What is the meaning of "Tikkun?"
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Judaism and especially the Kabbalah talks a lot about a
concept called “Tikkun.” Tikkun is the
word used in the Kabbalah for the Great Work, which means "rectification,"
"reintegration," "repair", "correction,"
"mending," or "healing," and implies a process of
refinement, perfection, fulfillment or completion. On the one hand, the
doctrine of tikkun alludes to a state wherein creation must be restored; on the
other hand, it alludes to creation as an on-going process, akin to the basic
principles of evolution - hence a Creative Evolution. These two ideas are not
mutually exclusive, for this state represents the Ideal of Creative Evolution -
the Highest of Life abiding in a conscious unification with the Divine. In both
cases it is human beings who are able to bring about tikkun, for having been
created in the image and likeness of God (b’tzelem Elohim) human beings are
co-creators with God.
In teachings on Ma'aseh Bereshit (Work of Creation) we hear of the shattering and fracturing of the Vessels of Creation, the Sefirot (Emanations) of the five Olamot (Universes), and the outbreak of a conflict of forces in the World of the Angels, and the entrance of evil and death into the world, all based upon the "Fall of the Human One" which represents involution in the creative process. Thus, it is through the development and evolution of the Human One, and restoration of the Human One to a conscious unification with the Divine, that tikkun is brought about on all of these levels.
In this light Kabbalah teaches there are grades of tikkun: The tikkun henefesh which is the healing of the human soul, which represents a conscious development and evolution of oneself - the perfection of oneself; the tikkun olam which is the healing of the world, which is brought about by the tikkun of human individuals; the tikkun of healing the heavenly realms and heavenly hosts; and the tikkun of healing the Great Name, which represents the Realm of the Sefirot.
How the tikkun of the human soul brings about the tikkun of the metaphysical structure of creation is a great mystery, yet it is this very mystery that lies behind the great truth according to the Kabbalah and it is in this sense that we contemplate the Mystery of Divine unification and the divine drama that unfolds in the Torah.
The only way we can begin to penetrate this mystery is by understanding that the inmost part of our soul is a spark of Or Ain Sof (the Light of the Infinite), and, thus, that in our inmost part we are united with the very essence of the Divine. Therefore, we are akin to quantum manifestations of God - the Divine Presence and Power, and in our soul we are inseparable from the metaphysical structure of the universe. Because the human soul is inseparable from the metaphysical structure of creation there is immeasurable theurgic power in the soul and state of the human soul and state of the metaphysical structure of the universe are inextricably bound together.
Tikkun is often spoken of in terms of individual souls working out their "karma" through the process of gilgulim (reincarnations) and accomplishing the soul's mission in life. Yet, when the larger doctrine of tikkun is understood it is actually speaking of something much greater than a personal salvation or individual enlightenment - it is actually speaking about the enlightenment of the world and the whole of creation in the One (ein od milvado).
Obviously, the teachings on tikkun are far too extensive to disclose here - the teachings would fill whole volumes of books. But from what is said here there is an in road to a deeper contemplation of the Mystery of the Torah in the Kabbalah, specifically the Mystery of the Divine Unification.
In teachings on Ma'aseh Bereshit (Work of Creation) we hear of the shattering and fracturing of the Vessels of Creation, the Sefirot (Emanations) of the five Olamot (Universes), and the outbreak of a conflict of forces in the World of the Angels, and the entrance of evil and death into the world, all based upon the "Fall of the Human One" which represents involution in the creative process. Thus, it is through the development and evolution of the Human One, and restoration of the Human One to a conscious unification with the Divine, that tikkun is brought about on all of these levels.
In this light Kabbalah teaches there are grades of tikkun: The tikkun henefesh which is the healing of the human soul, which represents a conscious development and evolution of oneself - the perfection of oneself; the tikkun olam which is the healing of the world, which is brought about by the tikkun of human individuals; the tikkun of healing the heavenly realms and heavenly hosts; and the tikkun of healing the Great Name, which represents the Realm of the Sefirot.
How the tikkun of the human soul brings about the tikkun of the metaphysical structure of creation is a great mystery, yet it is this very mystery that lies behind the great truth according to the Kabbalah and it is in this sense that we contemplate the Mystery of Divine unification and the divine drama that unfolds in the Torah.
The only way we can begin to penetrate this mystery is by understanding that the inmost part of our soul is a spark of Or Ain Sof (the Light of the Infinite), and, thus, that in our inmost part we are united with the very essence of the Divine. Therefore, we are akin to quantum manifestations of God - the Divine Presence and Power, and in our soul we are inseparable from the metaphysical structure of the universe. Because the human soul is inseparable from the metaphysical structure of creation there is immeasurable theurgic power in the soul and state of the human soul and state of the metaphysical structure of the universe are inextricably bound together.
Tikkun is often spoken of in terms of individual souls working out their "karma" through the process of gilgulim (reincarnations) and accomplishing the soul's mission in life. Yet, when the larger doctrine of tikkun is understood it is actually speaking of something much greater than a personal salvation or individual enlightenment - it is actually speaking about the enlightenment of the world and the whole of creation in the One (ein od milvado).
Obviously, the teachings on tikkun are far too extensive to disclose here - the teachings would fill whole volumes of books. But from what is said here there is an in road to a deeper contemplation of the Mystery of the Torah in the Kabbalah, specifically the Mystery of the Divine Unification.
To give a further hint, we may say this: The enlightenment and liberation of an individual is a cosmic event, and the whole of creation labors for this divine event.
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