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Journey to the Secret City Of Luz
Metatron, The Sacred Pineal, &Jacob’s Ladder To The Face of God Joel David Bakst ©2000, 2006
(Draft - Part One)
I have prepared the following material to enable each one of us to begin to visit and have direct experience in the City of Luz. A major source for the medical/metaphysical model has been Dr. Rick Strassman’s book, DMT – The Spirit Molecule (which should be read and continually revisited to seriously take upon oneself the Luz discipline). My sources for the metaphysical/Kabbalah model are extensive throughout the Oral Torah - Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and copious Kabbalah texts altogether spanning some 1,800 years. These sources and a complete introduction to the Jewish tradition of Metatron will be presented in another section.
Introduction and Overview
Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of YHVH,
to the House of the God [Beit El-Luz] of Jacob.
He will teach us His way
Come, House of Jacob,
let us walk in the Light of YHVH”.
(Isaiah 1-3,4,5)
We are going on a journey, a most extraordinary journey to the secret City of Luz. In Kabbalistic and traditional Jewish sources for thousands of years there has existed the apparent legends of a mysterious location known as the City of Luz, also called by the patriarch Jacob, Beit El – House of God. In the written tradition the name of a city referred to as Luz shows up several times in the Torah (the Pentateuch) as well as in the book of Joshua and Judges. In addition, throughout the oral traditions of the Talmud, Midrash and kabbalistic texts the features of this location have been well defined.
This city was hidden from outsiders and even seasoned warriors could not penetrate its exterior. The singular passage to Luz was camouflaged by the foliage of a almond tree whose hollowed out trunk led into a cave that led into a corridor that led into a city of spiritual light. The City of Luz was impervious to destruction by conquering nations and its inhabitants continuously lived as a cohesive community throughout the millennia and were neither driven from their home nor ever assimilated or lost their unique purpose. The holiness of Luz had the distinction of being the location where the material for the priestly garments was dyed, the extremely valuable royal blue techelit of Israel and the ancient Middle East. One who lived in Luz was infused with the sprit of God to engage in mitzvoth and acts of kindness. The City of Luz was also known as “Kushta” – Aramaic for “Truth” – for the inhabitants lived in the truth and could never tell a lie. The sacred eternity of Luz was so great that even the Angel of Death did not have permission to enter. If and when inhabitants of Luz wished to leave the material world they would go beyond the walls to die and only there could leave behind their physical bodies. The City of Luz, first mentioned in the universally known episode of Jacob’s dream, is everyman’s dream, an eternal haven of spiritual life, a virtual Shangri-La.
The City of Luz appears as a fantastic Jewish legend, entertaining but hardly believable. It sounds like the stuff that inspires books and movies. In fact, there was such a book that was then made into a timeless movie classic, Lost Horizon. Shangri-La is a fictional land depicted in the novel Lost Horizon (1933) by James Hilton in which five people stumble upon a hidden valley in the Tibetan Himalayas called Shangri-La where peace abounds and time has virtually stopped. Since the book and the movie the term Shangri-la has come to denote a remote beautiful place where life approaches perfection, where truth reigns supreme and people dwell together in eternal truth.[1]
The Shangri-Laof Lost Horizon does bear similarities to the City of Luz. In both accounts the cities are magical, holding keys to spiritual truth, there is only one opening through a secret cave like structure known only to the initiated. The inhabitants live forever and only die when they leave the city.[2] If we didn’t know any better we would think that either James Hilton was Jewish (which he wasn’t) or that he heard this story for a Jewish source (which there is no indication that he did). Jewish or not, would we not all agree that a Shangri-la would be a great place to visit? If only it were real! But as we are going to see below, our reality, from the ancient Torah perspective is very different from its appearance.
