Behind the Monitor

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The Language of the Branches is the expression of higher forces that operate on our world. It is expressed in objects and in everything that happens. Where does it come from? It’s like a computer monitor: if you looked behind the monitor, you would not see the picture—you would see the electronics that built it.

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Spiritual Sparks

You have not a blade of grass below that has not a sign Above, which strikes it and tells it, “grow.”

—Midrash Rabba

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Here’s how some of the stories in the Bible are explained using the Language of the Branches.

 

THE APPLE STORY

Let’s talk about the Biblical story of creation. The will to receive in the common soul (us) is called “Eve.” The will to bestow, to give, is called “Adam.” Egoism—the will to receive with the intention to receive—is called “the serpent,” and we call it “ego.” The ego wants to take over all our desires and pull us toward egoism. This is considered that the serpent came to Eve—the will to receive—and said, “You know what? You can use your will to receive in a very good way.” So Eve went to Adam—the will to bestow—and said, “You know what? We have a chance to climb up to the highest worlds here. Moreover, this is what the Creator wants, that’s why He made us receivers.”

And she ate. The will to receive, joined with the serpent (egoism), ate the apple. Because they liked it, they thought, “Why not pull Adam (the forces of bestowal) into it?” So she did. As a result, the whole body of Adam ha Rishon (the common soul), all his desires were corrupted by the serpent’s intention to receive in what became the original sin.

 

ABRAHAM—BETWEEN EGYPT AND ISRAEL

Abram was born in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq), immigrated to Israel, and then, because of famine, went down to Egypt. This travel has a spiritual meaning because these places are degrees or forces. They actually tell the correction story of his desire.

Mesopotamia is a starting point, where Abram’s desires are egoistic, like yours and mine. The land of Israel, called “desires to bestow,” is the desire to give. Egypt is called Malchut, the will to receive, and it consists of egoistic desires, with Pharaoh being the epitome of egoism.

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Tidbits

In Kabbalah, Israel is not a piece of land. Its name comes from two words: Yashar (straight), El (God, Creator). Therefore, to a Kabbalist, anyone with a strong desire to be like the Creator is considered a part of Israel.

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Av (father) ha Am (the nation)—the great desires to receive that were to emerge from him. To match those desires, he had a will to give, which guaranteed that the desires will ultimately be corrected. Every time Abraham increases his will to give, he moves to Israel, and every time he increases his will to receive, he moves to Egypt. This is also why immigration to Israel is considered ascent and immigration to Egypt is considered descent.

The will to give by itself is powerless. You can truly give to the Creator only by receiving from Him. So Abraham asked, “How will I know that I will reach the same level of giving as the Creator?” Abraham couldn’t receive because he was in a state of giving. The Creator put his seed in Egypt and told him he would receive the full measure of the will to receive. Abraham was delighted. After the exile, when the people mingle with the Egyptians and absorb their desires, the people will be corrected and know how to receive in order to bestow. This is the pattern of attainment for everyone and leads to the end of correction.

The Bible says that Abraham went down to Egypt because of famine. The famine was spiritual because he wanted to bestow but had nothing to bestow with. For Abraham, a situation in which he can’t bestow is called famine, absence of desires to receive. As a person gradually acquires a bigger will to receive, it is considered experiencing the exile in Egypt. When you come out of the experience with great substance of vessels of reception, you can begin to correct them so they work in order to bestow.

 

MOSES’ TUG-OF-WAR WITH PHARAOH

The next key Bible story from the perspective of Kabbalah is the story of Moses. Pharaoh enslaving the Jews has deeper significance than historical record.

Pharaoh dreamed that there would be 7 years of wealth, followed by 7 years of famine. Wealth is when you first discover a great desire for spirituality and feel great happiness. This is because you think that you can achieve spirituality using your ego. You are ready to read and learn and do all kinds of things. Famine happens when you see that you cannot acquire spirituality unless you concede your ego and gain the attribute of giving. But you can’t give, despite wanting to. You are caught in between. This is Egypt.

To bring about change, your “Pharaoh” grows. Your Pharaoh is your ego. It begins to show you bad things about the present state. If it is very bad, you want to escape or flee to spirituality. You want to go even if there is nothing appealing and attractive about it. When your ego shows you how bad it is, you will want to change.

