ATD | Kabbalah & Divine Light (HUGE SPOILER - only read if you finished!)

Fri May 11 16:51:50 CDT 2007

Bryan, all,

  Perhaps I am performing some sloppy associations here from that more precise match-up of kabbalah and ATD that Bryan gave us. but, sloppy or not here it is:

  "as above, so below" in ATD...and at least 4 times in M & D, I think might be connected to this Divine Light and human consciousness in this way. 

  Since God is usually perceived as "above" and we humans below, if, however, we below
  are just a part of the whole God, then "as above, so below"...esp. so repeated by the carefuller TRP.....

  As above,l so below,

  MK

Bryan Snyder <wilsonistrey at gmail.com> wrote:
        v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}  o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}  w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}  .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}                Admittedly I did not understand the as above, so below when it is mentioned (I think twice in AtD??) and I have to dive into M & D (but am really looking forward to it).

  I understand
 you know
 the phrase but I just didnt quite get it and it seems, from all the discussion here, that the statement is pretty crucial to this Book.

  Anyone mind filling me in on what I am sure will seem so obvious after being informed?

  Thx everyone.
  B

    From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf Of Mark Kohut
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 2:56 PM
To: pynchon -l
Subject: Re: ATD | Kabbalah & Divine Light (HUGE SPOILER - only read if you finished!)

    Bryan,

    Wonderful connections.......I agree with your feeling about "respect"......

    in a pub conversation, I would argue that TRP might believe: if the universe ain't like this,

    it could be and maybe Ought to be.....

    Ties in all of the "as bbove, so below" lines from M & D and ATD.?........

    there is something relevant to this in Vineland, I think, which I must find.

    And perhaps one might say TRP's deep disillusionment with life (as lived), with History as it has been is because we humans in the aggregate do not come close to living out

    a worthy Divine Light??....

    Thanks,

    MK

Bryan Snyder <wilsonistrey at gmail.com> wrote:

      Moreover in Kabbalah, Divine Light is the carrier of consciousness.

    "The human soul is a part of the Creator [that is, Divine Light]. Therefore, there is no difference between Him and the soul. The difference is that He is the 'whole' and the soul is a 'part'. This resembles a stone carved from a rock. There is no difference between the stone and the rock except that the rock is a 'whole' and the stone is a 'part'". (Yhuda Ashlag, Introduction in Ha-Sulam.)

    Thus, a human's consciousness is a part of the Divine Consciousness, where the rest of the infinite Divine has been hidden from the human. This kabbalistic [sic] concept that consciousness is an aspect of Divine Light is similar to the protoscientific [sic] hypothesis that the electromagnetic field generated by the brain is the carrier of consciousness. In other words if the hypothesis is correct, consciousness would be an aspect of light (electromagnetic radiation) and not an aspect of the physical brain per se.

    So Im wondering if anyone has any idea, either suspicion or gleaned from some source somewhere, about TRPs feelings about Kabbalah.  While reading GR, it seems like he parodies it entirely but he does it with 
 what I could only describe as some perverse respect
 while he seems to poke fun
 it seems like the fun an insider would poke.

    Take care and happy reading
 and re-reading
 and re-reading

    B

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