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PERCEPŢIA REALITĂŢII
14.01 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Items 39-40
The whole of the Creator’s desired goal for the creation He had created is to bestow upon His creatures, so they would know His truthfulness and greatness, and receive all the delight and pleasure He had prepared for them, in the measure described in the verse: “Ephraim my darling son, is he a child of joy?” Thus, you clearly find that this purpose does not apply to the still and the great spheres, such as the earth, the moon, or the sun, however luminous they may be, and not to the vegetative or the animate, for they lack the sensation of others, even from among their own species. Therefore, how can the sensation of the Godly and His bestowal apply to them?
Humankind alone, having been prepared with the sensation of others of the same species, who are similar to them, after working in Torah and Mitzvot, when they invert their will to receive to a desire to bestow and achieve equivalence of form with their Maker, they receive all the degrees that have been prepared for them in the upper worlds, called NRNHY. By this they become qualified to receive the purpose of the thought of creation. After all, the purpose of the creation of all the worlds was for man alone.
And I know that it is completely unacceptable in the eyes of some philosophers. They cannot agree that man, who they regard as low and worthless, is the center of the magnificent creation. But they are like a worm that was born inside a radish. It lives there and thinks that the world of the Creator is as bitter, dark, and small as the radish in which it was born. But as soon as it breaks the peel of the radish and peeps out, it says in bewilderment: “I thought the whole world was like the radish I was born in, and now I see a grand, beautiful, and wondrous world before me!”
So, too, are those who are immersed in the Klipa [sing. of Klipot] of the will to receive they were born with, and did not try to take the unique spice, which are the practical Torah and Mitzvot, which can break this hard Klipa and turn it into a desire to bestow contentment upon the Maker. It is certain that they must determine according to their worthlessness and emptiness, as they truly are. They cannot comprehend that this magnificent reality had been created only for them. Indeed, had they delved in Torah and Mitzvot to bestow contentment upon their Maker, with all the required purity, and would try to break the Klipa of the will to receive in which they were born, and would assume the desire to bestow, their eyes would promptly open to see and attain for themselves all the degrees of wisdom, intelligence, and clear mind that have been prepared for them in the spiritual worlds. Then they would say for themselves what our sages said, “What does a good guest say? ‘Everything the host has done, he has done only for me.’”
14.02 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefurot, “Inner Observation,” Part One, Chapter Ten, Item 36
We have no attainment and perception whatsoever in any substance, as our five senses are com- pletely unfit for it. The sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, offer the scrutinizing mind merely abstract forms of “incidents” of the essence, formulating through the cooperation with our senses.
14.03 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 1
It is written in The Zohar, Vayikra, Portion Tazria, “Come and see: All that exists in the world exists for man, and everything exists for him, as it is written, ‘Then the Lord God formed man,’ with a full name, as we have established, that he is the whole of everything and contains everything, and all that is above and below, etc., is included in that image.”
Thus, it explains that all the worlds, upper and lower, are included in man. And also, the whole of reality within those worlds is only for man.
14.04 Baal HaSulam,
“Foreword to The Book of Zohar,” Item 34
Our sense of sight, for example: We see a wide world before us, wondrously filled. But in fact, we see all that only in our own interior. In other words, there is a sort of a photographic machine in our hindbrain, which portrays everything that appears to us and nothing outside of us.
He has made for us there, in our brain, a kind of polished mirror that inverts everything seen there, so we will see it outside our brain, in front of our faces. Yet, what we see outside of us is not a real thing. Nevertheless, we should be so grateful to His Providence for having created that polished mirror in our brains, enabling us to see and perceive everything outside of us, for by this He has given us the power to perceive everything with clear knowledge and attainment, and measure everything from within and from without.
Without it, we would lose most of our perception. The same is true with the Godly will, con- cerning Godly perceptions. Even though all these changes unfold in the interior of the receiving souls, they nevertheless see it all in the Giver Himself since only in this manner are they awarded all the perceptions and all the pleasantness in the thought of creation.
You can also deduce this from the above parable. Even though we see everything as being in front of us, every reasonable person knows for certain that all that we see is only in our own brains.
So are the souls: Although they see all the images in the Giver, they have no doubt that all those are only in their own interior and not at all in the Giver.
14.05 Baal HaSulam,
“Foreword to The Book of Zohar,” Item 12
The essence of the person in itself, without the matter. This is because our five senses and our imagination offer us only manifestations of the actions of the essence, but none of the essence itself. For example, the sense of sight offers us only shadows of the visible essence as they are formed opposite the light. Similarly, the sense of hearing is but a force of striking of some essence in the air.
The air that is rejected by it strikes the drum in our ear, and we hear that there is some essence in our proximity. The sense of smell is but air that emerges from the essence and strikes our nerves of scent, and we smell. Also, taste is but a result of the contact of some essence with our nerves of taste.
Thus, all that these four senses offer us are manifestations of the operations that stem from some essence and nothing of the essence itself.
Even the sense of touch, the strongest of the senses, separating hot from cold and solid from soft, all these are but manifestations of operations in the essence; they are but incidents of the essence. This is so because the hot can be chilled, the cold can be heated, the solid can be turned to liquid through chemical operations, and the liquid into air, meaning only gas where any discernment in our five senses has been expired. Yet, the essence still exists in it, since you can turn the air into liquid once again, and the liquid into solid.
Evidently, the five senses do not reveal to us any essence whatsoever, but only incidents and manifestations of operations from the essence. It is known that anything that we cannot grasp in our senses, we also cannot imagine. And what we cannot imagine will never appear in our thoughts and we have no way to perceive it.
14.06 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
As there is no perception of the Creator whatsoever, so is it impossible to attain the essence of any of His creatures, even the tangible objects that we feel with our hands.