The name Moses comes from the word Moshech (pulling). This is the point that pulls us out of Egypt, just like the Messiah, which also comes from the same word. Moses is the feeling within a person that stands against his or her ego and says, “I really think we should leave.” The big force that pushes is Pharaoh. The small force that pulls is Moses. This pulling is the start of your spirituality, the point in the heart.

 

THE (CLASSIC HAPPY-END) STORY OF ESTHER

This story describes the final correction of the will to receive, named Haman. Mordechai (the will to bestow) and Hamanshare a horse. Hamanrides first, then Hamanlets Mordechairide while he walks the horse. This shows how your will to receive ultimately surrenders before your will to bestow and gives up the reins.

Esther—from the Hebrew word Hester (concealment)—is the hidden Kingdom of Heaven. She is hidden, along with Ahasuerus, the Creator, who is seemingly neither good nor bad. The person who experiences it doesn’t know who’s right and whether the Creator is good or bad.

Esther is also a relative of Mordechai, the will to bestow. Mordechai, like Moses but at a different spiritual stage, is the point of Bina in one’s soul, which pulls you toward the Light.

When the will to give appears, sometimes it cannot be seen right away. Sometimes it is hidden, like Esther the Queen. You may not know if the action is really giving. However, if Mordechaiis the one riding, your will to receive can correct itself.

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Tidbits

The happiest holiday in the Hebrew calendar is Purim, when the story of Haman and Mordechai is told. This holiday represents the end of correction, and dictates drinking until we cannot tell Hamanfrom Mordechai, egoism from altruism. This is because at the end of correction, all desires are corrected and work in order to give to the Creator, so it doesn’t matter which desire you work with, it’ll always be with the intention to give.
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Like Roots and Branches

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The Law of Root and Branch

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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, being the root of the lower element, as this is where that item in the lower world was imprinted and made to be.

That was the intention of our sages when they said, “You haven’t a blade of grass below that has not a fortune and a guard above that strike it and tells it, ‘Grow’!” It follows that the root, called “fortune,” compels it to grow and assume its attribute in quantity and quality, as with the seal and the imprint. This is the law of Root and Branch, which applies to every detail and occurrence of reality, in every single world, in relation to the world Above it.

– Baal Hasulam, excerpt from “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

A Perfect Language

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The picture of this world has to last throughout the entire process of our spiritual advancement until the World of Infinity. Our correction is possible only under the condition that we perceive the reality of this lower degree, our world.

We must continually attain roots that are above the picture of our world which we now perceive. This picture doesn’t change; it’s only that its roots become higher or deeper, meaning that we attain the Creator (the root of our desires) to a greater extent.

The picture we now see is just His branch that is depicted by our desires on the background of His desires. The world is the picture of our desires’ dissimilarity to Him.

Through the process of attaining, our language doesn’t change either, because the picture of the lowest world doesn’t change. We speak the same words regardless if we are on the first level, in the middle, or at the end of the path. Kabbalists don’t have any other possibility of communicating with each other besides “the language of branches.”

The lowest state is the same for everyone, and the connection from the branch to the root extends from the World of Infinity through the same line which we continue from one world to another, through all 125 levels and in all 613 desires.

Thus, we can talk about any desire on any of the 125 levels by taking the corresponding name of the branch from this world. This is why Kabbalists chose “the language of branches” – because it remains invariable along the entire path of spiritual advancement. It is a perfect language, and if we only knew the connection between the root and the branch, we would be able to understand it.

– Taken from Michael Laitman’s blog –

Unlocking the Zohar, Chapter 1 – A Hidden Treasure

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The greatest Kabbalist of our time was Rav Yehuda Ashlag (1884-1954). Thanks to his work, The Book of Zohar began to become known. Rav Ashlag is known as Baal HaSulam [Hebrew: Owner of the Ladder] for his Sulam [Ladder] commentary on The Book of Zohar. In his latter years, Baal HaSulam wrote what is known as “Writings of the Last Generation,” which begin with the following words:

“There is an allegory about friends who were lost in the desert, hungry and thirsty. One of them had found a settlement filled abundantly with every delight. He remembered his poor brothers, but he had already drawn far off from them and did not know their place. What did he do? He began to shout out loud and blow the horn; perhaps his poor hungry friends would hear his voice, approach and come to that abundant settlement filled with every delight.