We are going on a journey, a most extraordinary journey to the secret City of Luz, a real Jewish Shangri-La. The path and its entrance, however, are well hidden. Thankfully, the territory is well known to the Jewish mystics, the ancient rabbinical sages who were the masters of the Kabbalah. The map however, is literally interspersed throughout the vast mountainous ranges and hidden ocean depths of the Oral Torah - Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and kabbalistic texts.[3] Learning how to study, ascend, navigate and experientially integrate the often alien language and purposely concealed teachings of the sages can take ten, twenty, thirty and more years to master (I’ve been studying and deciphering the map for almost forty years now). If we really desire to visit Luz this is not good news. The Holy One, however, had compassion on our generation and knows full well that we are now on the edge of time. We don’t have all that much time – or money or patience or fortitude. So to compensate our handicaps the Chochmah Elyona, the Creator’s Divine Wisdom, has blessed our generation with a modelfor the map, one that is very accessible and even scientific. This is to be found in one of the last places anyone would think to look for the secrets of the Kabbalah – in this case in the fields of biology, endocrinology and ethno-pharmacology. The Prophetic Confluence Between Science and Kabbalah
The past few decades have brought a great interest in expanded human potential replete with a growing library in what has been called the confluence of mysticism and the "New Sciences". Kabbalah, the Jewish esoteric tradition, has long envisioned and even required an evolving interface between scientific discovery and esoteric truth.
Within the ancient volumes of the Holy Zohar (Book of Radiance, 13 century - the most influential work of Jewish mysticism) a vision of a new global paradigm is recorded, not to begin unfolding until many centuries in the future: "In the 6th century of the 6th millennium (i.e., in the years 5,500-5,600 in the Hebrew calendar corresponding to the years 1740-1840 CE.) the gates of wisdom from above (Kabbalah) and the fountains of wisdom from below (science and technology) will be opened up and the world will make preparations to enter the 7th millennium just as one makes preparations on the 6th day of the week when the sun is about to set [for the 7th day - the Shabbat]."
This passage has been explained by the sage-mystics of Israel and Hassidic masters as referring to the fact that from the 18th and especially from the 19th century onward the Kabbalah would experience a profound renewal clarifying and rendering more accessible her own esoteric traditions.[4] Any student of contemporary mysticism cannot but be astounded by the recent dramatic growth of the Kabbalah and its new and ever increasing popularity.[5]
Paralleling the revelations of "wisdom from above", this prophecy necessitates revolutionary discoveries occurring simultaneously in the secular world, the "wisdom from below". Stimulated by the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, the wellsprings of theoretical models and new technology have incessantly burst forth. A wholly new paradigm of scientific thought - and consciousness - is emerging. The year 1840 witnessed the emergence of electromagnetic theory, which in turn paved the way for the discovery of radio waves, telecommunications, television, computers, and the investigation of atomic energy and the atomic bomb. New psychological and neurological descriptions of the brain, black hole phenomenon, genetic engineering, lasers and holography, are more examples of the changes and ideas that have taken place in our generation. Of even greater significance has been the effect of the early 19th century breakthroughs of non-Euclidean geometry, which set the stage for the 20th century theories of Einstein's relativity, quantum mechanics and the search for the Unified Field Theory. Currently, under the name of "Super Strings" this theory is being proclaimed by leading physicists as an unmistakable genesis of a new physics. Most recently the scientific community and public at large are being initiated into a new world of fractals, chaos theory, virtual reality and the ever accelerating, neural network of the world wide Internet.
According to the teachings of esoteric Judaism all knowledge, both spiritual and material wisdom, originally coexisted in a seamless unity within a higher dimension. Together these two modes of wisdom comprised a larger, all encompassing Universal Torah (Torah meaning "Teachings"). A collapse, however, ensued in which the database of all knowledge split itself into "spiritual" and "material" planes of existence. Thus, we have the basis for the historical conflict between "religion" and "science". Yet, any given mystical or technological truth can only be one of two sides of the same puzzle. Thus, the material world is also a mode of spirituality, only externalized and concretized. The ultimate truth is not revealed through the supra-natural alone nor is it only discovered through scientific development -- it is more than both. Both forms of wisdom are destined to reunite with each other. Perforce this is stimulating a worldwide paradigm shift in consciousness. This stage of global evolution is the Messianic Era that is central to the teachings of esoteric as well as traditional Judaism.
Our role in the re-unification of these two modes of wisdom, according to this doctrine, is achieved by matching the right tool with the right job. In other words, we must use the new maps, models and metaphors of the "wisdom from below" in order to grasp the "wisdom from above". In turn, the transcendent wisdom of the Torah will cast its light of clarity and direction upon the enchanting and often overpowering tools of science and technology.