Thus, all we know about our friends and relatives in the world of action before us are nothing more than “acquaintance with actions.” These are prompted and born by the association of their encounter with our senses, which render us complete satisfaction although we have no perception whatsoever in the essence of the subject.
Furthermore, you have no perception or attainment whatsoever even in your own essence. Everything you know about your own essence is nothing more than a series of actions extending from your essence.
14.07 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 66, “Concerning the Giving of the Torah – 1”
We cannot attain any reality as it is in itself. Rather, we attain everything only according to our sen- sations. And reality, as it is in itself, is of no interest to us at all. Hence, we do not attain the Torah as it is in itself; we attain only our sensations. Thus, all of our impressions follow only our sensations.
14.08 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”
“There is no change in the light.” Rather, all the changes are in the Kelim, meaning in our senses. We measure everything according to our imagination. From this it follows that if many people examine one spiritual thing, each will attain according to his imagination and senses, thereby seeing a different form.
In addition, the form itself will change in a person according to his ups and downs, as we have said above that the light is simple light and all the changes are only in the receivers.
14.09 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”
For themselves, all the worlds are regarded as simple unity, and there is no change in Godliness. This is the meaning of “I the Lord did not change.” There are no Sefirot or Behinot [discernments] in Godliness. Even the most subtle appellations do not refer to the light itself, as this is a discernment of Atzmuto where there is no attainment. Rather, all the Sefirot and the discernments speak only of what a person attains in them.
14.10 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”
The proliferation of names is only with respect to the receivers. Hence, the first name that appeared, that is, the root for the creatures, is called Ein Sof. This name remains unchanged, and all the restrictions and the manifold changes unfold only with regard to the receivers, but He always shines in the first name called “His desire to do good to His creations,” endlessly.
14.11 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”
We can only speak from where our senses are impressed by the expanding light, which is “His desire to do good to His creations,” which comes into the hands of the receivers in actual fact.
Similarly, when we examine a table, our sense of touch feels it as something hard, and its length and width, all according to our senses. However, that does not necessitate that the table will appear so to one who has other senses. For example, in the eyes of an angel, when it examines the table, it will see it according to its senses. For this reason, we cannot determine any form with regard to an angel since we do not know its senses.
Thus, since we have no attainment in the Creator, we cannot say which form the worlds have from His perspective. We only attain the worlds according to our senses and sensations.
14.12 Baal HaSulam,
“Foreword to The Book of Zohar,” Items 32-33
There is no change at all in the world Atzilut itself, whether the lower ones receive its great abun- dance lushly or receive nothing at all. The above-mentioned greatness lies solely on the lower ones. Thus, why did the authors of The Zohar have to describe all those changes in the world of Atzilut itself? They should have spoken explicitly only with respect to the receivers in BYA, and not speak so elaborately of Atzilut, forcing us to provide answers.
Indeed, there is a very trenchant secret here: This is the meaning of “and by the hand of the prophets have I used similitudes” (Hosea 12). The truth is that there is a Godly will here, that these similitudes, which operate only in the souls of the receivers, will appear to the souls as He Himself participates in them to greatly increase the attainment of the souls.
It is like a father who constrains himself to show his little darling child a face of sadness and a face of contentment, although there is neither sadness nor contentment in him. He only does this to impress his darling child and expand his understanding so as to play with him.
Only when he grows will he learn and know that all that his father did was no more real than mere playing with him. So is the matter before us: All these images and changes begin and end only with the impression of the souls. Yet, by the will of God, they appear as though they are in Him Himself. He does that to enhance and expand the attainment of the souls to the utmost, in accordance with the thought of creation, to delight His creatures.
14.13 Baal HaSulam,
“600,000 Souls”
It is said that there are 600,000 souls, and each soul divides into several sparks. We must understand how it is possible for the spiritual to divide, since initially, only one soul was created, the soul of Adam HaRishon.
In my opinion, there is indeed only one soul in the world, as it is written (Genesis 2:7), “and breathed into his nostrils the soul [also “breath” in Hebrew] of life.” That same soul exists in all the children of Israel, complete in each and every one, as in Adam HaRishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut—which is rather a trait of corporeal things.
Rather, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person. In other words, first, the body divides and completely denies him of the radiance of the soul, and by the force of the Torah and the Mitzva [commandment], the body is cleansed, and to the extent of its cleansing, the common soul shines on him.
For this reason, two discernments were made in the corporeal body: In the first discernment, one feels one’s soul as a unique organ and does not understand that this is the whole of Israel. This is truly a flaw; hence, it causes along with the above-mentioned.
In the second discernment, the true light of the soul of Israel does not shine on him in all its power of illumination, but only partially, by the measure he has purified himself by returning to the collective.
The sign for the body’s complete correction is when one feels that one’s soul exists in the whole of Israel, in each and every one of them, for which he does not feel himself as an individual, for one depends on the other. At that time, he is complete, flawless, and the soul truly shines on him in its fullest power, as it appeared in Adam HaRishon, as in “He who breathed, breathed from within Him.” This is the meaning of the three times of a person:
- A spark of a soul, the act by way of sparkling, as in prohibiting and permitting.
- A particular soul, one part out of 600,000. It is permanently completed, but its flaw is with it. This means that his body cannot receive the whole of the soul, and feels himself as being distinct, which causes him a lot of pains of love.
Subsequently, he approaches wholeness, the common soul, since the body has been cleansed and is entirely dedicated to the Creator and does not pose any measures or screens and is completely included in the whole of Israel.
14.14 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 36, “What Are the Three Bodies in Man?”