“So is the matter before us: we have been lost in the terrible desert along with all mankind, and now we have found a great, abundant treasure, namely the books of Kabbalah in the treasure. …

… “Now, distinguished readers, this book lies here before you in a closet. It states explicitly all the wisdom of statesmanship and the behavior of private and public life that will exist at the end of days, meaning the books of Kabbalah…

“Open these books and you will find all the good comportment that will appear and the end of days, and you will find within them the good lesson by which to arrange mundane matters today, as well.”

Unlocking the Zohar, Chapter 1 – Time to Act

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“The whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah is only to know the guidance of the Higher Will, why It has created all these creatures, what It wants with them, and what the end of all the cycles of the world will be.”

Ramchal, Pitchei Hochma (Doors of Wisdom), Door no. 30

 

Humanity is ever developing. In ancient times, people’s needs were very basic: food, shelter, and procreation. These are natural desires, as well as existential needs. In time, greater needs and greater desires have arisen in us: for wealth, domination, respect, and knowledge.The Zohar is THE book of the wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom of truth. It is surfacing today to lead us forward to a higher dimension. Yet, what is so special about The Zohar and about the Kabbalah? Why is this wisdom taking center stage specifically for those living today?

Throughout history, we have been trying to satisfy the needs that emerged in us. We have been trying to find within these changes happiness, love, and a good life. Today, we see that this chase was futile. While each generation is more advanced materialistically, each also suffers more. The ubiquitous use of drugs and antidepressants as an escape are symptoms of our generation’s internal emptiness.

At each given moment, the media is presenting us with more and more temptations, which we then rush to satisfy. It may be a new piece of clothing, a car, a house, a better job, an academic title, a trip overseas, or even a good restaurant. But each time we obtain something, the pleasure dissipates shortly afterwards and we are left wondering, “What’s next?” Then the chase begins anew.

For how long? Today, more and more people are asking this question. And not only, “For how long?” but also, “Why?”

Why are our lives unfolding as they are? Why are we in a constant race, never actually finding any rest? Why does everything become dull and tasteless once we have obtained it? And in general, if this is what life is about and there is nothing we can do about it, why do we need it anyway?

There has never been such a state where questions about the purpose and meaning of life have arisen in so many people. In the past, we simply didn’t ask. We lived because we were born. But today, such questions that suddenly arise within us leave us restless, prodding us forward, and after years of searching we come to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom that teaches us how to receive much more from life.

Previously, we had no need for Kabbalah, hence its concealment. But today, our need for it is the primary reason for its appearance in our generation.

The second reason is the special situation we are in today. The development of technology and media has turned the world into a small village in which we are completely interdependent. Yet, at the same time, our egos and our hatred of one another are increasing.

It is becoming barely possible for us to tolerate others, beginning on the most personal level, where each member of a family needs a personal room, a personal car, and virtually a personal home. People find it very difficult to maintain relationships, and divorce rates are soaring. The family unit is falling apart the world over.

We are living together, cramped on a tiny planet, antagonistic towards each other and unable to get along. The amount of weapons of mass destruction accumulated worldwide have brought us to a perilous state where everything around us is unstable and unpredictable. It is safe to say that we have lost our ability to govern the world.

Looking forward, if we continue on our present path, it is unclear how we will survive. What kind of world are we leaving for our children? Today’s generation is the first in which people have stopped believing that their children will have a better life than their own!

With all this in the background, The Book of Zohar and the other sources of Kabbalah are appearing. They explain that the situation we now face has long been predicted.

The first time such a state occurred was thousands of years ago in ancient Babylon. The Biblical story about the Tower of Babel described people gathered in one place, wishing to build a tower whose top reached the sky. This was an expression of the great egoism that appeared among them, and the hatred combined with interdependence. It was precisely in that place and in that state that the wisdom of Kabbalah appeared.

