SLEEP, DEATH, AND REBIRTH: Mystical Practices of Lurianic Kabbalah by Zvi Ish-Shalom – Hardcover Edition

This is a first edition hardcover of 192pp. Published on 2021.  Book is in new unread condition.

Published by Academic Studies Press

From the publisher:

Zvi Ish-Shalom, Ph.D., is an associate professor of wisdom traditions at Naropa University and is the author of The Kedumah Experience: The Primordial Torah.

In the sixteenth century, the famous kabbalist Isaac Luria transmitted a secret trove of highly complex mystical practices to a select groups of students. These meditations were designed to capitalize on sleep and death states in order to effectively split one’s soul into multiple parts, and which, when properly performed, permitted the adept to free oneself from the cycle of rebirth. Through an in-depth analysis of these contemplative practices within the broader context of Lurianic literature, Zvi Ish-Shalom guides us on a penetrating scholarly journey into a realm of mystical teachings and practices never before available in English, illuminating a radically monistic vision of reality at the heart of Kabbalistic metaphysics and practice.

Table of Contents

Preface
Shaul Magid

Introduction

Problematica and Methodology
Review of Scholarship
Overview of Lurianic Metaphysics

Chapter 1. Sleep and Rebirth

The Anatomy of Sleep
Sleep and Dismemberment
Sleep and Dreams
Soul Rupture and Cosmic Union
Kavvanot for Bedtime Shema
The Female Waters
Swapping Soul-Parts

Chapter 2. Death and Resurrection

The Metaphysics of Death
Death and Rebirth
Anatomical Embodiment
The Radical Unity of Body and Soul
Human Sacrifice and Integral Monism
Resurrection and the Nullification of Hierarchy
Lurianic Kabbalah and Eastern Mysticism

Conclusion

Appendix: The Complete Kavvanah Required for Expediting Rebirth
Selected Bibliography