Insights into the New Energy
with Dr. Michael E. Brandt

Re: The Teacher's Series, Shoud 7 given by Tobias through Geoffrey Hoppe, February 3^rd, 2007

First I would like to thank everyone who offered kind compliments, words of encouragement, etc. regarding my first Insights article last month - I am deeply appreciative. I was especially pleased to hear from some who began to read it, had the impulse to stop shortly thereafter, but instead hung in there until the end and were glad they did.

I was also happy to read the many thoughtful posts made on the Shaumbra message board and hope you will continue to engage in future discussions there regarding the content of these articles. Although I may not be able to address all (or even many) of the issues raised there due to personal time constraints my hope is that most of your concerns will at least be touched upon in time here in the column.

These articles are sort of like "a channel into the channel." Vast amounts of "data" come through me in reference to the shouds and I attempt to flow some of them out onto paper.

Objectives of this column revisited

As the name of this column implies (Insights into …), my objective is neither to rehash nor "explain" ("provide answers to") the shouds but rather to offer my own insights and commentary that you may choose to "take in" and make part of your experience in interacting with the energy of the messages. Although it may at times seem otherwise, my intent is neither to be preachy nor to lecture. My desire is to assist in integrating within ourself more efficiently and smoothly the energies of the shoud so that we may move them from "potential" to "kinetic" energy of action in our daily lives, hopefully leading us to greater personal abundance.

As I also mentioned last time, please feel free to take in or not any parts of what I project "outward" here, and also by all means feel free to disagree with any or all of it. You may find yourself asking occasionally "what's his point?" or "what does this have to do with what (Tobias, Saint-Germain, Kuthumi) said in the channel?" Here's a little hint: few people have ever accused me of "sticking completely to the program" and I'm generally not known for shying away from controversy. I have also been known to demonstrate prodigious athletic talent by sticking my foot very far down my throat (once, so far down that it emerged out the "bottom" and gave me a good swift kick in the pants! oooohh). I too have my bad hair days now and then, as you can see from the photo above.

I invite you to make the words here your own since they already are that in a very real sense. Hopefully along the way we'll have some fun too. Let the good times roll once again for all!

The procreative and deconstructive power of words

You'll be hard pressed to catch me "backing down" once I've decided to throw myself into a particular discussion, while at the same time if I've said something another finds offensive in some way I will usually assume responsibility and offer up an apology. Let's take an example: I am commenting on something I THINK another individual actually said - and doing so in what could be construed as a dissenting or critical way. In this I (mis)state something I claim this individual said or wrote somewhere. Subsequently they point out to me that they made no such statement(s) - without a doubt I made a mistake and was simply incorrect. In the circles of life I happen to travel in what I did is a "no-no" any way you slant it. I therefore recognize my mistake and issue an unconditional apology to the individual. I refrain from making excuses, such as "you took my comments out of context" - at least not before admitting and apologizing for my error.

So what's the big deal in misquoting someone? It is that words are powerful evokers and indeed creators of energy in any language. In fact our words, once we "unleash them", may be our most potent tools of creation. When we attribute to someone something they did not say - this is a form of gossip. Gossip enhances separation or division - that is it contributes to breaking something apart - a form of de-construction. (note - this is not necessarily "bad" - it is just a choice. It is sometimes quite appropriate for deconstruction, even destruction, to take place).

The ancient Kabbalists long ago recognized the procreative ability of words to bring forth New Energy by expanding and/or enhancing that which "moves" toward the Light of Spirit. Bearing in mind that words reflect consciousness (which includes thoughts and feelings) and they carry energy, it is with energy-carrying-words and with words-carrying-energy that Spirit (that includes all of us) "engineers" all that is. Words are the tools of expression of Spirit through which all of "form" is made manifest. It is this manifestation of form (equals "expansion") via expression which is the very essence-tial nature of Spirit. Because we Divine humans are One with Spirit then our words - which reflect our thoughts - are the "readout" of Spirit in the world of form - a kind of manufacturing process. To manufacture is to create!

The Kabbalists equally recognized that some words actually (not just potentially) move us away from the Light - further separating ourselves from where we set out to go in the first place when we came to Earth - as the Kryon have pointed out, that is "back Home." If one wishes to produce automobiles on an assembly line some tools lead to more efficient and effective manufacture of them than others. I wouldn't use a hammer to paint a car's body, unless I'm not really that interested in getting the final product out on the showroom floor where it can be sold to someone who wishes to buy it!

Using tools that move us further down paths that do not advance/enhance us is neither "good" nor "bad." That's an example of an irrelevant question. The relevant one is what we "choose to choose" in order to be that which we are - to follow our true nature as expression expanding ourself as Spirit - and doing so flowing smoothly, parsimoniously (meaning without wasting energy), efficiently and joy-maximizingly! Remember, we get to choose freely the paths we walk upon via our soul's desires. Perhaps this all seems paradoxical. I contend that it would only be so when one views life through a dualistic camera lens. Let's not forget to take a trip up to Angel's Peak once in a while where the whole forest can be taken in.

Students, teachers, and "way showers"

We find ourselves in the midst of the Teacher Series. Its clear purpose is to help train those who will be the New Energy teachers on Earth. The future teachers are therefore currently students. At some point they will acquire a teacher's "consciousness." Do they then cease being students at that point? Do they stop learning once teacher mode is "switched on"? Clearly not. In fact I dare say the requirements for learning, if anything, increase when one takes on the mantle of "teacher." As we move into the New Energy and become creators of/using it, we realize that to be a teacher one must be a very good student - the better the student the better is the teacher in fact.