The wisdom offers a very simple thing. It says that in addition to the reality we currently sense, there is another, more expansive reality, a higher one. From this higher reality, forces extend to our world and govern it. The development we have achieved over the generations was intended to bring us into recognizing the forces that operate on us and govern us.

When we discover this higher reality, we will understand that our development over thousands of years has taken place only to bring us to acquire and experience a more expansive sensation of reality. Thus, we will not remain in the confined state in which we live and die, live and die. Instead, we will know life in its eternal, broad, and boundless form.

 

Man was made to raise the heavens

Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk

 

In ancient Babylon, it was Abraham the Patriarch, a resident of Ur of the Chaldeans, who discovered that humankind’s program of development was prodding it toward discovering a new reality. Abraham realized that in the end, the material evolution of man on earth would exhaust itself, and humanity would discover that something beyond satisfying corporeal desires was required, and that without it, life on earth would be futile and meaningless.

Abraham discovered that at the end of the material evolution begins the spiritual evolution. Once he himself exhausted the desires we all possess, a new desire appeared in him—to understand the purpose of his life.

In Kabbalah, all of one’s earthly desires are regarded as “the heart,” while the desire to discover the meaning of life is described as “the point in the heart.” The point in the heart is a desire that awakens in our hearts and pulls us “upward.” That new desire led Abraham to discover the complete reality, the spiritual reality.

 

Abraham’s wisdom is called “the wisdom of Kabbalah,” and it describes the network of Nature’s forces and how we can study the program by which they affect us. The wisdom of Kabbalah describes rules, forces, and work formulae of the upper worlds.

Kabbalah explains how reality began to expand from the world of Ein Sof[infinity], through the worlds of Adam Kadmon [ancient man], Atzilut[Emanation], Beria [Creation], Yetzira [Formation], and Assiya [Action], down to our world. It speaks of how souls come down and “dress” in bodies in this world, and how we can cause our souls to rise from here back to the world of Ein Sof.

Abraham was the first Kabbalist to teach people how to discover the soul and gradually experience a higher world through it. There are five higher worlds, each with five degrees, each of which are then divided into five additional degrees. If we multiply 5x5x5, we will arrive at the 125 degrees by which we ascend in our feeling, understanding, and attainment until we discover the whole of reality.

That process takes place while we are here in our material bodies. When we achieve these higher worlds, reality becomes much broader and we feel the forces that operate on the world we are in. It is like a picture of embroidery. In the front is a picture, while the back displays all the connections among the threads that create the picture on the front.

When we observe our world and what is happening in it, we are merely observing the superficial picture. The wisdom of Kabbalah helps us see the depth of the picture. This is how we begin to understand the connections between things—why things happen and how we can affect one element through another element.

In other words, we not only see the image of this world, but we also begin to see the operating system. Only then can we control our lives and our fates, and arrive at the perfect state.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that our lives are built in such a way that troubles of all kinds present themselves before us, leaving us no other alternative but to know the operating system. If we do not achieve the higher dimension, discover the forces that affect us, and begin to manage our lives through them, we will not be able to cope in life. This is why this wisdom is manifesting itself—so we can know the upper worlds.

Kabbalah explains everything that has happened in human history: why we have developed one way and not another, and why all the wars and changes we have undergone took place. It also relates to the future and describes how we can evolve from this point on.

There are two paths before us:

  1. To escape from the bad—to evolve through a negative force that prods us from behind, as we have been doing throughout history: We would discover that something was missing and that we had no other choice but to exit the negative state and make a change.
  2. To be drawn toward the good—to evolve through a positive force that pulls us forward. This is what Kabbalah offers us: to evolve by discovering the good life and then understand how to achieve it through a wondrous adventure.

The sages of the Kabbalah have predicted our state in advance. They knew that without the Kabbalah we would not be abele to survive. They pointed to the end of the 20th century as the time when its wisdom would appear to all. They explained that if we did not shift from negative advancement to positive, we would be goaded into it mercilessly [1].

But we are faced with problems not only on the social level, but also on the ecological level, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, fires, intense heat waves, and cold spells. All these will come only to compel us to continue our development. Nature is shaking us up through a negative force so we will take the positive force into our hands.

