Up And Down The Spiritual Ladder

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe World of Atzilut acts in a totally new way regarding the World of Adam Kadmon since the spiritual objects (Partzufim) that are created in it are born only after the breaking of the vessels. Since the breaking took place between the Worlds of Atzilut and Adam Kadmon, their initial data are absolutely different.

Before the World of Adam Kadmon, there was only Malchut of Infinity which was filled with Light, desires, the power of screens, and the willingness to reach the end of correction. From this state, the World of Adam Kadmon was born. However, its development ended with the breaking in the World of Nekudim; the breaking gave rise to a completely new starting point.

Now, development occurs not from Above downwards but from below upwards starting with the embryo (Ibur) of each Partzuf. Every Partzuf goes through the following three stages: the embryo, feeding/nurturing, and maturity (Gadlut). After it grows up and corrects itself, it is now able to give birth to the next Partzuf that develops in exactly the same manner by going through the stages of small, medium, and big. Each Partzuf doesn’t descend from Above downwards any more, but grows from below upwards.

However, on the other hand, these Partzufim expand from Above downward, from the head of the World of Atzilut to the end of the World of Assiya. Each Upper One, after it has reached Gadlut (the grown state), produces (in relation to itself) a lower Partzuf as an embryo. Then, the Upper One feeds/nurtures the lower one, and raises it by providing the necessary conditions for the latter to grow and mature by transferring to it all Reshimot in order for the lower one to start working independently.

A peculiar synthesis occurs here. On one hand, the Upper One gives birth to the lower one. On the other, the lower one, after being born, begins developing from below upwards.

This process occurs in all the Worlds of ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya) that are designated to provide the environment for man’s ascension. A human being grows solely from below upwards. He goes through the stages of the embryo, feeding/nurturing, and maturity at each stage. Then, he ascends (not descends) to the next Partzuf and enters the same stages of embryo, feeding/nurturing, and maturity. The entire ascension occurs only from below upwards in the order of the Partzufim, one after the other, the higher after the lower, and following the order of stages in each Partzuf.

  • In the World of Infinity, everything is one whole.
  • In the World of Adam Kadmon, development takes place from Above downwards.
  • In the Worlds of ABYA, expansion takes place from Above downwards, but the growth of each Partzuf is from below upwards.
  • After the primordial sin of the First Man with the Tree of Life, we grow and ascend only from below upwards like an inverted reflection of the World of Adam Kadmon.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/28/10, “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”

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