In the New Energy we no longer need to buy into the idea that a student is one who lacks knowledge or information (or anything else actually) and who must be properly instructed by a teacher who has "superior" knowledge/wisdom/understanding. That is old energy dualistic logic - a consciousness of limitation. So when does one actually become a teacher? Is it when one receives some sort of certificate that says they have met some external standard? Or do we become one when we recognize that each and every one of us has important knowledge, wisdom and experience that, by sharing with others, can assist them in their own expansion and development - as they so choose for themselves?

A teacher is not only a student but a leader as well. In the New Energy consciousness a leader does not control, dominate or otherwise hold undue influence over others. A leader in the New Energy is one who is willing to step forward and be a "way shower." One who picks up a torch - A STANDARD - to light the way for others along a dark path. A leader is one who takes responsibility for the self, who steps forward and says "I will go first." Yeshua did that 2000 years ago. He stepped forward without hesitation, without ego or bravado, effectively saying "I will lead the way now as an example in support of those who will choose to pick up the torch anew in a later generation." And so he did.

Today, all who recognize themselves as a Standard, Shaumbra and non, have Yeshua's example of leadership to help them blaze a new trail leading to the New Earth. Two thousand years later few have yet to recognize that Yeshua neither demanded, asked, nor even suggested that he himself be worshipped. His prayer and hope was that in time all would come to remember and know once again that Spirit raises up all! When we recognize that we are filled with Ain Soph Ohr we are automatically raised up in a non-dualistic sense (in such a manner that no one is "higher" than any other - all are at the "sky's the limit"!).

The honor principle

The Jewish people have prayers for just about everything one can think of. Most date back well before even Yeshua's time and no doubt he invoked many of them himself. Many begin with these 6 Hebrew words -

Is "the fear of The Lord" really fear or something else?

Many of us who were exposed to western religious training (indoctrination?) in our formative years can still recall being told something along the lines that "the fear of the Lord" is a necessary prerequisite for obeying His Word. Well there's a couple of assumptions implied by this. Let's examine them. First and foremost perhaps is the idea that Spirit requires that we obey It. This of course is now exposed as mythical. Spirit does not require our obedience. As Saint-German alluded to last month, there is divine purpose ordained for each of us that exists in the form of untapped possibility and potential. Life is synonymous with the fulfillment of such potential. When we choose to leave this potential unfulfilled (un-actualized) we are not living life to the fullest extent - we are pretty much just "going through the motions."

Another assumption inherent in the phrase "the fear of the Lord" is that Spirit is "other" - that God is separate or disconnected from us. We are beginning to recognize the fallacy of this assumption that has had such a profound impact on most everyone of my generation - the baby boomers. And it still has a huge effect on our world today, which we will continue to explore and discuss in this column. Suffice to say that God created humanity irrevocably interconnected with Herself - thus there exists no "other!"

Another assumption is that we are the ones who must be fearful of Spirit - in other words we interpret the phrase as an imperative to ourselves - "you better be afraid of Spirit" - when the original intention of the phrase may not have been as a commandment we must carry out. Fourth assumption is that fear means we should be afraid of and therefore shrink away from Spirit who is so much "bigger" than we are.

To see this from a different camera view - let's use our Spirit-gifted wisdom processes and ask some sensical questions like a scientist worth her salt does ;-). Where does this statement come from? Well it comes from the Torah (the Five Books of Moses). This tells us we need to go back to the original Hebrew and make sure we follow, as best we can, the thought-processes of the "channelers" of the words they scribed. In Hebrew the word yirah - יראה - with a gematria of 216 (a 9 energy) is usually translated as "fear." There is in Kabbalah a matrix of names of Spirit known as the 72 Names of God. Each one consists of 3 letters thus the total number of letters is 3 x 72 = 216. So we have a hint that "something's up" here. The word yirah - which supposedly means "fear" must be associated with this special set of names of Spirit in Kabbalah.

The expression in Hebrew from which "the fear of God" is translated as yirat Adonai - יראת יהוה. The gematria of these 2 words totals to 637 whose digits in turn sum to 7 (6 + 3 + 7 = 16; 1 + 6 = 7). Because the phrase includes a change of the word yirah to yirat this indicates that Spirit is the "owner" of yirah rather than it "belonging" to a human! It is Spirit's yirah not "ours." So does it make sense to say "God's fear"? Probably not completely. There must be another translation of yirah, and indeed there is. The word yirah comes from the Hebrew root verb yar - which means "to flow" as in a river, rain or manna from heaven! Therefore we can translate yirat Adonai as "God's flow" or "the flow from God." What is it that flows? One thing we know that flows from Spirit, is breath - the life-giving wind. The word in Hebrew for this is ruach - רוח. Its gematria is 214 whose digits also sum to 7, same as that of the phrase yirat Adonai.

In the Book of Proverbs (15:33) it says this: "Yirat Adonai is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor" (my emphasis). In the Book of Exodus (31:3) it states "And I have filled him with the breath (ruach) of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship." From this we also see the correspondence between the flow of Spirit and the breath of Spirit which has been breathed into all of us. Both lead to attainment of wisdom, understanding, knowledge and humility - which is a prerequisite for honor.

