T H E T R E E OF L I F E

THE DWELLER IN THE HEART Lesson Tw enty-seven

The noun T iphareth signifies "beau ty ." It is derived from the v e rb *1RB, pawar, "to shine, to bloom, to glow, to ad o rn ." In the form ation of th is noun m iS D , the roo t, TRB, is preceded by a le tte r , T av, and followed by the sam e le tte r .

In T a ro t, th is ending and beginning a re sym bolized by Key 21. The num ber of th is Key is also the num ber of n'HR, Eheyeh, "I AM," the Divine Name of K ether, and the num ber of 1H ', Yaho, the Divine Name used in THE BOOK OF FORMA­TION in connection with that book's sym bolical descrip tion of the "sealing" of the six d irections of space. Again, 21 is the theosophic extension of 6, o r sum of the num bers from 0 to 6 inclusive.

The A dm inistrative Intelligence rep resen ted by the le tte r Tav and by Key 21 is the sam e essen tia l energy that we see on the T ree as K ether, the beginning of the w h irl­ings. T his sam e energy m anifests in T iphareth as the Dweller in the H eart, the cen tra l EGO at the co re of personal ex is ten ce .

That cen te r is the ruling power, o r King ("pD , Melek). It is the cosm ic m an­hood (01R, Adam) , exp ressed as the personal se lf-co n sc io u sn ess . The la tte r is designated by the word B 'R, Ish, a w ord predom inantly m asculine because self- consciousness in its re la tion to subconsciousness ex p resses powers the whole world, fo r thousands of y e a rs , has associated with the m asculine gender.

The power c a r r ie d into definite, specialized expression through th is EGO cen te r is the power of HI*), Ruach, the L ife-Breath, m anifested as psychic fo rce . F o r the meaning of Ruach in T iphareth corresponds exactly to what the G reek of the New T e s ta ­m ent ca lls psyche, as distinguished from pneuma, the te rm rep resen ting a higher level of sp iritu a l energy . Psyche is to pneuma exactly as is the Ruach of T iphareth to the Neshamah of Binah.

Human self-consciousness, separa ted by delusion from its h igher re a litie s , m is­takenly supposed to be an independent entity, is the "psychical" o r "natu ra l" man (t?'R, Ish) mentioned by St. Paul. So separa ted by delusion, the psychical man cannot receive the things of the S pirit, the influx of sp iritu a l intuition from the Nesham ah located in Binah. When the personality m akes the fa ta l m istake of supposing the EGO to be "on its ow n," a ll so rts of m ise rie s re su lt . Sf'B, Ish, the personal "m an ," becom es tru ly

JX Ben, the Son, only when the EGO is recognized as the energy of the U niversal SELF (Yekhidah in Kether) cen tra lized in the co re of human consciousness. T his m eans that the EGO m ust also be recognized as the d istributing cen te r through which the powers rep resen ted on the T ree by the Sephiroth and paths above T iphareth a re ex p ressed . And these pow ers so recognized m ust be understood to achieve expression through the chan­nels of personal life typified by the Sephiroth and paths below the sixth point.

Thus the Divine Name specially given to T iphareth is fiJTn Hl^R HIH'Jehovah Eloah va-D a’a th . Its l i te ra l meaning is: "That which was, is , and w ill be, streng th and knowledge." It is an affirm ation of power and an affirm ation of conscious a w aren ess . It indicates the highest function of the EGO cen te r in m an--to be aw are, at

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the level of self-consc iousness, that the essence of our humanity is the un iversal life of the F a th er-M o th er. To be aw are, not as an inference, not as a theory , but as a vivid, in ternal experience . To have, as St. Paul puts it, exact knowledge of the sec re t of God.

Such knowledge is possib le fo r m an. All sa in ts , s e e rs and sages unite to b ear w it­ness to th is . We may know ourse lves to be in perfect union with the F a th e r-M o th e r.Every human being may have p rec ise ly the sam e kind of knowledge p o ssessed by Jesus of N azareth , and with it, the sam e kind of pow ers.

Note w ell, th e re fo re , that D y il H iri ' is the num ber 548, and thatth is is the num ber of the name Binah, spelled in fu ll, JTI 113 1 1 ' n ' i . That is ,the consciousness that the One Reality is both strength and the very p rincip le of know­ledge, is rea lly the perfect m anifestation of the Divine U nderstanding. When any man knows th is tru th , God in Man understands H im self.

When th is knowledge is exp ressed in human consciousness, a ll sense of sep ara ten ess is at an end. No longer does the personality a ttribu te to the EGO pow ers which rea lly have th e ir orig in in h igher le v e ls . No longer is the Son the prodigal spending his substance in rio tous living away from the F a th e r. No longer does the personal Ego puff itse lf up with p ride in attainm ents and achievem ents which a re not rea lly its own. F o r , rem em ber, what the prodigal spent so foolishly was what his fa th e r had given h im .

