When things came into being as mineral, vegetable, animal, or human, “some of the sparks remained hidden within the varieties of existence.” The Zohar has been called a “mystical novel of the Torah,” and interprets the creation story by the Elohim author of Genesis: “In the Beginning” meant that “a blinding spark dashed within the Concealed of the Concealed from the mystery of the Infinite.”
Yes, we are to touch the “Mystery of the Infinite” and spread the sparks, for nature is busy spreading them from north to east and west to south, in the heavens and on the earth.
Sparks burst into flashes, up high and down below
sparks burst into flash and rose high above.
The heavens blazed with all their powers;
everything flashed and sparkled as one.
Previously we meditated on the language of “spark in the soul” in Eckhart and other Christian mystics. (Consider John of the Cross who, in his famous poem on the “Dark Night,” tells us he was saved by the darkness on the outside and by “the fire, the fire inside” that could not be quenched and gave him the courage to escape his imprisonment.)
Loreena McKennitt sings St. John of the Cross’ timeless poem on the Dark Night of the Soul.
Yesterday, July 4th, we meditated on the “sparks” found in all creation according to Jewish mysticism. They are like lead-ins to Wisdom we were told. And it is our responsibility to bring heaven and Earth, cosmos, and psyche, together, the Zohar teaches us, in order to “raise those sparks hidden throughout the world, elevating them to holiness by the power of your soul.”
Our minds and creativity are to unveil the hidden sparks of the world, for they lie hidden everywhere. They are in our hearts, for “love and sparks from the flame of your heart will escort you.” They are present in all things as “sparks of holiness” that “intermingle with everything in the world, even inanimate objects.”
They come to us in all manner of our activities, even
…by eating, you bring forth sparks that cleave to your soul…. When you eat and drink, you experience enjoyment and pleasure from the food and drink. Arouse yourself every moment to ask in wonder, ‘What is the enjoyment and pleasure? What is it that I am tasting? Answer yourself, ‘This is nothing but the holy sparks from the sublime, holy worlds that are within the food and drink.
The Kabbalah tells us that “there is no greater path than” to bring sparks alive in life, to educe the spark that lies within. Ordinary things become extraordinary. The profane becomes sacred:
When you desire to eat or drink, or to fulfill other worldly desires, and you focus your awareness on the love of God, then you elevate that physical desire to spiritual desire. Thereby you draw out the holy spark that dwells within. You bring forth holy sparks from the natural world. There is no path greater than this. For wherever you go and whatever you do–even mundane activities–you serve God.
This is also what Eckhart teaches: those who learn to let go and thus experience the divine are always in the right place no matter where they are.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 193-195.
See also Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: The dried fruits of the Tu B’Shavat Seder symbolize the Divine in the humblest representations of the four elements: Assiyah (earth) by fruits or nuts with an outer shell; Yetzirah (water) by fruits with pits; Briyah (air) by fruit that is entirely edible; Atzilut (fire) by aromatic things such as resins or spices. Credit: Gilabrand via Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
What does it mean to you to hear that we bring forth holy sparks from the natural world? And that “there is no path greater than this” and that “wherever you go and whatever you do–even mundane activities–you serve God.”
Recommended Reading
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time
While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
14 thoughts on ““Spark of the Soul” in Jewish Mystical Teachings, continued”
Matthew, Today in our Queries for Contemplation you ask us about the holy “sparks” which which came down to earth after the “contraction” or “tzimtzum” at creation. Isaac Luria tells us that the sparks were covered in husks or “qliphoth” and it is our job to rescue the sparks from the world and thereby heal it.
“What does it mean to you to hear that we bring forth holy sparks from the natural world?”–the “sparks” are found in all creation according to Jewish mysticism. They are like lead-ins to Wisdom we were told. And it is our responsibility to bring heaven and Earth, cosmos, and psyche, together, the Zohar teaches us, in order to “raise those sparks hidden throughout the world, elevating them to holiness by the power of your soul.” It sounds good to me but the question is how do we do it? for in raising the sparks we are affecting “tikkun ha olam” or “fixing the world.” Our minds and creativity are to unveil the hidden sparks of the world, for they lie hidden everywhere. They are in our hearts, and they “intermingle with everything in the world, even inanimate objects.” And even you say, “there is no path greater than this, for wherever you go and whatever you do–even mundane activities–you serve God.”
Also, thank for the music of Loreena McKennitt, as she sings St. John of the Cross’ timeless poem on the Dark Night of the Soul.
Words, either written or spoken, inspired (fired) by higher forms of consciousness act like wind over the flagging coals of our spirit, stoking them to a brighter, warmer flame. So that in turn, we may contagiously ignite others on this day. Fires need to be regularly stoked and tended to remain vibrant. Thanks for tending and attending to our fires with your words without fail, today and every day. “A word fitly spoken is like apples oh gold in pictures of silver” (Pr. 25:11).
Today’s meditation reminds me of what I learned long ago, that it was the spark of lightening on the evolving greening earth that generated photosynthesis. I can see now how that fits with with Matthew’s meditations on ‘spark of the soul’…. and how it unites everything including us in the Uni-Verse…..
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism’s activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars and starches, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis, from the Greek phōs (φῶς), “light”, and sunthesis (σύνθεσις), “putting together”.[1][2][3] Most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth’s atmosphere, and supplies most of the energy necessary for life on Earth.[4]
Yes, in our mystical traditions we’re reminded that the Sparks of the Divine Love~Light~Life~Oneness are always within and among us in All of ongoing co-Creation~Evolution, Immanent & Transcendent, especially in our Eternal Souls ~ our Beloved Cosmic Christ Consciousness….