But what is it that is actually flowing from Spirit which is the chief "ingredient" if you will of ruach? Whatever it is, clearly it is what sustains us abundantly - related to the life force. It is abundance itself. The word in Hebrew for this abundance is shefa - שפע - whose gematria is 450 - a 9 energy same as that of the word yirah mentioned above. Thus, what we've been led to believe all along - that we should fear God - with all it's implications that God is other and remote from us - is in actuality Spirit's endless flow of abundance for us. This gift from Spirit (and ourselves) to ourselves is indeed Divine humanity's source of life-sustaining energy. As such it is worthy of our humble honor and deep respect.

Enter laughing - and do keep it up

Tobias began this month's shoud by reminding us that "humor is the lubricant" of the New Energy. Laughter is no doubt the best medicine. See the humor in life, even the irony in things that by all appearances in 4D reality can seem so dark and difficult, such as war and death. I shared with you last month the transitioning of my sister Madeline, 6 years my junior, on 12/26. The next day a group of our family, including Madeline's husband Robert and her son Ethan, age 9, met with their rabbi who would officiate at Madeline's funeral. In his office we all shared stories of Madeline's life.

At one point the rabbi asked little Ethan if he had a story about his mom. Ethan who is as precocious as his mom was at his age, told the rabbi that he enjoyed making trips with his parents to many places. Once, they went to Atlantic City (a seaside gambling mecca in New Jersey for those who are unfamiliar) to have some fun in the sun. The rabbi asked Ethan what did he do there? Ethan thought for a moment and replied "well my mom took me to the beach … while my dad went off to the casino to play with the slut machines." (somehow I doubt Ethan will be babysitting for Tobias' shell body Sam anytime soon ;-)).

Tobias pointed out how serious we have become, running around with blinders on, worried about a million things. We become so singularly focused on our day-to-day concerns - career, financial, education, family, "just making it", etc. We forget to lighten up, poke a little fun at ourselves and realize the nature of the 4D world we live in - that it is a "game" - a grand one, but a game nevertheless. I must remind myself often to not take things so seriously. Fortunately, I can count on my dear son Matthew, 14, to help me with that.

Last year, he spent a total of 80 days in a local children's hospital missing an entire year of school (he made straight A's anyway) and undergoing 3 major abdominal surgeries. We are very fortunate that he is here with us today. This was very much a prison experience for my family along with my sister's 2 year encounter with kidney cancer.

Thankfully Matthew is now almost completely recovered from his illness and getting back to a regular adolescent's life, albeit without a colon. He is one of my greatest teachers - and he never hesitates to let me know that. Recently, after attempting to provide some fatherly instruction to him (clearly a feeble attempt in his eyes), he asked "dad, are you sure that a real university actually awarded you a doctoral degree?" I told him I'd doublecheck the name on my diploma just to make sure.

The games we play

Kabbalah as well as other mystical traditions reminds us that the earthly reality is not the sole reality and that therefore it is likened to a game (this by the way is different from an illusion - stubbing my toe and tripping over the couch just isn't one in my book). Have you ever played a game that becomes "real serious", like high stakes poker or a sport? I played competitive basketball for over 3 decades. I tended to take the "heat of battle" of the game so seemingly seriously that my wife could not stand to watch me play. My energy was too intense for her.

For me, playing the game was a glorious personal experience. When I was on the basketball court I was in another world - a simpler one, with a few well-defined rules and explicit constraints where any level of achievement was possible through one's mental will and intense physical exertion. It took decades of playing the game to realize that there is a place where it all just "flows." Where intense efforting is not necessary (remember the movie The Matrix when Neo realizes he no longer needs to battle with Agent Smith? It is his moment of clarity - of "gnost" that he is indeed The One!). When the game was over I knew it was back to a different sort of game until the next round of "hoops."

Life on earth is a grand game - a very "real" one yes, but not the only one. Perspective, Tobias reminds us, makes a big difference in our outlook upon life. What is key is to periodically end "the game" and play a different one. With respect to 4D reality, one can do this by taking downtime. Renew, rest, refresh and rejuvenate - the 4 R's. By taking care of our selves - physically, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually and spiritually, we give ourselves more opportunities to create and potentiate New Energy. By doing this we also put ourselves in a much better position to assist others and to share New Energy with them.

What "stand behind the short wall" does and does NOT mean

Tobias tells us to stand behind the short wall - observe events in the world from a perspective that precludes your allowance of getting sucked in to a situation. But let's also be clear about what this statement does not mean. For one it doesn't mean to disengage oneself from caring about the world and what happens to people, or to not feel compassion toward/for them. It does not mean to lack a broader understanding of those situations (that is why Saint-Germain took us up to Angel's Peak last month where we can have an eagle eye's perspective of things). It does mean to be a caring observer without having to get sucked into dualistically-based conflicts.

Be an observer from several different positions behind that short wall. Think of new perspectives and New Energy ways of observing events and then how we might even assist the situations while not getting caught up in them. Silently projecting love and light may be one way, while taking good care of ones self automatically helps to resolve conflicts and collisions among others. Imagine if everyone chose to take responsibility for who they are and what they do - just imagine how far along we would be in constructing the New Earth.