On the o ther hand, when the prodigal re tu rn s , a ll deprivations a re at an end. When a human being f i r s t catches a g lim pse of the tru th about the Dweller in the H eart, the im ­m ediate re su lt is se lf-ab asem en t. The fa lse p ride of egotism shows itse lf in its tru e light, and the one idea which p o ssesses us then is to get back hom e, th e re to work as un­profitab le servan ts of Him we have so long forgotten and denied.

Yet, even before we have fully re tu rn ed to that C entral P resence, its power com es forth to m eet us. It com es with its best g ifts . When we rea lly do get home, we find that the best is none too good for u s .

Instead of being tre a ted as runaw ays and put to sham e, we find that all ou r priv ileges a re fully re s to re d . And the key to a ll th is is our understanding that the One R eality does everything. Thus the num ber of the nam e r j n i n i n ' , Jehovah Eloahv a -d a 'a th , is also the num ber of the phrase: rftR ril"i' '3R. AniJehovah as ah k a l-o lleh , I Jehovah do all th is (I the Lord do a ll these things, Isaiah 45:7). This is the sec re t of what Hindu philosophy te rm s K arm a Yoga, Union by Work o r Action. When we see that a ll work is accom plished by the power of the U niversal SELF, the b u r­den of labor drops from u s .

Not th is only, fo r we d iscover also that when we recognize the tru e source of our personal pow ers, we a re able to accom plish what we never can do so long as we suppose ourse lves to be "on our ow n." This is the s e c re t of all mighty w orks, the key to all seem ­ing m irac le s . It is the recognition that human life is actually Divine L ife. It is the un­derstanding that the human organism is rea lly an instrum ent through which the pow ers of Omnipotence itse lf a re ex p ressed .

The idea behind th is is found in the w ords of Psalm 55:22, "C ast thy burden on Jehovah,

THE TREE OF LIFE: 27 -3-

and he shall susta in th e e ." The w ords of the Hebrew orig inal add up to 666, fam ous as th e ” Number of the B east," which is also the "Num ber of a M an." H ere we m ust rem em ­b er that no num ber in itse lf is e ith e r good o r ev il. 666 is the Num ber of the Beast be­cause it is a so la r num ber, rep resen tin g Man as a cen te r of so la r activ ity . Thus it is the sum of the num bers com posing the Magic Square of the Sun which is associated in P ractical Qabalah with the sixth Sephirah.

When th is idea of Man as a cen te r fo r the expression of so la r power is m ate ria lized as it was by Rome under N ero, it becom es the evil fo rce to which the num ber 666 is r e ­lated in the Apocalypse. In that book, 666 is sim ply a m eans whereby the in itiated re a d e r might identify the "Beast" with Nero, whose assum ption of divinity and use of so la r sym bols to rep resen t that divinity, was known to those fo r whom the Apocalypse was w ritten .

Yet 666 is not itse lf an evil num ber. It is the num ber of the nam e Sorath ( m i 2 ) , the S pirit of the Sun found again and again in Rabbinical w ritin g s. Thus, when 666 as a so la r num ber stands fo r human usurpation of divine powers and fo r m a te ria lis tic sun- w orship, it is the Num ber of the B east. When the sam e 666 is taken as a num eral sym ­bol fo r the rad iant physical energy which is the ou ter v estu re of the Spiritual Sun, it loses its evil significance, and the good it then re p re sen ts is exp ressed by the phrase we have quoted from Psalm 55. The sam e good meaning of 666 is shown by the phrase

n i n '- w w . Shemesh Jehovah, Sim of Jehovah, which always re fe rs , in Qaba-lis tic tex ts , to T iphare th .

T iphareth , then, is the point on the T ree of Life sym bolizing the EGO cen te r in the h ea rt of m an. At th is point we fee l the influx of the cosm ic rad iance which is the source of all personal ac tiv ity . If we m istake what we fee l and suppose it to be som e power of our own, independent and self-o rig ina ted , we fa ll into all the consequences of th is e r r o r . When we tru ly understand ou rse lves, o r as the parable of the prodigal ph rases it, "com e to o u rse lv e s ,” from then on we a re in d irec t com m unication with the cosm ic dynamo.No longer do we try to live by using up the energy of our personal s to rage b a tte r ie s . We rech arg e them continually fro m the re se rv o ir of un iversal v ita l en erg y . Then do we begin to d iscover the h itherto unim aginable potencies p resen t within u s . We begin to live rad iant, beautiful l iv e s . The burden is shifted from our personal shou lders. The U niversal Life m anifests itse lf through us with ev e r-in c rea s in g power and freedom . We find that we a re ch ildren of the Spiritual Sun, possessing the sac red inheritance of streng th and knowledge which enables us to be ad m in is tra to rs of the perfec t laws at work in even the leas t details of the L ife-pow er's self-m an ifesta tion . We a re Sons of God.