We Are Made of Images

CATHERINE SHAINBERG is a transpersonal psychologist, healer, visionary and teacher with a private practice in New York City. In her 40 years’ experience, she has taught thousands of students around the world to discover their Soul Pattern, rebalance their Internal Ecosystem, and build a Palace of Light for physical and emotional wellbeing.

After training as an art historian at the Sorbonne and the Louvre, Catherine became a consultant for UNESCO. And then in 1972 she moved to Israel, where she converted to Judaism. There she spent ten years studying the Kabbalah of Light in Jerusalem with Madame Colette Aboulker-Muscat, a renowned kabbalist, mystic and teacher. She also studied with the Rav Zerbiv and the Rav Kook, son of the first Great Rabbi of Israel, the most revered kabbalist of the 20th century.

The Door to Rapid Transformation

Catherine’s words of encouragement: You are not victims. There is the language inside to transform and become the best of yourself. It’s fun, not exhausting. And doesn’t require a lot of reading — it’s enlivening, exciting!

By seeing within, you can change the world by how you look at it. Dreaming is a global language that everybody has. Dreams of the day and night provide a way forward.

Bonus Audio: Excepts from an earlier conversation with Catherine. When you listen, please be patient with a wobbly web connection. Notwithstanding, our conversation is full of insights. And she will take you through a practice to ask a question of your Soul.

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Music and the Physics of Sound

The American maverick, composer and pianist Michael Harrison is a rarity among musicians. With equal training and rapture in Western classical and Indian classical music, his compositions pioneer a new approach to music. He seeks expressions of universality via the physics of sound – music that brings one into a state of concentrated listening as a meditative and mind-altering experience.

Extending the ancient concept of just intonation, Michael creates structures of pure tuning that derive from musical intervals of perfect mathematical proportions. These harmonic relationships organically determine other musical elements of his music, such as pitch, duration, and dynamics.

Winner of the once-in-a-lifetime Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018, renowned performers such as the Grammy-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth, Alarm Will Sound, Cello Octet Amsterdam, Cellist Maya Beiser, and many more have commissioned Michael to compose works that give voice to their unusual talents.

One favorite is the highly praised album Revelation, named one of the Best Classical Recordings of 2007 by The New York Times. Listeners often find themselves journeying in unseen realms. Composed for piano in his own tuning system, listen to this podcast to hear Michael explain the WHY and HOW of just intonation. 

Immersion in Pure Sound

What inspires Michael to dedicate his life to this pursuit of excellence and innovation in music? As a young undergraduate student, he met composer La Monte Young. Soon Young brought him to New York as his protégé to study composition, performance, and Indian classical music. In that environment, Michael immersed himself in the world of minimal music and art.

In a matter of timing, La Monte Young and Terry Riley introduced Michael to their music guru Fakhir Pran Nath. Soon Michael became a disciple of Pran Nath, traveling to India with his guru for periods of extensive study and practice.

This early relationship remains foundational to Michael’s spiritual and musical development.

Seven Leading Names of Creation

In Season One, Kabbalah 99 interviewed Suhrawardi William Gebel — astrophysicist, mystic and author of the book — Nature’s Hidden Dimension: Envisioning the Inner Life of the Universe. Seeking to express the vibrational essence of these Names of Awakening, Suhrawardi commissioned Michael to be the composer.

This podcast interview plays the composition expressing the Seventh Leading Name Al-Kalim – the culminating capacity to fulfill the desire for self-knowledge. Beginning and ending this podcast with a few phrases of this piece, we also play it in its entirety as a sublime example of just intonation.

Polyphonic Raga

After more than 40 years of training and practice in both Western and Indian classical music systems, Michael is formally exploring melding the two worlds of Western classical and Indian classical music.

The universal foundation for music, which is vibration, is the software for the universe.

His latest project is a multidimensional art installation in collaboration with the visual and media artist Nina Elder, the astrophysicist and roboticist Suhrawardi Gebel, and other contributors as well.

