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Chesed she'b Yesod
הָיום שִׁשָּׁה וְשׁלושׁים יָוֹם שֶׁהֵם חְַמִשָּׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וְיוֹם אֶחָד לָעוֹמֵרֹToday is thirty-six days, which is five weeks and one day of the Omer
Kindness in Connection1
Love is the heart of bonding.2 You cannot bond without love. Love establishes a reliable base which allows bonding to be built on. If you have a problem bonding, examine how much you love that which you wish to bond with. Do I try to bond without first fostering a loving attitude? Is my bonding expressed in a loving manner? Demonstrate the bond you have with someone through acts of love.
This week we focus our attention on Yesod, the place where we awaken as individualised beings in the world. This is the centre we call “ego”. The One Being individualises Itself on this level of existence. The cost of individualisation is the awareness of separation.
This week we focus our attention on Yesod, the place where The One Being individualises Itself on this level of existence and we awaken as individualised beings in the world. This part of the One Being that we recognise is the centre we call “ego”. The cost of individualisation is the binding awareness of separation.
Into this space of separateness we bring Chesed, with its energies of Lovingkindness, to begin the sixth week of our journey. We imagine the connection as a channel of light between the genital area and the right shoulder.
Yesod is identified with sexuality because that is symbolic of our biological selves. Ego is that identity with which we survive as individual biological entities in the world. Our challenge is to support the growth of ego without expecting it to engage in tasks and take on responsibilities which are beyond its abilities.
It is through ego that we present ourselves in the world, that we relate to one another, and cooperate in the ongoing process of Creation. Ego is a channel through which energies from higher levels of our Tree can reach into ordinary reality. We strive to honour this aspect of our identity, to strengthen it, and to support other egos around us.
Ego sees itself as the centre of all existence, and seeks to claim the universe as its own by creating or transforming everything around it to become a reflection of itself. This posture of egocentricity leads great personal and global suffering. Extreme self-involvement shuts out others and is a mockery of the spiritual path. So we bring Chesed, Lovingkindness, into Yesod to support the more loving and fluid expression of this ego-identity.
I fully embrace the worth of my separate self. Love’s blessings flow through me now. I realise there are new ways to express this Love in my world. I am nourished by honouring the individual expression in me and in all whom I meet.
Footnotes
“Be kind in your relationships.” “Make connections that are kind, and not angry or devious.” “Treat those you are connected to kindly.” ↩︎
Love is the heart – in the sense of “at the core” – of bonding:
This is one of the 4 spaces of bonding. This should be expressed more clearly in the movement of Yesod through the sefirot.
But because we are only dealing with the lower seven sefirot, the body, we do not experience the Upper, the spiritual engagement, which is expressed as “Impulse from below.”
Physical: Lust/physical desire is the bond (Malchut). Here it is expressed in pure giving (masculine) and receiving (feminine) terms. Both are valid (and necessary). Only Love can lift us (and this) to a higher level, where the giving and the receiving are harmonious and balanced.
Emotional: Love is the bond (Yesod) – Netzach & Hod have to be balanced.
Intellectual: Balance/Harmony is the goal (Tiferet). Melding of minds. Bonding through a common vision, shared beliefs. . ↩︎