Glossary of Spiritual and Religious Words

B

Binah

(Hebrew בינה; means understanding; related to תבונה (tabuwn) intelligence, or knowledge from experience) The third sephirah on the Tree of Life. Related to the Holy Spirit. Known in Hinduism as Shiva-Shakti.

"Binah is the Holy Spirit; He is the Third Logos, the Lord Shiva of the Hindus, who manifests himself as sexual potency within everything which is, has been, and will be... The Holy Spirit unfolds himself into an Ineffable Woman; She is the Divine Mother; She is dressed in a white tunic and a blue mantle. The Holy Spirit is Shiva, the Divine Spouse of Shakti, the Divine Mother Kundalini." - Samael Aun Weor, The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah

"...proper form and image are not formed until they emerged from בינה Binah and afterwards they were formed and consolidated. The world to come, which is Binah, is also the craftsman of all the creation and is the secret of Elohim that is mentioned there, as it is written: "And Elohim said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light" and also, "And Elohim said, 'Let there be a firmament.'" So Binah is the craftsman, the one who forms, that makes the shape of light, water, and firmament..." - Zohar 11:77