To advance, we must first discover the forces that come down to here and affect us. We must learn how to penetrate Nature’s higher system if we are to govern these forces. Even when we wish to develop technologies to improve our lives, we must first study Nature and discover which hidden laws exist in it and how it governs. But because Kabbalah speaks of even higher forces, more concealed, the process of discovering them is far more complex. It is truly a fascinating process, and we will expand on it in the next chapter.

 

This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as “The revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.”

Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

 

Since Abraham’s time some 3,800 years ago, until approximately 2,000 years ago, the wisdom of Kabbalah was known only to the people of Israel. Since the ruin of the Temple approximately 2,000 years ago, through our generation, Kabbalah has been hidden from the public and has been secretly passed on from generation to generation among Kabbalists.

During the period when Kabbalah was concealed, various stigmas were attributed to it. It was considered mysticism, witchcraft, magic, etc., but no one knew what it was really about, hence the false notions. Also, the thriving present-day industry that uses the name “Kabbalah” to market services and products has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual essence of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

But the time of concealment has ended. Today, the original wisdom of Kabbalah is resurfacing for all people, regardless of age, sex, religion or race. Kabbalah is a higher science. It does not belong to any religion or faith, nor does it pose any boundaries or limitations to one who wishes to study it. Any person who wishes to understand the world he or she lives in, to know the soul, to know one’s fate and to learn how to govern it is welcome to study Kabbalah.

“If my people heeded me … they would delve in the study of The Book of Zohar … with nine-year-old infants” [2], said Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda of Komarno as early as the 19th century. Following him, other Kabbalists recommended teaching this knowledge to children from a young age, giving them an explanation of the world that surrounds them, the connections among its parts, and the forces that affect it. Through such education grows a confident human being connected to the source of abundance, feeling in control of one’s life. Such a person knows how to best use these forces, and understands that life is unlimited.

 

The holy Zohar connects to Ein Sof [infinity].

Rabbi Moshe Israel Bar Elijahu, The Residue of Israel. [3]

 

The Book of Zohar is the seminal book of Kabbalah. It was written precisely when Kabbalah shifted from being an open doctrine to becoming a hidden one. The authors of The Zohar knew that the world would need this book thousands of years later, hence they concealed it immediately after writing it.

The Book of Zohar was actually written for this generation, to deliver us from a state of “spiritual exile,” the inability to perceive the upper force and the expansiveness of reality. If we wish to improve our situation, we must make The Book of Zohar the keynote book of our world, since The Zohar is more than a book, it is a means to connect us to the upper force.

When we learn how to read The Zohar correctly, we will discover that it is a means of receiving abundance, and we will see how, with its help, everything changes. Gradually, we will begin to feel that another force is present, a higher and good one, engulfing us, and the air is “imbued” with that force.

In conclusion: Nature has brought us to a special point in human development, a step before a new degree of existence. We are about to make a qualitative leap to the spiritual degree, and this is why the springboard—the wisdom of Kabbalah and primarily The Book of Zohar—is appearing before us.

 

In the depths of the human soul, the voice of the Lord is ever calling. The commotion of life may daze the soul so it does not hear that calling voice for the majority of one’s life, but it can never uproot the basis, the root, and the essence of that voice, which is indeed the very heart of human life … Even in those who strain to escape it and to silence it, the fleeing and the silencing only further disclose the inherent connection of the soul to that mighty voice, which never ceases to hum and to crave in their hearts, too. Indeed, all efforts to escape it and all tactics to silence it are in vain.

Rav Raiah Kook, Treasures of the Raiah, p 113

 

Notes

[1] Kabbalists refer to the two paths toward knowing the upper worlds as the “path of Torah” [path of light] and the “path of suffering.” In his “Writings of the Last Generation,” Baal HaSulam explains it in the following way: “There are two ways to discover the completeness: the path of Torah and the path of suffering. Hence, the Creator eventuated and gave humanity technology, until they have invented the atom and the hydrogen bombs. If the total ruin that they are destined to bring is still not evident to the world, they can wait for a third world war, or a fourth one and so on. The bombs will do their thing and the relics after the ruin will have no other choice but to take upon themselves this work … If you take the path of Torah, all will be well. And if you do not, then you will tread the path of suffering.”