Adopting "Standard Consciousness Technology" - a "gnosting" that you are the shining example of what a Divine human is, radiates outwardly and touches many in its energy "wake." Recognizing that others are indeed exactly where they choose to be (and therefore due to their self-sovereignty, is the best place for them to be!) frees us from interjecting ourselves into another's domain. A "key key" to expansion in the New Energy is that all must one day accept responsibility for who they truly are.

Shell body Sam and the new "science" of aspectology

Tobias discussed his shell body Sam that he is now "inhabiting." Tobias said this: "Sam is a creation. Sam is an aspect. Sam is part of my soul but yet has total freedom. You see, that is how it works. Sam was birthed out of a desire that went into an idea and then was created in a focus and now is manifested. But I don't own Sam. I am not all of Sam. He is a part of me; I am a part of him. But yet he has his own freedom. He has his own eyes, his own mind, his own heart, his own sense of identity- and that- by the way, is what gives me the greatest thrill - to know I have helped to create this but yet I don't control it."

If you recall, last month we discussed the nature of various types of systems - in particular {linear static reductionistic systems} and {nonlinear dynamical holistic systems}. The latter kind are more than the simple summation of their constituent parts. The pieces of such systems come together in a synergistic and facilitative manner such that it is an enhanced version beyond the mere linear addition of those pieces.

Tobias' statement above about Sam is evocative of just such a system. Sam is clearly not Tobias reconstituted. Sam indeed is an entirely new being created through the New Energy. Sam is a nonlinear amalgamation of the aspects that make him up. This includes the energy of Tobias but certainly not limited to his energy. Just as each one of us has aspects of our biological parents (and not just their DNA contributions) as well as those of possibly non-embodied entities, so it is for Sam as well. Based on Tobias' description therefore, Sam is not merely the reincarnation of Tobias. Sam is indeed fully Sam! - a newly embodied, sovereign Divine human - who happens to contain within him the energies of not only Tobias but his biological parents, possibly others as well as Spirit - yet Sam's energy essence is not merely the simple sum of these others' energies. As Tobias said "I am him, but not all of him."

This is analogous to how water is formed from hydrogen and oxygen. Two gases chemically combine to form a remarkable liquid that has none of the features of either gas! Although on a molecular level water consists of hydrogen and oxygen it is unique in its form and behavior with respect to the constituents that make it up.

This all may suggest that there is now a new form of embodiment. One that leads to a new (energy) creation rather than merely a unitary soul inhabiting a shell body - as in reincarnation. It begs the question that when we examine ourselves - in part by asking what are the various aspects that make up a "me" - what do we find? Do we find that we too, are "constructed" of many different aspects of ourselves? Do we find that we are one particular soul entity, do we find we are both made of many aspects AND we are one - that one being our greater self?

Tobias also said this "We knew each other in Atlantis. We knew each other in many different times, and that series or that progression of lifetimes just kept on building on itself. But Sam is different. It is total New Energy. It uses some of the resources of my past life aspects when necessary. It uses the resources of my grander self, To-Bi-Wah, who is also in the room today." It is a statement that we are each a unique, unified whole composed of myriad aspects.

Consider Yeshua for a moment. Many Christians say he will return, as himself. For all we know he has already, and his greater self is here now in fully embodied form. Indeed it may be that Yeshua is here in the same way that Sam is - as his own unique person - a shell body for Yeshua just as Sam is a shell body for Tobias. He would have human parents just like Sam does. Let's refer to this shell body as Josh. ;-) Would Josh even have a conscious inkling that his body is filled with Yeshua's soul-energy? Would Josh be the only shell body that Yeshua has so filled with his spirit?

If Josh came in knowing that he was Yeshua's shell body how easily (or not) would Josh move around in the world? If Josh eventually came to learn the truth about his shared essence with Yeshua, well into adulthood let's say, would that new information be useful or detrimental to living his life at this time? To the world? Sure makes me wonder. Sounds like the beginnings of an important new subject - aspectology. Stay tuned for Tobias' upcoming session next month for more on that!

The nature of Tobias' energy

Speaking of Sam, what is the nature of Tobias' energy that will fill him? (asked like a true scientist I know). This is a question also of "what's in a name?" Remember last time we discussed the significance of the name Michael. Let's play some more numerology games and explore Tobias' name, where it comes from and what it means.

The name Tobias is a Hellenized (Greek) version of the Biblical Hebrew name טוביה - Tobiah. This name is composed of two parts. Its first three Hebrew letters, tov, are a word which translates to "good." The last two letters are the same as the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton - יהוה - one of the most sacred and important names of Spirit known in Kabbalah, Judaism and Christianity. Since this particular Name has no vowels we do not know for sure how to pronounce it. Some say Jehovah, some Yahwah (or Yahweh).

When a Jew comes across this name in scripture or a book of prayer the 4-letter Name is not pronounced - rather a substitution such as "my Lord" ( אדני - Adonai) or The Name (השם - HaShem) is spoken instead. These first two letters of the 4-letter Name may be considered as representative of the masculine aspect of Spirit (the Divine Father) and the last two letters representative of the Divine Feminine (Mother). So Tobiah may be taken to mean "The Divine Father is good."

If we calculate the gematria of Tobiah by adding up the numerical equivalent of its Hebrew letters - they sum to 32. We pointed out last time that two words or phrases that have the same gematria number must be related in meaning somehow. The word for heart in Hebrew - לב- lev also has a gematria of 32!

