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Michael Laitman, PhD

Chapter 1.3 – The Evolution of the Soul

A person in this world has no soul. There is only one thing to do if we want to understand and realize our true essence, and that is to embark on a spiritual quest with all the zest, eagerness, and willingness to change that we can summon - a quest to discover the soul. The journey begins at the exact place where we felt our very first desire for spirituality, the “point in the heart.”

This point is the embryonic soul that demands our return to our spiritual roots. The soul is drawn to the Creator and takes us along. We don’t know where we are being pulled because the Creator is as yet concealed from us. But this point in the soul urges us on to an unknown destination, even though it is still not a "real" soul. When we begin to work on our spiritual side, the point gradually expands and grows. However, it remains dark because we feel a greater and greater desire for something, hence the darkness.

When this point finally grows to the right size, we acquire a screen to surround it, the aim to give, and then the Light enters this point. The Light sorts the desires in the point to five parts which correspond to the attributes of the Light: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut. Thus one acquires a soul.

The smallest desire is in Keter, and the greatest is in Malchut. The attribute of reception is smaller in Keter and Hochma than in the other desires, therefore Keter and Hochma are considered "giving" desires. When one is in that state it is called Katnut (smallness, infancy).

If we in this world have only beastly and corporeal desires, then we live like everything else on earth. Our next state begins only when the "point in the heart" appears in us. Then, we begin to feel some mysterious attraction to spirituality that we cannot ease, although we do not know what spirituality is.

If we study Kabbalah at that state, we cross the barrier and enter the spiritual world. This is the third situation. At that stage, a screen with Aviut Shoresh (root coarseness) replaces the "point in the heart." It is called Galgalta with the Light of Nefesh.

That state is regarded as the “embryonic state.” Much like an embryo in our world, the seeker wants nothing but to lie inside the maternal womb, inside a higher Parzuf that will raise the developing spiritual seeker. After that, the embryo takes nine months to develop its own nine Sefirot in Malchut, from Nefesh of Nefesh (Keter of Malchut) to Yechida of Nefesh (Malchut of Malchut).

At this point, the fetus is born and acquires a vessel of Hochma with the Light of Ruach (NRNHY of Ruach) with Aviut Aleph (1st degree coarseness). This period is called “infancy” and lasts two years, or twenty-four months. In infancy, the Partzuf attains a state called Katnut, or Galgalta and Eynaim, a complete screen in first-degree coarseness. The infant is different to the embryo in that the embryo wants nothing, but the infant sucks the Light with his own independent desire, just as a baby sucks from its mother.

How does the milk become food for the baby? When menstruation stops, the mother’s blood is used for the development of the embryo. During labor, blood pours out; this is "impure" and cannot be corrected. It becomes impure desires, denied of any desire to give, to bestow. But there is a part of the blood that turns into milk after labor. It rises from the Sefira of Yesod, where the womb is, to the Chazeh (chest), which is in the Sefira of Tifferet of the Partzuf.

Everything that happens in the spiritual world and every spiritual laws automatically applies to our world. Thus, by studying the processes of impregnation, the evolution of the embryo, and labor, as well as the infancy and growth of the spiritual Partzufim, we can understand the processes that occur in our world and their origins.

The state following infancy is the state of Gadlut (adulthood). The Partzuf receives Mochin (Light of Wisdom) in its vessels of Bina in the AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh) of coarseness 2, 3 and 4. They are filled correspondingly with the Lights of Neshama, Haya and Yechida.

We needn’t do anything, just stay out of the way and let the Creator do His work in us, regardless of what He does. We mustn’t exit the boundaries of the Creator’s government under any circumstances. If we can do that, then we have attained a state called "the spiritual embryo.”

In a state of infancy, we can already make requests and have a dialog with the Creator. After two years of infancy, we need the guidance and education of the Creator and can receive some Light of Wisdom, the first of which is called "the Light of Neshama.”

The entire spiritual relationship between the Creator and the creature in the state of Katnut is built exactly like the relationship in our world between mother and child. We can solve all the problems that arise in physical relationships by understanding the root relationships that exist in the spiritual world between the Creator and the creature.

The Creator sends us obstructions on purpose, so that we will begin to want to approach Him through our efforts. Without obstructions in our corporeal life, we would not feel any need or desire for Him, and would never be able to advance.

If the soul of the First Man hadn’t been broken, it would have remained a single soul, uncorrected and with very little chance of correcting itself. The correction is the reunification of the broken pieces, after which the pieces can unite with the Creator.

Our work is basically to correct our approaches to what we receive from the Creator, and the consequence of that work is our unification with the Creator, the justification of His every move.

A group of students can attain total unification between themselves. Beginning from the preliminary state, they can build a framework that is comfortable for egoists. Such a framework would suit all those who come for the sole purpose of attaining connection with the Creator. No one should suffer because of this framework, and it need not be turned into a cage or a prison.

The framework should keep changing and improving, according to its members’ inner states, and it should always support the goal. The tighter and stronger the connection between the members of the group, the stronger the foundation is for connecting with the Creator.

When we begin to advance to spirituality, we actually lose the desire for it. It would be more correct to say that we are given additional egoism, with such a will to receive that we can no longer resist it. In that case, there is nothing we can do except continue to move our egoism from the corporeal to the spiritual level by studying and working with members of the group.

All our thoughts must be analyzed and marked as having come from the Creator. They must be cataloged and determined that they will not contradict our goals and aspirations. We must ask ourselves, "Do I follow that thought or do I resist it? Is the Creator now calling me by this thought, or does He want to provoke me by rejection? There is a difference, but in both cases He still wants to bring me closer to Him.

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