For more on this topic, see Baal HaSulam’s “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” (item 16), “Introduction to the book, The Tree of Life” (item 7), and the essay, “The Peace.”

[2] Rav Yitzhak Yehuda Yehiel Safrin of Komarno, Notzer Hesed [Keeping Mercy], Chapter 4, Teaching 20

[3] Rabbi Moseh Bar Elijahu, Gate of Connection, Gate 1, Preaching 5, Article no. 2

Window to the Heart

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From the book “Attaining the Worlds Beyond” (If you want you can order a hard copy here)

 

It is clear that, since the creation of the world, humanity has suffered torment and pain in such magnitude, it has often been worse than death itself. Who, if not the Creator, is the source of that suffering?

Throughout history, how many individuals have been willing to suffer and endure any pain in order to attain superior wisdom and to achieve spiritual elevation? How many of them voluntarily subjected themselves to unbearable agonies for the sake of finding at least a drop of spiritual perception and understanding of the Higher Force, and for the sake of uniting with the Creator to become His servant?

Yet they all lived out their lives without ever receiving a response, and without any visible achievements. They left this world with nothing, just as they had come into it.

Why did the Creator ignore their prayers? Why did He turn away from them and scorn their suffering? All of these human beings subconsciously realized that there is a higher purpose to the universe, and to every event that takes place. This realization is called the “drop of unification” of an individual with the Creator.

In fact, despite their immersion in egoism and their unbearable torment when they sensed the Creator’s rejection, they suddenly felt a window opening in their hearts, which until then had been closed to the truth. Up until that moment, their hearts had been incapable of feeling anything but their own pain and desires.

This window revealed that they were deemed worthy to experience and feel that longed-for “drop of unification,” penetrating each heart through its broken walls. Hence, all their qualities were altered to the opposite, to resemble the qualities of the Creator.

Only then did they realize that they could unite with the Creator only while in the depth of their suffering. Only then could they grasp Oneness with the Creator, since His Presence was there, as well as the “drop of unification” with Him.At the moment of experiencing this insight, the Light became evident to them and filled their wounds.

Precisely because of these wounds of perception and cognizance, and because of the terrible, soul-tormenting contradictions, the Creator Himself filled these people with such an unbounded, wonderful bliss that nothing more perfect could be imagined. All of this was given to make them feel there was some value to their suffering and agony. It was required in order for them to experience the ultimate perfection.

Once having achieved this state, every cell in their bodies convinced them that anyone in our world would be willing to go through unthinkable torment to experience, at least once in a lifetime, the bliss of being united with the Creator.

Why, then, is the Creator silent in response to human pleas for relief? This can be explained as follows: people are much more concerned with their own progress than with glorifying the Creator. Thus, their tears are empty, and they leave this world just as they entered it, with nothing.

The final fate of every animal is eradication, and people who have not perceived the Creator are as animals. On the other hand, if one concerns oneself with glorifying the Creator, He will reveal Himself to that person.

The “drops of unification,” which fulfill the purpose of creation, flow into the hearts of those who are concerned with the Creator’s glory and love. They flow into those who, rather than complain about the unfairness of Divine rule, are completely convinced in their hearts that all the Creator has done is ultimately for their own good.

The spiritual cannot be divided into separate parts; we can comprehend the whole only a part at a time, until we comprehend it all. Therefore, the success of our spiritual endeavors depends on the purity of our yearning. The spiritual Light flows only into those parts of our hearts that have been cleansed of egoism.

When we look objectively at the nature of our existence and at all that surrounds us, we can more fully appreciate the wonder of creation. According to Kabbalists, who communicate directly with the Creator, His existence has important implications for us. If the Creator in fact exists, and if He generates all the circumstances that affect our lives, then there is nothing more logical than trying to maintain as close a contact with Him as possible.

However, if we tried hard and actually succeeded in doing so, we would feel as if we were suspended in air, without any support, since the Creator is concealed from our perception. Without seeing, feeling, hearing, or receiving some sensory input, we would be engaged in a one-way effort, screaming into empty space.

Then why did the Creator make us in such a way that we cannot perceive Him? Moreover, why should He hide from us? Why, even when we appeal to Him, does He appear not to respond, preferring instead to affect us in a way that is hidden from us, concealed behind nature and our environment?

