Following Adam’s shattering, each piece in the desire to receive begins to feel like an independent self, separated from its environment and wishing to absorb from it. This desire to absorb, the pulling force, or gravity—the physical parallel to the desire to receive—caused the first clusters to form in the universe, which later became the substance of the first galaxies in the universe.

As space and gravity fields created more structured forms of the desire to absorb (meaning the desire to receive), particles appeared. The absorption process continued and stars were born with planets surrounding some of them. Thus, gravity, the weakest force in Nature, created the infrastructure of the entire universe, just as Stage One of the four developmental stages of the primordial desire in creation, the weakest desire to receive, created the infrastructure for the four Stages and all the spiritual worlds that followed.

As in Stage One, the desire to receive in the corporeal inanimate consists primarily of a wish to secure its own persistence, to sustain itself. Its only relation to others is that it resists any attempt to break, dissolve, or otherwise change it. Yet, as a result of the inanimate level’s aspiration to maintain its own persistence, some particles “discovered” that they could best secure their future by collaborating with other elements.

Unlike Darwin, Kabbalah Asserts ‘No Coincidence’

Unlike Darwin’s theory of evolution, Kabbalah asserts that there is no coincidence. Particles do not really “discover” or happen to collaborate and subsequently benefit from doing so. This would imply that Nature is purposeless, random, that there is no predetermined goal at the end of the process. Instead, Baal HaSulam explains (in “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” The Study of the Ten Sefirot, and in other places) that since our world is the last in a series of cause- and-effect events, the desires that appear in our world already contain (albeit not consciously) recollections of previous states within them, since they are their offshoots. Hence, the desire to receive in this world already has a recollection of the Four Stages, the Partzuf, and all the spiritual worlds. As a result, the preparation, the set-up for discovering the benefits in collaboration, pre-exist in all the levels of desires in this world. This is what allows them to “miraculously” discover the benefits of “negotiating into harmony,” as Sahtouris put it.

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It is possible to teach a person the spiritual mechanics, to explain how the transition from one state to another occurs and how to perform different actions, but it is impossible to convey what he will feel then. In order to do so, he must be ready for a spiritual sensation. [Source: Dr. Michael Laitman, “Several Details about the Picture of the Spiritual World.”]

What’s Missing in the Way We Evaluate Suffering?

On one hand, we see that nature is wise and assiduous toward every creature. It develops every element successively and carefully. Look at the structure of organisms, their ability to grow, to give birth to offspring, and to interact. Everything is built in an integral form, every person has his own place and is in balance with others. If we could see the balanced world, undisturbed by human despotism, we would reveal a wonderful system, one that is not static, but perfectly balanced for development.

However, we do not see the causes of this development and do not understand why everything has to be precisely this way. Therefore, we do not understand the phases of the path. Besides, we look at it through the prism of our egoism and evaluate it according to our criteria. Therefore, we see the world upside down, as if flipping it over in our perception. [Source: Dr. Michael Laitman, “Balance that Causes Development.”]

Destroying the Planet’s Population

Is it Possible to Eliminate Suffering?

It is very hard to explain what the “human in me”. It is above my animal level, above my corporeal life. If I feel that I am human, when I don’t think about the body but rather am filled by some idea, I actually don’t feel my body—it is as if I am floating above myself.

If I descend to the animal level, like an ordinary person in this world, I feel the body. But in any case, while being in my animal body, I don’t feel pain when I cut my hair or my nails because it is at the vegetative level.If I descend to the vegetative level, I don’t feel the inanimate level, where there are no nerves and so on.

Thus, we can speak about the development from the bottom up and about a person’s descent from the top down by explaining how he gradually leaves this life.

We can explain and show a person that if he is in this social, integral body that constantly supports him, he will not feel even a minute of suffering, not in this life and not when this life is over.

A person who is connected with others constantly becomes healthier by being connected to the system that is full of mutual connection with others, and so even if something happens to him, there is an energetic compensation on the account of others. Thus, society operates as a healthy body. If a thorn enters a person’s body, for example, the whole body begins to work against it, by pushing it out, by treating the infected area, etc. The same thing happens with a person in society—the society immediately feels all the person’s internal problems and provides him with the necessary energy, and he is healed. [Source: Dr. Michael Laitman, “Not a Minute of Suffering.”]

From the Beginning of Creation to the Big Bang

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains, that after the initially created desire to receive goes through stages of development, forming the system of the spiritual worlds, a special Partzuf, called Adam, the primordial common soul, was created.

Although this common soul was created without free choice and without the ability to become similar to its Maker, the subsequent “breakage” of this Partzuf created the opportunity for free, independent development, to achieve the purpose creation—to become similar to its Maker.

