How Changing One’s Intention Expands Perception
The only difference between the vessels that perceive the corporeal reality and those that perceive the spiritual reality is in the intention. The corporeal vessels are egoistic and the spiritual vessels are altruistic. Intention is related to one’s attitude towards the use one makes of one’s desires.
The only state that really exists is the state of Ein Sof (Infinity). In that state, the Light is present within the Kli. However, that state is concealed, and the concealment prevents us from experiencing the state of Ein Sof. The altruistic intention gradually removes this concealment and exposes the Light that permanently fills the Kli.
If we keep this depiction in mind, we will remember that we never reveal any Lights outside the vessels. When Kabbalists say that Lights enter or exit the vessels, they wish to emphasize how one draws nearer to the attainment of the constant state. In Kabbalistic terms, Ein Sof is a state of “complete rest,” meaning it is unchanging. Our work is to gradually prepare our tools of perception to perceive that state. Thus, the only change is in our abilities to perceive.
If Nature Is Perfect and Eternal, Why Don’t We Perceive It?
When Light “clothes” a person and one feels how it gradually enters, the constant state becomes gradually clearer as one awakens to feeling it. The Light never actually enters and never actually exits. It only becomes clearer and more evident, meaning more revealed and less concealed.
As Light becomes more evident in the Kli, it shows us that we are actually in the world Ein Sof, in the constant state, and that we must discover that this is our only state of existence. Thus, the Abstract Form doesn’t exist at all. The Light that creates the Kli filled it immediately. There is no lapse between the making of the Kli and its filling. When Kabbalists say that Light emits from the Creator, they mean that there is already a Kli that is filled with It.
We must not forget that, unlike our time-related language, there is no time in spirituality. This is why we say that a Kli was first made and then filled. But in spirituality, these phases are simultaneous; the beginning and the end are at the same point.
Hence, the Abstract Form is really nonexistent, since the Form, or Light, is already clothed in its vessel. Our imagination can separate the Light from the Kli. We can assume that the Light within the Kli probably exists outside the Kli as well, although we have no perception of what is outside the Kli.
Let us try to demonstrate this concept: Assume there is a Kli in which I perceive the whole reality. Assume also that there is another Kli in which I perceive some of the reality, and one more Kli in which I cannot perceive anything. Correcting my vessels pertains to the expansion of my vessels from smaller to greater, and even greater. If I say that the Light fills my vessel, it does not mean that It did not fill it before, but that now I have discovered this reality in actual fact.
We can compare this process to an unconscious patient who is slowly regaining consciousness. His kin and friends surround him, waiting for him to wake up. As he slowly opens his eyes, he begins to recognize his whereabouts. From the patient’s perspective, reality “came to him” and filled his vessel of sensation, because we measure everything from the perspective of the receiver.
How the Current State of Humanity, in Comparison to it’s Final State, Is as if “Unconscious”
The term, Ein Sof, does not pertain to anything outside the creatures. It pertains to the Thought of Creation. The final Form of the creatures is already present in the Thought of Creation. All creatures, none excluded, are already in that state with all their fillings. Our present state is therefore called “the imaginary state.” We are that unconscious patient; we think that we exist in a certain way, and we are gradually awakening to see the actual reality. At the end of the process, every creature will be fully aware of its true state.
In his Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam depicts three states that the souls experience in the process of their awakening to their true state. The first state is the beginning of Creation and contains everything that will later evolve. The second state is the birth of the souls. The third state is when souls obtain what was already present in the first state. In other words, the first state refers to the souls’ potential existence; in the second, they are unconscious, and in the third they return to their original state.
We are accustomed to a modus operandi by which we first decide to do something, then execute our decision, and have the intended result at the end of the execution of our decision. However, the Creator is complete. Thus, for Him there is no difference between the decision and the execution. The concept of time does not apply to the Creator. This is why we say that in the Thought of Creation to do good to His creations, the beginning, the middle, and the end are integrated inseparably. It is only our perception that divides this Thought into three layers.
Who Else Wants to Exit the Boundaries of Time?
The concept of time applies to the creatures because we are uncorrected. Three states exist for us: (1) corruption, (2) preparation for correction and correction, (3) equivalence of Form, and filling. This sequence of actions creates our sense of time.
As Reshimot surface in us, they make us want and think various things. When the Reshimo changes, so does my thought. The difference between my thought a minute ago and my thought in the present creates the sensation that time is passing. When our thoughts and desires change slowly, we feel that time is “crawling.” Conversely, when new thoughts and new desires pop up very quickly in our minds, we feel that time is “flying.”