According to the kabbalists, after thousands of years of travel humanity has reached the final shore. Across this great ocean lies a new territory of consciousness, Eretz haHayyim - the Land of the Living. Yet, even now, as we stand upon this seashore of earthly time there are strange and mind boggling objects being washed ashore. Let us now reach into the sand and redeem a few small items that have, embedded within them, the fallen sparks of divinity and prepare ourselves to usher in a Messianic Era. It is in within this context that I believe one of these “fallen sparks” – more like a huge chunk - of divinity is the biological and medical knowledge now coming forth about the mysterious pineal gland and its production of DMT. This, accordlingly, is the new “scientific model” for the ancient City of Luz.
Major Luz-Peniel Texts
Before we introduce the scientific model for the City of Luz there are four text sources that, due to their frequent reference, should be introduced now even though we will return to them in another section in much detail. The first three are from the Book of Genesis and the fourth one is from the Book of Judges. (For the traditional Kabbalist, texts are the laboratory for experimental “proof” that must be verified. Verses and whole passages are viewed and analyzed as mathematical-like formulas describing a hidden infrastructure. This form of ancient exegetical analysis must follow an extremely rigorous system of logic, checks and balances, and peer review. This will be further explained in another section).
Jacob left Beersheba and headed toward Charan. He came to a familiar place and spent the night there because the sun had already set. Taking some stones, he placed them at his head and lay down to sleep there. He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, and its top reached up toward heaven. God's angels were going up and down on it. Suddenly he saw God standing over him… Jacob awoke from his sleep. 'God is truly in this place,' he said, 'It must be God's temple. It is the gate to heaven!' Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone that he had placed under his head. He stood it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He named the place God's Temple (Beth El). The town's original name, however, had been Luz. (Genesis 28-10,22)
And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." (Genesis 32-24,30)
Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (Luza) in the land of Canaan - that is, to Beth El. He built an altar there, and he named the place El Beit El (Beth El's God) since this was the place where God was revealed to him when he was fleeing from his brother. (Genesis 35-6)
The house of Joseph also went up against Beit El; and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Beit El. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Pray, show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you." And he [the Canaanite] showed them the way into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day. (Judges 1- 22,26)
The Pineal Body and The Soul of Luz There is endocrine organ located in the middle of the human brain known as the pineal gland or pineal body. This tiny organ is considered in the Oriental tradition to be the site of the seventh or crown chakra and in the Occidental tradition it has been designated as the seat of the soul. DMT (short for Dimethyltryptamine), one of the most powerful psychedelics known, is also naturally produced by this organ. According to research conducted, and which is still continuing, this organ manufactures two hormones or neuro-transmitters. One is the now well-known melatonin which affects our relationship to darkness and sleep and the other is the little known and as of yet not fully understood hormone called DMT.
Rick Strassman, MD. in his groundbreaking book, DMT The Spirit Molecule, makes the case that DMT released by the pineal gland enables the soul’s movement in and out of the body and is an integral part of the birth and death experience. Through a long series of clinical studies, where synthetic DMT was injected into some 60 volunteers, Dr Strassman concluded that when the pineal is stimulated under natural conditions DMT has profound affects upon one’s experience. These include vivid out of body experiences, NDE’s (Near Death Experiences), riveting encounters with otherworldly entities, sexual ecstasy and life changing mystical experiences. Dr. Strassman also discovered that some subjects who were administered doses of DMT provided an unexpected look at the widely reported phenomenon of “alien abductions”.
Now what do the Torah and specifically the Kabbalah have to say about the pineal and DMT? This may seem like asking what does the Torah say about life on other planets or what does the Torah say about the abominable snowman? Unexpectedly, however, this question opens up a virtual treasure house of Torah knowledge, fragments of which have been hidden for centuries and even for thousands of years. The existence of the pineal body and its crucial role as an interdimensional vortex to cosmic consciousness and universal tikkun (spiritual rectification) is impressively well documented in ancient Jewish literature and amplified through the teachings of the Kabbalah. The secret of the usage of the spiritual neurotransmitter DMT, is known to the Jewish sage-mystics as the legendary City of Luz, the Luz “bone”, the Face of God and the enigmatic angelic entity known as Metatron.
