Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press
Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press
Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press
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join the search for meaning. Follow the words to what lies beyond and<br />
and<br />
open the gates of imagination.<br />
within;<br />
all, don't reduce everythingyou encounter in these pages to somethingyou<br />
Above<br />
already know. Beware of tryingto ®nd ``the essence'' of a particular<br />
Although usually essence is the goal of mystical search, here essence is<br />
teaching.<br />
unless it stimulates you to explore ever deeper layers, to question<br />
inadequate<br />
assumptions about tradition, God, and self. In the words of a Zoharic<br />
your<br />
parable:<br />
was a man who lived in the mountains. He knew nothingabout those who<br />
There<br />
in the city. He sowed wheat and ate the kernels raw. One day he entered the<br />
lived<br />
They offered him good bread. The man asked, ``What's this for?''<br />
city.<br />
replied, ``It's bread, to eat!''<br />
They<br />
ate, and it tasted very good. He asked, ``What's it made of?''<br />
He<br />
answered, ``Wheat.''<br />
They<br />
they offered him thick loaves kneaded with oil. He tasted them, and<br />
Later<br />
``And what are these made of?''<br />
asked,<br />
answered, ``Wheat.''<br />
They<br />
they offered him royal pastry kneaded with honey and oil. He asked,<br />
Later<br />
what are these made of?''<br />
``And<br />
answered, ``Wheat.''<br />
They<br />
said, ``Surely I am the master of all of these, since I eat the essence of all of<br />
He<br />
wheat!''<br />
these:<br />
of that view, he knew nothingof the delights of the world, which were<br />
Because<br />
on him. So it is with one who grasps the principle but is unaware of all those<br />
lost<br />
delectable delights deriving, diverging from that principle. 40<br />
Zohar 2:176a±b. The wheat and its products (kernels, bread, cake, and pastry)<br />
40.<br />
four levels of meaningin Torah: simple, homiletical, allegorical, and mystical.<br />
symbolize<br />
Translator's Introduction<br />
xix<br />
See Matt, The Essential Kabbalah, 207.