This interdisciplinary installation will show the relationships between human time, planetary time, and cosmic time — within a 24-hour music cycle. In gradual evolution with the cosmic cycle, a natural connection with Indian raga will become apparent as the installation is unveiled.

Press play now to get an early preview of the forefront of innovation in the world of avant-garde classical music interfused with classical Indian raga.

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Photo Credit: Alarm Will Sound and Four/Ten Media

Exploring Realms of Consciousness

What happens when a left-brained business development leader with an awakened heart secretly spends her off-hours exploring hidden realms of consciousness? Meet Karen Newell, co-founder of Sacred Acoustics. Together with the audio engineer Kevin Kossi, they provide original sound recordings of binaural beats for deepening meditation.

An innovator in the emerging field of brainwave entrainment, Karen empowers seekers on their journey of self-discovery. Using Sacred Acoustics recordings blended with heart-centered breathing practices and visualization, she demonstrates how to engage with the inner world to connect with guidance, be inspired, develop intuition — and heal body, heart and soul.

Direct Experience Is Crucial

Realizing that direct experience is crucial to understanding TRUTH, she bolstered her sense of inner knowing and alignment with her higher nature by exploring lucid dreaming, astral travel, telepathy, remote viewing, self-hypnosis, and various forms of energy healing.

Her lifelong interest in ancient cultures and sacred sites drove her to seek the purpose of our existence. She became fascinated with esoteric spiritual texts and sought the complete story of humanity’s collective history. In her search for answers, it was clear that firsthand personal experience is the key to awakening consciousness. This exploration led to unexpected personal and spiritual growth.

Listen now to gain insights into:

• Brainwave Entrainment

• Universal Abandonment Wound

• Sufi Heart Meditations

• Alchemy and the Ancient Mystery Schools

• Evolution of Humanity

The General Theme: The dominant western world view of reductive materialism is not correct. It is holding all of humanity back from discovering the powers we have as humans. It blocks our ability to feel that amazing love of the spiritual realms here on earth. With practice, we can reclaim our natural connection to a greater reality.

The Purpose of Our Existence?

Working in concert with Dr. Eben Alexander, the neurosurgeon who miraculously fully recovered from a near death experience (NDE), their personal growth programs have healed and uplifted many, With workshops and guided meditations, their teachings serve as catalyst for life transformations. Ultimately, participants realize greater self-fulfillment and contentment, more loving relationships and a deeper connection with one’s soul calling.

Together, Karen and Eben show how the dominant secular worldview of materialist science damages our sense of being human. It’s hypotheses are disempowering to an innate sense of purpose. It’s time that we reclaimed our birthright to feel truly loved.

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Medically Inexplicable Full Recovery

For 25 years Dr. Eben Alexander served as a physician and academic neurosurgeon, including 15 years at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He is the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Proof of Heaven, as well as The Map of Heaven and his latest book, Living in a Mindful Universe.

As a neurosurgeon he began his career with the standard commitment to the materialist world view — the belief that the physical world is all that exists. And that came to a grinding halt in 2008 when he came perilously close to death. An odyssey into another realm shattered his certainty about the nature of reality. Listen to hear why his case has the medical and scientific communities in an quandary.

Drinking from a Firehose of Consciousness

Today Dr. Alexander is a pioneering scientist and modern thought leader with a passionate interest in physics and cosmology. Since his near death experience (NDE), he has worked tirelessly to reconcile his miraculous recovery undergirded by a rich spiritual experience with quantum physics, cosmology and the philosophy of mind.

His own worst skeptic from the get go, 12-years post coma he has developed his case toward a new view on consciousness. Although some in the medical and scientific communities are still “blinded by their religion of doubt” – others are collaborating to explore a new understanding of the nature of reality that current science demands.

What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?

