Publisher's Synopsis
Chaye Ha-Olam Ha-Ba is Abraham Abulafia's masterpiece, and a primer on prophetic Kabbalah. Prophetic Kabbalah is a special flavor of Jewish mysticism that owes its name to the Abulafian School. It is different from every other type of Kabbalah, because it does not talk about Sefirot, divine emanations, worlds, etc., but concerns itself with the inner transformation of the self and the direct experience of God. Through the aid of the Hebrew letters and various meditation techniques, the apprentice is led into higher states of consciousness, in order to know his God that created him. Enlightenment is the outcome of those techniques, which open the gates of a new world - the World to Come, or the Next World - to the sincere seeker. The system in Chaye revolves specifically around the 72 Names of God, which are the Expanded Name YHVH. It requires much concentration, because it is not easy, but it is one of the most astonishing techniques. Abulafia describes it as "scientific," because touching certain "divine frequencies" something is going to surely happen. Maybe it will not happen at once, but nevertheless the holy mechanism will begin its motion, and sooner or later this has to lead somewhere. "And when you prepare yourself to speak with your Creator, and ask to be informed of His Decrees, be mindful to clear your thought of all the clutter of the world. And wrap yourself with a prayer shawl, and wear Tefillin on your head and your hand if you can, so that you will be in awe and fear of the Shekinah, which is there with you at that time. And clean yourself and your clothes; and if you can, be sure that your clothes are all white, for all this is very conducive to the intention of love and awe. And if it takes place at night, light many candles until you can see well. Then, take ink, a quill, and a board in your hands. And let them stand as witnesses before you that you are coming to make worship to YHV"H your God with joy and a good heart. And begin with a Permutation of a few letters with the many; and invert them and revolve them quickly, until your heart warms up with their revolutions. And pay attention to their motions and what you produce with their revolutions. And when you feel within you that your heart has heated up with the Permutations, and that with them you came to understand new things that you had not received by Kabbalah from another person and had not come to know through your intellectual contemplation, then now you are ready to receive the Influx." (Chaye Ha-Olam Ha-Ba)
