- The Jewish God YHVH (Jahweh), is a close equivalent to the Hindu mantra; AUM
יהוה
As today is the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which is the most solemn and sacred day in the Jewish Calendar, it seems an appropriate time to talk about the most sacred of all names of God: Jahweh or Jehovah.
The name Jahweh is unique in that it does not appear to have any equivalent in other older Semitic traditions; EL for example has a clear precedent in ancient Mesopotamian worship, as the consort of Ashera. Jahweh is composed of four Hebrew letters: Yod, Heh, Vav and Heh (YHVH). It was uttered in the presence of Almighty God in the Holy of Holies once a year by the High Priest, on the Day of Atonement in the Temple in Jerusalem. It has not however been used in its literal form by observant Jews since the destruction of the second temple in 70AD, being considered far too sacred to be pronounced casually. It is pronounced as ADONOI, meaning: my Lord. This sense of awe will still be felt by many observant Jews in the Synagogue at tonight's Kol Nidre service when they ask for God's forgiveness from all their sins. That is something that today perhaps many people increasingly no longer feel. But the sense of transcendence that it evoked for many seers and saints in the past, inspired them to compose great poems that expressed their love and devotion to the Almighty God.
The Bible presents us with the two most commonly occurring names of God, Jahweh and Elohim. These names have been used in the past (starting with Wellhausen et al in the 1860s), to ascribe multiple authorship to the composition of Biblical texts. It was previously commonly held through faith, that the Old Testament was a single text, which came directly from God through Moses. That remained largely true until the 19th century, when European scholars, following the rational thought processes of the Enlightenment, proposed a Documentary Hypothesis that ascribed multiple authorship to the Bible. The basis of this theory rested partly on variations in the use of the names of God, and it was suggested that there may have been at least four or five different authors, the last of which redacted the text into the Bible that we know today in around the sixth century BC. One of these authors is called 'J', after his specific use of the name Jahweh in parts of Genesis. Jahweh also occurs together with ELOHIM in Genesis 3, and although this is quite rare, it did not fit well into the Documentary Hypothesis, which differentiated between text where either Jahweh or ELOHIM is used. This has given rise in Biblical scholarship, to many iterations of the original 19th century theory. In 'The Seventh Day' however, I propose that the use of the names of God was much more deliberate, and were selected on the basis of their mystical significance and position on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
Jahweh is the most holy of all Hebrew names of God. One could say that it is not really a 'name' at all, but that it has more in common with a sacred mantra in Indian tradition. Today Jahweh is not popular, many feel that he is an implacable, angry, jealous, domineering, anti-feminist God, who slew the enemies of Israel in cold blood. But that is to seriously underestimate what we can know about Jahweh. The letters YHVH represent something far vaster and all-encompassing about the nature of reality than we have hitherto been able to understand. What is even more surprising is that YHVH displays astounding similarities to the Indian mantra AUM.
The easiest way to understand YHVH, according to the Kabbalistic Book of the Zohar, is to divide it into two pairs of letters. Y+H represents the macrocosmic singularity, existence itself, the ultimate reality of the meta universe. V+H represents the microcosm, representing the physical Earth on which we live, epitomised by human beings. Y plus H represents the Supreme Father (AIN SOPH), lit. without limit, ineffable and indescribable, in complete and eternal union with AIMA, the Divine Mother. V plus H represents the perfected Man (ADAM KADMON), who Christians believe was Jesus. V + H represents the union of the Bride, ELOHIM on the macrocosm and SHECHINA on the microcosm, with AIN SOPH, the eternal Father. She is therefore the key to Humankind's entry to the Kingdom of God.
YHVH also contains a dimension of time within eternity. The letters of the holy name can be said, anagramatically to represent the Hebrew phrase: Ha'ya, Ho'veh ve yih'yeh (HY, HV, YH), meaning: 'He Was, He Is and He Will Be'. YHVH therefore also contains past, present and future within eternity.
YHVH also contains a dimension of time within eternity. The letters of the holy name can be said, anagramatically to represent the Hebrew phrase: Ha'ya, Ho'veh ve yih'yeh (HY, HV, YH), meaning: 'He Was, He Is and He Will Be'. YHVH therefore also contains past, present and future within eternity.
ॐ
The Indian mantra AUM is much more complex than it first appears. As well as the three sanskrt letters, it also has a fourth silent component, the dot and crescent above the symbol, known as Bindu and Ardha Bindu. These respectively represent Purusha and Prkriti or Sadashiva and Adishakti. (God and Goddess combined in eternal union). This is therefore directly comparable to Y + H in the name YHVH. The letters A, U and M create a sacred and eternal 'sound' or vibration when uttered and represent the propensities in the universe, of creation, preservation and destruction. Like YHVH, although they will pronounce it, Hindus will not use AUM casually. AUM also denotes past, future and present times in eternity. In the same way as the three pillars on the Hebrew Tree of Life, the Hindu macrocosm displays three gunas or channels (Ida, Pingala and Shushumna). These three channels vibrate together, each represented respectively by one of the letters of AUM. AUM also contains the concept of macrocosm and microcosm. Bindu and Ardha Bindu represent the cosmic singularity of the macrocosm as Sadashiva and Adishakti in eternal union. The letters A, U and M are represented by the feminine powers or Godesses: Mahalaxmi, Mahasraswati and Mahakali, and these can be said to be equivalent to the Hebrew Divine Mother, ELOHIM. She is the creative, sustaining and destroying power inherent in the entropic state of the universe. These three feminine powers are really all components of the Divine Mother who also acts on the microcosm, in Hindu yogic tradition the three gunas are recognised as existing within a human being as well as being a property of reality beyond us.