The Heart of Our Existence

Eben describes in vivid detail an ultra-real, more powerful, meaningful and memorable experience than anything else in his life. What he and others have found is that the memories from NDEs are far more stable and resilient than waking life or in our dreams, and over long periods of time. His NDE exposed him to a realm that is much closer to our true existence than this material realm. Like drinking from a firehose of full blown consciousness, one’s awareness is no longer isolated in moments of time and space.

The Golden Rule is written into the very fabric of this universe of love, compassion, forgiveness – concrete constituents that make up the fundament of our deepest experiences of reality.

In this podcast Eben explores:

• Free will, relationships and the life review
• Three realms of existence
• How to encounter these worlds without an NDE
• The role of meditation vs. mind-altering substances
• Binaural beats and brainwave entrainment

Rip in the Fabric of Space-Time

As a neuroscientist he maintains his scientific form of inquiry. What made his experience all the more revealing to the medical community was his near total cessation of mental functioning and his miraculous full recovery. Eben retells his three levels of experience: an earthworm’s eye view, the ultra-real, and ultimately to the core existence of pure oneness.

The most essential feature he encountered was beautiful music that accompanied him through a portal into an ultra-reality and then onto the core realm. These vibrational sounds cannot be heard with the ears. He describes in detail the colorful and lively realms that he entered.  Encountering a beautiful young being, she communicated to him a vital message:

You are deeply loved and cherished forever. You have nothing to fear. You are cared for.

Reassuringly, he invites us to realize there is nothing to fear about death at all. It’s our spiritual home. Our soul does not end with the death of the body. What we are moving toward with our lifespan on earth is the evolution of consciousness.

Science Behind the True Nature of Time and Space

Quantum physicists are beginning to get clues as to what time might actually be. In fact, time and space are injected into our consensus worldview by how the brain filters sensory input. They conclude that there is not some fundamental physical reality ticking away out there by its own clock — independent of the observing mind.

Mind is primary.

To learn more about the expanding scope of science as to the nature of consciousness, visit the Galileo Commission for which Eben is one of the 100 plus scientific advisors.

In his view on 5000 years of history, we are finally about to make some real progress into the nature of consciousness with revolutionary outcomes to the well-being of the planet. He foresees a return to a far more rational view that includes the spiritual worlds.

Eben introduces the founder of Sacred Acoustics – Karen Newell – who provides recordings of binaural beats for brainwave entrainment. Kabbalah 99 will invite Karen for a podcast interview next week. Listen now to hear Eben’s recommendations for those of us who want to cultivate these experiences of life beyond the material realm.

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The Revolution of Chassidus

Rabbi Mendel Brackman has a passion for learning Chassidus which is deeply rooted in Kabbalah. A post graduate rabbinical student at the central Chabad yeshiva in Brooklyn NY, he is the son of Rabbi Benjy Brackman of Chabad in NW Metro Denver. Listen to receive a taste of how Kabbalah can guide us in our desire for awakening in life.

What is Kabbalah? Kabbalah means “receiving”. A secret, only a Kabbalist – someone who lets go of the physical reality – can provide a sense of what Kabbalah brings to the table in a practical way. Deeply rooted in Kabbalah, Chassidus interprets practical implications from something that is inherently not practical.

Tzadik and Teshuva

Chassidus uses the knowledge of Kabbalah to show us how to live a good life and contribute to the well-being of the world. A Tzadik is the Kabbalist. He’s living a spiritual life because he is by definition G’dly. Ba’al Teshuvah, those who practice Teshuva, use Kabbalah as a tool to elevate themselves because they want to refine their kelipot – literally a shell, things that hide G’dliness.

Through Chassidus, we can use the immense energy of Kabbalah and channel it to bring the spiritual realm into the physical. By doing so, we make the world a place where depth and meaning can flourish — where spirituality is no longer secondary in nature.

 What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?