Upon acquiring the first spiritual degree, we feel that we are in a spiritual process, meaning a spiritual time. In that state, we no longer sense corporeal time and completely identify with the spiritual process, where time is measured by the changes and actions pertaining to our contact with the Creator.
The frequency of the to-and-fro “signals” from us (now Kabbalists) to Him creates the sensation of time. It is no longer a question of the number of years we spend in our physical bodies. When all the Reshimot have surfaced, are corrected, and are filled with all the Lights, alternating between states ceases. Because there are no more deficiencies to fill and we are in a state of wholeness, the sensations of time, space, and motion cease, as well.
How to Build a Desire for the Spiritual Reality
Understanding the making of Creation can be simplified by an example: A person who wishes to build a house will first picture its final form. After that, one must carefully plan the work stages and then execute them.
This is not the case with the Creator. The minute the Creator thought about creating creatures, it was done, and they appeared in their corrected form. Thus, from the Creator’s perspective, we are in our corrected form. It makes no difference that we discover our true state gradually.
Hence, when we want to receive strength, we turn to the state of Ein Sof, which we call “Creator.” To receive strength and discernments, we turn to the corrected reality in which we already exist, and to which we must aspire. Ein Sof is the Thought, and the world Atzilut is the detailed blueprint—these are the two phases preceding the execution of the Thought. It is similar to the way one thinks about constructing a house and even puts one’s thoughts in writing without having the materials.
Below the world Atzilut is the Parsa, the separation between the Atzilut and the world below it. The creatures begin from the Parsa downward.. Yet, the Creator does not have to wait for the creatures’ actions. For Him, the Thought and the Blueprint are the whole reality. Below the Parsa exist the worlds Beria, Yetzira, Assiya, and below them is This World (see diagram).
Light comes from the world Atzilut downward according to one’s desire to “build the house.” This desire, which one raises towards the Upper Light, is one’s intention to please the Creator and resemble Him. In other words, it is the intention to obtain similarity with the Creator.
Progressing From State to State in Discovering the Spiritual Reality
The process of bestowal upon the Creator consists of a beginning and an end. Not only do the beginning and the end pre-exist, but each of the intermediary stages exists as well. One knows the stages that one must go through in advance because, according to the blueprint, the pre-definition of each state stems from the Kli having to undergo a gradual correction.
There are diverse desires in the Kli, all of which are interconnected. They can be compared to organs in a single body, where each is required to build the intention to bestow. Correcting one desire influences all the others, which must unfold in their proper place in the correction order. There is nothing in one’s life that is not predetermined by the structure of the will to receive, as the path of correction is predefined and divided into preordained orders.
We are always in the ultimate state, even now. As Reshimot surface and put us in varying states, all we do is realize each one. We cannot choose the states we will experience, but we can be assisted by the environment to realize the stages more effectively. Thus we will progress from one state to the next.
Moreover, even the way in which we realize the states we are placed in is predetermined. Nothing is new from the Creator’s perspective; it is only hidden from us so we may independently choose to spiritually evolve. Later, when it no longer affects our efforts, we will discover that our successes and failures in achieving these states were also predetermined. When this occurs, we will be absolutely integrated in the Creator’s perfect guidance.
Why a Feeling of Detachment from the Spiritual Reality Is Necessary in Order to Reveal It
If we were to correct beyond our interest in the results we feel in our vessels, we would no longer be influenced by what happens in the beginning, middle or end. Like the Creator, beginning, middle, and end would equalize in us and become one stage. This is why those who correct themselves transcend time and the effect of temporary stages. The correction we must undergo essentially consists of detaching from self-interest.
We can define a creature as “something” that feels itself detached from the Creator, and is ostensibly in its own right. From the point of view of the creature, the house isn’t finished yet. The creature feels that it can contribute something to the building of it.
When the creature begins to want to discover the blueprint in order to complete the building of the house, the creature is considered to have brought itself back to Ein Sof. Its efforts to seek counsel and strength to understand the Creator’s design and realize it bring the creature to ever-deepening familiarity with the plan, and to subsequent inclusion in the completed house.
Yet, this process unfolds precisely when the creature is seemingly adding every nut, bolt, board, and brick to the building. This addition constitutes one’s desire to be incorporated in the house, not the actual construction of it. The raw materials, the metal, the wood, and the bricks are all desires. One need only want to place each desire in its proper place, according to the Creator’s Plan. By building the house made of desires, one acquires the Creator’s Thought. This is the creature’s reward.