Now If we transliterate the name Tobias into Hebrew - that is we phonetically spell it, we get - טוביעס. If we then compute the gematria of this combination of letters we find the sum to be 157, which when adding up its digits sums to 13. Recall that 13 is a number which symbolically says "love is one." But now consider (again) one of the oldest known and indeed "simplest" names for Spirit - אל - El. This Name can be translated as "The Powerful One of Authority." We will discuss the rationale for this translation another time (it happens to be most interesting). The gematria of this Name is 31, the reverse of 13! Thus Tobias is literally a reflection of Abba - the Divine Father, who indeed is "The Powerful One of Authority."

Tobias also spoke of his greater self in the shoud - Tobiwah - טוביוה - this name's last two letters are the same as the last two letters of the Tetragrammaton - which is the feminine aspect of Spirit. So Tobiwah can be translated as "The Divine Mother is good." The gematria of Tobiwah is 38 (and 3 + 8 = 11) and the gematria of the last two letters of the 4-letter name (vav + heh) is also 11. Thus the gematria confirms the Divine feminine aspects of the name Tobiwah.

Taken altogether as one, Tobias and his greater self Tobiwah are in essence a true merging of the Divine masculine and feminine and have an energy that reflects the statement "the goodness of The One (that) is the heart of love."

In the very beginning

Last month I spoke about the "physics" of reflection as a perennial mechanism of creation. Spirit reflects upon itself and One "begats" two more to make three! We discussed the significance of the number 13 read right to left as "3 in 1" or "3 is 1" - a number whose equivalent Hebrew words (by conventions of gematria) are ahavah - love - and echad - one. According to Kabbalistic legend and lore, the first act of creation is Spirit reflecting upon Self thus giving "birth" to the Divine Mother and Father essences.

This is the creation of the masculine and feminine, the first duality. Spirit, Mother and Father make "3 in 1." Kabbalah teaches that in order for a creation to be "birthed" a bounded, finite space or womb that initially holds nothing must first be formed. In the beginning legend holds, Spirit actually withdrew from Self thus creating this womb or finite vessel - the feminine. This very first act of creation (how could Spirit not be in ANY place?) referred to in Hebrew as the tzimtzum - is beyond the bounds of our minds to fully grasp.

Next, a very thin column of Spirit Light is projected into the vessel - in a sense impregnating it - the maculine principle. Because the space contained by the vessel is bounded and the Light is Endless (Ain Soph Ohr) the vessel is filled to capacity and then - shatters into pieces (in Hebrew referred to as shevirat ha-kelim)! We Divine humans, we Shaumbra came to Earth this time around to pick up those pieces - to repair the universe, a process referred to by the Kabbalists as tikkun olam. That process, as Tobias pointed out in the shoud - one that we have made the sober choice to participate in - is a difficult one. It is doing "the heavy lifting." It has meant having to endure many long, lonely dark nights of the soul.

Why would Spirit explode its very own creation? The answer was essentially provided by Tobias - "you are God also!" We Divine humans being one with Spirit are full partners in continuous creation. We are here not only to repair the shattered vessel, we are here to ever-extend creation in new directions and in new ways as full collaborators and partners with Spirit (reminds me a little of Captain Kirk's opening monologue in the original TV series Star Trek. We boldly go where no human has gone before!). We are going beyond the beyond now.

The four worlds of Kabbalah - a primer in creation

Following his discussion of Sam, Tobias spoke a great deal about the process of creation, taking one from the idea stage to the "manifest on Earth" stage. He also discussed some of the impediments we face in bringing those creations to life. Here I would like to introduce the four archetypal worlds of Kabbalah - a model of the creation process. The worlds referred to here are not physical ones, but rather conceptual ones. In truth there are many more than four worlds - in fact an infinite number as recognized by the so-called "many worlds hypothesis" of modern physics. But Kabbalah has always recognized four basic ones. A "world" in this sense can be thought of as a viewpoint through a camera lens, as a state of consciousness, or as a(n alternate) reality in the dimensional sense.

It turns out that these worlds parallel the "4 legs of the stool" of reality Tobias discussed back in July - Spirit/Divinity, gnost, mind and body. In the present shoud, Tobias said this in regards to the "4 marbles": "We talked a long time ago about the concept of the four marbles and how oftentimes when that new marble of divinity tried to come in, the other three would try to take it out - because they don't know how to handle it. They don't know how to bring it into the system that they have already established, and they have certain fear about it. So yes you're going to run into situations, challenges. That is the time for gnost."

The four worlds, just like the four marbles, make up an interconnected, integrated system - a network similar to that of the Tree of Life or the internet. The worlds are ordered from very "light and airy" to very dense (or considered equivalently in the reverse order from dense to light). In that order they are

• The World of Atziluth - אצילות - Nearness or emanation. Atziluth comes from the root verb form in Hebrew meaning "to emanate." It is considered the "lightest" world - the one "closest" to Spirit and to the ultimate unity of All That Is - in the words of the three musketeers: "all for one and one for all!" This world is filled with pure cosmic consciousness. It is the birthplace of ideas and imagination. Its elemental sign is Fire - the animating energy that fuels all of life (the word for life in Hebrew, Chai - חי - is indeed another name of Spirit). Fire is Light! This world is represented by the first letter of the Tetragrammaton (The 4-letter Divine Name of Spirit) - yod, י - the smallest letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet. Yod is the 10th letter and represents the Divine spark of consciousness. You'll note that every Hebrew letter consists of at least one yod - they each contain the "signature" of divinity!
  
