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Everything in this world, “every blade of grass has a force above that strikes it and tells it, “Grow!.””
We need a Kabbalist really of the stature of the ARI to talk about that. This is what he writes:
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Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created,
The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence.
And there was no vacancy, such as an empty air, a hollow,
But all was filled with that Simple, Boundless Light.
And there was no such part as head, or end,
But everything was One, Simple Light, balanced evenly and equally,
And it was called “the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity).”
And when upon His simple will, came the desire to create the worlds and emanate the emanations,
To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,
Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,
Then the Ein Sof restricted Himself, in His middle point, precisely at the center,
And He restricted that Light, and drew far off to the sides around that middle point.
And there remained an empty space, an empty air, a vacuum
Precisely from the middle point.
And that restriction was equally around that empty, middle point,
So that the space was evenly circled around it.
And after the restriction, when the vacant space remained empty
Precisely in the middle of the Light of Ein Sof,
A place was formed, where the Emanations, Creations, Formations, and Actions might reside.
Then from the Light of Ein Sof, a single line hung down from Above, lowered into that space.
And through that line, He emanated, created, formed, and made all the worlds.
Prior to these four worlds, there was one Light of Ein Sof, whose Name is One, in wondrous, hidden unity,
And even in the angels closest to Him
There is no force and no attainment in The Ein Sof,
As there is no mind of a created that could attain Him,
For He has no place, no boundary, no name.
–The Ari, The Tree of Life, Part One, Gate One
Beautiful. And so what are we to make of this in our work? Do we experience each other as separate in the corporeal world because we are spiritually disconnected or is it merely our flawed perception of the unity of spiritual reality, revealing to us our need for correction? I find this scrutiny very important because it highlights whether our work changes spiritual reality or simply results in a change in our perception of corporeal existence.
Against the perfected World of Eyn Sof stand several degrees of correction, which are only degrees of correction of my shattered attitude to reality. Only due to this inner depiction I feel I’m in a world full of crime, war, divorces, famine, and what not. It is written, “I the Lord do not change.” It only appears so because I change, thus it is also written, “Every day I have a new Creator.”
If the point in the heart is a sensation of the creator (the real ” I”, as i understand it), what are the 613 desires needed for? Is this my playing field, to overcome the desires to receive and raise a screen above it. And if the screen is my intention to bestow, how does the point in the heart relate to that intention?
Related to this week’s lessons of “Standing between Heaven and Earth”: How is “between Heaven and Earth” related to the middle line? Is the middle line the absence of the left and right line? Or the combination of the left and right lines?
Hi Aaron,
Heaven (shamaiim) and Earth (Aretz) are Keter and Malchut. Between heaven and Earth is Bina. Or, we can simply say, Heaven is the level of bestowal that is higher than the degree I’m on. It’s not precisely the Middle Line.
The Middle Line is above the Left and Right but does not exist without them. It has to be built above them.
Meaning: we are not ready yet, because we have n’ t build the screen yet? Our point in the heart has to grow more above our opposite tendencies (good and bad inclinations, left and right line) to merge in balance between them? The ligt being at rest, us by nature the will to receive, why with the efforts we undertake ( 3 pillars) are we not in the system?
Dear KabU,
I watched Rav’s class this morning, he explained about the desire for bestowal which first requires going above reason. He also said that it is necessary for the student to accept that there is none else besides him also above reason as well.
A students asked ‘how do we sense bestowal is it in the mind or in the feelings’. And, Rav said it is felt in both mind and heart.
My question is: I already have a notion that there is none else besides him but only in the intellectual capacity. I mean, my mental faculty/ mind is happy to accept that there is a single force which stands behind the corporeal world and I can accept that and my mind is happy with that. the problem is that I do not ‘feel’ this yet I mean I do not recognise in any way shape or form that there is none else besides him nor feel this way, how can I overcome this anomaly [the accepting mind and the non-feeling heart? Thanks, Lyndon S.
It’s good, Lyndon. Let’s continue. We have to take the concepts as axioms. That’s called “faith in the sages”. If a scientist has claimed he discovered something, and I want to check his work, I have to believe in him don’t I? Otherwise it’s not worth my time to carry out the work. We can prove in every way that all is interconnected, one system, and yet each one will have to correct himself to feel it. Because not feeling it comes from the fact that I am shattered. That’s why I see things and feel them as shattered. That’s why I need to work on love of friends. Because I don’t have a non-shattered attitude towards anything. I need to start with the group, then; to build an interconnected system there. I can start feeling it there and extend it later to the whole world.
There is a Women’s world event coming up next week that I only hear about at the grad lessons but no link to subscribe. Please help, how to subscribe and attend. Or is it only invitation based?
Dear Instructor,
FAO Seth B
Re. Oct 11, 2022 – Pticha- Lesson 13 | A Sage Speaks
When explaining the process and mechanism of the GE. & AHP. and how the GE. overlaps the AHP. up and/ or down impelled upward by ‘flirting from above’. I perceive this of the relationship is in all directions and is limitless.
