“And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every thing that is in the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark.”
Building the Ark
How is this done? We can do it primarily with the help of the books. In addition to this book, you seek out others like it, written by those who have already attained their root, the Upper World, and convey through them their attainment.
These books are like roadmaps designed to guide you to your goal via the shortest possible route. These books are few in number.
They aren’t meant to expand your knowledge, but to cultivate within you the sensation of the Upper One.
They are written by great Kabbalists: Abraham, Moses, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the ARI (Rabbi Isaac Luria), and Baal HaSulam (Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag).
So, if you refuse to let up until you’ve found the right books, it means you’re “building an ark.” You delve into the books, and at first, you don’t understand them one bit, but you continue to read. This is how you “erect the walls of the ark.”
Then, you find a teacher, a guide who will not let you stray from the path, and you find friends with whom you will overcome the obstacles that stand between you and the goal. This is how you “lay the roof of the ark.”
Entering the Ark above One’s Mind
Your entrance into the ark begins the moment you “sort out” your desires and select those with which you can continue to develop spiritually. Accordingly, you will understand which desires must be “drowned.”
And this is possible only if you switch off your mind, as odd as that may sound. “Switching off your mind” means you ignore the advice of the body, your ego. It’s a difficult condition, but it can be done, and many have already traversed this journey. They wrote the authentic books about discovering the true, exalted force of love, which they called “the Creator.” They also wrote that the tiniest grain of spiritual pleasure is billions of times greater than all of the earthly pleasures combined.
So, achieving the spiritual pleasure is possible only if you escape from the iron grip of the ego and conquer your mind. Of course, your mind bombards you with questions such as, “What are you doing this for?” and “What are you really getting out of it?” “Where are the tangible benefits?” “Who are these sages that you follow their instructions so closely?”
You hear all this, but your response to your mind is, “I understand your concerns but I have faith in the sages and in what I read in these books.
Confusing Questions in Order to have Free Choice
Who’s feeding you these questions? It is the so-called “impure force.” This force has power only over your mind. But if you act in spite of your mind, you will immediately feel the kind of relief that comes after exhausting labor, because the power of the “pure force” means to do something in spite of the mind.
It may seem odd or bewildering, but both the pure and the impure forces stem from the same source. That source is the Creator, a force of absolute good that wants one thing and one thing only: to turn us into creatures worthy of Him. It is He who confuses us, deliberately, so we can decide our fate for ourselves. Every decision, every step we take we will need to weigh carefully, as though our entire life hangs in the balance.
The Mind’s Questions Flooding the Person
“And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.”
It means the “earth”—your desire—is being “flooded with flood waters.” “Flood waters” are the questions that literally “wash over” you.
These questions aren’t simple. They are your mind’s questions. They are materialistic, rational, pragmatic, and are triggered by problems that concern the body. Their “where’s” and “why’s” aim to drown us.
The questions never let up; they return a thousand times: “What do you need this for? What’s the point? Think about yourself because your efforts aren’t bringing you any personal benefit. What will you get out of all this work? How will the Creator repay you for observing His commandments? Will it be worth it after all your toiling is done?”
These objections of the body are summed up by the question “What?” (Heb. Ma)
If you oppose the body, citing faith in the Creator that He governs all things in the name of good, then the body objects even more. Now it screams, “Who?” (Heb. Mi) “Who is the Creator, that I should obey His voice?” If you only knew, if you could see and feel that the Creator is great, you could work for Him. Just consider how much more profitable it is to work for someone respected in our world.
It is when these two objections of the body combine in you that the two questions “What?” and “Who?” (Ma and Mi) merge into one word—Mayim, which means “water” in Hebrew. And much Mayim (water) creates a flood.
“The Meaning of the Story of the Entrance to Noah’s Ark Amidst the Flood” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.