  The creative process begins with the soul desire as Tobias spoke about. Soul desire is related to the concept of will - "Thy Will and my will are one!" When we are open and in acceptance of all (we stand behind the short wall), we allow our soul desire to operate within us and flow out (yirah!) into the world. In so doing we align ourselves with Spirit and therefore with our true selves, which are one. Our soul desire must first have room for itself - thus a vessel with sufficient space to hold it must be readied. A womb is a vessel (a home) that holds a fetus and before the birth of the child we must make her room ready!
  
  Will is an emanation of the fact that each of us is sovereign with respect to self and in the "eyes" of Spirit. Kabbalistic lore says that we wear a symbolic crown which was placed upon our heads by Spirit during a glorious coronation ceremony (don't you remember? ;-)). That oughta help us keep those ideas coming!



• The World of Beriyah - בריאה. The word beriyah is most commonly translated as the noun "creation." It comes from the root verb in Hebrew bara - ברא - usually translated as "to create." However, Hebrew actually does not have a word which means "to create" - in the sense of creating something out of nothing. In the book of Genesis the word beriyah is used to mean "filled" or "fattened" as in a fat cow (vs. a lean one). So the World of Beriyah is the World of Fat (no comment, other than that we expect Tobias to have plenty to say about this on March 9th upcoming ;-)). Seriously though, the verb bara can be taken to mean "to fill up" or "to fatten." How about "to expand" as in the expansion of the universe that immediately followed the Big Bang?
  
  This world's elemental sign is Air - certainly a substance used to fill things with. God fills Adam with ruach - Spirit-infused breath of life. Beriyah is also the world of sound, more specifically of tone (music) which fills the air. So in this world, the idea/thoughtform from the World of Emanation receives a "home" where it can expand to fill the space. The seed of the idea has been planted, is fed, and begins to grow. The World of Beriyah is represented by the second letter of the Tetragrammaton - heh, ה - which is the 5th letter of the aleph-bet. Heh actually means to take seed for oneself for sowing.



• The World of Yetzirah - יצירה - "formation", from the Hebrew verb root yatzar - יצר - to form, produce, occur or devise. Once the seed-idea begins the germination-expansion process, it must be formed or "molded" into shape. This is done by working with the idea like a potter works with clay on a wheel. The idea needs to be given shape, guidance toward manifesting it out into the world. No two ways about it, that work requires discipline, overcoming of fears (as Tobias discussed) and "staying the course." This world is represented by the 3rd letter of the Tetragrammaton vav, ו - the 6th letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet. The pictographic representation of the vav is a hook, tent peg, or the spinal column. It is therefore a type of connector - it is even used grammatical to represent the article "and" in speech. In the worlds paradigm it forms a bridge between the conception and gestation of an idea and the birth of that idea into manifest form in the earthly realm. It also is represented by the element of water and by number. Water is shape-changeable and can easily and smoothly take on the form of its container. Pythagoras the Greek mystical mathematician derived his work from the Kabbalistic system (ask Kuthumi!).



• The World of Assiyah - עשייה - "making." From the Hebrew verb root asah - עשה - to make, do, cause, or bring about. This is the world of action in our 4D reality, the world of so-called material form. It represents the "final common pathway" where every thought crystalizes into form. In Kabbalah all other worlds exist for this one and "serve it" in a very real sense. "This is where the action is!" Here is where one's idea is made manifest in the world. Here's where "you do have to make those phone calls. You do have to send emails. You do have to write out a few checks, and the good news is you do have to go pick up all of your books and haul them." as Tobias said. And here is where you also get to enjoy the fruits of your labors! This world is represented by the last letter of the Tetragrammaton - the final heh which in this sense also represents the hips and legs of humans. Here on planet earth, ya gotta walk the walk, not just talk the talk! The corresponding elemental sign is Earth and the actual names of objects - their visual form is key here.

How to succeed by attempting to fail

One of our greatest teachers also is what is referred to in the 4D world as "failure." I have had my share of being told "you screwed up" and even "You ARE a screw up." However one chooses to shade it with words - whether one calls it failure, the much kinder/gentler "not having achieved objectives", testing, experiencing, or experimenting with, Tobias reminds us that there is a greater truth about what it is. One's perspective and "camera view" through which they look are the keys. Tobias mentioned the example of Thomas Edison - scientist/engineer extraordinaire - who "failed" so much more often than he succeeded and realized that it is not about the end result of one's labors. One's legacy resides in the questions they pose and about the journey they take - the highways and byways one chooses to travel upon. How willing are you to take risks and "fail"? The more you are the more you will succeed. Are you willing to possibly "upset the apple-cart"? Say or do something that will be seen as controversial, not just for controversy's sake, but because it will assist in opening up or advancing consciousness?

We all know how an infant learns about her world. She must try to do many different things and be exposed to many types of stimuli in order for the process of childhood development to proceed smoothly and normally. The brain grows and develops in an atmosphere of maximal exposure to novel stimuli in the individual's environment. If the eyes are taped shut and images are not allowed to pass into the visual cortices in the occipital lobes of one's brain those areas will simply not develop properly.

