit different and depend on their position relative to the Sephiroth in the other two columns. The Sephiroth in the Middle Pillar tend to reflect balanced stages of conscious experience: stages that emerge from a balance, a Fulcrum, between the Sephiroth of Force (in the Pillar of Mercy) and the Sephiroth of Form (in the Pillar of Severity) at higher levels of the Kabbalah (i.e. closer to Kether). First and foremost though, let's discuss Kether briefly. Kether is shining alone above all of the other Sephiroth and this indicates that it is a stable stage of experience of Consciousness beyond any idea of Force or Form. This refers to Non-Dual awareness and is also called Source (or Point) Consciousness on this site. However, next is a large gap which leads down to Tiphereth. Above Tiphereth, on either side, are four Sephiroth: two on the Pillar of Force (Chokmah and Chesed) and two on the Pillar of Form (Binah and Geburah). This equilibrium between Force and Form – between Chokmah-Binah and Chesed-Geburah – acts to create the Sephirah that is represented by Tiphereth. Thus Tiphereth, the stage of Solar Consciousness, emerges from the Force-Form dynamics of the Sephiroth above it. The next Sephirah on the Middle Pillar is Yesod, which corresponds to Lunar Consciousness, which is also the usual state of self-awareness for humanity. Yesod emerges as a result of the Force-Form dynamics between three pairs of Sephiroth: Chokmah-Binah, Chesed-Geburah, and Netzach-Hod. Thus each Sephirah on the Middle Pillar, aside from Kether, is an emergent Sephirah from the sum totals of the interactions of the dualistic Sephiroth above it on the Pillars of Force (Mercy) and Form (Severity). Malkuth, the final Sephirah depicted on the Middle Pillar, is, like Kether, unique. It is Kether reflected on a different level actually, a bottom Point, and as we shall see, it represents the gross total accumulation of the Force-Form dynamics that gave rise to the other Sephiroth along the Middle Pillar and which leads to the present moment-by-moment perception of a physical reality. This, though, is more of an illusion due to the obfuscation of a stacking of subtler archetypes over several layers, of stages, of conscious experience. While Kether represents primordial conscious perception free from duality, Malkuth is the complete obfuscation of this fact. It is awareness shackled beneath the influences of the Sephiroth above it to the point that perceptions of physicality are the only Point believed real.





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