Becoming a Channel for Grace
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
“I will give grace to whom I will give grace…” (Exodus 33:19).
In the Zohar we are taught that prayers ascend and are heard in heaven when the faithful and elect pray with awe and love; this corresponds with kavanah-concentration of the mind and devekut-cleaving with the heart and soul. In this, mind and heart are joined as one, a single mind and single heart, one thought and desire directed heavenward and Godward in the fullness of faith. In such a prayer there is no other thought or desire than the intention and words of the prayer itself, and as such, the soul in prayer is gathered within and above, the words of the prayer are joined to the corresponding Netivot (32 Paths of Wisdom), and the corresponding spiritual powers are invoked, influxes into Malchut, or Shechinah, of those powers that illuminate and glorify her, and become blessings and bounty pouring out into all the worlds. The faithful and spiritual elect who pray in this way become a channel or vehicle, of these influxes of spiritual powers, divine powers, in this world; hence, they are given grace by the Infinite One, and grace flows through them into the world for all who desire to receive it. The nature of the grace of the Holy One takes up these prayers and completes them and perfects them, manifesting what has been spoken, answering prayer swiftly.
According to masters of the tradition, study and contemplation, and words of teachings, when done in holy awe and love, or with kavanah and devekut, are just the same as such prayers – they too are great and powerful invocations of influxes of the Netivot, and this is why it is said that when new insights or teachings are spoken, new angels and new heavens are created.
Speech and Voice is a gendered pair, and they are joined in this way, Speech female and Voice male; these correspond with the last two letters of the Great Name, Vav-Hey. Love and awe correspond with Yod-Hey, and therefore, when Voice and Speech, or prayer and the giving of teaching, is joined with love and awe, or devekut and kavanah, The Name is unified in the soul and the power of The Name is in that prayer or teaching. In this way, the wise join the words of their prayer or teaching to the Word of God, their voice to the Voice of God, their breath to the Breath of God, and their thoughts to the Thought of God; hence, the power of Ruach Ha-Kodesh in their prayer or teaching.
In the midst of good works, or acts of loving-kindness, the same is also true, if and when there is love and awe, or devekut and kavanah, and there is conscious intention to bring the corresponding spiritual essence and power into the work or action. Thus, through prayer, through the giving of insights and teachings, and through good works, there is an invocation of Divine Grace when we pray, teach or work with love and awe, or devekut and kavvanah – cleaving to the Infinite One and focused upon the One.
“I will give grace to whom I will give grace…” When we pray, give teachings or enact works in this way, we are gathered within and above, and our soul is elevated by the Holy Light and Spirit of God; who we are in God is joined with who we are in ourselves, the inner aspects of our soul being joined with the outer aspects. In this our soul becomes a proper vessel, or channel, of Divine Grace, and therefore, Divine Grace flows with, in and through us, and we become a center of the Divine Action, a dwelling place of the Divine Presence and Power.
The fullness of Supernal Grace, corresponding with Keter, corresponds with Eheyeh, “I Am,” or “I Shall Be,” and in perfect devekut and kavanah, or love and awe, there is unification with the Infinite One; thus, when devekut and kavanah are perfect and complete, the soul is the manifestation of the One, and it is the One who prays, the One who teaches and the One who works – the Divine I Am.
This is the way of the mystic, the prophet and wonderworker, the living tzaddik, and it is the inmost heart’s desire of every soul; and we may say that this is the ultimate purpose of Anointed Community, the embodiment of the Anointed One of God (El).
The essence of this Path of Return is awe and love, or faith and love – it the path of a lover of the Infinite One.
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