The neurons in our brain are each sophisticated, conscious and highly social beings. There are as many as between 20 and 100 billion of them in a typical adult brain. Each one functions as a true embodiment of the saying "reach out and touch someone." Like a plant or tree, they must have the proper amount of "grow food nutrients" in the form of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides (electrochemical substances that carry "data" throughout the brain and other parts of the body). In the absence of stimuli received from the person's environment (through the ordinary sense organs) one will become "mind blind" - the brain's neurons will lack adequate neurotransmitter input to enable their "root systems" - called the dendrites (meaning "tree") to arborize and "hook-up" with their neuronic (not moronic ;-)) neighbors. Here's a conceptual diagram of a neuron in case you wish to hook up your consciousness with a healthy one of these babies using your Standard Technology ...

Aren't they adorable? I'm keeping my pair! ;-)

Have you hugged a tree lately?

By the way, a neuron resembles and even functions similarly to a tree, in turn the whole brain does as well. This is interesting. One of the key symbols of Kabbalah (as well as of many cultures and native peoples) is the so-called Tree of Life - the Etz Chaim (אץ חיים) - in Hebrew. The phrase, Tree of Life, means that a tree is indeed a model or representation of life. Not only that, it is understood in Kabbalah as the "scaffolding" or blueprint of each Divine human. This blueprint is a type of "fuzzy" (inexact) reflection or shadow of Spirit. Accordingly, in a very real sense each one of us is a unique instantiation of a symbolic and virtual Tree of Life (and you "beatle-boomers" thought you were a walrus, ooohh). Isn't it interesting that the 3 pound universe we call the brain is a "self-replicating" model of a Tree with fractal geometric properties (see last month's article for discussion on fractals)?

This month we celebrated a relatively minor Jewish holiday but an important Kabbalistic one referred to as the New Year of Trees (Tu B'Shevat in Hebrew). I realize there's no need to discuss the importance of trees with you here, especially with respect to the whole earth - Gaia, global warming controversy, etc. The question for the moment is: when's the last time you hugged a tree? When's the last time you helped plant one somewhere? Love the trees and you will feel even more love within you.

The Tree of Life is in effect a networked system consisting of 10 basic energy centers called sefirot and 22 interconnecting links among them (the latter are represented by the 22 basic Hebrew letters). All together, the 32 are referred to as The Paths of Wisdom. In turn, each sefirah contains within it its own Tree of Life! Within each sefirah of that Tree is contained another entire Tree, and so on, ad infinitum. This immediately tells you that the Tree of Life embodies self-referentiality - just like a fractal or a hologram - and that the Etz Chaim is unlimited, without bound. The true center of the Etz Chaim - the very heart of the Tree - is the sefirah known as Tiferet, תפארת - meaning "beauty." Recall from the discussion of Tobias' name that 32 - the number of Paths of Wisdom within the Tree - is the gematria for the Hebrew word lev - meaning "heart." Thus the very heart of the Tree - your heart - is the beautiful essence of love residing at its center.

The paths that advance and enhance us

So it's plain to see that a major learning system for us throughout our life cycle is going down paths that end up as so-called dead ends. But here's the interesting thing - whenever one goes down such a path and finds a dead end or "hits a wall" - they almost always if not always have the opportunity to turn around and try another option, one that has a higher probability now of leading to one's objective. What you've learned is that the former pathway does not advance your objectives. Scratch that one off the list and move onward and upward.

In Kabbalistic thought when we traverse a pathway that takes us away from our true inner selves - away from what best serves us and therefore further from the Light of Spirit within - we may be engaging in an "opportunity lost". When we persist on such a course and choose not to turn ourselves around and select a course that serves us better - this is what is referred to in scripture as "sin." We always have the opportunity to turn ourselves around and seek a better course for ourselves - one that moves us toward ascension most efficiently and effectively. The Kabbalists refer to this act as t'shuvah in Hebrew. This word is most commonly translated as "repentance" but actually the word more accurately means "to return" - specifically to turn oneself around and move toward The Light of Spirit - Ain Soph Ohr. How we negotiate these various pathways in our lives will be seen to relate more and more to the New Energy physics that Saint-Germain discussed last time and Tobias did this month as well.

This is also similar to Saint-Germain's discussion last month about collisions. Failure is nothing more than a type of collision. We determined last month that collisions are opportunities for learning, expansion, and growth in the New Energy - if only one can get beyond the drama of the collision event itself. We also said that we can re-cast "collisions" in a kinder-gentler way as "energies interacting with each other" - that is exactly what they are from an (new) energetic physics point of view. Many of us experienced collisions this past month in our own interactions (for example on the message board). Tobias pointed out that what we were doing was experimenting with these as a way of "inoculating" ourselves so as to better understand the crashes we will be witnessing "out there" in the 4D world this year. What a great way for us to see the bigger picture of our own energetic interactions with each other in terms of the purpose we ourselves set up by doing so.

A dark night of the soul … and a spiritual awakening

I sustained a serious injury to my cervical spine in October of 1992 (unrelated to basketball) - several spinal discs in my neck became herniated causing an almost immediate and profound loss of much of the motor functioning of my right (dominant) arm.

