Truth is accessed through selflessness.

Rising above my ego and my prejudices will enable me to realise the truth implicit in each event. The imbalance of love and discipline (and for that matter, any distortion) is a result of a subjective, hence limited perspective. Introducing truth, by suspending personal prejudices, allows me to express my reality in a balanced fashion.

Tiferet blends the differing colours of love and discipline, expansion and contraction, and this harmony makes it beautiful. For Tiferet to be complete it needs the inclusion of the following seven facets: mercy, discipline, beauty, endurance, humility, bonding and sovereignty.

If love (Chesed) is the basis of human connection, discipline (Gevurah) is the form through which we maintain our love. It gives our love shape and focus. Tiferet balances our desire with its forms that they may emerge in Malchut in a healthy way.

The Sefirah on the Tree of Life

Tiferet is the place where there is a deepening of Compassionate Awareness.

The right side of the Tree signifies force, and the left side, form. The central pillar signifies not only balance but identify. Tiferet is the Centre of the Tree of Life, where force and form attain balance.

Our representation of the Tree has all the sefirot, except Malchut, directly connected to Tiferet. This signifies Tiferet as the axis around which all of the other sefirot turn, the centre of the spinning wheel of life. If it is in its place and balanced, it can provide the fulcrum of balance between all the different forms and energies of all the other sefirot

If the central pillar is the place of balance, it must also be the place of tension. Tiferet is required to remain open to both force and form, to avoid the seductions of the limitlessness of force, as well as not becoming censured by the limitations of form. Balance is the experience at Tiferet—it is the acceptance of all that is given with equanimity. If it is true acceptance, then the flow and the form can be balanced.

The identity at Tiferet is the Inclusive “I”, the inclusive shared Self behind the exclusive ego-self. In Tiferet, there is a balance between the self which resides in the body and the Universal Self that exists beyond differentiation. Here the upper and lower worlds are connected.

Tiferet is the Heart of the Tree, reflected as the heart-space within each one of us. It provides a central focus, a place of deepening of compassionate awareness.

The Name of G-d at Tiferet is pronounced Adonai, “Eternal One”, but is written יהוה (the Hebrew letters Yod-Kay-Vav-Kay). This Name, which is not pronounced, was often translated as “Lord”, but is nowadays referred to as Ha’Shem. This name is not pronounced as it is written because it speaks of That Which Is Beyond Name.

The Name יהוה, is a form of the Hebrew verb which means “to be,” and so can be translated, “Unlimited Being”. That is why many of us translate Yod-Kay-Vav-Kay (saying Adonai) as “The Eternal One,” or “The Eternal Presence.”

Meditation for the Third Week at TIFERET

Breath is one of the keys to the opening of Tiferet-awareness. The Zohar urges, “Breathe like the ocean rises and falls and never becomes full.” The breath is received and released fully—expansion and contraction—all in the service of Life.

The vowel sounds at Tiferet are often experienced as “Ah”, while “Oh” is the sound at Yesod, and “Ee” as the sound at Keter. In your meditations, try using these sounds and see what unfolds for you.

Remembering the silence within, breathe quietly, accepting the nature of your experience at this moment. Become aware of the feelings that are attached to all your thoughts and sensations. Each feeling limits emotional energy and allows it to be experienced and absorbed into your personal space. Discover the space of your expanded identity, as you breathe a Universal breath. I am a precious expression of a Universal identity.

Reflections

Masculine & Feminine, force and form: Initiating, creating & maintaining, nourishing.