1) Does a pinecone from a pine tree, as many other physical natural things, show this similar pattern too. I mean, the replication of a pattern over and over with overlap and symmetry? This is just a silly thought but seemingly a fundament of nature.
2) The relationship between the GE. & AHP. allows movement by equalizing up or down. Is this like the white keys as major chords and black keys like minor keys on a piano. I mean, not only in appearance but that the audible note of the sharp notes and flat notes which allow for the audible increase and decrease in tone across the scale? Ditto above.
3) Sorry to be geeky here, about halfway through Sandra asked you ‘how do we know if we attain it [spirituality]’. Your reply at 53m49s you are not audible you said ‘you’ll know when you attain it [spirituality it is called a [word missing]. What is the word you used to describe this attaining of spirituality.
4) Download button is missing from this and other classes too.
5) Is the beating of the light, which is rejected and which hits the Tabour. Is this felt by me as pain and disappointment in life which drives me forward too. And conversely is the accepted Hoxer light -me getting on with things
This was a hard class item 40 is tough to follow and the wording/ terms in the big green student book is different to that which you use.
Thanks. Lyndon S.
Lyndon,
Jim’s answer is the best.3) I said, “ta’asig b’yadech”. It means to attain in your hand. It means attainment is as if you are holding it in your hand. It is not fantasy, it is not imagination. If you are drinking coffee you know you are drinking coffee. Same thing.
4) I’ll tell Alan Barba who deals with the download button 🙂
5) Here is a copy paste of some of my notes from that class. Much of this is Rav’s words mixed with my development and explanation for the clas, it’s all mixed together, but you’ll get the point.If the lower part is capable of realizing that the Upper One is concealing Himself and if the lower asks for help to correct his egoism, (called raising a prayer) then the Upper reveals Himself (lifts His AHP)So we should remember that the first stage of perceiving the spiritual is the feeling of spiritual deprivation…
When we feel a lack of desire for spirituality, it means that the Upper Partzuf descended, degraded its properties, entered us, equalized with us, hence man feels spiritually empty.
It is precisely in this state of not being drawn to the spiritual that a person should tell himself that it only seems to him this way, but in truth, by faith above reason, he desires and acts for the sake of nearing the spiritual. In other words, if, in the state when the Upper One “falls” in his eyes, if one can nonetheless aspire to spirituality, he thereby connects himself to the AHP of the Upper One.
The most important thing in our state is to come to feel the AHP of the Upper Degree, located at the very center of our heart, and to become equal with it in our properties so as to afterwards rise together with it.
All of our thoughts about the Creator and about spirituality constitute our contact with the AHP of the Upper One.
Therefore, as soon as one can establish contact with AHP of the Upper One (even if it appears to him absolutely unattractive, precisely because it lowers its properties to man’s level), this AHP of the Upper One immediately elevates man to its GE. Thus, man ascends to a Higher Degree.
There are stories that were told about this, that the mission of the righteous one in our world was to descend to the most corrupt people. The Upper degree corrupts its properties to equalize with the lower degree. Then when he completely unites with them and they trust him, (the union of AHP of the upper with the GE of the lower), he gradually begins to correct them – though his example he passes his thoughts to them. And since there is no distinction between the desires of AHP of the Upper One and GE of the lower one, into which AHP of the Upper One fell, they both rise together. This way, the Upper One elevates, i.e., improves, corrects a certain part of the lower one’s properties (GE), and elevates them to its true level.
Good luck good friend!
SethDear KabU,
Re. ta’asig b’yadech
Thanks so much for your answers and help, appreciated!
Can you let me know are there any links you can share re ‘ta’asig b’yadech’? I have looked and looked and there’s nothing on it?
I just want to read what has been put about this so I can perceive this state. Thanks so much.
Lyndon S.
Hello Lyndon. I could not find any links to this term. Maybe if it were in Hebrew. That said, my understanding is that the phase doesn’t describe a state. I think it refers to moving from one state to the next – attainment. For example: say I never have eaten an apple. I research all I can about the taste of an apple, but I still don’t really know what an apple tastes like. Then one day I bite into an apple. Now I have attained what an apple tastes like. I moved from the state of not knowing the taste, to the state of knowing the taste.
Hello Lyndon. I will pass your post to Seth.
I would mention that trying to use things in corporeality as examples of what goes on in the spiritual is problematic at best. Take, for instance, the concept of “bestowal”. Our best corporeal example of this is a mother’s love for her child. And yet, ultimately, this example is just the opposite of what is meant by bestowal as the kabbalists use the term. As for repeating patterns, there is just one pattern that repeats and makes our whole reality both vertically (towards the Creator) and horizontally (all the worlds). That pattern we call the four phases of direct light. I’ve heard Rav mention it’s kind of like fractals and kind of like holograms. Again, both of these examples can be misleading. The problem is that spirituality is above reason and all our examples are within reason.
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