The anatomical term for this enigmatic endocrine organ “pineal” was coined in the beginning of the 18th century ago and simply means “pine cone like” to reflect its shape. Yet, strangely enough, if the word pineal is transliterated into Hebrew it literally means “Face of God”! It is this pineal “Face of God’ and its hormonal elixir of DMT, as will be shown in other sections, that is behind Jacob’s visionary dream of the angelic ladder rising heavenward and the “oil” that he anoints the rock upon which he had placed beneath his head during his nocturnal exploration. In the morning Scripture records, He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the city was originally Luz” (Genesis 28-19). It is this pineal phenomenon that is also at the root of Jacob’s victory following a midnight battle with an angelic entity upon which Scripture states, “Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face...’"(Genesis 32-30).
From the perspective of the Kabbalah, the anatomical location, physiology, process of stimulation and otherworldly affects of the pineal gland are fundamentally one and the same as the bizarre descriptions of the other worldly City of Luz, Jacob’s prophetic dream and his encounter with the angelic “Face of God”. Henceforth, the combined term Luz-pineal denotes the interfacing of the scientific model with the Torah model. Luz and pineal are necessary analogs for each other. They are both dependent upon each other but they are not qualitatively equivalent to each other, the pineal “body” being the vessel for the light of Luz “soul”.
Likewise, pineal production of DMT is inseparable from the ubiquitous role in Torah literature of the phenomenon known as Metatron. In Hebrew, “MT” (mem tet also being the numerical value of 49) or “MTT” (mem tet tet) are the traditional ways the kabbalists abbreviate Metatron. Henceforth, in our discussion of Luz the term M-DMT is shorthand for Metatronic DMT, i.e., DMT is the chemical analog for the life force and spirit of Metatron. Dr. Strassman, in his book has coined the term “spirit molecule” to refer to the role of “spirit” being mediated through the material body of the DMT molecules. The Kabbalistic teachings of the Luz-pineal define a map of reality where Metatron is the actual specific name of the DMT “spirit molecule”. Metatron is also well known as the Prince of the [God’s] Presence and the Face of God. Moreover, Metatron is the instructor, the guide and the muse. In regard to the oft reported experiences of alien presences, the theory I am suggesting is that they are actual fractals (fractured fractions) of this objectively real Metatronic phenomenon that are being filtered through the individual’s experience. Similarly, the cave and tunnel that lead into the City of Light appear to be at the root of the well-documented NDE accounts of the “tunnel of light”.
The spiritual goal of the production of Luz-pineal M-DMT stimulation is the resurrection of one’s true essence and the resurrection of the “fallen” body of Adam. (In kabbalistic terminology this is referred to as mayin nukbin, “female waters”, the arousal from below in order to stimulate the “male waters” to radiate from above). From this kabbalistic perspective the medical model of DMT when unified with the Torah model is an important, if not integral, door to personal and collective redemption. This is a new yet most ancient of paths.
The M-DMT model is well documented in ancient Jewish literature and from the perspective of the Kabbalah its role is pivotal in the process of the interface between man and God. The basic premise is that, according to the Hebraic tradition, we are created in the image of God. Although there are many metaphoric and philosophical explanations for this passage in the Bible, the rabbinical and Kabbalistic tradition understand this verse quite literally. The “image” of God, however, is referring to a higher dimensional template, which cannot be visualized or even easily conceptualized because we are creatures bound by the constrictions of our three dimensional “Flatland”. Yet, by analogical thinking we can perceive a hidden relationship between the Divine and the human. We have the physiology and organs that we have down to even the minutest details of the structure of our molecules precisely because the divine body is the primordial root of those structures. The “image of God” being referred to is also known as Adam Elyon – “Supernal Man”. We have a pineal gland in our brain that secretes DMT and has the profound effects that it does precisely because the divine brain, sometimes referred to as the Godhead, has a higher dimensional analogous “pineal body”. The divine Luz-pineal, under specific conditions also releases higher dimensional M-DMT. “As above, so below” and “As below, so above”, is an ancient Jewish axiom.
Stimulation of the Luz-pineal is a highly esoteric and advanced method of kabbalistic prayer/meditation.[6] The system developed here, however, to enable short trips to Luz is very safe and secure. Although, simply profound it is also profoundly simple. Overall, it is a form of spiritual yoga or “Torah Tantra”. It is healing and comforting yet, for certain practitioners, it can also become a virtual sexual-spiritual Shangri-La - an eternal city of true wisdom, knowledge and bliss that individuals, couples or groups can psychically and spiritually visit and explore. The City of Luz is an interdimension terminal, a cosmic laboratory and a language unto itself, which is truly the language of the Kabbalah.
