Kabbalah Meditation for the Letter Alef

Embracing the Letter Alef

by Ariel B Tzadok

The complex is found in the simple, for the one who dares to look under the covers.

If you don't read between the lines, you will miss most of the never-ending story.

The Hebrew letter Alef represents the integrated progression of expanding human consciousness.

The numerical value of the spelled-out letter Alef is 111. Alef = 1, Lamed + Peh = 110.

The progression is what emanates from the initial singularity of Alef (1).

From 1 comes 1 and 0, (ten). From Ten (10) comes 1 and 0,0 One Hundred (100).

Alef expresses the value of One in single digits, digits of tens, and digits of hundreds.

Alef progresses from the singular simplicity of one, to the more complex tens, and the even more complex hundreds.

The sound of the Alef is the Singular Primordial Voice. Alef is the Voice spoken without differentiation into words.

Alef is the sound of an inhale prior to an exhale. It sounds like “Ah,” (“Ah” as in Alef).

Ones (singular digits) represent the sefirat Keter, the source, the seed within the universe that gives rise to our existence. The One sees all, but is never seen.

Only when One becomes Ten can the complexity of the One begin to unfold. When One, becomes Ten, and Ten becomes One Hundred, then complexity is in full form, and we have the mind of man. The full form of the mind is the “Image of God” in which we were created.

One is Keter, the seed of consciousness. Ten is Hokhma, the embryo, the unconscious. One-Hundred is Binah, the new born, the conscious mind.

One Hundred cannot be without Ten, and Ten cannot be without One.

The conscious mind is built upon the unconscious, which itself is merely an emanation from the seed of all consciousness, the Collective Unconscious, the great unknown Ayn.

Keter, Hokhma, and Binah form the equilateral triangle of consciousness. Each angle of the triangle measures 60 degrees. 60 is the Hebrew letter Samekh. Samekh is the Somekh, the helper.

Each point of the Triangular Mind helps one another, and completes one another.

One becomes Ten, and Ten becomes One Hundred. Together they form the Equilateral Triangle of Alef Consciousness.

The three angles together add up to 180. 180 is the numerical value of Life (Hai = 18), times 10.

For life begins with the creation of consciousness, and all consciousness begins in the unconscious (the realm of the Ten). (This is why we have Ten Sefirot, “bli'mah,” without form). Each level helps, and supports the other. Together they bring forth complex life.

This is the human mind: the power that transcends all space and time.

The experience of the Alef is not academic, it is close, real, and personal.

This then is the procedure for embracing the Alef. First, one inhales. The inhalation is the taking in of the Supernal, Primordial Breath. This breath is beyond sound, and beyond sight. From our point of view, the Breath is not a thing. It is a No-Thing. In Hebrew, it is called the Ayn, the Nothing. When we inhale, we embrace the Nothing that is something, and now, upon the exhaling, we form Something out of No-thing. We exhale with an elongated pronunciation of the sound “Ah,” (as in Alef). Hold the elongated “Ah” for five to ten seconds.

Contemplate the Singularity, which is the First Manifestation of all things

that are yet to come out of the great Nothing, the Ayn. Contemplate the unity of all things.

In the ultimate reality of the Alef, all things are united, and are as One. From One comes two, and from two comes three. One, Ten, One-Hundred.

Why is Alef spelled-out with a Lamed, Peh (Alef, Lamed, Peh)?

Why not simply use the actual Hebrew letters for 1, 10 and 100, Alef, Yod, and Kof? As with all questions, there are many different answers. When a sought-after answer is not clear on the surface of things, one must “go under the covers” to see in complexity that which sometimes cannot be seen clearly in simplicity.

Alef is the concealed Singularity. Lamed is 30, the equilateral triangle (of three sides) in the domain of the tens, the domain of Hokhma, the unconscious mind.

Alef and Lamed together spell out EL, the Name for God that is an expression of the Divine within us. We see this in many names, such as MichaEL, GabriEL, and even AriEL.

This leaves only the (letter) Peh. Peh is not only the name of the letter, it is also the Hebrew word for mouth. The mouth is the place of speech, and revelation.

Inner awareness is one thing, yet without speech anything inside the mind alone lacks a channel of expression. Without the Peh, that which is inside remains trapped, unseen, and unrealized.

The Peh is the final step in unleashing the Divine (EL) within. Thus Alef, 1, 10, 100 takes us from the Singularity, to its rudimentary expression, and from there into its full manifestation. This is expressed as Alef, Lamed, and Peh. These three letters spell the name for the letter Alef, and reveal to us the secrets hidden therein.

In the simplicity of the Alef is the complexity of the whole mind. As you breath, hear the sound of the Alef resonate within you. Contemplate its message. Allow your inner thoughts to rise into your conscious mind. Heed the call of the Alef. Allow the transformation of No-thing into Something, and guide every Something into becoming something beautiful.

An Additional Meditation

Contemplate, from above, The Mouth of El and your personal expression in this unity of All.