One must think only of the inner body, for it is a clothing for the soul of Kedusha. That is, one should think thoughts that are after one’s skin. This means that after the body’s skin is called “outside one’s body,” meaning outside one’s own benefit, but only thoughts of benefiting others. This is called “outside one’s skin.”
This is so because after one’s skin, there is no grip for the Klipot [pl. of Klipa], for the Klipot grip only that which is within one’s skin, meaning that which belongs to one’s body, and not outside one’s body, called “outside one’s skin.” This means that they possess anything that is clothed in the body, and they cannot hold anything that is not clothed in the body.
When one persists with thoughts that are after one’s skin, he will be rewarded with what is writ- ten, “And after my skin they broke this, and from my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19, 26). “This” is the Shechina [Divinity], and she stands after one’s skin. “Broke” means that it has been corrected to be a pillar “after my skin.” At that time, one is awarded “and from my flesh shall I see God.”
It means that Kedusha comes and clothes the interior of the body specifically when one agrees to work outside one’s skin, meaning without any clothing. The wicked, however, who want to work precisely when there is clothing in the body, called within the skin, they will die without wisdom. This is because then they have no clothing and they are not awarded anything. However, it is spe- cifically the righteous who are rewarded with clothing in the body.
14.15 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
Each lower world is an imprint of the world above it. Hence, all the forms in the higher world are meticulously copied, in both quantity and quality, to the lower world.
Thus, there is not an element of reality or an occurrence of reality in a lower world that you will not find its likeness in the world above it, as identical as two drops in a pond. And they are called “root and branch.” That means that the item in the lower world is deemed a branch of its pattern found in the higher world, which is the root of the lower element, as this is where that item in the lower world has been imprinted and made to be.
That was the intention of our sages when they said, “You have not a blade of grass below that has not a fortune and a guard above that strike it and tell it, ‘Grow’!” (Omissions of The Zohar, p 251a [source in Hebrew], Beresheet Rabbah, Chapter 10). It follows that the root, called “fortune,” compels it to grow and assume its attribute in quantity and quality, as with the seal and its imprint. This is the law of root and branch that applies to every detail and occurrence in reality, in every single world, in relation to the world above it.
14.16 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Light,” Part One, Item 1
It is difficult for novice, for they perceive matters by means of corporeal boundaries of time, space, change and exchange. However, the authors only used those as signs to point to their Upper Roots.
14.17 Baal HaSulam,
Ohr HaBahir
Spiritual revelation, whether emerging from concealment or some addition, extends and comes primarily through the power of the vessels and their quality, and does not depend at all on the upper light. It is so because the rule is that there is no change in the lights themselves from the beginning of the line to the bottom of Assiya. As it is in the beginning of the line, so it does not grow coarser or change when it is at the bottom of Assiya. It is also known that the upper light does not stop bestowing upon the lower ones even for a minute. Therefore, the whole matter of concealment, revelation, and changes, and any change, depend only on the merit of the vessels.
14.18 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 14
“Come to Pharaoh.” It is the Shechina [Divinity] in disclosure, from the words, “and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose,” as it is written in The Zohar. The thing is that to the extent that the children of Israel thought that Egypt were enslaving them and impeding them from serv- ing the Creator, they truly were in the exile in Egypt. Hence, the Redeemer’s only work was to reveal to them that there is no other force involved here, that “I and not a messenger,” for there is no other force but Him. This was indeed the light of redemption, as explained in the Passover Haggadah [story].
This is what the Creator gave to Moses in the verse, “Come to Pharaoh,” meaning unite the truth, for the whole approaching the king of Egypt is only to Pharaoh, to disclose the Shechina. This is why He said, “For I have hardened his heart,” etc., “that I may place these signs of Mine within him.”
In spirituality, there are no letters, as I have already elaborated on before. All the multiplication in spirituality relies on the letters derived from the materiality of this world, as in, “And creator of darkness.” There are no additions or initiations here, but the creation of darkness, the Merkava [chariot/structure] that is suited to disclose that the light is good. It follows that the Creator Himself hardened his heart. Why? Because it is letters that I need.
This is the meaning of “that I may place these signs of Mine within him, and that you may tell … that you may know that I am the Lord.” Explanation: Once you receive the letters, meaning when you understand that I gave and toiled for you, as in, do not move from “behind” Me, for you will thoroughly keep the Achoraim [posterior/back] for Me, for My name, then the abundance will do her thing and fill the letters. The qualities will become Sefirot, since before the filling they are called “qualities,” and upon their fulfillment for the best, they are called Sefirot, sapphire, illuminating the world from one end to the other.
This is the meaning of “that you may tell.” I need all this for the end of the matter, meaning “And you shall know that I am the Lord” “and not a messenger.” This is the meaning of the fiftieth gate, which cannot appear unless the forty-nine faces of pure and impure appear in one opposite the other, in which the righteous falls [forty-nine in Gematria] before the wicked.
14.19 Baal HaSulam,
“The Writings of the Last Generation”
There is nothing more natural than coming into contact with one’s Maker, for He has made nature. In fact, every creature has contact with his Maker, as it is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” except we do not know or feel it.
Actually, one who is awarded contact with Him attains only the awareness. It is as though one has a treasure in his pocket, and he does not know it. Along comes another and lets him know what is in his pocket. Now he really has become rich.
Yet, there is nothing new here, no cause for excitement. In fact, nothing has been added in the actual reality.
14.20 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 55
“This world,” “the next [world]”—in the words of our sages. It is as presented in The Zohar in the title, Sefer HaBahir [The Book of the Bright One]: “Rabbi Rechimai was asked, ‘What is ‘the next world,’ and what is ‘in the future’?’ He replied to them, ‘In the next world and came.’” In other words, the abundance is still to come.