My son was 6 months old at the time. This experience lead to my first major spiritual "awakening". I was told by no less than one orthopedic surgeon, 3 neurosurgeons and 3 neurologists that I needed spinal neurosurgery immediately to repair the damage or possibly lose the use of my right arm altogether. This experience was a deep dark night of the soul for me - I was literally frightened out of my wits (well, it did happen around Halloween!).

I felt so terribly alone and isolated, even given the remarkable support of my wife. The surgery would have been quite risky and I would have faced a 13 week convalescence wearing a hard collar where I would be unable to work. As a young assistant professor employed on a tenuous year-to-year contract at the time, I feared the possible consequences of being "out of action" for that long. There was even a chance of waking up from the surgery with permanent paralysis.

After a dismal week of doctor's visits, my dear sister told me about a chiropractor she was seeing in Staten Island, New York. She told me he was "unconventional" and that she sensed that he could help me. I called him up and discussed the situation. He told me in no uncertain terms that the surgeons "did not know what they were talking about" - he did not feel I needed surgery - and he invited me to come to New York for 2 weeks so he could treat me in that period. Nervously, I left my wife and infant son in Houston and headed northeast.

The chiropractor was a "young buck" - a large, muscular fellow in his early 30's. Obviously a very confident, bright and innovative person. Looking back though, it was none of those things that made the difference. It was this energy healer's heart of lovingkindness that did. We clicked immediately and had long discussions about how the body, mind and spirit work together. He treated me everyday as he promised, using some innovative methods he was experimenting with. I played the role of human guinea pig.

After those first two weeks of treatment my symptoms stabilized. He continued to treat me over a period of several months. Some time later I began a course of physical therapy to repair my damaged arm muscles. After a little over one year I returned to playing competitive basketball - as intensely as before the injury. I felt renewed. I played for about 2 more years until I decided to "retire" from competitive playing. My cervical spine has been fine since, my arm is still stable and functioning quite well today (there is functional reduction and reduced range of motion but you wouldn't detect it unless you put me through a functional capacity exam). I have continued to play basketball all these years noncompetitively. When I'm on the court I still occasionally imagine myself as one of the greats of the game, a true legend in my own mind (I assure you nobody else's ;-)).

Emma's story

Tobias took us back to the year 1965 and related the story of young Emma - which represents the story of Shaumbra in this lifetime. At the end of it I felt a bittersweet sadness and had tears in my eyes and I know it affected many of you similarly. Clearly it was a story that resonated within the core of us - a validation of everything we have experienced not just since 1965 but over many lifetimes. I do believe that the story is a metaphor for a much longer period in which we have waited to come back to earth to be here in this exciting time of the dawning of the New Earth and the New Way. 1998 was the year in which I "dived fully into the ocean" of Kabbalah - a turning point for me. I ran from it in fear for several years prior. I was not ready to fully immerse myself in its waters as I knew I eventually would.

It has been a long, lonely, difficult journey which many of us traversed in this world as virtual outcasts. I use the world virtual here because in truth the word "outcast" does not apply to us as we are Spirit. It was only because we bought into the propaganda of humans who had chosen the path of amnesia that we allowed ourselves to be hypnotized into believing we were outcasts. This journey - with all it's twists and sharp turns has been one not only perfectly appropriate for us, but one that has truly evolved us in such a way that we have made ourselves totally ready for the ascension to this next level now. Having been "fired in the kiln" for so long, we have finally emerged victorious. The long preparations have been successfully concluded and the feast is about to begin! The Kabbalists refer to this time as an extended Sabbath - a time when efforting is no longer necessary and when Peace - Shalom - will ultimately prevail. May it be so for each of us as we go forth, together as one!

Last time I said that the physics of reflection may be represented symbolically by the mechanism of the palindrome - a word or number that is identical when read forwards or backwards, such as the word "racecar" or the number 1221. We mentioned that exact palindromes lead to creation by precise replication - a linear form of generation. We also mentioned near-palindromes that lead to a kind of inexact replication - a nonlinear form of production. Notice that the name Emma is a near-palindrome. Coincidence perhaps? (or maybe Tobias read my column last month ;-)).

The name Emma means whole, complete, embracing all, universal. Emma is also actually the name that children who speak Hebrew call their moms (pronounced ee-ma). A related word Amma - also Hebrew for Mother - is an exact palindrome as is the Hebrew word for father - Abba. Seems Tobias did not pick the name Emma at random.

We are now complete. Welcome back Home.

Epilogue

Once again it looks like I won't qualify for any awards for brevity this go around. What the heck - I'll use Tobias' line here (what's he gonna do to me?) "when you become succinct we become succinct." (ouch! I just felt a sharp jab in the behind! Now, now Tobias - humor, humor!). Well, better luck next time. ;-)

Thank you very much for joining me this month.

Michael E. Brandt is a tenured medical professor and research scientist-engineer working in a major health sciences university in the Houston Texas Medical Center. He has degrees in physics (BS) and biomedical engineering (MS and PhD). He has performed research into the human brain-mind, the heart, and the immune system for over 24 years. But his "real" work is in teaching how science and Spirit relate to each other. He applies this information in his counseling and Kabbalistic healing practice. For further information please link to www.DivineHealingPrayers.com.

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© Copyright 2007 Dr. Michael E. Brandt, Houston, TX, who is solely responsible for the contents herein.