These two most sacred symbols, each from very different cultures, can nevertheless be seen as parallel descriptions of the Ultimate. They underline the inadequacy of the idea that God can be fully understood mentally, or believed in as an illustrious supernatural being, who is occupied with punishing sinners and breaking the laws of physics to answer the prayers of the faithful.
That is not to say that they do not have their differences of course. The two terms are used very differently in the two cultures. The use of AUM is similar in some ways to our word AMEN, placed as a sacred symbol of worship before the name of a deity, (e.g. AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA), or within a sacred prayer, (for example in the Gayatri Mantra: AUM Bhu, AUM Bhuva...). YHVH is the name and description of the cardinal aspects of the Deity and of the ultimate reality. Both therefore contain a description of reality, of existence itself. In Hebrew as we know from previous blogs, Ehi'yeh is another descriptive name for God, which means 'existence itself'.
We have looked at the similarities, and also some of the differences between the use of YHVH in Hebrew and AUM in Sankrt. Their mystical and metaphysical significance goes way beyond our normal understanding of them in either a Jewish or Hindu religious context. In this age of scientific enlightenment and discovery, it is surely time to integrate the ancient metaphyscial knowledge into the public awareness. This follows in the noble tradition of some of the 20th century's greatest scientists, such as Bohr, Heisenberg, Jung and Einstein. They did not fail to notice the similarity between what had been discovered by the great seers of the past, with what was now being revealed by Quantum Physics and Relativity. Those who are trying to make sense of where we are today in relation to our understanding of God, the universe and reality, would do well to follow their example and thus avoid the pitfalls created by a modern generation of tabloid atheists.
The Indian mantra AUM is much more complex than it first appears. As well as the three sanskrt letters, it also has a fourth silent component, the dot and crescent above the symbol, known as Bindu and Ardha Bindu. These respectively represent Purusha and Prkriti or Sadashiva and Adishakti. (God and Goddess combined in eternal union). This is therefore directly comparable to Y + H in the name YHVH. The letters A, U and M create a sacred and eternal 'sound' or vibration when uttered and represent the propensities in the universe, of creation, preservation and destruction. Like YHVH, although they will pronounce it, Hindus will not use AUM casually. AUM also denotes past, future and present times in eternity. In the same way as the three pillars on the Hebrew Tree of Life, the Hindu macrocosm displays three gunas or channels (Ida, Pingala and Shushumna). These three channels vibrate together, each represented respectively by one of the letters of AUM. AUM also contains the concept of macrocosm and microcosm. Bindu and Ardha Bindu represent the cosmic singularity of the macrocosm as Sadashiva and Adishakti in eternal union. The letters A, U and M are represented by the feminine powers or Godesses: Mahalaxmi, Mahasraswati and Mahakali, and these can be said to be equivalent to the Hebrew Divine Mother, ELOHIM. She is the creative, sustaining and destroying power inherent in the entropic state of the universe. These three feminine powers are really all components of the Divine Mother who also acts on the microcosm, in Hindu yogic tradition the three gunas are recognised as existing within a human being as well as being a property of reality beyond us.
These two most sacred symbols, each from very different cultures, can nevertheless be seen as parallel descriptions of the Ultimate. They underline the inadequacy of the idea that God can be fully understood mentally, or believed in as an illustrious supernatural being, who is occupied with punishing sinners and breaking the laws of physics to answer the prayers of the faithful.
That is not to say that they do not have their differences of course. The two terms are used very differently in the two cultures. The use of AUM is similar in some ways to our word AMEN, placed as a sacred symbol of worship before the name of a deity, (e.g. AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA), or within a sacred prayer, (for example in the Gayatri Mantra: AUM Bhu, AUM Bhuva...). YHVH is the name and description of the cardinal aspects of the Deity and of the ultimate reality. Both therefore contain a description of reality, of existence itself. In Hebrew as we know from previous blogs, Ehi'yeh is another descriptive name for God, which means 'existence itself'.
We have looked at the similarities, and also some of the differences between the use of YHVH in Hebrew and AUM in Sankrt. Their mystical and metaphysical significance goes way beyond our normal understanding of them in either a Jewish or Hindu religious context. In this age of scientific enlightenment and discovery, it is surely time to integrate the ancient metaphyscial knowledge into the public awareness. This follows in the noble tradition of some of the 20th century's greatest scientists, such as Bohr, Heisenberg, Jung and Einstein. They did not fail to notice the similarity between what had been discovered by the great seers of the past, with what was now being revealed by Quantum Physics and Relativity. Those who are trying to make sense of where we are today in relation to our understanding of God, the universe and reality, would do well to follow their example and thus avoid the pitfalls created by a modern generation of tabloid atheists.
Next time we will look at:
The Son of God/Man, Holy Trinity, the Word, and the word Amen all have their origins in mystical Judaism.
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