You can evidently see the difference between this world and the next world. This one is what we attain in the present or attained in the past. The next world, however, is what we have not attained, but which should come to us in the future, after some time. However, both speak of what one attains and receives in this world.
14.21 Baal HaSulam,
“From My Flesh I Shall See God”
Spirituality does not depend on time or place, and there is no death there.
14.22 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar, Item 13
By the very thought to create the souls, His thought completed everything, for He does not need an act, as do we. Instantaneously, all the souls and worlds that were destined to be created emerged filled with all the delight and pleasure and the gentleness that He had planned for them, in the final perfection that the souls were destined to receive at the end of correction, after the will to receive in the souls has been fully corrected and has turned into pure bestowal, in complete equivalence of form with the Emanator.
This is so because in His eternalness, past, present, and future are as one. The future is as the present, and there is no such thing as time in Him (The Zohar, Mishpatim, Item 51, New Zohar, Beresheet, Item 243). Hence, there was never an issue of a corrupted will to receive in its separated state in Ein Sof.
On the contrary, that equivalence of form, destined to be revealed at the end of correction, appeared instantly in His eternalness.
14.23 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 32
The Creator is truly in the heart of each one from Israel. But this is on His part, so what does man need? Only to know it—the knowing changes, and the knowing finishes.
14.24 Baal HaSulam,
“Foreword to The Book of Zohar,” Item 35
When the light of Malchut descends and expands over the people. At that time, it appears to them, to each and every one, according to their own appearance, vision, and imagination, meaning only in the receivers and not at all in the Sefira Malchut herself.
14.25 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation,” Part One, Chapter 9, Item 33
Know that spiritual movement is not like tangible motion from one location to another; it refers to a renewed Tzura.
We denominate every innovation of form by the title “movement.”
14.26 Baal HaSulam,
“The Peace”
There are no new souls the way bodies are renewed, but only a certain amount of souls that incar- nate on the wheel of transformation of the form, for each time they clothe a new body and a new generation.
14.27 Baal HaSulam,
“The Peace”
With regard to the souls, all generations since the beginning of creation to the end of correction are as one generation that has extended its life over several thousand years until it developed and became corrected as it should be. And the fact that in the meantime, each has changed his body several thousand times is completely irrelevant because the essence of the body’s self, called “the soul,” did not suffer at all by these changes.
14.28 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation,” Part One, Chapter One, Item 8
This entire reality, Elyonim and Tachtonim as one in the final state of the end of correction, was emanated and created by a single thought. That single thought performs all the operations, is the essence of all the operations, the purpose and the essence of the labor. It is by itself the entire per- fection and the sought-after reward.
14.29 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 19
The Creator does nothing new at the end of correction, as the fools think. Rather, “And you shall eat old store long kept,” meaning until he says, “I want.”
14.30 Baal HaSulam,
“You Have Made Me in Behind and Before”
“You have made me in behind and before,” meaning the revelation and concealment of the face of the Creator. This is because indeed, “His kingdom rules over all,” and everything will return to its root because there is no place vacant of Him. But the difference is in the present or the future, because one who connects the two worlds discovers His clothing in the present, that everything that is done is a clothing for the revelation of the Shechina [Divinity].
This is deemed the present, meaning that now, too, he comes out in royal attire and evidently shows that the rider is not subordinate to the horse. But although it seemingly appears that the horse leads its rider, the truth is that the horse is provoked to any movement only by the sensation of the rider’s bridle and headstall. This is called “The construction of the stature of the Shechina,” and it is also called “face-to-face.”
14.31 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 17, “What Does It Mean that the Sitra Achra Is Called ‘Malchut without a Crown’?”
Our sages said, “Anyone who is proud, the Creator says, ‘He and I cannot dwell in the same abode,’” as he makes two authorities. However, when one is in a state of Ein, and annuls himself before the Root, meaning that one’s sole intention is only to bestow, like the Root, you find that there is only one authority here—the authority of the Creator. Then, all that one receives in the world is only in order to bestow upon the Creator.
This is the meaning of what he had said, “The whole world was created only for me, and I, to serve my Maker.” For this reason, I must receive all the degrees in the world so that I can give everything to the Creator, which is called “to serve my Maker.”
14.32 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Items 68-69
All the inclinations, tendencies, and properties instilled in man, with which to serve one’s friends, all these tendencies and natural properties are required for the work of the Creator.
To begin with, they were created and imprinted in man only because of their final role—the ultimate purpose of man, as it is written, “No outcast shall be cast out from Him.” One needs them all so as to complement oneself in the ways of reception of the abundance and to complete the will of the Creator.
This is the meaning of “Everyone who is called by My name, I have created him for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7), and also “All that the Lord has worked was for His sake” (Proverbs 16:4). However, in the meantime, man has been given a whole world to develop and complete all these natural inclinations and qualities in him by engaging in them with people, thus yielding them suitable for their purpose.
It is as our sages said, “One must say, ‘The world was created for me,’” for all the people in the world are required for a person, as they develop and qualify the attributes and inclinations of every individual to become a fit tool for His work.
Thus, we must understand the essence of the love of the Creator from the properties of love by which one person relates to another. The love of the Creator is necessarily given through these qualities, since they were only imprinted in man for His sake to begin with.
14.33 Baal HaSulam,
“You Have Made Me in Behind and Before”
One who has not yet come to dedicate all his movements to the Creator alone, and the horse does not equalize its movements to the rider’s bridle and headstall, but appears to do the opposite…and crowns the handmaid on the mistress, this is discerned as “behind.” That is, you should not think that you are drawing away from Kedusha [holiness], for “that which comes into your mind shall not be at all.”
