- Laitman.com - https://laitman.com -

The Meaning of Spiritual and Physical Tears

Posted By bbadmin On September 27, 2008 @ 7:40 pm In Spirituality | 8 Comments

Questions I received on tears and crying:

Question: I’ve never seen you answer a question about tears on this blog. What is the spiritual root of this phenomenon?

My Answer: In spirituality, tears are the expression of a passive participation in correction. They’re a sign that a person (a Partzuf or soul) is spiritually weak and in the state of Katnut. This is a small state where one has a small screen. That is to say – a screen that only protects one from egoism but doesn’t enable one to work with egoism directly, to bestow.

It is written that the Creator sheds tears into the Great Ocean because He cannot make the correction for the person (see the chapter “The Vision of Rabbi Chiya” ^[1] in The Book of Zohar ^[2]). A person has to want to be corrected, but he doesn’t want it. And the Creator is more pained by this than the person, and He sheds tears (Light) into the Great Ocean – the desire He created, and because of that the toughest part of the desire – Malchut de Malchut – is corrected.

Question: When we cry, are we crying for ourselves?

My Answer: Our tears are the ego’s way of expressing itself when it can’t have something it wants or when it feels “compassion” for someone else, which means that we imagine ourselves in someone else’s shoes and are afraid that the same thing will happen to us.

Question: Do such tears indicate spiritual closeness with the Creator?

My Answer: Never!

Question: Then why does one feel “lighter” after crying?

My Answer: Because the animate organism becomes psychologically more relaxed after a nervous stress.