Binah, the realm of stability

In this extract from ‘Angels and Other Mysteries of the Tree and Life’, the master talks about Binah, the realm of stability. It is one of his many commentaries interpreting the ten Sephiroth of the Cabbala:

In the Tree of Life, the realm of stability is Binah, the realm of the twenty-four elders.  What exactly is stability? It is quality of one who can no longer be daunted or overcome by evil. And to avoid being overcome by evil you have to escape its clutches by rising to a region where it no longer has any power. You will ask: But do such regions exist? Yes, they exist: they exist within you, and they exist in the universe. If you have not already realised this it is because you are not in the habit of observing yourself.

Have you never been surprised to notice that if some incident that once had the power to sadden or discourage you occurs in different circumstances, it no longer distresses you in the same way? Why is this? It is because you have managed to rise to a level of consciousness that puts you out of reach of that distress. This is sure proof that there are regions within a human being in which they cannot be reached by evil.

The Cabbalah says that the serpent can rise only to certain sephiroth, but that it can never reach the region formed of Kether, Chokmah and Binah. And since we are created in the image of the universe, there is a region within us, too, in which evil cannot exist. The conditions it needs are not there. Within the sublime regions of our being and of the universe there is such light and such intensity of vibrations that anything that is not in harmony with that purity and light simply disintegrates. Evil is not allowed to exist in these sublime regions; it is rejected; it can exist only in the lower regions. For it is only in the lower regions of matter that it finds the conditions it needs to move freely, cause havoc, and make people unhappy.

Depending on which region you find yourself in, therefore, you will either be vulnerable or immune to the onslaught of evil. This is what initiatic science teaches us. And this is what Jesus meant when he said that a wise person builds his house on a rock. Symbolically, the rock is that inner region that Hindu philosophy calls the casual plane, and which is beyond the astral and mental plane, in other words, beyond the plane of our ordinary thought and feelings.

If you want to approach the stability of the Twenty- Four Elders (mentioned by St John), you must never abandon your high ideal. Once you have decided to tread the path of light, you must always, whatever the circumstances, continue in the same direction. You can change everything else, but never abandon your divine orientation.

You must be sure to understand that stability does not signify immobility. If you meet  a true spiritual master, you will see that masters never remain motionless, like idols, waiting for disciples to kiss their hands or feet. On the contrary, they are always active, always on the go- more than most people in fact- moving about in order to visit those who need them, and to instruct and heal them. Their stability is within, in their convictions, nobody can seduce them with wealth or honours.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov   Angels and Other Mysteries of the Tree of Life

To read more about the subtle bodies- the astral, mental, casual, buddhic and atmic planes:

Expressing our true, divine nature