Malchut | Jewish Kabbalah Meditation: "Grounded Presence"
"Permeating Presence" Parshat Eikev & Malchut
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The third parshah of Sefer Devarim continues with Moses’ closing address to the Children of Israel, promising them that if (Eikev) they will fulfill the mitzvot, they will prosper in the Land – a “good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey…”
Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korakh and the sin of the spies. But he also speaks of forgiveness and the Second Tablets, instructing them in the core principles of “circumcising the heart,” and the mitzvah to “love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Moses explains that their forty years in the desert, during which they were sustained with daily “manna” from heaven, was to teach them “that a human being does not live by bread alone, but by all that emanates from God’s mouth does a person live!” Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven species” – wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates. He warns them to be aware, lest they become arrogant and begin to believe of themselves that “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth…”
Torah of Awakening
וְהָיָ֣ה עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְשָׁמַר֩ יְהֹ-וָ֨ה אֱלֹ-הֶ֜יךָ לְךָ֗ אֶֽת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃ And it will be if you listen to these discernments and guard them and do them, then Hashem your God will guard for you the covenant and the kindness which was sworn to your ancestors… - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 7:12 Parshat Eikev
Part of the purpose of meditation is to get free from negative thinking. But, there are times when our view of Reality is distorted by positive thinking; for example, when you hear the word, “Nature” – what comes to mind? Most likely, a beautiful forest, a beach, a sunset over the mountains. Probably not the smell of rotting food…but this is too is nature! And yet, we don’t think of stinky, rotting food because, for most of us, it doesn’t invoke that sense of awe and spaciousness that we associate with nature.
And yet, if we bring to mind the inner intelligence of the natural cycles and the roles that microorganisms play as we encounter the stinky rotten food, something shifts. The unpleasant smell is still there, but it lives in a greater context; we can still have that element of awe and reverence, if we remember to evoke it. The same is true of the sacred. When we think of the sacred, an image of burning candles or holy texts may come to mind, because those things help evoke a sense of the sacred. But the sacred is simply the dimension of Being-ness that everything participates in; the sacred is ever-present. Just as in the nature example, we can know this for ourselves, if we remember to become present, to bring ourselves into connection with present Reality, and hence with the Presence that infuses all things. There was once a king who decided to test his subjects, so he had all the riches of his palace brought out into a huge field, while he sat on a raised throne in the center. He invited everyone in the kingdom to come and pick one thing to take for themselves. Droves of people came and wandered around anxiously, trying to decide what to choose. Then, a little old woman made her way through the field and up to the king. “Is it true that we can take anything in the field?” she asked the king. “Yes,” he replied, “everything in this field is available. You just have to decide which one to choose.” “In that case,” said the old woman, “I choose you!” This is our task – to not be distracted by all the seductive things, experiences, or thoughts and feelings that are constantly coming and going, but to see through them all to the underlying Reality – to “choose the King,” so to speak. The message is: all the forms we perceive, all objects, all beings, all perceptions, all feelings, all thoughts – all of it – all are forms of the same One Reality that we call the Divine. The Divine is not remote; it is not somewhere other than Here. All we need do is remember and choose It. וְהָיָ֣ה עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה... And it will be if you listen to these Mishpatim, ethical principles… At first glance, this verse, with its use of the word mishpatim, seems to be saying the opposite. Mishpatim are ethical laws, grounded in the perspective that there is good and bad, right and wrong – which is in contrast to seeing the Divine in all things, transcending good and bad, going beyond right and wrong. And yet, on a deeper level, there is a hint in this verse of the non-dual, of the realization of the Divine that permeates everything, beyond good and bad: וְהָיָ֣ה עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן – It will be if you listen… The word עֵקֶב Eikev literally means “heel.” In this context it is understood to mean the word “if,” in the sense of one thing “following on the heels” of another thing, if. The word וְהָיָ֣ה v’hayah means “it will be,” but it is also the same letters as the Divine Name, in a different order: יה – וה yod hei and vav hei. The idea here is that in order for us to realize the underlying Divinity of everything, then even our heels, the bottom and most insensitive parts of the body, must become sensitive to the Divinity that permeates all things. There is a hint in the word Eikev itself: ayin, koof, bet. Ayin means “eye” and indicates seeing, meaning perception. Koof represents kedushah, meaning “the sacred.” Bet is bayit, meaning “house,” indicating form. Thus, within the word Eikev itself is encoded the practice of “seeing” through to the “sacred” dimension which is “housed” in all things. How do we do that? וְהָיָ֣ה עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן “The Divine is realized by the heel that listens…” In other words, bring awareness into the senses. The s’firah of Presence in form, the Divinity that infuses all things, is called Malkhut, which means “Kingdom” – the tenth s’firah of the Tree of Life. “Kingdom” may have a masculine sound to it, but it’s meaning is actually Sh’khinah, a feminine word which means the Divine Presence, and has been pictured over the centuries as a queen, as a bride, and as a maiden. In this spirit, Malkhut also represents receptivity, as it receives the influx of Divine energy from the other nine sefirot. The message is: all the forms we perceive, all objects, all beings, all perceptions, all feelings, all thoughts – all of it – all are forms of the same One Reality that we call the Divine. The Divine is not remote; it is not “somewhere” other than Here. All we need do is remember and receive It.
Read past teachings on Eikev HERE
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