by Pamela Mills
Chris Demers is a tutor for the Kabbalah Study group of New England.
This interview is the first in a series of interviews with tutors, teachers, authors from the Toledano Tradition of Kabbalah
Pam Mills:
When did you start the study group?
Chris Demers:
The Kabbalah Society study group of New England was founded in September, 2002.
PM:
Why did you start the group?
CD:
The purpose of a group is to accelerate the evolution of the individual through the group vessel that is formed and then to serve as a vehicle to accelerate the evolution of humanity as a whole.
The effect of being in a group, an authentic group of sincere seekers working together can have a profound spiritual effect. By participating with others of like mind and being linked to an authentic school, the individual is able to partake of instruction that would be beyond them if they were just pursuing it themselves.
I've been studying with Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi for a number of years, and a group, under his tutelage, comes about authentically when there's a need within a community, and the group is formed to answer that need.
In September of 2002, David Goddard, a Western Mystery teacher trained by Halevi, came to Boston and Vermont to conduct workshops. We realized by the number of people there who asked if there was some place in Boston where they could study this form of Kabbalah, that there was a need, so I began to coordinate a group.
PM:
How did you come to study Kabbalah?
CD:
I started actively seeking a meaning to the universe when I was about eighteen years old. I was introduced to Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) by a friend who read a little classified ad at the back of a magazine.
I'd had a number of experiences prior to that that made me know the only thing I wanted to do in this lifetime was to return home spiritually, to know Spirit.
From the moment I opened the first lesson, I knew I'd come home. It was all about Kabbalah. After I completed the BOTA curriculum, I realized that my next step was to study with Halevi who is a highly developed teacher, in the Toledano tradition - which dates back to medieval Spain where there was esoteric fusion of religion and philosophy. In our time we relate its ancient theories and practices to contemporary psychology, science and art.
That was over 12 years ago. Halevi is the head of the Toledano School of the Soul.
Besides his teachings, I think his most significant contribution is hisdissemination of the extended Tree of Life. He is the first teacher to disseminate the diagram showing how the all the Teachings and all Four Worlds interpenetrate and interconnect with each other. It's a deep sacred mandala.
PM:
What does 'Kabbalah' mean to you?
CD:
Kabbalah is the core that gives you the basis to answer the key questions that everyone asks about life. It signifies what is probably the deepest tradition in the West.
You keep finding it at the foundation of all high thought. It is the mythos of Abraham who was initiated into the secrets of the universe by Melchisadech, the first realized human being. It's been handed down from mouth to ear over thousands of years, and people who have reached a certain point and are hungry for that kind of knowledge can find in Kabbalah that wisdom that is spiritual truth.
The word 'Kabbalah' means 'to receive,' so there's a mystery and connection with the secrets of the universe being revealed to those who are able to receive them. That's what the training's all about.
