What the Creator Is
Reality consists of two elements: Creator and creature. We feel this in our senses in various ways, but it is unchanging in and of itself. The sensation of the Creator is what we call “the world,” or “creation.” The creature can sometimes sense that the Creator is being partially or fully revealed; at other times He is altogether concealed. The creature may even lack awareness of the Creator altogether. The extent of awareness of the Creator depends solely on the creature, because the Creator, like the sun, never stops shining.
The Creator has the attributes of bestowal and benevolence. When the creature acquires these Creator-like attributes, this state is called equivalence of form with the Creator. The individual then senses the Creator as fully revealed, to the exact degree that his or her attributes resemble those of the Creator. When the attributes of a person are incompatible with those of the Creator, he or she feels the Creator as concealed. When these attributes oppose those of the Creator’s, the individual feels the Creator does not even exist.
How Your Attributes Determine Your Closeness to Spirituality
The creature feels the Creator as pleasure, as wisdom and peace and wholeness. Therefore, the intensity of those sensations depends on the intensity of the sensation of the Creator. The Creator formed all the creatures from an egoistic desire to enjoy. The Creator is perceived by the creature as pleasure in all its manifestations. Pleasure means the sensation of the Creator, or the light of the Creator, which are actually one and the same.
A creature is in essence a desire to delight in the Creator. The closer I feel to the Creator, the greater is my enjoyment. The further He is from me, the less I enjoy, until my sensations are turned to pain. We ourselves determine the extent to which we feel close to the Creator. We do that by changing our attributes. The closer our attributes become to the Creator’s attribute of benevolence, the closer we become to Him. This is when we feel best. Thus, in fact, an individual changes his or her own destiny and becomes a partner in the leadership of the world.
Your Perception Is a Reflection of Your Similarity to Nature
The “world” is the sum total of all the conditions that define the measure of a person’s equivalence or adhesion with the Creator. This degree of attachment is determined by us. We set the conditions for equivalence through our own will, through our intentions and prayers, all of which come from our desire. This process of directing our desires is called raising MAN (an Aramaic acronym for Mayim Nukvin—female water), the one factor by which the creature can influence his or her relationship with the Creator and what he or she will receive from above.
When a person is born into this world, the sense for perceiving the Creator is covered with a screen, which completely hides the Creator. Because of this screen, we cannot feel the presence of the Creator. What one does feel is called the “world,” what one does not feel seems virtually nonexistent. The Creator is not concealed from me, but I, with my senses, do not feel Him. Perhaps I even conceal Him, because what I feel is not Him, but the screens that conceal Him. I can, however, influence my relationship with Him, breaking through these screens.
How A Person Is in Constant Contact, Whether Conscious of It or Not, With Spirituality
When the first Jewish farmers began to populate the Negev desert in the south of Israel, Rav Yehuda Ashlag was asked, “Wherever will they get water?” He answered that the water would come through the prayer of the farmers. He was then told that the farmers were secular and even opposed to religion, so how then would they pray? To that he replied: “It is of no importance. Any man’s desire for life is sensed by the Creator, who is the source of all life, and therefore, the Creator will grant them their wish, even if they are unaware of it.” This means that, no matter what, our desire rises up to the Creator and always has an effect, even though we may not know of the existence of the Creator or feel Him, even if we deny Him, don’t understand His actions, or fail to justify Him altogether.
As we progress on our spiritual path with the help off the Wisdom of Kabbalah, we gradually learn how to direct, focus our prayer in order to receive the right help for self-change, so we achieve equivalence of form with Creator. And the through this equivalence of form we will start sensing Him, merging with Him.
“What Everybody Ought to Know About Attaining Spirituality in This Life” is based on the book, Awakening to Kabbalah: The Guiding Light of Spiritual Fulfillment by Dr. Michael Laitman.
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