Tonight I was reading from Daniel C. Matt's book "The Essential Kabbalah" and came upon a passage that I'd like to share with you. It's from the Zohar, the sourcebook of Jewish mysticism.

"The fierce power of imagination is a gift from God. Joined with the grandeur of the mind, the potency of inference, ethical depth, and the natural sense of the divine, imagination becomes an instrument for the holy spirit."

Everyone I've encountered on this website is bright and many are highly imaginative. I'm in correspondence with several lightfriends to encourage them to develop and express their gifts of imagination. It is timely that I came across this passage.

I know well why the Zohar describes imagination as a fierce power. If unrestrained, imagination will turn its ferocity upon its owner and destroy the very mind that possesses it. How many stories have you heard of derelict geniuses and drunken, self-destructive artists? Do not trifle with the power of imagination. Read the rest of the passage. Only one who possesses all the attributes in sufficiency can survive the power of imagination.

For me, the key to living with a strong imagination has been developing the ethical depth that the Zohar mentions. This is just another way of saying that one's life and abilites should always be turned toward the the service and wellbeing of others - in other words, to develop and practice a profound humanity. This is not altruism. It is genuine self-interest. If you are not devoted to others, you will implode, and the smarter you are, the sooner and more devastating the implosion shall be.

Most of what we post and share here is imaginary. Most of us have not met, and never will. We form all sorts of impressions of each other simply from a few words and pictures on a screen. Yet for many of us, including me, this website is so rich and fulfilling that it becomes an indispensible part of my day. Such is the fierce power of imagination.

Most of what we believe in and live by is imaginary. How many of us have held a Mayan calendar, and could read and understand it if we did? But if one's whole being is balanced and developed as the Zohar indicates, then the fierce falcon of imagination may be safely set loose, to obtain and return to us what we could not otherwise see or have.

Not that the rest of humankind is much different. Every pillar of human society can be reduced to imagination - religion, economics, history, even science. We are creatures of imagination, and must use it to explore our existence as well and as carefully as we can.

At least, that is what I imagine.

Peace to all,
Mike