Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 249

How Does the Creator Bring About the States We Go Through?

It is written that the light shakes the vessel. This is the only way. The more or less it shines, the more the vessel rises or falls. There is no other force besides the light that can influence the vessel. But the light influences the vessel and its parts selectively, according to the vessel’s ability to advance. The light itself is a simple, abstract light that shines upon the vessel like a simple flashlight, but it creates a special system between itself and the vessel called the “worlds.”

The light that passes through the worlds and shines upon the vessel acquires a special form that illuminates precisely the part of the vessel that is supposed to become active at that moment. The light shines with exactly the intensity and in exactly the manner required for a particular organ to act now, to correct itself, and to feel something. In other words, the worlds that stand between the light and the vessel adapt the light precisely to each individual vessel according to its nature. Then each vessel receives exactly what it needs and responds and becomes corrected accordingly.

Therefore, it is said in Kabbalah that the worlds are a system of control, a system of governance, a system of providence. What are the worlds for? The worlds are built in accordance with the vessels, only in an opposite form. That is, they understand the deficiencies in the vessels, and they exist in the worlds in a positive form. When we study the world of Atzilut, not technical studies, as Baal HaSulam writes, but when we truly begin to see how the world of Atzilut prepares its influence for the souls, with what wisdom it knows exactly how and for what purpose to prepare its influence in each and every soul, the picture is truly magnificent.

In Kabbalah, we simply learn that the worlds were created as a copy. There was the shattering of the world of Nekudim, and from that shattering the worlds were formed. Therefore, we begin counting the worlds from the world of Atzilut onward, whereas the world of Adam Kadmon, the world of Keter, is the light that shines from Ein Sof (Infinity). Ein Sof is completely abstract light. That light is divided in the world of Adam Kadmon into five original lights, according to the five parts that exist in the original vessel, the four phases of direct light. Afterward, the world of Atzilut, which arose from the remnants of the shattering, channels the lights to the souls that exist in the worlds of BYA and arranges them so that they influence each and every part, in every soul, exactly according to the order of corrections that each soul requires.

Therefore, we study primarily the world of Atzilut because it explains everything that happens, and through it we can learn about the souls. The world of Atzilut is in complete correspondence with what should exist in the soul. Therefore, we do not study souls directly. We study only ourselves. “From Your actions we know You.” The study of the world of Atzilut is, in fact, the study of the souls, one corresponding to the other. The study of the world of Atzilut is fascinating and awe-inspiring. Through it we understand what change each individual detail undergoes when the light descends upon it, what it is about to correct, what within the soul is awakened, how it responds both consciously and unconsciously, and how the created being begins to awaken and come into existence from a state in which it was not yet a created being at all. It is a wondrous picture, truly a marvel.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 248
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