Ottoman Palestine. Wikipedia defines Kabala as “a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation). Kabala seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence.”
Actually, it is staggering how many ideas passed through these esoteric teachings are now seriously considered as plausible by modern science (it would take a blog the length of a book to list them all). Kabalist teachings refer to a space/time continuum in the 16th Century, when the first reference to space/time as a mathematical concept was not made until 1754 by Jean le Rond d’Alembert.
In Kabala there is a model called the tree of life; a diagram used to describe the path to god and the way god created the universe. The “tree” is composed of ten circles forming three triangles: the highest points up, two triangles pointing down, and a single circle hangs pendant at the bottom.
There is an allegorical story demonstrated in the model of the tree that proposes we all began as limitless light, until for some reason (perhaps curiosity) god allowed a tiny part of itself to shrink out of the universe, the (w)hole divided into two, and thus god was able to know itself as itself. Creation, according to Kabalist teaching, was just part of an almighty domino effect that escalated from this point: as soon as god was able to have awareness of itself as itself, infinity was created (for god could only experience itself as the infinite). The ten circles, or Sephiroth are said to represent the ten emanations (including time/space) through which god creates and continues to create infinitely, manifesting an everlasting chain (of which we all are a vital link) from the metaphysical to the physical dimensions.
It was a Belgian priest, Georges Lamaitre, who first proposed the Big Bang theory in 1931. Lamaitre believed the universe arose from a singularity of virtually no size, which gave rise to the dimensions of space and time, in addition to all matter and energy. Scientists now believe that all of the universe-to-be existed as a point of no volume prior to the Big Bang and at least 9 dimensions of space existed as what is called a singularity.
Whether this universe was created by accident in a bang, or under the behest of the divine will, I just find it interesting to consider the points where mystics and scientists agree. Perhaps modern science is the new religion and the only credible way we can ever prove the infinite mysteries of god, our churches are now labs and our priests in lab coats; god is in the test tube and it is left to all of us to conclude on the results.
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein.
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