Product Description

Kabbalah—the secret is out! From Madonna’s controversial conversion to the Dalai Lama’s acknowledgment and support, this mystical tradition is gaining unprecedented recognition. But how do we put this powerful and esoteric worldview into practice? With The Ecstatic Kabbalah, Rabbi David Cooper— author of God Is a Verb (100,000 copies sold, Riverhead, 1958), and a renowned leader of the Jewish meditation movement—provides practical exercises on the path toward "mending the soul," the fundamental Jewish experience that brings union with the Divine. With meditation techniques for both beginning and advanced practitioners, The Ecstatic Kabbalah guides listeners into awareness of the "presence of light" with experiential practices for touching the four worlds of mystical Judaism: • Physical—breath work and mind-body harmonization • Emotional—tone the divine names as an expression of devotion • Mental—learn the histories of these techniques • Spiritual—stabilize your connection with divine presence Finally, the long-sequestered doors of Kabbalah are open to all listeners, as they are invited to dwell in the embrace of the Divine with The Ecstatic Kabbalah’s practices of daily renewal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #341304 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Released on: 2005-09-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 97 pages

About the Author
Rabbi David A. Cooper has been called "one of today’s leading teachers of Jewish meditation." He is an active student of the world’s great spiritual traditions and the author of many books, including Entering the Sacred Mountain (Harmony, 1995);Th e Heart of Stillness (Skylight Paths, 1999); Silence, Simplicity, and Solitude (Skylight Paths, 1999); and Renewing Your Soul (HarperSanFransisco, 1995). His most recent book is God Is a Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism.

Customer Reviews

A Very Fine 'How-To' of Real Kabbalah
I have sat several meditation retreats with the author, so I came to this book having already encountered many of these techniques and ideas in a practical setting. While there is no substitute for person-to-person instruction, you can get pretty close with this book/CD.

A warning: if you are looking for the sort of pseudo-Kabbalah being peddled by Rav Berg and the Kabbalah Center, this book is not for you. There is no bottled water here, no red threads or other magical nonsense, nothing to appeal to the Madonna-wannabes. Real Kabbalah is invisible on the outside. There are no fashion statements or other ready-to-wear "spiritual materialist" baloney.

Real Kabbalah is all about quieting down the constant internal monologue so that we can learn to see the Divine in all Its manifestations. Once you get tired of the pop-culture distortions so prevalent today, take off that silly red thread, dump the bottled water onto the begonias, and crack this book. Sit on a chair (or a zafu if you prefer), and try these meditations. You'll gain more self-awareness and God-awareness from one hour of clear mindedness than from a hundred thousand miles of red string.

Ecstatic Kabbalah is the Practice of Kabbalah
This is not only provocative but it is evocative. What good is just reading about Kabbalah without practicing Kabbalah? Rabbi Cooper gives us a way of meditating, a way of connecting. Beginners will find delight in this book and CD. More advanced students will find the sublime. I highly recommend this CD. I meditate to this nightly.

The only thing missing for advanced students was the Hebrew translation. The English and the transliteration is there for the most part but I would have liked to have the Hebrew without searching for it in my own Hebrew prayer books. After the first few times I did not want to hear the instructions again, so I fast forward to the actual meditations. It would have been nice if the talking were separated from the chanting. Other than that-- enjoy!

Ecstatic Kabbalah
A clear exposition of the basics of the Tree of Life . The meditation on the CD are provocative and deepening. I recommend this book to anyone who desires a basic understandig of Kabbalistic principles.