“Noah Walked With God”
The Book of Zohar, Introduction, “The Second Commandment,” Item 198: It says, “Noah walked with God, as Noah had to be taken care of and supported, since he was supported by the great abundance that the Creator had bestowed upon him.”
Noah refers to conditional love. The more the Creator bestows upon him, the more dependent he feels on the Creator. Although Noah is aware of all the goodness that he receives from the Creator and feels grateful, it’s still a level of incomplete love.
It is already a spiritual attainment, since I receive from the Creator and I understand and know this. It says: “Noah walked with God,” which means that he understands and is aware of his state, but he cannot ascend above it and be free of the dependence of receiving it. He is aware of that, since the moment he receives something bad, his love diminishes.
A person cannot do anything by himself: The moment he receives a blow, he runs from the Creator, and when he receives something sweet, he comes near. But he cannot stop himself from making any other movement forward or backward. He is simply incapable of that since this is his body’s natural reaction. He cannot put his hand into the fire since he will immediately pull it back because of the pain. A person cannot make efforts that are beyond his nature.
Noah is the level of recognition of conditional love. A person who reaches this level reaches the level of Noah. We shouldn’t underestimate it since it’s a very high level. It says: “Noah walked with God.” Although Abraham did not need support, as it says, walk before me and be upright, since walk before me means without support, but before me, although you don’t know if I will follow you to support you. This is complete love, great love. Although I don’t give you anything, your love will still be complete, “to adhere to Me in your heart and soul.”
Abraham reached the level of Bina, faith, the force of bestowal. This means that he doesn’t depend on how much he receives or doesn’t receive. There is also the question of what will happen if he receives something negative? Will he continue to love the giver just as he did when he receives something good from Him? But at least his love doesn’t depend on the amount of goodness that he receives.
The Upper Light already affects a person in such a way that it sustains him on a level on which he values the Creator Himself, the attribute of love and bestowal, and not the benefit that he gets from it. This means that a person divides himself into two. The first part is the donkey in him (his matter) that enjoys more or less, or doesn’t enjoy at all. The other part is the human being in him, the level of his resemblance to the Creator that is determined by how much he values the sublime attributes, the Godliness, the love, the bestowal, something above his corporeal egoistic interests.
Abraham is already divided into these two parts and doesn’t depend on the amount of pleasure he receives. It doesn’t affect his appreciation of the Creator, his love of the attribute of love and bestowal, in any way.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”
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also why should god say abraham be upright if he is the second floor? if i wanted to take care of somebody i would keep them before so that i can see and catch if they fall not by my side. side is relatively out of sight.