Thus says the Lord: “Surely with a mighty hand,” etc., “For the outcast shall not be cast out from Him,” and the whole wheel turns to come to the Kedusha, to its root. Therefore, although it seems that the horse leads the rider by its ignoble desire, the truth is not so. It is the rider who leads the horse to his destination. However, it is not apparent in the present, but in the future. Hence, in this way there is also contact, but it is back to back, meaning not according to the will of the one who dresses or the will of the dresser.
14.34 Baal HaSulam,
“The Freedom”
The whole of reality seen in the nature of this world is only because they are extended and taken from laws and conducts of upper, spiritual worlds.
14.35 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
The lower is studied from the higher. Thus, one must first attain the upper roots the way they are in spirituality, above any imagination and with pure attainment. And once he has thoroughly attained the upper roots with his own mind, he may examine the tangible branches in this world and know how each branch relates to its root in the upper world, in all its orders, in quantity and quality.
14.36 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 156
There is a strict condition during the engagement in this wisdom not to materialize the matters with imaginary and corporeal issues. This is because thus they breach, “You shall not make unto you a statue or any image.”
In that event, one is rather harmed instead of receiving benefit.
14.37 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part Two, Chapter One, Item 5
The entire reality and all the creations that are destined to come into the Olamot, already exist in Ein Sof. Moreover, they exist there in their full glory and perfection, as it is destined to appear in the Olamot.
Thus you evidently see, that all the desires that are destined to appear, already appeared and were revealed in Ein Sof. They appear there in their perfect, complete state, and it is the completeness and the fulfillment, namely the Ohr Elyon, that fathered and created these desires.
14.38 Baal HaSulam,
“Foreword to The Book of Zohar,” Item 12
The thought has no perception whatsoever in the essence. Moreover, we do not even know our own essence. I feel and know that I take up space in the world, that I am solid, warm, and that I think, and other such manifestations of the operations of my essence. But if you ask me what is my own essence, from which all these manifestations stem, I do not know what to reply to you.
You therefore see that Providence has prevented us from attaining any essence. We attain only manifestations and images of operations that stem from the essences.
14.39 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Light,” Part One, Ch. One, It.1
Bear in mind, that the entire wisdom of Kabbalah is founded on spiritual matters that do not take up time or space.
14.40 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar, Item 17
Our body, with all its trifle incidents and possessions, is not at all our real body. Our real, eternal, and complete body already exists in Ein Sof.
14.41 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar, Item 17
This body does not blemish us in any way since it is destined to expire and die, and is only here for the time necessary for its cancellation and acquisition of our eternal form.
14.42 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 4, “What Is the Reason for the Heaviness One Feels when Annulling before the Creator in the Work?”
The essence of one’s work is only to come to feel the existence of the Creator, meaning to feel the existence of the Creator, that “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and this will be one’s entire work. That is, all the energy one puts into the work will be only to achieve this, and nothing else.
One should not be misled into having to acquire anything. Rather, there is only one thing a person needs: faith in the Creator. He should not think of anything, meaning that the only reward that he wants for his work should be to be rewarded with faith in the Creator.
14.43 Baal HaSulam,
“Peace in the World”
Everything in reality, good or bad, and even the most harmful in the world, has a right to exist and must not be destroyed and eradicated from the world. We must only mend and reform it because any observation of the work of creation is enough to teach us about the greatness and perfection of its Operator and Creator. Therefore, we must understand and be very careful when casting a flaw on any item of creation, saying it is redundant and superfluous, as that would be slander about its Operator.
14.44 Baal HaSulam,
“Peace in the World”
Because the Creator meticulously watches over all the elements in His creation, not letting any- one destroy a single thing in His domain, but only reform it and make it useful and good, all the reformers of the above-mentioned kind will vanish from the earth, and bad qualities will not vanish. They exist and count the degrees of development that they must still traverse until they complete their ripening.
At that time, the bad attributes themselves will turn to good and useful ones, as the Creator had initially planned for them.
14.45 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
Kabbalists have found that the form of the four worlds named Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya, beginning with the first, highest world, called Atzilut, down to this corporeal, tangible world, called Assiya, is exactly the same in every item and event. This means that everything that eventuates and occurs in the first world is found unchanged in the next world, below it, too. It is likewise in all the worlds that follow it, down to this tangible world.
There is no difference between them, but only a difference of degree perceived in the substance of the elements of reality in each and every world.
14.46 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation,” Part One, Chapter Nine, Item 34
The spiritual definition of time, you must understand that time is essentially defined by us only as a sensation of movements. Our imagination pictures and devises a certain number of consecutive movements, which it discriminates one by one, and translates them like a certain amount of “time.”
Thus, if one had been in a state of complete rest with one’s environment, he would not even be aware of the concept of time.
14.47 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 75, “There Is a Discernment of the Next World, and There Is a Discernment of This World”
There is a discernment of “the next world,” and there is a discernment of “this world.” The next world is called “faith,” and this world is called “attainment.”
It is written about the next world, “They shall be satiated and delighted,” meaning that there is no end to the satiation. This is so because everything that is received by faith has no limits. Conversely, what is received through attainment already has limits since anything that comes in the Kelim [ves- sels] of the lower one, the lower one limits it. Hence, there is a limit to the discernment of this world.
14.48 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 67, “Depart from Evil”
Who thinks that he is deceiving his friend is really deceiving the Creator, since besides man’s body there is only the Creator. This is because it is the essence of creation that man is called “creature” only with respect to himself. The Creator wants man to feel that he is a separate reality from Him; but other than this, it is all “The whole earth is full of His glory.”
Hence, when lying to one’s friend, one is lying to the Creator; and when saddening one’s friend, one is saddening the Creator.
