Re: Multiplicative gematria

["Daniel Alter" <daniel_b_alter@...>]

Dear Peter,

>>Which, in turn, makes me wonder the true need for studying 
such divine names upon a mundane, and often intellectual, level of 
consciousness?<<

I was using this contemplation of the 72-fold name as practice for 
one-pointedness - it beats imagining an orange dot in your mind's eye 
for 10 minutes ;)

>> Also, with regards to the 72 fold name, with a little bit of 
fiddling, the Tetragramaton of IHVH can have the numerial value of 72.

I 10 = 10
IH 10+5 = 15
IHV 10+5+6 = 21
IHVH 10+5+6+5 = 26
10+15+21+26 = 72<<

I note that 7+2 = 9, the number of "foundation" (also, the sum of 
yod+he+vava+he also equals nine). In the Zohar, whilst Elohim 
rules "above", IHVH rules "below" (He rules over the foundation??). 
Also, the hebrew word for light ("Or", spelt aleph, vav, resh) has a 
gematria of nine. Light is the foundation of the sequentialised 
creation process in Genesis one! However, it is interesting to note 
that light is the only thing in Gen 1 that is not created - 'G-d 
said "let there be light" and there was light' (whereas everything 
else is explicilty noted as being created).

However, the process of creation may not be knowable as the hebrew 
word for secret, raz (resh, zayin), also has a gematria of 9 :)

Dan