From what I heard the old ancient Hebrew priests considered the name of God too holy to speak or more accurately it was unspeakable. The human tongue could not utter it.
But how do you talk about something without giving it a name? The old Hebrew priests were into talking about it. So they came up with Yahweh, spelled with no consonants just YHWH. The secret name of God spelled out in a unpronounceable word.
What they were really trying to say, if I got my story straight, is that the name of God is the sound of the breath: Yah-Weh. Inhalation and exhalation. Fascinating huh? And God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life and Adam became a living soul. Something like that if I remember my creation story right.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly - you will find me in the tiniest house of time. Student, tell me, what is God? He is the breath inside the breath. says Kabir, 15th Century poet from India.
It’s right there on page 25. Translation by Robert Bly, he did the best he could. How do you speak about the timeless one, the unknowable one, the unpronounceable one?
Well that’s the beginning of God. Give it a name so we can talk about it. Just breathing would be boring.
music for the podcast: Aqua Venue from the album ‘After the Turn a Storm’ by Hello Meteor
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