14.49 RABASH,
Article No. 19 (1990), “Why Is the Torah Called ‘Middle Line’ in the Work? – 2”
The Ari writes (Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 13, Item 152), “There is the matter of Se’arot [hairs], which cover the light, so they do not enjoy the light as long as they are unworthy, since they might blemish.” The thing is that we must believe that the Creator gave us a desire and yearning to do good deeds. And as long as one is unworthy, he must not feel that the Creator compels him to do good deeds. This is why the Creator hides Himself in dresses, and this dressing is called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. In other words, sometimes the Creator hides Himself in a clothing of friends.
14.50 RABASH,
Article No. 11 (1990), “What Placing the Hanukkah Candle on the Left Means in the Work”
“Concealment of the face.” In other words, the Creator hides Himself in the clothing of the friends, and in this way he does the Creator’s will.
If he thanks the Creator for helping him through the concealment—meaning that now he has the choice to say that he is working because of the friends and he has no contact with the Creator, or that he believes that the Creator hid Himself in the clothing of the friends, and by that he engages in Torah and Mitzvot, and if he chooses and says that only the Creator helped him to be able to do good deeds by clothing in a clothing of friends, and he thanks the Creator for this—it brings upon him a great ascent: to be rewarded with the revelation of the face of the Creator. In other words, the Creator gives him a thought and desire to do the Creator’s will, since now he has some illumination from above by sentencing above reason. This is why the Creator helped him, so that through the Achoraim [posterior], he will later be rewarded with the Panim [anterior/face] of the Creator. This means that he has been rewarded with being collected knowingly.
14.51 RABASH,
Article No. 217, “Run My Beloved”
The Creator has prepared for us a whole world, as our sages said, “One must say, ‘The world was created for me’” (Sanhedrin 37a), meaning that he should pray for the entire world. Therefore, when he comes to pray and has contact with the Creator, although he himself is not sick at the moment, he can pray for his contemporaries, meaning to extend mercies so that no one in his generation will lack abundance.
It is a great rule that the person himself is called “a creature,” meaning only he alone. Other than him it is already considered the holy Shechina. It follows that when he prays for his contemporaries, it is considered that he is praying for the holy Shechina, who is in exile and needs all the salvations. This is the meaning of eternity, and precisely in this manner, the light of mercy can be revealed.
14.52 RABASH,
Article No. 280, “This World and the Next World – 1”
This world is regarded as the state in which one is while he begins to enter the path of Torah, and this is the situation he is in now, in his beginning. This is why it is called “this world,” and it is only a corridor.
Afterward, when he comes to the life of Torah itself, it is called “the next world,” which is regarded as the next state, after he successfully went through the path of Torah, called “a corridor”.
14.53 RABASH,
Article No. 236, “The Whole Earth Is Full of His Glory”
There is no reality in the world besides Godliness, and all the concealment is only in one’s sensa- tions.
14.54 RABASH,
Article No. 21, “Concerning Above Reason”
The whole matter of evil that is in man is not in finding the evil, since everyone has this evil, called “will to receive in order to receive,” which is self-love. Instead, the difference is entirely in the disclo- sure of the evil. In other words, not every person sees and feels that self-love is bad and harmful, since a person doesn’t see that engagement in satisfying his will to receive, called “self-love,” will harm him. Yet, when he begins to do the holy work on the path of truth, meaning when he wishes to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, so all his actions will be for the Creator, by that he receives a little more light that shines for him each time, and then he begins to feel self-love as a bad thing.
It is a gradual process. Each time he sees that this is what obstructs him from achieving Dvekut with the Creator, he sees more clearly each time how it—the will to receive—is his real enemy, just as King Solomon referred to the evil inclination as “an enemy.”
14.55 RABASH,
Article No. 17, Part 1 (1984) “Concerning the Importance of Friends”
If one has love of friends, the rule in love is that you want to see the friends’ merits and not their faults. Hence, if one sees some fault in one’s friend, it is not a sign that his friend is at fault, but that the seer is at fault, meaning that because his love of friends is flawed, he sees faults in his friend.
Therefore, now he should not see to his friend’s correction. Rather, he himself needs correction. It follows from the above-said that he should not see to the correction of his friend’s faults, which he sees in his friend, but he himself needs to correct the flaw he has created in the love of friends. And when he corrects himself, he will see only his friend’s merits and not his faults.
14.56 RABASH,
Article No. 645, “By Your Actions, We Know You”
It is written in The Zohar, “There is no place vacant of Him.” Yet, we do not feel it for our lack of tools of sensation.
We can see that with a radio receiver, which receives all the signals in the world, the receiver does not create the sounds. Rather, the sound exists in the world, but before we had the receiving device, we did not detect the sounds although they did exist in reality.
Likewise, we can understand that “There is no place vacant of Him,” but we need a receiving device. That receiving device is called Dvekut [adhesion] and “equivalence of form,” which is a desire to bestow. When we have this machine, we will immediately feel that there is no place vacant of Him, but rather “The whole earth is full of His glory.”
14.57 RABASH,
Article No. 124, “To Serve Me”
“The whole world was created only to serve me.” According to the interpretation of Baal HaSulam, it means that all the faults that a person sees in others, he believes that they are his. Therefore, he has what to correct. It follows that the whole world serves him by providing him with his faults, and he does not need to look by himself. Instead, they are doing him a big favor by providing him with his flaws.
14.58 RABASH,
Letter No. 19
And if you wish to say, “What are the Sefirot and degrees themselves?” We say that this is unattain- able because our attainment is only with respect to His desire to do good to His creations. Therefore, one should attain only that which is related to man’s attainment, meaning a person’s impression from the upper light that appears through the Sefira to the creatures, but not the Sefira itself.