If He desired to correct us, that is, to correct His own “error” in creation, He could have done so long ago, either directly or indirectly. If He revealed Himself to us, we would all see and appreciate Him to the degree allowed by our senses and the intelligence with which He created us. Surely then we would know what to do and how to act in this world, which was supposedly created for us.

Furthermore, paradoxically, as soon as we strive to reach the Creator, to perceive Him, to come closer to Him, we feel our yearning for the Creator vanish, disappear. But if the Creator directs all of our sensations, why then does He specifically dissolve this yearning in those who desire to perceive Him.

And not only that: Why does he put all possible manner of obstacles in our path? Those of us who attempt to come closer are often met with His rejection. Indeed, He may even inflict years of suffering on those who seek Him.

Occasionally, we might even feel that the pride and arrogance that we are told to rid ourselves of, is infinitely more characteristic of the Creator! After all, if the Creator is merciful, especially to those who seek Him, why don’t we receive a response to our tears and appeals?

If we can alter something in our lives, it means that He has given us the free will to do it. But for reasons we do not understand, He did not endow us with sufficient knowledge to avoid the suffering that accompanies our existence and our spiritual development.

On the other hand, if there is no free will, then what can be more harsh than making us senselessly suffer for years in the cruel world that He created? Certainly, such grievances are infinite in number. And if the Creator is the cause of our condition, then we have much to criticize and blame Him for, which we do, when we experience pain and suffering.

The Creator sees all that goes on in our hearts. When we are displeased with something, the feeling of dissatisfaction can be interpreted as blaming the Creator, even if the blame is not directly addressed to the Creator, or even when we do not believe in the existence of the Creator.

Each of us is correct in maintaining whatever our beliefs are in our present condition, regardless of what that belief is. This is because we maintain only what we feel to be true at that moment, as well as what we have analyzed with our own minds.

However, those of us with vast life experience know how drastically our views can change throughout the years. We cannot say that we were wrong before, but now we are right; we must realize that today’s point of view may be proven wrong tomorrow. Therefore, the conclusions that we draw from any situation are correct for that particular situation; yet, they can be directly opposite to the conclusions we will draw in other situations.

By the same token, we cannot assess other worlds or their laws, or judge them based on our own current criteria – the criteria of our world. We do not possess supernatural intelligence or perception, and we err constantly even within the boundaries of our own world. Thus, we cannot draw conclusions about the unknown and pass judgment on it.

Only those of us who possess the requisite supernatural qualities can make correct judgments concerning what exists above and beyond the natural. Those who possess both supernatural qualities and our own qualities can more closely describe the supernatural to us. Such a person is known as a Kabbalist – a person of our world, created with the same qualities as each of us, but also endowed with other qualities from Above that permit this person to describe to us what goes on in the other worlds.

This is why the Creator has allowed certain Kabbalists to reveal their knowledge to vast numbers of people in society, in order to help others communicate with Him. In a language we can understand, Kabbalists explain that the structure and function of reason in the spiritual, heavenly worlds are based on laws that are different from – and opposite in nature to – our own laws.

 

 

From the book “Attaining the Worlds Beyond”

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Perceiving the Creator

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Generations come and go, yet every generation and every individual asks the same question about the meaning of life. This happens especially at times of war and global suffering, and during periods of misfortune that befall each of us at some point in our lives. What is the purpose of life, which is so costly to us? And shouldn’t the absence of suffering be deemed as happiness?

In the Talmud’s, Ethics of the Fathers, it says: “Against your will you are born, against your will do you live, and against your will you will die “

Each generation has had its share of misfortune. There are some among us who have lived through the Depression, through war, and through postwar turbulence. But I see my generation, being full of problems and suffering, unable to establish itself, and unable to find itself.

In this atmosphere, the question regarding the meaning of our lives stands out particularly clearly. At times it seems that life is more difficult than death itself; therefore, it is no surprise that Ethics of the Fathers states, “Against your will do you live….”