How Actions that Resemble Nature Bring a Person into Contact with Nature’s Mind
The Thought of Creation can only be reached from within this world. While being in this world, a Kabbalist gradually studies the actions of the Creator directly from Him and begins to want to do the same. Kabbalists called this process “from your actions we know you.” The outcome of this process is the attainment of the Creator’s Mind, His Thought.
The Thought of the Creator precedes the making of the creature. Hence, upon obtaining it, one not only brings oneself back to one’s birthplace, but one rises even higher, transcending the level “creature” and reaching the actual level of the Creator. At such a point we can say that they are of one mind, in adhesion, or equivalence of Form.
To be exact, the blueprint appears at the very first contact with spirituality. This is because each spiritual degree is a complete structure of ten Sefirot. The substance of the building, its structure, even its builder, all become known with the appearance of the very first picture.
After admission to the spiritual world, one becomes better and better acquainted with its structure because spirituality is built solely with one’s consent to every step in the process. The consent pertains to one’s intention to bestow, the altruistic intention. One’s independence and free choice, one’s “place of work,” are in agreement with the altruistic intention. This is the addition that the Creator never added, nor can He add this.
The world Ein Sof is the house that the Creator so lovingly gives to the creature, but one must return the same love for Him, and by so doing seemingly build the same house for the Creator. Thus the creature returns the actions of the Creator, equalizes with Him, and hence elevates to the Thought of Creation.
Why it is in a Person’s Best Interest to Accelerate toward Revealing the Spiritual Reality
The Light of Ein Sof fills the whole reality, the entire will to receive that It created. It operates within it to bring it to equalize its form with Itself. The pressure of the Light on the will to receive is constant, unchanging in quantity or quality. In consequence, perpetual changes unfold in the will to receive, which we call “general providence,” “from Above,” meaning from the Creator to the creature. Because this attitude is permanent and unchanging, it is called “the Ein Sof, which is in complete rest.”
The term, “Ein Sof,” emphasizes that the Creator is unchanging and that His purpose is also unchanging—to bring the creature to Gmar Tikkun (the End of Correction). Progression toward Gmar Tikkun is carried out through the Light’s pressure on the Kli, which will eventually bring the Kli to feel that it is in contradiction with the Light’s state.
Because of the pressure this creates, Kabbalists relate to this path as “the path of pain.” While treading this path, everything happens in its due time, the constant pressure of the Light on the Kli inducing the making of diverse forms in the Kli until they are exhausted and the Kli reaches its Gmar Tikkun.
At the end of the natural evolution of the will to receive in humans, after many life cycles, one begins to feel that there is something higher, a Giver. At that phase, one begins to accumulate insights that do not belong to the will to receive, but to the will to bestow that pervaded the will to receive at the shattering of the vessels.
In such a state, one is between two forces–the will to bestow and the will to receive. Such a state allows one to accelerate one’s development and progress faster than the natural pressure of the Light on the Kli would allow.
Why the Study of Kabbalah Is Necessary to Experience the Spiritual Reality
However, accelerating evolution toward the attribute of bestowal cannot be done from within one’s ego. The only way to acquire the attribute of bestowal is to receive it from the Creator. The work of the individual is to find a way by which to receive the Form of bestowal “from Above,” without having to fully experience the evils in the Kli, experiences that would force the creature to flee from reception to bestowal by pain and torment.
Choosing this path is called “evolution from below upward.” In it, we walk toward the pressing Light and systematically bring upon ourselves all of the states, one by one. By taking this path, we want to progress toward the Creator, toward acquiring the Form of bestowal, and in so doing skip over the other states.
The great benefit of this alternative path, called “the path of Light,” is that one experiences the same states, each and every desire, and its oppositeness from the Creator, but not because of the pressure from behind, but because of the craving for the Light. This path allows one to experience the necessary discernments quickly and in a more controlled manner. The path of Light is similar to discovering that we are ill, and taking the proper medicine before the illness actually breaks out. Thus, our own yearning can spare us great pain and troubles.
If we are drawn to the Light of our own accord; i.e., to the Forms of bestowal above the will to receive, we will skip terrible afflictions. This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah was given to humankind. Without it, humanity would progress naturally, step by step, each phase lasting until its negativity became fully exposed, and we would be forced into the next state. Teaching the wisdom of Kabbalah and how to use it to draw the Light will help us evolve in a very different way, pleasantly and quickly.
“The Everyman’s Guide to Revealing the Spiritual Reality” is based on the book, Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life by Dr. Michael Laitman.
Image: "Crowd" by Espen Sundve.
