How to Get Back to the Garden – the Riot of Color, Texture, Fragrance That Is ‘We’

Kabbalah says that all that was ever created in all the worlds consists only of the Light and the vessel it fills. The only creation is the vessel that wishes to receive the Light coming directly from the Creator. This will to receive the Light that brings life and pleasure to the vessel is both the spiritual and the corporeal substance, depending on one’s intensity of desire.

The differences in nature, quality, and quantity among all created beings lie only in the extent of this desire, which is accordingly filled with the Light coming from the life-giving Creator. All that separates one object from another and produces colors, substances, waves, and other differentiating factors results from the capacity of the will to receive, and therefore, of the amount of Light that fills it. In other words, a desire of one size yields the form of a mineral; different sizes of desires form liquids, colors, or waves. Everything depends on the position on the scale of desire, while the amount of Light that embraces us and all the worlds is equal and invariable.

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Freedom Beyond Programmed Development—From Larva to Butterfly and the Limitless Sky

Every object in the world is constantly developing. This implies that every object constantly abandons previous forms and acquires new ones under the influence of four factors:

1. Origin
2. Evolution that stems from its own nature and is therefore invariable
3. Evolution that changes under the influence of external factors
4. Evolution and transformation of external factors

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Read How to Maximize Free Will and Subtract Subjugation

The concept of freedom determines our whole life. Animals in captivity usually develop ill health and may even die – a sure sign that nature disagrees with any kind of subjugation. It is not by chance that for centuries humanity engaged in bloodshed and battles to obtain a certain measure of freedom.

Even so, we have a rather vague idea about freedom and independence. We assume that everyone has an inner need for freedom and independence, and that they are available to us at will. But if we examine our actions carefully, we will discover that we act compulsively and that we have no free will at all.

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To Reach Spiritual Attainment, Just Follow One Law

The great sage, Rabbi Akiva, (1st century CE) said: “Love thy neighbor as thyself is the comprehensive rule of all the spiritual laws.”

When Rabbi Akiva speaks about love for our neighbor (one of many spiritual laws), about our duties with regard to society and even to the Creator as the comprehensive law, he implies that all the other laws are mere constituents of this rule.

Kabbalah’s Absolute Litmus Test of Love That Applies Anywhere: ‘How Would I Like It If…?’

However, when we try to find an explanation for this, we are met with an even more unusual statement by the sage, Hillel. When his disciple asked him to teach him the entire wisdom of Kabbalah while standing on one foot, Hillel replied: “Anything that you hate, do not do to others!” Hillel’s answer teaches us that the whole purpose, indeed the reason for the existence of Kabbalah, is to clarify and fulfill a single law: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Is Love an Impossible Dream?

Yet, how can I love another as myself? Loving others as myself would imply constantly fulfilling all the desires of all the people, when I am unable to satisfy even my own desires! Moreover, the sages explain that we have to satisfy others’ desires before our own.

Take this Self-Test! How Well Can I Keep the Law of Love?

Instructions:  Evaluate yourself in the following two situations on a scale of 1 – 10, “10” meaning “I would ALWAYS carry out this action”, and “1” meaning “I would NEVER behave in this way.”

1. If you have only one pillow, you must give it to your friend. How often would you carry out this  action? (Evaluate yourself on scale of 1 – 10)
2. If you have one chair, another person should take it, while you stand or sit on the ground. How often would you carry out this action? (Evaluate yourself on scale of 1 – 10)

If you could not answer “ALWAYS” to these situations, you will not be fulfilling the instruction of loving your neighbor as yourself. So, is this really a feasible demand?

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Blind and in the Dark

As a person begins to transition from an animal-like existence, concerned only with survival, to the level called “human” or “speaking” in the wisdom of Kabbalah, deep existential questions and feelings of despair often well up.  We begin to see such attainments as food, sex, family, money, honor, and power as shallow and unsatisfying, and begin to identify with an inner longing for something more.

Questions that define the human being: the Eternal Question, “Why?”

• Who am I?
• Why do I exist?
• Where did we come from? Where are we going? And what is our purpose here?
• Have we been in this world before?
• Why is there suffering in this world and can we avoid it?
• How can we attain peace, fulfillment, and happiness?

From generation to generation, people try to find answers to these painfully insistent questions. The fact that they continue from generation to generation indicates that we still have not received satisfactory answers to them.

Why the Nearsighted Don’t See the Stars

While studying nature and the universe, we discover that all that surrounds us exists and functions according to precise and purposeful laws. Yet, when we examine ourselves, the zenith of Creation, we find that humanity seemingly exists outside of this system of rational laws.

For example, when we observe how wisely nature created our bodies and how precisely and purposefully every cell in our bodies functions, we are unable to answer the question: “Why does the entire organism exist?”

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