The multiplication of Sefirot is only according to the attainment of the lower ones, depending on their attainment, and each one has a special skill according to one’s labor. Besides that, everything is equal because there are no changes in spirituality. This is why we say about the Sefirot themselves that they are regarded as “there is no thought or perception in Him at all.”
14.59 RABASH,
Article No. 236, “The Whole Earth Is Full of His Glory”
The expansion of the upper light is clothed in the whole of reality and is called “the sustainer of reality.” It appears in all the dresses that exist in the world, meaning in every corporeal thing before us. Everything is the light of the Creator, whether in dresses of Torah, meaning the letters of the Torah, or in the letters of the prayer, or in mundane things. The only difference is in the receiver, namely those who feel.
There are people who feel that the light of the Creator is dressed only in Torah and prayer. There are people who feel the light of the Creator also in combinations of letters of mundane things, and there are those who do not feel even in combinations of letters of Torah and prayer that it is the light of the Creator in the manner of “Who fills the whole of reality.”
14.60 RABASH,
Article No. 19 (1990), “Why Is the Torah Called ‘Middle Line’ in the Work? – 2”
One must believe that “There is none else besides Him,” meaning that it is the Creator who com- pels him to do the good deeds. But since he is still unworthy of knowing that it is the Creator who commits him, the Creator dresses Himself in dresses of flesh and blood, through which the Creator performs these actions. Thus, the Creator acts in the form of Achoraim [posterior].
In other words, the person sees people’s faces but he should believe that behind the faces stands the Creator and performs these actions. That is, behind the man stands the Creator and compels him to do the deeds that the Creator wants. It follows that the Creator does everything, but the person regards what he sees and not what he should believe.
14.61 Zohar for All, VaYetze [And Jacob Went Out],
“Upper Righteous and Lower Righteous,” Item 139
The Zohar speaks nothing of corporeal incidents, but of the upper worlds, where there is no sequence of times as it is in corporeality. Spiritual time is elucidated by change of forms and degrees that are above time and place.
14.62 Zohar for All,
“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” “On the Night of the Bride,” Item 138
It is a law that the creature cannot receive disclosed evil from the Creator, for it is a flaw in the glory of the Creator for the creature to perceive Him as an evildoer, for this is unbecoming of the complete Operator. Hence, when one feels bad, denial of the Creator’s guidance lies upon him and the superior Operator is concealed from him to that same extent. This is the greatest punishment in the world.
Thus, the sensation of good and evil in relation to His guidance brings with it the sensation of reward and punishment, for one who exerts to not part from faith in the Creator is rewarded even when he tastes a bad taste in Providence. And if he does not exert, he will have a punishment because he is separated from faith in the Creator.
14.63 Zohar for All, Lech Lecha [Go Forth],
“For Who Is God, Save the Lord? And Who Is a Rock, Save Our God?”, Item 330
How great are the deeds of the Creator? The art and painting of a man are like the artisanship and the depiction of the world. In other words, man comprises the entire deed of the world, and he is called “a small world.”
14.64 Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations],
“These Are the Generations of Isaac,” Item 3
Anyone who engages in Torah sustains the world and sustains each and every operation in the world in its proper way. Also, there is not an organ in a man’s body that does not have a corresponding creation in the world.
This is so because as man’s body divides into organs and they all stand degree over degree, established one atop the other and are all one body, similarly, the world, meaning all creations in the world are many organs standing one atop the other, and they are all one body. And when they are all corrected they will actually be one body. And everything, man and the world will be like the Torah because the whole of Torah is organs and joints standing one atop the other. And when the world is corrected they will become one body.
14.65 Zohar for All,
Pekudei [Accounts], “These Are the Accounts of the Tabernacle,” It.17
“Which is being shown to you.” “You” is the mirror that does not shine, Malchut, which showed him within her all those forms. And Moses saw each of them in its corrected form, as one who sees within a crystal lamp, within a mirror that shows all the forms. And when Moses looked into them, he found them perplexing, since there, in Malchut, everything stood in its spiritual form, but each form equalized its form to the imaginary form in this world, in the Tabernacle.
It follows that two forms were apparent in everything: the spiritual one and the imaginary one. This is why Moses was bewildered; he did not know which of them to grasp. The Creator told him, “You with your signs, and I with Mine,” that Moses would perceive the imaginary signs in everything, and the Creator perceives the spiritual signs of everything, and then the spiritual form is placed over the imaginary form. Then Moses was reconciled in all the work of the Tabernacle.
14.66 Zohar for All, Nasso,
“The Holy Idra Rabah,” Item 297
The sum of all things, Atik of Atikin [pl. of Atik] and ZA, are all one, from the perspective of their Atzmut [self], and everything is above time from the perspective of their Atzmut. Was, is, and will be are the same in them, everything is, everything was, and everything will be. In Godliness, there is no matter of before or after. Also, there is no change of operation there from the perspective of their Atzmut, such as from mercy to judgment, since He will not change in the future, He did not change in the past, and He is not changing in the present. Rather, He is corrected in these cor- rections for the lower ones, and the form that contains all the forms, ZA, is completed. This is the form of Adam [man], who comprises male and female, the form that includes all the names, for ZA is called HaVaYaH, a name that contains all the names, the form in which all the forms are seen. It is not an actual form, but rather seemingly this form.
14.67 Zohar for All, Nasso,
“The Holy Idra Rabah,” Item 299
Everything is Godliness, above time, place, and change. All those degrees and corrections we discern in Godliness are only various concealments and covers toward the lower ones, since the ten Sefirot are ten kinds of covers of His Atzmut [self]. Likewise, all the imaginary images of time and place and actions are but various covers of His Godliness that seem that way to the lower ones. As man is not affected or changes at all because of the covers that he covers in, and only his friends are affected by his disappearance or appearance, so His Godliness does not change and is not affected whatsoever by those degrees and corrections and names in time, place, and changes of actions that the lower ones discern in His covers. Rather, we must know that those covers also serve as disclosures.