Two Worlds: Tohu and Tikun

Every world has two dimensions, the source of G’dly Light and what Light manifests into — kelim, or vessels. The vessel is not secondary to the light: they interact harmoniously with each other. When Light came into the world of Tohu, Tohu shattered. Known as the “breaking of the vessels,” this gave birth to Tikun, meaning repair.

• Tohu – the void
• Tikun – the world of emanation

What is Tohu lacking? Unable to find harmony between Light and vessel, passion overpowers the identity of Tohu. In contrast, Tikun shares its power with the world around it. These two worlds give rise to two paths of awakening – self-realization and self-transcendence.

• Self-realization – Tohu, passion that can overwhelm all else
• Self-transcendence – Tikun, which brings a higher energy into our lives

These two worlds operate in ourselves and in the world around us. Exploring the balance between doing for ourselves and doing for others, Rabbi Mendel discusses the role of personal development and service to make the world a more beautiful place.

Stories of Torah

As in life, we can focus on the story — or on the archetypal meaning that underlies the story. Who are Esau and Jacob? What is the significance of Jacob marring two wives, Rebecca and Leah? What roles do Joseph and Judah play, and how can these archetypes illuminate our everyday lives?

These ancient stories reveal how we can move toward harmony within our own hearts and in relation to others. As we discover in the lives of Joseph the Tzadik and Judah the Ba’al Teshuva, the Tzadik initiates, Teshuva completes.

This is why Leah’s lineage through her sons Levi and Judah give birth to the deliver Moses and the kingship of David. While the son of Jacob and Rebecca initates the turn in the flow of history, it is the descendants of Leah who perform Teshuva that rises to Moses and King David.

The Tzadik initiates, Ba’al Teshuva completes:

• Son of Jacob and Rebecca – Joseph the Tzadik who draws the Israelites to Egpyt
• Son of Jacob and Leah – Levi the Ba’al Teshuva and the lineage of Moses
• Son of Jacob and Leah – Judah the Ba’al Teshuva and the lineage of King David

Through the insights of Kabbalah, we revisit stories learned as children from the perspective of the inner workings of Torah. 

The unity, the singularity of Torah all points to a common thread. It all points back to the Almighty, to the place that is all One. By studying Chassidus, we can translate this into our lives and become the Ba’al Teshuva and begin to repair what is around us.

What Is Our Purpose?

Why does Rabbi Akiva’s phrase “to love your fellow as yourself” encapsulate the whole of Torah? Listen to learn more from the perspective of a Kabbalist about the:

• Purpose for creation
• Harmony and oneness within humanity
• How to become a more fulfilled person
• Ruach (breath) and role of the ego
• Difference between being spiritual and being G’dly

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Dynamic Creativity Through Movement Arts

Zuleikha — international performer and educator — inspires dynamic creativity through movement arts. Her international non-profit The StoryDancer Project serves girls, women and families in marginalized communities. Involved in many expressions of her heart, a unifying theme is movement in music.

Calling herself a “musician dancer”, she has studied Western Classical music, North Indian Classical music, and movement since childhood. Combining rhythm, melody, story and mood of the North Indian Classical expression, she honors and adapts it to many kinds of music to inspire and heal our body, heart and spirit.

Language of the Soul

The joy of movement is the language of the soul. When the body is touched by the soul, dance or movement with awareness is born. This brings rejuvenation into life, creating a pattern of well-being.

– Zuleikha

The Wander, the Exiled, and the Homecoming

On this podcast you will get to listen to Come Home from Zuleikha’s new CD Raining Stars. Music by Zuleikha, the words are inspired by English translations of Anandamayi Ma, a great woman saint from contemporary India. Her helpful words reminds us:

How much more time will you spend at a wayside inn? Don’t you want to come home?

Copyright by Zuleikha/Swan Lake Publishing 2020. All songs are registered with BMI. No songs may be reproduced or recorded without permission and license from Zuleikha with BMI.

Contact Zuleikha

If you take a ride in the real of nature, you’ll see, everything is going to be all right.

– Zuleikha, from her new CD Raining Stars