🔥❤️🙏
I would just point out that the Webb telescope will not be showing us the light from the beginning of the universe. The telescope itself will be experiencing the light from the beginning of the universe. And that light will provoke in the Webb telescope, a technological process that will present an image of that light on our screens. But we will not be seeing the light itself. We will be seeing the light generated by the LED screens on our computers. In essence, the Webb telescope then becomes an extension of the World Wide Web.
Lovely as Loreena McKennitt’s voice is, I could not understand the words she sang. Can a text of the song be provided?
Once in the dark of night,
Inflamed with love and yearning, I arose
(O coming of delight!)
And went, as no one knows,
When all my house lay long in deep repose
All in the dark went right,
Down secret steps, disguised in other clothes,
(O coming of delight!)
In dark when no one knows,
When all my house lay long in deep repose.
And in the luck of night
In secret places where no other spied
I went without my sight
Without a light to guide
Except the heart that lit me from inside.
It guided me and shone
Surer than noonday sunlight over me,
And led me to the one
Whom only I could see
Deep in a place where only we could be.
O guiding dark of night!
O dark of night more darling than the dawn!
O night that can unite
A lover and loved one,
Lover and loved one moved in unison.
And on my flowering breast
Which I had kept for him and him alone
He slept as I caressed
And loved him for my own,
Breathing an air from redolent cedars blown.
And from the castle wall
The wind came down to winnow through his hair
Bidding his fingers fall,
Searing my throat with air
And all my senses were suspended there.
I stayed there to forget.
There on my lover, face to face, I lay.
All ended, and I let
My cares all fall away
Forgotten in the lilies on that day.
Thank you, Cornelia….that is a lovely translation!
George, Loreena McKennitt’s is very close to it…you can see a video with her lyrics here: https://youtu.be/fzHeT-Go4Zg
Appreciation,
Phila Hoopes
Blog Coordinator
Lovely as Loreena McKennitt’s voice is, I could not understand her words. Can the text of her song, “The Dark Night” be provided?
What I hear within today’s DM… is that to serve God… is to bring forth that Holy spark of the Divine, and the inherent goodness and beauty of this… from within the core being of our soul.
It is through the vessel of our humanness… that we birth forth, the unfolding, evolving, emergence of our true soul/self… which is the multifaceted expressions, reflections and manifestations of this Original Blessing of the Holy spark of the Divine… already there, seeded and sealed within the mystery of our own soul/self… simply in need of being cared for, tended to and nurtured.
It is through our connection of relationship, to this Holy Spirit, this spark of the Divine incarnate within… not only ourselves, but that is also incarnate within others and the all and the everything of creation… that we learn to kindle this spark into a blazing glorious flame of light.
We change from glory to glory, through accessing, acknowledging and consciously aligning with this spark of the Divine… and we kindle the light of this fire within… through receptively contemplating and actively trusting in and following through… on the wisdom we are able and capable of intuiting, and understanding, in imaginative and creative ways… which we bring forth into expression and manifestation.
This is how we all can serve God… by bringing forth and becoming the Original Blessing that we are… and the inherent goodness and beauty of this Light… for this is the meaning and purpose of our soul/self journey.
At times like these I am confused by images of “ serving” God and “worshiping God”. The God of the past required these acts but as I understand it now our Source flows in us, around us and does so in all things everywhere. We are animated by our Source and seldom are aware of this because of the dictates of our false self and other words that move us back into ancient concepts that discourage intimacy.
Donald, You’re right! The Bible, being a work written over 2,000 years ago, and the Hebrew Bible being much older, was written during a time when Emperors and Kings ran the world. And so when these ancient people envisioned God, saw God as a King–and for them King’s were to be served and worshipped. Just think, the early Christian martyrs were put to death, at least most of them, for refusing to worship the Emperor. So I am more comfortable with Jesus’ “Father” or in the Aramaic, “Daddy” which was far more intimate.
I love this part: “And there is this teaching from Rabbi Isaac: ‘the light created by the Blessed Holy One in the act of creation, flared from one end of the world to the other, and was hidden away. Why was it hidden away? So the wicked of the world would not enjoy it.”
It gives me hope–that we are not seeing everything that is transpiring. This morning I read on a friend’s Facebook page about violets. The text is said to come from Brigit Anna McNeill. I hope her words are true. They also speak of hidden light and the seeds that we cannot see growing.
To quote: “Did you know that violets grow a second flower, the flower lives under the earth, within the darkness. Because this second flower does not want to attract pollinators it never turns purple, instead it is always white. . . . These white flowers fruit under the earth, and produce their own seeds which they put into the soil. . . . I love the thought of the quiet underside, doing the work alone and in darkness, peacefully laying down seeds and safety, while above there is a dance with sensuality.”
What is this spark of the Divine, within the soul? This spark of the Divine, within the soul, is the Light of Unconditional Love.
Whom is it that assists us in kindling this spark of the Divine… this Light of Unconditional Love, within the soul… into a flame? She is the Shekina… our Cosmic Mother… the Holy Spirit of the Divine Feminine.
How does the Shekina assist us in kindling this spark of the Divine… this Light of Unconditional Love, within the soul… into a flame? Our Cosmic Mother… the Holy Spirit of the Divine Feminine… consciously awakens all souls… to seeing the unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty and goodness of our Original Blessing… that we are a soul spark, a living flame, a radiant light of this One Glorious Unconditional Love… here to reflect, express and manifest this in the so below, as it is in the as above.
May this beauty be before me.
May this beauty be behind me.
May this beauty be to the right of me.
May this beauty be to the left of me.
May this beauty be above me.
May this beauty be below me.
May this beauty be within and all around me.
May I walk in this beauty way.