Moreover, to the extent of the cover that there is in each name and correction, so is the extent of disclosure of the Creator that is in it. One who is rewarded with receiving the measure of the covers properly is then rewarded with the covers becoming for him measures of disclosure. One who learns must remember these things during the learning so he will not fail in his thought.
14.68 Zohar for All,
Mishpatim [Ordinances], “The Grandfather,” Item 165
It is written, “And God saw all that He has done, and behold, it was very good.” “Good” is the good angel. “Very” is the angel of death. The Creator provides His corrections to all until even the angel of death returns to being very good.
14.69 Ramchal,
“The Rules of the Book, The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts”
The whole world, in all its degrees, is a “great man,” and man is a “small world,” and there is in one only what is in the other.
14.70 Rabbi Abraham Yehoshua of Apt,
Ohev Ysrael, Beresheet
A person sees all of the afflictions but his own. The advice for this is to look at the one who is in front of him. If he sees that another person did something wrong, he should think, “Why did the Creator make me see this thing if not because this affliction touches the walls of my own house, and because of the incitement of the inclination, my eyes could not see?”
14.71 Ecclesiastes 1:9
That which was is that which will be, and that which was done is that which will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
14.72 Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk,
The Dawn Star
Death is nothing, like a person moving from one flat to another. However, the smart one chooses a nicer flat than the first.
14.73 Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin,
Kometz HaMincha
It is written in The Zohar that the next world is not renewed at that time, but has already been but was concealed. Interpretation: This world is called “the world of falsehood,” and the next world is called “the world of truth.” A lie is something that stops, that has no persistence; it is all the mat- ters of this world, which have existence in the imagination but are not true and are destined to be revoked. Conversely, the next world, he wants to say, “is the abstraction of every thing from the imag- ination to the truth of that matter,” that is, the force of that force that exists forever, and is eternal.
14.74 Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin,
The Thoughts of the Diligent
“When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were as though dreaming.” According to the truth that will be revealed then, all the matters that are regarded as true in this world, will also be only imagination, as this whole world is called “the world of falsehood.” Although the truth in it is not real and it is impossible to attain the real truth in it. But one who reaches a degree where he tastes from the fruits of his actions in the next world in this world, meaning see his world in his life, it means that he will attain the world of truth in the physical life of this world.
14.75 Ramchal,
Adir BaMarom, p 459
In truth, one who achieves real knowledge can see three things: the true, hidden guidance, the outer appearance of the guidance, which is not true, from where this appearance stems, and how it connects to the real guidance.
14.76 Pirkei Avot, 4:16
Rabbi Yaakov says, “This world is like a corridor to the next world. Prepare yourself in the corridor so you will enter the living room.”
14.77 Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
We make nothing new; our work is only to illuminate what is hidden within man.
14.78 Raaiah Kook,
Lights of Repentance
In the heart of existence of the real life lies repentance, since it preceded the world, and before sin came, its repentance had already been prepared. Hence, there is nothing as certain in the world as repentance, and in the end, everything will return to correction.
14.79 Degel Machaneh Ephraim,
BeShalach [When Jacob Sent]
One who truly wants to serve the Creator must include himself with all creations, connect himself with all the souls, include himself with them, and they with him. That is, you should leave for your- self only what is needed for connecting the Shechina [Divinity]. For this reason, one must include himself with all the people and with all creations, and raise everything to their root, to the correction of the Shechina.
14.80 Rabbi Nachman of Breslov,
Likutey Moharan, First Edition, Mark 5
Every person should say, “The whole world was created only for me” (Sanhedrin 37). It follows that if the whole world has been created for me, I have to look and delve into the correction of the world at all times, satisfy the needs of the world, and pray for them.
14.81 Degel Machaneh Ephraim,
BeShalach [When Jacob Sent]
One who wants to serve the Creator in truth must have two discernments:
- The uniqueness of the deed, meaning as though he is alone in the world, and the Creator is revealed to him without clothing. It is as it is written, “No man is to come up with you.” When he wants to serve the Creator, he will be alone and no one will come up with him.
- There is another discernment: A servant of the Creator must include himself with all cre- ations, connect himself with all the souls, include himself with them, and they with him. That is, you should leave for yourself only what is needed for connecting the Shechina [Divinity], so to speak. This requires closeness and many people, as it is written (Sanhedrin 70a), “Closeness of righteous is good for them and good for the world,” for the more people serve the Creator, the more the light of the Shechina appears to them. For this reason, one must include himself with all the people and with all creations, and raise everything to its root for the correction of the Shechina, so to speak.
14.82 Raaiah Kook,
Orot HaKodesh
Past, present, and future are not divided by the truth of what there is. That which was is that which will be, and that which was done is that which will be done, and what was already done and what will be done in the future is ongoing and done in the present, always and promptly.
14.83 Raaiah Kook,
Letters
Any content of time, even of the concept of past and future in general, is only one of the ways of human understanding. With regard to the upper one, it is irrelevant. Hence, from the perspective of the upper, absolute reality, there is no such reality as a potential that has no actual, since over time, anything that is in potential also becomes actual, and the extension of time is irrelevant with regard to the upper one. Therefore, we can say, “That which will be done is already present.” One who brings his desire and depth of his life to the height of the uppermost Godly adhesion, which stands at the top of the world, above the procession of times, to the extent of one’s elevation, the differences between potential and actual—and therefore between future and present—become fainter until they form no partition at all.
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