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During the days of Passover and Easter, I was reflecting on how the impact (or lack of impact) of religious teachings on our lives is directly related to the level of meaning and understanding we are able to access. Most of us have not been taught to distinguish the different levels of meaning, and religious celebrations are often not designed to give us access to the deeper levels of meaning where real personal transformation can occur.
Then I received in the mail a wonderful article called, "The Passover Lantern," by Rabbi Yisrael Rice of Chabad of Marin, located north of San Rafael, CA. Rabbi Rice infuses his teachings with the principles of the mystic Kabbalah. These principles illuminate the meaning of Passover at the level that can transform us directly if we embrace them (I have included a portion of Rabbi Rice's article below, with his kind permission).
In most Wisdom traditions, at least four levels of meaning are distinguished regarding understanding the meaning of sacred writings and traditions. I'll use the holiday (holy day) of Passover as an example of this, as it has meaning at some level in both the Jewish and Christian Traditions (in the story of Easter, the "Last Supper" of Jesus and his disciples is the Passover Seder).
Four Levels of Meaning
1. Understanding the Story
In the case of Passover, this would be understanding it at its most surface level of meaning. This is understanding the linear story of the characters of Moses, Pharaoh, and the drama of the Hebrew people's exodus from Egypt after being freed from slavery under the yoke of the Pharaoh. This is the level of the movie, "The Ten Commandments." We either believe it really happened or we don't. At this level of meaning, the Passover Seder ---the communal meal when all gather together to celebrate the beginning of the eight days of Passover --- is a joyous time to socially connect and bond with family and friends, read the story, sing songs, and eat wonderful food.
2. Understanding the Story as a Historical Event
At this level of meaning, the story is understood as the reporting of an actual historical event which took place in the past, and with which we can identify. At this level, the holiday is about remembering, identifying with and honoring this event in history.
3. Understanding the Symbols
This is the level at which a person asks, "What does the story of Passover have to do with me?" At this level, each aspect of the Passover meal is a symbol for some aspect of the Passover story that we can connect to our own lives. At this level of meaning, the eating of Matzo (unleavened bread), and the other aspects of the meal, each has personal meaning. These symbols invite us to appreciate the miracles of Passover, and to directly experience gratitude for the grace and blessings of God, and the gift of freedom from slavery in the past and the present. We leave the Seder table with the wish that all humanity live with inner and outer freedom.
4. Understanding the Meaning of the Story as an Instruction Manual for Enlightenment
Many of the Wisdom teachings of the past were written and told in the form of parables and metaphors. This was particularly necessary at a time when most people could not read, and a method for passing on abstract principles and experiences that went beyond words was needed. The mind remembers stories much easier than abstract principles. The story seemed like the best vehicle for communicating universal principles in a way people could remember them. At this level of meaning, the holiday of Passover is not about "them" or about the past. It is a living presence, meant to illuminate and transform our lives the moment that we embrace its Truth as our own.
This is the level of meaning where belief is not longer necessary. It drops away, to be replaced by direct experience and knowing.
For Christians, to understand the Passover Seder at this level of meaning is to understand another aspect of the significance of the "Last Supper" for Jesus and his disciples (all of whom were Jewish).
I invite you to read the portion of Rabbi Yirael Rice's article that I have included below. It shows us that this deeper meaning of Passover is about our own personal journey of return --- shifting from identifying ourselves as a victim of our limited False Self (Pharaoh), to recognizing and living from the infinite Divine Light and Oneness that is our true soul's nature. Enjoy!
The Passover Lantern by Rabbi Yisrael Rice
Giving you something to think about on the Seder night until the brisket arrives.
The Exodus from Egypt�. are we there yet?
So, we've been doing the Seder now for about 3,275 years! I know, it feels like it (especially when my Uncle Morty is conducting.) For the first thousand or two years, I understand. But eventually we must ask "What is the point, we are already out of Egypt for over 3,000 years?"
Or are we?
To better understand why we need to wait hours for the Matzah balls and the brisket, we need to take a deeper look at Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is "Mitzrayim," which means constrictions, limitations or boundaries. The state of Egypt represents a state of mind, one where everything is separate and apart. There is no connection between a person and the world, a person and another or a person and his or her own soul.
We find this state of Mitzrayim in family, community and in the world. When our focus is on our self, then our words become walls and our deeds become demarcations. This could all be natural, and even be part of our predisposition to survive as the fittest. However, it is only the survival of a compromised body without the benefit of the soul. It stems from the inner state of Mitzrayim. The true exodus from Egypt is removing the Egypt from within.
How is this done? What energy could possibly illuminate the barriers and limitations? With which light could we see the innate oneness of our universe and our connection with it? What force could draw us out of the boxes in which we think and in which we live?
The way to break through the barriers is to bring out their internal truth. All of the divisions in life are actually vehicles for oneness. A world (or person) was created with so many contradictory parts to give us the opportunity to draw in the Divine oneness.
We do this through words and actions that illustrate that all is part of One. Everything and anything in existence can be brought into the holy awareness of the Infinite Source. Part of this process entails subduing those elements that project the ego of self as well as the ego of the universe.
In the Hagadah we say: "On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt"-I, and not an angel; "I will slay every first-born in the land"-I, and not a seraph; "I will wreak judgment on all the gods of Egypt"-I, and not a deputy; "I am God"-I, and no other.
Why was this revelation necessary? Because it was this essential light that was needed to not only take the Jewish People out of Egypt, but to extract Egypt from within each Jewish person.
In the Essential Infinite Light, all is one; all is united. Through our actions on Earth we are able to make this real here in the physical, where one would least expect it.
-- Hal Isen
From Core Wisdom On-Line Number 29 - May 5, 2003
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