Adam Kadmon
In KABBALAH, the “Heavenly Man,” as opposed to the terrestrial ADAM, representing the human race.
In early Kabbalah, the Sephiroth and the four worlds are emanations from the AIN SOPH, or the unmanifested state. In the Lurianic tradition of the Kabbalah, named after Isaac Luria (1534-72), there is a state between Ain Soph and the Sephiroth, and this is the “contraction” or self-limitation of the Ain Soph. This contraction is called zimzum which involved the formation of vessels into which the Divine Nature will enter. The main vessel is the Adam Kadmon, or the Primordial Man, which is not a human being at all since it precedes the manifestation of the world.
Lights came out of the head of Adam Kadmon resulting in the lower manifestations of the cosmos. The first lights were from the ears, nose and mouth of Adam Kadmon, and formed hidden “configurations.” Then lights from the eyes streamed forth, but the vessels which were to receive these lights could not contain it and hence burst forth and formed the evil in the world. Finally, lights were issued from the forehead which formed the Sephiroth.
Helena P. BLAVATSKY states that Adam Kadmon is equivalent to the Second Logos, or the host of the Elohim. It is to this that the name “Adam” alludes to in the first chapter of Genesis. The Adam of the second chapter is the one that refers to the human race.
“The first Adam — the Kadmon — is the synthesis of the ten Sephiroth. Of these, the upper triad remains in the Archetypal World as the future ‘Trinity,’ while the seven lower Sephiroth create the manifested material world: and this septennate is the second Adam” (SD II:2).
In Hindu cosmogony, Adam Kadmon is equivalent to Manu-svayambhuva.
See KABBALAH.
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