The separation of creation from the Creator happens because of the difference in intention, not in action. Through the action of receiving, the created being adheres to the Creator who is the one giving: as an infant to the mother. And if the infant had adult reasoning and experience, then he would understand that it is not necessary to interrupt his receiving from the mother, but rather to add to it his own intention to give.
It is not enough for the mother to delight only in the infant’s receiving from her. It is also necessary to add the child’s understanding of the entire depth of her experience and love and his own gratitude for such bestowal. This will then become the level of human, not an animal one, as an unaware infant.
In the created being, the sensation of the lack of such an intention is called shame, and it is the reason for making the restriction. (Talmud Eser Sefirot)
The Main Thing Is To Have Patience
The whole difficulty in studying Kabbalah lies in that it demands a change in values. That’s why people leave; they are not ready and do not agree to this because they lack patience. They do not believe that this study will bring them a real outcome and do not understand what this wisdom is talking about.
And here patience is mandatory in order to give the upper Light, the force that turns us into a new creation, time to work. Gradually we begin to feel, understand, and judge by new criteria. Then even though from all appearances it may seem that the individual is still the same person, in reality, he becomes completely different.
It becomes impossible to judge him by ordinary, earlier measures, values, and laws because he now reasons according to the law of similarity of form with the upper force; in other words, he reasons completely differently from the way he did before.
We attain such a substantial change as a result of the work of the upper Light on us, by going through a very complex inner revolution. Many years are needed for this to take place because such changes occur within a person gradually, in small portions. And even this is difficult to bear. It is much easier to advance within a group, which a person can hold on to. If, with eyes closed, a person grabs on to a group, then he can move through all difficulties.
He closes his eyes to the old values and receives from the group, from the connection with the friends, from the new Kli (vessel) in which ten becomes as one with new values: new reason and experience, new relations, new units of measure.
This is a very delicate, difficult period, about which it is written: “A thousand enter the room, but only one exits into the light.” It is necessary to acquire patience, to give the upper Light the opportunity to work on you and give you new qualities. Where it is written: “Do anything, just don’t leave,” it refers specifically to this process.
An infant is not ashamed to receive from the mother; there is no shame yet on his level. But Malchut of the world of Ein Sof (infinity) decided that she wants to be the same as the Creator and bestow to Him in the same manner. That’s why she makes a restriction—a very noble and strict action. On one hand, she stops receiving from the Creator. And on the other hand, she decides that adhesion to the Creator is more important than receiving from Him.
This decision determined the entire subsequent process creation goes through. For the one who desires adhesion with the Creator, the understanding of adhesion must be more important than the reception of fulfillment, in other words, more important than life!
After creation develops, in the fulfillment it receives from the Creator, it discovers that the Creator loves it and wants to give it pleasure. That’s why it cannot be fulfilled just by receiving. The love of the Creator obligates it to respond in a similar manner, called “Reflected Light.” Of course, this returning Light is very weak in comparison with the Light of Hochma of the Creator, but it makes the creation similar to the Creator.
(Rabash, “The First Renewal”)
Until the person rises above his desire to enjoy, acquires a screen and Reflected Light, in other words, some kind of similarity of form with the Creator, can he exist in the spiritual world, in the experience of the upper Light, or to understand spiritual actions? The entire renewal begins only after the exit from Egypt, from egoistic receiving.
That is why it is forbidden for idol worshippers to study the Torah, where “forbidden” means “impossible.” A person cannot study the Torah because he does not have any connection to it. Torah is the clothing of the upper Light in the desire to the degree in which the desire is ready to receive it, in other words, similarity of form with the Light. And then the upper Light clothes in the desire, as water fills an appropriate vessel which correspondences to it, possessing a screen and an intention for bestowal.
So, we attain the Creator by His actions, by studying His nature. In reality, we attain the Creator in our own selves, revealing in ourselves the forms of bestowal and calling them the Creator (Boreh), in other words, “come and see” (Bo-Reh). In this manner we study the Torah, that is, the laws of the upper Light’s clothing in the corrected desire. All of this begins only after the restriction and acquisition of the screen and Reflected Light, which is called the exit from Egypt.
Without a group, the person has no place where he can formulate his relationship to the Creator. In a group he creates that place, through which he receives from the Creator and through which he gives to the Creator. And then he sees that this is not just a group, but ten Sefirot, a soul.
“Lo Lishma” means that the work not for the sake of the Creator, but for the Pharaoh, in other words, “not for Her Name” (Lo Lishma).
Related Material:
Discovering Your Creation
The Creation Of The Soul
Separation That Helps Stronger Connection
Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study - No Comments →
We are not capable of feeling less than ten Sefirot in spirituality because ten is the threshold of our sensation. After the first nine attributes, we begin to feel ourselves existing, receiving, understanding, and feeling. And not before that.