This entire method of M-DMT stimulation - affectionately referred to as the “Luz Cruise”- is based upon this concept of Adam Elyon – Supernal Man, i.e. that the human body with all of its details is mirroring its higher roots. The human pineal has direct access to the supernal pineal, i.e. the “pineal gland” of Adam Elyon. This system of kabbalistic prayer/meditation utilizes specific metaphysical connections and spiritual energy circuits within the soul that have physiological analogs within the nervous system and the brain, specifically within the spinal column. This technique interfaces the human and the Divine by using the microcosmic human body as a map to enter the territory of the macroscopic “Body” of God by the interfacing of Metatron. The goal is not only personal ecstasy and enlightenment but the redemption, elevation and resurrection of the collapsed (“fallen”) body of the primal Adam and Eve. Along with the simple breathing techniques in an isolation environment (e.g. with blindfolds or “Mindfolds”) one enters into the mystery of the Luz-pineal through a series of rites of initiation encrypted within Biblical texts, which are then amplified throughout an extensive network of Talmudic, Midrashic and Zoharic statements. And then, upon reciting the Prayer For Entering The City Of Luz, “From my flesh I will behold God” (Job 19:26).
Entering the City of Luz is based upon generating a field of stimulation through controlled hyperventilation and taking conscious control and direction of the cerebral spinal neural network beginning and ending at a vortex in the middle of the brain, the Luz-pineal. This conscious energy is directed along specific pathways or “soul circuits” as diagramed in the Two-Tailed Leviathan Map to the City of Luz that is supplied. Mentor, Model, Method and Map
House of Four Doors
(Moody Blues 1968)
Mystery spread its cloak across the sky; we'd lost our way.
Shadows fell from trees, they knew why. Then through the leaves a light broke through, A path lost for years led us through. House of four doors, I could live there forever. House of four doors, it would be there forever. There are two goals when we journey to Luz. The first goal is to arouse the Luz-pineal body to secrete “spirit molecules” of the M-DMT chemical that is produced naturally in the human brain. The second goal is to offer the M-DMT “sacred liquid” up to Adam Elyon in order to stimulate and accelerate the redemption process of humanity and all reality. Adam Elyon is the Supernal Man, the Light body of the Ain Sof which fractals through one’s highest self, then reflects back to Adam HaRishon (First Man) and then to Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man). (The cerebral spinal neural network of Adam Elyon is also known as Metatron). One begins by searching for, finding and then entering the Luz cave. It is this cave that leads into the City of Luz. The first step, and a step that continues to replicate itself continually throughout the journey, is to simply get into the cave. After we have created and formed a “funnel” to enter and have secured the matrix of the Luz cave then we can then begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The key question is how do we get in? The answer is with a key, of course! Although the key is utterly profound it is, however, profoundly simply. The single key that opens to the other dimensional city of Luz is a key that consists of a quadratic structure. The four parts must be assembled into one coherent key and then inserted simultaneously into the “keyhole”. There are, however, two keyholes, one that is located at the base of the spine (loosely corresponding to the area of the sacrum and coccyx) and one at the base of the brain (loosely corresponding to the occiput). (This explains why at times rabbinical sources locate the Etzem HaLuz (the “Luz substance”) at the top of the spinal column and other times at the bottom of the spine, as will be explained below). These four keys that make up the one complete key all begin with the letter “M” – Mentor, Model, Method and Map.
Summary: During the act of connected breathing one must always have the intense desire to see the light of M-DMT and be praying and looking for Metatron to open the gate and show the paradoxical technique of how to auto-invert our 3D sensory and/or sexual reality. We then enter the Luz cave being propelled from the energy of our body and soul’s own polarity. Once “inside” we simply focus to stay in the undulating flow of the serpentine circuitry of the Two-Tailed Leviathan. This is sacred ecstasy and it is this undulating and pulsating light that we are bathed in that we now surrender and offer up to our God and Creator Who is “Ain Od” – “There is no other” (Deuteronomy) – no one, no other thing, no “other-ness” other than Itself. The Three Dimensions of Luz
The role of the cosmic Luz-pineal is pivotal in the cosmo-historical purpose and mission of the collective soul of the Nation of Israel as depicted in the verses of Jacob’s vision. Many volumes of Oral Tradition concerning just this one event have been written down over the last 1,800 years. In addition to the Jewish Luz-pineal connection, the secret of the Luz-pineal is also pivotal in Judaism’s ancient prophesies of world peace and a re-unified humanity. Moreover, the thesis being proposed here that the mysterious Luz-pineal, which is also known in the rabbinical tradition as the Foundation Stone, is literally the keystone to rectify and resurrect humanity. It is this stone that King David mystically refers to in his Book of Psalms, “The stone which the builders have rejected has become the center stone”. (Psalm 118:21-23).
