THE WHOLE TREE OF LIFE
The Vedic notion of thirty-three universal gods is supported in the Hebrew tradition of kabbalah in which the cosmic body of Adam Ouila, who represents the first archetypal soul, is symbolized by the Etz Chaim, the diagrammatic Tree of Life.
This diagram, which lies at the very heart of the tradition, provides a geometric representation of the fundamental categories on the basis of which the universe is fashioned. The Tree of Life symbolizes the metaphysical Logos, the mere taste of which has the potential to render the soul immortal. In this regard, Adam Ouila, the first archetypal soul, provides a Hebrew conception of the universal being known in the Vedic tradition as Brahma, the first soul, and in the Hermetic tradition as Cosmos, the great god.
The wisdom associated with the Tree of Life suggests that the geometric elements of the diagram correspond to the “bones” of Adam Ouila. This has deep meaning. When the perishable body dies, the soft tissues of the body decay, but the bones remain. The bones may be viewed, then, as the imperishable elements of the body. This suggests that the geometric elements of the diagram correspond to the imperishable aspects of the Logos that uphold the perishable appearance of the Cosmos. These are none other than the imperishable layers of consciousness—which correspond to the universal gods.
The diagrammatic Tree of Life consists of thirty-two geometric elements: the ten sephiroth (spheres of splendor), represented by ten circles, and the twenty-two paths of wisdom, represented by twenty-two lines that connect the ten circles.
Fig. 4.1. The Tree of Life
The wisdom associated with this diagram relates to the “spine” of Adam Ouila. A spine may be compared to a ladder, with each vertebra corresponding to a rung.
In this sense, the thirty-two elements on the Tree of Life may be compared to the first thirty-two layers above the half measure—that is, the rungs of the divine ladder that lead up to the station of the Creator.Genesis tells us that God stands at the top of the divine ladder. With respect to the created universe, this God corresponds to the celestial godhead—the Creator of the universe—referred to in the tradition of kabbalah as Adam Ouila. This celestial godhead has the form of a sphere. The Hermetic texts tell us that the bodies of the celestial gods consist of only heads, and that a head means a “sphere.” The Vedic seers referred to this cosmic sphere as the cosmic egg (brahmanda).
In the tradition of kabbalah, the celestial godhead is represented by the Tree of Life taken as a whole. In the same way that the “head” rests upon the thirty-two vertebrae of the spine, so the whole of the Tree of Life rests upon its thirty-two parts. The celestial godhead corresponds to the implied thirty-third aspect of the diagram—the whole. Interestingly, in the Vedic tradition, the thirty-third layer above the half measure was viewed as upholding the “shell” (kapala) of the cosmic egg—but the Sanskrit term kapala (shell) also means “skull.” In this case, the thirty-two layers leading to the thirty-third layer may be compared to the thirty-two vertebrae of the cosmic spine, while the thirty-third layer may be compared to the cosmic skull that rests upon the spine.
As in the Hebrew tradition, there are certain doctrines in the Vedic tradition that give fundamental importance to the first thirty-two layers that uphold the created appearance of the universe. These layers constitute collectively the path of shakti—the path of analysis—which culminates in the realization of the thirty-third layer, viewed as the station of God, the Creator, the synthetic whole. The path of shakti may be compared to the path of subtle energy, up through the thirty-two vertebrae of the human spine, that eventually blossoms in the head.
This presents another take on the ancient notion that humans were created in the image of the Creator.Therefore, we find that the Vedic and Hebrew sages are largely in agreement regarding the imperishable layers that uphold the perishable appearance of creation. In both cases, the canonical set of layers can be summarized by the mystical formula
32 + 1 = 33
The thirty-two aspects represent the thirty-two layers, which constitute the ascending path, while the thirty-third aspect represents the synthetic whole—the thirty-third layer, which constitutes the goal of the path.
This congruence between the Vedic and Hebrew traditions lends support to the notion that the created universe is upheld by a canonical set of thirty-three layers, both above and below. The question that remains is whether this understanding is genuinely scientific: Are we dealing with an actual science of the gods, or a mystical form of religious theology?