the inner christ and the tree of life

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The Tree of Life and the Inner Christ

he Kabbalah is a vast body of esoteric knowledge that is

extremely important in the Gnostic teachings. It originated far

before this present humanity, during the time when the

universe was brought into existence. Master Samael Aun Weor

states that "the Kabbalah is lost in the night of the centuries,

within the womb of Maha Kundalini, the Great Mother, where

the universe was engendered." The Hebrew Kabbalah is

comprised of three works - the Zohar, the Talmud, and theSephir Yetzirah. These works are extremely profound, yet

simply reading and studying them only introduces us to the

exoteric, or intellectual, aspects of the Kabbalah. Gnosis

stresses that one must become a practical, or esoteric,

Kabbalist - one who consciously visits the higher realms that

the Kabbalah speaks of, in order to actively participate in the

processes of these worlds and to guide cosmic forces which

shape events here on Earth.

The Kabbalah is the science of numbers, and in Hebrew it

means "to receive". It is a system of knowledge that relies on

the use of symbols. Its most famous symbol is the "Tree of

Life", which as the enlightened rabbis of olden times

unanimously agree, was created by the angels. This Tree is a

symbolic representation of the Divine Consciousness and of

the processes whereby the universe came into existence. It

reduces to diagrammatic form every force in the manifested

universe and within the soul of man; it reveals and correlates

these manifestations so that their locations can be seen and the

relations between them can be traced. The Tree of Life, as

described by the Hebrew Kabbalists, contains ten sephiroth, or

emanations. Synthesized in each sephiroth of the Tree of Life

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are the concepts, ideas, and attributes that should be meditated

on in order to grasp intuitive insights about the Tree.

Self-realization occurs when the initiate realizes all ten

sephiroth within himself or herself. The Tree of Life is Jacob's

Ladder, the Ladder we must climb to reach self-realization, the

Ladder of the vertical path.

The ten sephiroth (with their translation from Hebrew,followed by a brief description) are:

Sephiroth Translation Description

KetherSupreme

CrownFirst Logos, the Father

Chokmah WisdomSecond Logos, the Son,

the Cosmic Christ

Binah IntelligenceThird Logos, the Holy

Spirit

Chesed Love

Inner Self, the Atmic

World,

the Atmic Body

Geburah Justice

Feminine Spiritual Soul,

the Buddhic World, the

Buddhic Body

Tiphereth Beauty

Inner Christ, the Son ofMan, the Masculine

Human Soul, the Causal

World, the Causal Body

Netzach VictoryMental World, the Mental

Body

Hod SplendorAstral World, the Astral

Body

Jesod Foundation

Etheric World, the Etheric

Body

Malkuth KingdomPhysical World, the

Physical Body

From the above table it can be seen that each of the sephiroth

are related to the outer world, as well as to our internal

vehicles. Thus Jesod correlates with both the etheric world and

the etheric body, Hod is associated with both the astral world

and the astral body, etc. Therefore the entire Tree of Life not

only exists outside of us, but within our psyche as well.

Above Kether is found the Absolute, with its three aspects:


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AINThe unmanifested aspect of the

Absolute

AIN SOPHThe manifested aspect of the

Absolute

AIN SOPH

AUR

The first cosmic manifestation, or

Protocosm, consisting of multiple

spiritual suns

Below Malkuth are found the Kliphoths, consisting of the

infradimensions of nature, which many religions refer to as

"hell".

The Tree of Life contains three pillars, or columns, that span

the Tree vertically:

The

Pillar ofSeverity

The Pillar

ofEquilibrium

The

Pillar ofMercy

on the

left side

of the

Tree

in the center

of the Tree

on the

right side

of the Tree

contains

Binah,

Geburah,

and Hod

contains

Kether,

Tiphereth,

Jesod, and

Malkuth.

contains

Chokmah,

Chesed,

and

Netzach

In addition, the Tree of Life is composed of three triangles,

each with its own center of gravity:

Triangle SephiraCenter of

Gravity

Logoic

Kether,

Chokmah,

Binah

Kether

Ethical

Chesed,

Geburah,

Tiphereth

Tiphereth

Magical

Netzach,

Hod,

Jesod

Jesod

It is important to note that the centers of gravity of each of the

three triangles are intimately related with the sephiroth of the

Logoic Triangle. Kether has itself as its own center of gravity,and thus is the gravitational center of the Logoic Triangle.

Chokmah, the Cosmic Christ, has its center of gravity in

Tiphereth. By manifesting in Tiphereth, it causes Tiphereth to


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be the gravitational center of the Ethical Triangle. Similarly

Binah, the Holy Spirit, has its center of gravity in Jesod,

causing Jesod to be the center of gravity of the Magical

Triangle.

The association between Tiphereth and Chokmah is important

in light of the Easter holiday and the Holy Week. Tiphereth is

a special sephiroth, and Master Samael Aun Weor states that"extraordinary events happen with Tiphereth". It is located at

the center of the Tree of Life, and is the only sephiroth that

directly connects with all the other sephiroth on the Tree (with

the exception of Malkuth, which is often referred to as a fallen

sephiroth). Chokmah, the Cosmic Christ, is a universal force,

beyond individuality, personality, and the ego. It is a Cosmic

Force, and can save a human being only if it is individualized

and humanized. This process occurs in Tiphereth, where the

Cosmic Christ manifests and converts Himself into our ownparticular, individualized Inner Christ. The incarnation of the

Inner Christ is known as the Initiation of Tiphereth, and can

occur only after an initiate :

1) has undergone the Five Initiations of Greater Mysteries,

2) has sacrificed himself or herself for humanity over multiple

lifetimes, and

3) has chosen to take the Direct Path for Final Liberation.Jesus, Buddha, Hermes Trismegistus, Quetzalcoatl, and many

other masters incarnated their Inner Christ.

The Inner Christ must undergo within us the entire life, trials,

and drama that Jesus lived publicly. He is born in the stable

full of animals, which represent the psychological "I's" within

our psyche. Through their disintegration He gains strength and

glory. The Inner Christ must deal with the three traitors within

us - Judas (the demon of desire), Pilate (the demon of the

mind), and Caiphas (the demon of ill-will). He must be

crucified, esoterically speaking, and then must enter the

sepulcher for three days. During this time he undergoes three

great purifications, when even the last inhuman element in His

interior is finally disintegrated. Then the Son of Man, the Inner

Christ, resurrects with the Elixir of Longevity, having killed

death with death.

It has been said that the Kabbalah was given to humanity after

its fall, in order for humanity to be shown the path back to theAbsolute. Master Samael Aun Weor tells us "there are two

types of Kabbalists - Intellectual Kabbalists and Intuitive

Kabbalists." Gnosis teaches and explains the practical aspects


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of the Kabbalah, and tells us how to prepare to receive the

unwritten, or Intuitive, Kabbalah. It is only by becoming

Intuitive Kabbalists, through the practice of these teachings,

that we can eventually incarnate the Inner Christ and begin the

long road back to the Absolute.

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