Lucky Number Seven

Why aren’t there eight days of the week? Why aren’t there nine deadly sins?

Seven is said to be a sacred number in all cultures and traditions.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, there are:

● Seven ages of man
● Seven colours of the rainbow,
● Seven wonders of the ancient world
● Seven gates of hell
● Seven primary chakras
● Seven Christian sacraments
● Seven Sisters (the Pleiades)
● Seven dwarfs

And many other magnificent sevens too numerous to list in this post.

The Hebrew word for Seven comes from the root of a word that means complete.
Ancient Egyptians saw the number 7 as a symbol of Eternal Life.

Seven is also said to symbolise the universe. It represents the Collective Mind and Universal Love. It is associated with feelings and instincts.

It is seen as a symbol of spiritual perfection.

Apparently when asked to think of a number between 1 and 10, most people think of the number 7.

Seven Veils of Mystical Experience

Yesterday I wrote about the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience in connection with the Dance of the Seven Veils.

The Seven Veils of Mystical Experience were also known as the Seven Rays by the Merkabah Mystics who are said to have practised the earliest form of Jewish mysticism.

The Seven Rays are Dreams, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion, and Knowledge.

Merkabah means the ‘throne or chariot of God’ in Hebrew. The aim of Merkabah Mystics was to see God on his throne. To achieve this goal, they had to pass through the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience also known as the Seven Rays.

They had to give the guardian of each Ray (or Celestial Palace) a password or special talisman in order to continue.

In physical terms, this means they had to fast, chant and pray to induce trance states in order that they could make an ascent and reach a spiritual state where they could see the throne of God.

Each Ray was linked to a planet:

● Dreams (or Imagination) was linked to the Moon.
● Reason was linked to Mercury
● Passion to Venus
● Bliss to the Sun
● Courage to Mars
● Compassion to Jupiter
● Knowledge (or Gnosis) was linked to Saturn

Apparently of the four Merkabah Mystics who tried to travel through the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience, only one of them, Rabbi Akiba succeeded.

Of the other three, it is said that one died, the other became mentally ill and the third became agnostic.

Shades of Icarus.

This wasn’t exactly the ending to the story that I was looking for when I started researching this subject.

Oh well.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Plan ahead -- It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

Author Unknown

Thought for the Day

When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs at what it has found.
Sufi Aphorism

Repetition, Rosaries & Relaxation

Praying, as well as being a form of spiritual communication, is also an effective relaxation technique.

Prayer or the repetition of short spiritual phrases that are meaningful to you can be an effective measure when it comes to combating stress according to the director of the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston.

The repetition of short phrases or one word can cut into stressful thought patterns and slow them down.

The article notes that "that there is no preventive stress medicine. Stress is part of life."

When we are stressed our blood pressure rises and our heart beats faster.

The repetition of phrases which have a peaceful resonance, engaging in meditation, or listening to gentle music has the effect of slowing down our brain waves, lowering our blood pressure and reducing our stress.

For Catholics, the repetition of rosary prayers, the meditation on the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries, even the action of holding and moving the fingers along the rosary beads are all aids to relaxation and the reduction of stress.

Catholic News Service

Alice Walker on God

When you close your eyes and tune into God, what do you see?
I don’t close my eyes. Why would I close my eyes? It’s everywhere. I mean it just is. What is this if it’s not God?

Do you have a preferred word for God?
I like “Mama.”

Alice Walker (author, The Color Purple)

Read the full interview here.

Blind Faith

Speaking at an international seminar entitled '21st Century and Buddhism' in India this week, the Dalai Lama said, "Buddhist faith must come from analytical meditation. Analyse using our intelligence maximum way, throughout that way. Faith should not just be blind faith or without reason."

We don't switch off our brains when we meditate.

Meditation can make us more focused and alert, improve our learning ability and our memory skills and increase our sense of awareness and perception.

In a wider context, we need to apply common sense and judgement when being introduced to new systems of thought.

We don't need to accept fads or gurus blindly and without discernment nor should we reject unusual (to us) ideas with dismissive cynicism.

It is sometimes a challenge to remain open-minded and grounded at the same time.

"Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, believe not because you have been made to believe from your childhood, but reason truth out..." Buddha