Black Aether
Lightning Flash of Alef: Volume 6
This dark visionary upheaval turns the animal sacrifice of the Hebrews back upon itself. The sacrificial beast is the expanse of reality itself, and the smoldering fire upon which it is offered arises spontaneously from its own flesh. Both flesh and fire are divine (as all things ultimately are). The divine offers itself to itself through itself. This is the ultimate metaphor for the predicament of consciousness in the act of mystical devotion, and it calls all identity into question. This central metaphor unfolds in a variety of ways in the book, punctuated with a multitude of esoteric correspondences. As well, six images that comprise an esoteric serial narrative are included.
If we hold ourselves as separate observers of reality, we will never understand reality. Contemplative mysticism is like a wild beast that consumes itself upon the fires of its own life force. The labyrinth of impressions that constitute so-called “ordinary” life are incinerated whole as a single sacrificial offering as the mind confronts the endless expanse of its own confusions and pain. This becomes the great tikkun (repair) for a seemingly meaningless random universe based on cognitive error. Reality is then absorbed within the very space that presents it, familiarity passes into oblivion, and an astonishing secret nutrient becomes available to all those who seek it.
In this style of contemplative practice, the psycho-aetheric toxins that obscure phenomena are sipped like a bee draws nectar from a flower and the universal solvent called black aether is discovered in the heart of the most virulent and poisonous klipot (shells of superficiality). The black aether dissolves and annihilates the whole field of illusions, and as each obstructive shell evaporates into nothingness the secret elixir of En Sof overflows through whatever appears. When delusion is overcome only En Sof remains, and reality is spontaneously reborn as profound truth, beauty, and goodness. This realization is the true goal of the great work.
10x10 Clothbound hardcover book
172 Pages
Smyth sewn
Blocked in silver metallic
French fold dust jacket
Custom endpapers
43 Images
