The Zohar, Annotated And Explained
by
Daniel C. Matt

“We are living in a time in which the whole future – not only of Israel but of humanity – is at stake. This is why the wisdom of Qabalah that was kept hidden for so long, in a closely guarded and protected oral tradition handed down from master to disciple from the time of Moses, is now being written down and given out to anyone sincere and humble enough to try to embody it.

Just as the Tibetan mystics kept their wisdom to themselves for almost two thousand years and are now opening its treasures to the world, so we Qabalists understand that the time has come to share what we know. In the pain and struggle of our time, a planetary spiritual civilization is struggling to be born.

It will bring together in a way none of us can yet imagine all the highest teachings of all the greatest mystical traditions to give humanity what it needs to meet the terrible challenges it faces and to prepare it for a wholly new and wonderful flowering that the prophecies of many religions foresee.” Matt”s friend Ezekiel. p. xi

“There are, I believe, seven interlinked wonders that the tradition of Qabalah has to offer true seekers…”

“… a vision of the Infinite One, Ein Sof…”

“… a vision of what I call the Sacred Marriage, the constant fusion of male and female, good and evil, light and dark, through which Ein Sof creates and goes on creating the universe… Qabalists believe that no human being can be completely divine, unless, like the original Adam, they fuse within themself masculine power and feminine sensitivity on every level of being and in every activity.

“… the open and flowing system of the ten sefirot – the divine archetypes – through which the workings of the cosmic Sacred marriage can be related to and imagined.”

“… Shekhinah – the clue to the embodiment of divine love and wisdom that I myself love the most, the one through which the other sefirot our their power into this dimension – the one who dwells.”

“… the fertility, inventiveness and creativity of Qabalistic tradition itself.”

“… a secret that transforms your life when you start to understand it. Let me put the secret bluntly: since God is not just static being but also dynamic becoming, God needs us as we need God.”

“… the participation in the living glory of divine life that those who perform tiqun with every aspect of their heart, mind, thought and being can come to experience.”

p. xii-xvii