Nature created us, and we are forced to exist with the qualities that were imposed upon us. It is as if we were only semi-intelligent beings: intelligent only to the degree that we are aware that our actions are determined by our inherent characteristics and qualities, and that we cannot go against them. If we are at the mercy of nature, then there is no predicting where this wild, unreasonable nature can lead us.

Our natures are responsible for constantly causing conflicts between individuals and entire nations, who, like wild animals, are engaged in a vicious struggle of the instincts. Yet, subconsciously, we cannot accept a comparison of ourselves with primitive beasts.

If, however, the Divine force that created us does exist, then why do we not perceive it, why does it conceal itself from us? For if we knew what It required of us, we would not commit those mistakes in our lives for which we are punished by suffering!

How much easier would life be if the Creator were not concealed from human beings, but were clearly perceived and seen by each and every one of us! Then, we would have no doubt of His existence. We would be able to observe the effects of His Providence on the surrounding world; realize the cause and purpose of our creation; clearly see the consequences of our actions and His response to them; be able to discuss all of our problems in a dialogue with Him; ask for His help; seek His protection and advice; complain to Him about our troubles, and ask Him to explain why He treats us as He does.

Finally, we would consult with Him for advice concerning the future; we would constantly be in contact with Him and we would be correcting ourselves in accordance with His advice. In the end, He would be pleased and we would benefit as well.

Just as a child is aware of its mother from the moment of its birth, so we would be aware of the Creator. We would learn the correct way of life by observing His reactions to our actions, and even to our intentions. We would perceive the Creator to be just as close as any mother, since we would see Him as the source of our birth, as our parent, and as the cause of our existence and that of all future life.

If the above were so, we would have no need for governments, schools, or educators. The existence of all nations would essentially focus on a wonderful and simple coexistence for the sake of a common cause apparent to all: our spiritual unification with the openly visible and perceivable Creator.

Everyone’s actions would be guided by clear spiritual laws, called “the commandments,” and everyone would obey them because disobeying the commandments would obviously mean inflicting harm on the self, equivalent to jumping into a fire or off a cliff.

If we could clearly perceive the Creator and His Providence, we would have no difficulty in performing the hardest of tasks, for the personal benefit derived from these tasks would be apparent. It would be as if we were giving all our possessions to a stranger without thinking twice about the present or future.

Yet, this would present absolutely no problem, since being aware of the Divine rule would enable us to see the benefits of acting selflessly. We would know that we were in the power of the kind and eternal Creator.

Just imagine how natural it would be (and also how unnatural and impossible it is in the present condition of Divine concealment) to give ourselves fully to the Creator, to surrender all of our thoughts and desires to Him without reservation, and to be what He wants us to be.

We would not have the least concern for ourselves, and would give no thought to ourselves. In fact, we would cease to be aware of our own selves and would transfer all our feelings from ourselves to Him, trying to approach Him and to live by His thoughts and His will.

From the above, it should be clear that the only element lacking in our world is our perception of the Creator. The attainment of such a perception should be our sole purpose in this world. This is the one goal we should spare no effort to achieve, for only when we can perceive the Creator can we receive His help. This would save us from both the calamities of this life and from a spiritual death, thereby according us spiritual immortality without having to return to this world.

The method of searching for our perception of the Creator is known as “Kabbalah .” Our perception of the Creator is called “faith.” However, we often mistakenly believe that faith implies groping in the dark, without seeing or perceiving the Creator.

In fact, faith means exactly the opposite. According to Kabbalah, the Light of the Creator that fills a person, the Light of the connection to the Creator, the Light that gives a feeling of unification with Him (ohr hassadim) is known as “the Light of faith,” or simply, faith.

Faith, the Light of the Creator, gives us a sensation of being linked to the eternal. It brings us an understanding of the Creator, a feeling of complete communication with Him, as well as a sense of absolute security, immortality, greatness and strength. It becomes clear that deliverance from our temporal existence and from our suffering (caused by our futile pursuit of transient pleasures) lies only in our attaining faith, through which we will be able to perceive the Creator.

In general, the only cause of our misfortunes, and of the worthless and temporal nature of our lives, is our failure to perceive the Creator. Kabbalah impels us towards Him by teaching us: “Taste and see that the Creator is good .” The aim of this text is to guide you through the initial stages of the path to perceiving the Creator.