As we continue our journey, in this section traditional sources will be presented that slowly unveil the mystery of Luz-pineal on three different levels - the terrestrial, the somatic and the divine. These are 1) the geographical site of Luz, 2) the physiological Luz bone of the spine and 3) the cosmological Luz – the Luz of God, also known as Metatron.
The three dimensions of the Luz-pineal interface with each other and are dependent upon each other. These three aspects all come together when applied in the actual sacred work of the Luz Cruise that we embark upon. For most participants this work will apply during the regulated breathing exercises, but for others the union of the three Luzes will also be experienced during Torah learning (e.g. the Luz-pineal texts and their commentaries, prayer (particularly the formulated liturgical Amidah – the silent, standing tefilah that observing Jews perform), meditation, sexual union or during programmed dreaming. Although the three faces of Luz-pineal are inseparable from each other each one must initially be approached as a subject unto itself. Each one is a journey into a chapter on its own – that is, until the pilgrim sees that all three chapters are paths leading to the same purpose – the tikkun and resurrection of Adam, the personal Adam within and the universal Adam without.
The first chapter will take us on a journey to the ancient, mystical city of Luz, the place simply known as The Place. It is also known as Beit El, the House of God and it is here where we begin to unravel the secret of Jacob’s other worldly vision. The second chapter is a tapestry of the traditions concerning the Luz bone and the Kabbalistic role of the spinal column. The third chapter will reveal the cosmic program running the Luz-pineal as well as the Programmer Himself, the ultimate hero of our journey, Metatron. A fourth chapter will present the actual exercises and techniques that will prepare the spiritual aspirant to journey to the center of his or her own soul to be rediscovered and resurrected in the Light of the City of Luz.
(End) [1] Hollywood made the book into a timeless masterpiece in 1937 directed by Frank Capra staring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt and John Howard. (Academy Award Nominations: 7, including Best Picture. Academy Awards: Best Film Editing, Best Interior Decoration).
[2] Most intriguing is that Scripture tell us that a second city named Luz after the first one was built in a land east of first City of luz in Canaan, “and [he] called its name Luz; that is its name to this day” (Judges 1:23 – 26). The ancient capital of Tibet to this day is called Lasa and the second time Jacob returns to Luz it is written “Luza” (meaning towards Luz but also alluding to a feminine counterpart to the first Luz as will be discussed below).
[3] Although almost virtually unknown today this mode of consciousness and worship is deeply rooted in the Kabbalah of the Ari (Lurianic Kabbalah) and the Gaon of Vilna.
[4] "What was forbidden to investigate and expound upon just yesterday becomes permissible today. This is felt by every true exegete. Numerous matters whose awesome nature repelled one from even approaching in previous generations, behold, they are easily grasped today. This is because the gates of human understanding below have been opened up as a result of the steadily increasing flow of Divine revelations above". R. Shlomo Eliyashiv Leshem Sh'vo V'Achlamah, Chelek HaBi'urim, p. 21d.
[5] This same tradition has been handed down by an unexpected yet highly authoritative source, R. Yisrael Salanter (1810-1883), the leader of the Mussar Movement. In confirmation of the statement of the Zohar, he is said to have commented, "Prior to 1840 the study of Kabbalah was a closed book to all but the initiated." The Kabbalist, R. Shlomo Eliyashiv, who quotes this tradition, continues, "Thus, from 1840 onwards, permission has been granted for those who truly desire to enter within. The Kabbalah is no longer the private domain of the initiated masters." Leshem Sh'vo VeAchlamah, Sefer De'ah 1:5:4 (p. 76)
[6] Indeed, entrance to Luz is a fractal (a micro fractured fraction) of the famous rabbinical episode of the four 2nd-century sages who entered the “Pardes”, the multidimensional matrix underlying reality.
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