Prayer & the Divine Names
Monday, March 3, 2014
MY ANSWER: First, it is necessary to determine what is this "god" we are talking about. God is not a Hebrew term and there are no Hebrew equivalents to this term. The biggest problem with the term God is that it is highly subjective as each individual psyche frames the context of the definition of God within their own pre-conceived imaginations. Each psyche is different and thus defines this idea in its own unique distinction ascribing God characteristics which belong to the realm of human personality rather than Infinite quality.
The Hebrew Bible does not qualify the Divine as even the first appearance of a "name" of God is 'Elohim' which is not a term to ascribe an eternal and infinite state of being rather the grammatical structure of Gen. 1:1 where it first appears indicates that Elohim is a product of creation not the progenitor of it. This concept is subsequently reinforced by the Zohar. Every appearance of a Divine name is not anything seperate from the Source of these names. ALL things originate from Singularity. As the original poster had stated in his question: these are "emanations" and an emanation is not something different nor distinct from its Source. The only distinction is in the mind of the created as we perceive reality within an artificial construct of duality (indicated by the beit of b'reishit). Thus every Divine name is merely an ascribed identification and explanation of a particular emanated quality that appears within the context of our own human experience.
The other issue here is with prayer. Prayer is not an act of petition or supplication to a Divine entity as there isn't such an entity who endures nor produces such narcissism. We are each an individuated ego that devolves from the essence of Divinity. Each of us is singularly apart of a greater collective and ultimately the expression of the Divine Itself. Prayer done properly is an act of kavanah which raises our consciousness from the mundane to an enlightened consciousness. This is a process of tikkun hanefesh that is referred to as being raised from the state of mochin d'katnut to the expanded state of mochin d'gadlut. Prayer is not looking outside of ourselves to twist the arm of a Cosmic Being rather it is a tool to look within and to conform ourselves to the image contained within a higher perception.
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