Therefore, Adam’s shattered soul is our common origin. Being a Partzuf, Adam’s structure was a perfect replica of its parent (corrected) Partzuf. In breaking, Adam extended the structure of the spiritual worlds (worlds of bestowal) to its lowest point—ultimate reception.

In consequence, all that exists in the spiritual worlds exists in our world, as well. For this reason, the same four-stage pattern by which the stages of desire evolved, followed by the four-stage evolution of the spiritual worlds, exists in our physical world. As we explore how our world has evolved, we should keep in mind the desires that evoke and guide it.

Time, as we know it, began approximately 14 billion years ago. From the Kabbalistic, spiritual perspective, the “big bang” was the shattering of Adam’s soul. The reason we see it as a material event is that we see the world through corporeal (self-centered) eyes. If we could see it from the perspective of the force that induced this massive explosion we call “the big bang,” we would see it as an outcome of Adam’s attempt to receive using the last, and greatest desire.

What Is the Difference between Survival of the Fittest in Darwinism and in Kabbalah?

As the original desires evolved in stages, their mundane parallels appeared and corrected one at a time, from the easiest to the hardest. Now, as each desire manifests itself in our universe, Nature, which is synonymous with the Creator, must “teach” it to work so that it contributes to the well-being and sustainability of the universe.

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The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us how the Creator’s quality of bestowal creates a desire, out of nothing, a desire to receive pleasure, and how this creature has similarity with the end of its development.

After an initial four phase development the creature realizes its total opposition to its source, end enters a new phase, using a bestowing intention to progress towards the desired similarity.

We learn how the creation receives what pleasure it can in order to bestow, and builds itself to be as similar as possible to its Creator. However, even after all the worlds have been established in the Partzuf, and all the lights that could be received in order to bestow are received in the Partzuf, there still remains one desire that cannot be made to work in the Partzuf—the desire to be like the Creator. This is the desire that the host in Ashlag’s allegory was referring to when he said, “In this case, there has never been born a person who could fulfill your wishes.” This is the most intense desire, the core desire of Stage Four, and at the same time it is utterly unachievable.

So once all the desires were exploited to the maximum, the creation’s (the company) marketing department (surrounding light), reminded the company management—the Rosh (head) of creation—that there was still more light to be received. Now it was the Rosh’s duty to examine this new desire and determine if it could receive this desire with the intention to bestow.

Do You Fall for this Hidden Temptation that Is Impossible To Resist?

For this reason, the Rosh assembled a special board meeting to discuss the fate of this last desire. In this meeting, the argument for not using it was that it was too strong to handle. Indeed, how can one handle a desire to be like one’s parent? If the Partzuf actually received what it wished for in that desire, it would be similar to a child instantly becoming an adult, without the knowledge and experience acquired over the years of growing up. Clearly, this was too complicated and too dangerous a desire to handle.

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The wisdom of Kabbalah explains, that initially a single desire to receive was created, which as a result of the influence of the creating pure, bestowing force, evolved through four stages, until a raw desire is formed, which senses its total opposition to its source.

As a result of this unpleasant sensation of total opposition the desire restricts itself then builds a “self-control” structure, with a Rosh (head), with a single purpose, to direct its future development in a way of achieving full similarity with the source.

As soon add this “self-control” structure, called “the Partzuf,” is born, the system of “Creation,” begins to sort out the “unemployed” (non-similar, unable to bestow) desires on its waiting list, placing the weakest, easiest to handle desires at the top of the list, and the most intense, unruly ones at the bottom. Creation divides these desires into four categories, similar to the four stages in the evolution of desires. It refers to each category as an Olam (world), from the Hebrew word Haalama (concealment), since these desires must be kept separated and concealed from the lights until they can be operated correctly—with the aim to bestow. Thus, the desires with qualities most similar to Stage One are called “the world of Atzilut,” those most similar to Stage Two form “the world of Beria,” with those most similar to Stage Three forming “the world of Yetzira,” and those most similar to Stage Four becoming “the world of Assiya” (see diagram). For short, they are called “ABYA.”

When Kabbalists describe the spiritual realm—where desires work with the aim to bestow—they usually divide it into worlds and describe what happens in them (how desires actually receive). Therefore, they often refer to everything that precedes the worlds of ABYA as a world as well, and call it “the world of AK” (Adam Kadmon—the primordial man). In a way, the world of AK parallels the Root Stage, or Stage Zero, in the evolution of desires.

Note that our world is not mentioned among the spiritual worlds. Because our world is based on egoism, and the worlds in Kabbalah reflect levels of bestowal, our world is not considered part of the spiritual (with the aim to bestow) system.

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