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What is
Spirituality?
Philosophy has gone
through a great deal of trouble to prove that corporeality is
the offspring of spirituality and that the soul begets the body.
Still, their words are not acceptable to the heart in any
manner. Their primary mistake is their erroneous perception of
spirituality, that spirituality fathered corporeality, which is
certainly a fib.
Any parent must some how resemble its
progeny. It is this parent-progeny relation that is the path and
the route by which its sequel extends. In addition, every
operator must have some regard to its operation by which to
contact it. Since you say that spirituality is denied of any
corporeal incidents, then such a path does not exist. Thus, what
regard can the spiritual have of the corporeal by which to
contact corporeality and set it in any kind of motion?
However, understanding the meaning of the
word “spirituality” has nothing to do with philosophy. How can
they discuss something that they have never seen or felt? What
do their rudiments stand on?
If there is any definition that can tell the
spiritual apart from the corporeal, it belongs only to those who
have attained and felt a spiritual thing. Those people are the
genuine Kabbalists; thus, it is the wisdom of Kabbalah that we
need.
Philosophy with regards to His Essence
Philosophy loves to concern itself with Him, and prove which
rules do not apply to Him. However, Kabbalah has no dealings
whatsoever with His essence, for how can the unattainable and
imperceptible be defined? Indeed, a negative definition is just
as valid as a positive one. For example, if you see an object
from a distance and recognize its negatives, meaning all that it
is not, that too is deemed as seeing and some extent of
recognition. If an object is truly out of sight, then even its
negative characteristics are not apparent.
If, for example, we see a black image from a distance, but can
still determine that it is neither human nor a bird, this too is
considered vision. If it had been even farther away, we would
have been unable to determine that it is not a person.
That is the origin of the confusion and invalidity of
philosophy; it loves to pride itself in understanding all the
negatives about His essence. However, the sages of Kabbalah put
their hand to their mouth at this point, and do not give Him
even a simple name, for we do not define by name or a
word that which we do not attain. That is because a word
designates some degree of attainment. However, Kabbalists do
speak a great deal about His illumination in reality, meaning
all those illuminations they have actually attained as validly
as tangible attainment.
The Spiritual is a Force without a Body
That is what Kabbalists define as “spirituality” and that is
what they talk about. It has no image or space or time or any
corporeal regard. I think that philosophy has generally worn a
mantle that is not its own, for it has pilfered definitions from
the wisdom of Kabbalah, and made delicacies with its human
understanding. If it had not been for that, they would never
have thought of fabricating such acumen. However, it is only a
potential force, meaning not a force that is clothed in an
ordinary body, as it normally is in this world, but rather a
force without a body.
A Spiritual Vessel is Called “A Force”
This is the place to point out that the
force that spirituality speaks of is not the spiritual Light
itself. That spiritual Light extends directly from His essence
and is therefore the same as His Essence. It means that we have
no attainment in the spiritual Light that we may define by name.
Even the name “Light” is borrowed and is not real. Thus, we must
know that the name “Force” without a body refers only to the
“spiritual vessel.”
Lights and Vessels
Therefore, we must not
inquire how the sages of the Kabbalah, which fill the entire
wisdom with their insights, differentiate between the various
Lights. That is because these observations do not refer to the
Lights themselves; but rather to the impression of the vessel,
being the above mentioned force, which is affected by the Light
that meets it.
Vessels and Lights (the
meaning of the words)
Here is where the line
between the gift and the love that it creates must be drawn. The
Lights, meaning the impression on the vessel, which is
attainable, is called “form and substance.” It is
attainable because the impression is the above form and the
above force is the substance.
However, the love that is
created by it is considered a “form without a substance.”
This means that if we separate the love from the gift itself, as
though it never clothed any gift, but only in the abstract name,
“the love of God,” then it would be regarded as a form. In that
event, the practice of it is regarded as, “Figurative
Kabbalah.” However, it would still be regarded real, without
any similarity with Figurative Philosophy because the
spirit of this love remains in the attainment. It is completely
separated from the gift, being the Light itself.
Substance and Form in Kabbalah
The reasoning behind this
situation is that although this love is merely a consequence of
the gift, it is still far more important than the gift itself.
It is like a great king who gives an unimportant object to a
person. Though the gift itself is worthless, it is the love and
the attention of the king that make it priceless and precious.
Thus, it is completely separated from the substance, being the
Light and the gift, in a way that the work and the insights
remain carved in the attainment with only the love itself. The
gift itself, however, seems to be forgotten from the heart.
Therefore, that aspect of the wisdom is called the “Figurative
Wisdom of Kabbalah.” Indeed, this part is the most important
part of the wisdom.
ABYA
This love consists of four parts that are much like human love:
when we first receive the present we do not refer to the giver
of the gift as one who loves us, all the more so if that someone
is important, and the receiver is not equal to the giver.
However, the repetitive giving and the perseverance will make
even the most important person seem like a true, equal lover.
That is because it is a rule that in love there is no greater or
smaller, and two real lovers must feel equal.
Thus, you can measure four degrees of love here. The first
incident is called Assiya, the repetition of the
giving is called Yetzira and the appearance of the
love itself is called Beria.
It is here that the study of the Figurative Wisdom of
Kabbalah begins, for it is in this degree that love is
separated from the presents. This is the meaning of the words,
“and create darkness,” meaning the Light is removed from the
Yetzira and the love remains without Light, without its
gifts.
Then comes Atzilut. After it has tasted and
entirely separated the form from the substance, as in, “and
create darkness,” it became worthy of ascending to Atzilut
where the form clothed the substance once more. Now, Light
and love are once more together.
The Origin of
the Soul
Everything spiritual is
perceived as a separated force from the body because it has no
corporeal image. However, because of that it remains isolated
and completely separated from the corporeal. In such a state,
how can it set anything corporeal in motion, much less beget
anything physical, when it has no way to come in contact with
the physical?
The Acidic Element
However, the truth is that
the force itself is also considered a genuine substance, just as
much as any other corporeal substance in the concrete world, and
the fact that it has no image that the human senses can perceive
does not reduce the value of the substance, meaning the “force.”
Take a molecule of oxygen as
an example: It is a constituent of most materials in the world.
Yet, if you take a bottle of pure oxygen when it is not mixed
with any other substance, you will find that it seems as though
the bottle is completely empty. You will not be able to notice
anything about it; it will be completely like air, intangible
and invisible to the eye.
If we remove the lid and
smell it, we will find no scent; if we taste it we will find no
flavour and if we put it on a scale it will not weigh more than
the empty bottle. The same applies to hydrogen, which is also
tasteless, scentless and weightless.
However, when putting these
elements together, they will immediately become a liquid,
drinking water that possesses both taste and weight. If we put
the water inside active lime, it will immediately turn as solid
as the lime itself.
Thus, how can we determine
about natural forces that they are not a corporeal substance
just because they are not arranged in such a way that our senses
can perceive them? Moreover, we can evidently see that most of
the tangible materials in our world consist preliminary of the
oxygen element, which human senses cannot perceive and feel!
Even the solid and the
liquid in the tangible reality that we can vividly perceive in
our world, might turn to air and fume at a certain temperature.
Likewise the vapors can turn to solids when the temperature
drops.
In that event, we should
wonder, how does one give that which one does not possess?
We clearly see that all the tangible images come from
elements that are in and of themselves intangible, and do not
exist as materials in and of themselves. Likewise, all the fixed
pictures that we know and use to define the materials, are
inconsistent and do not exist in their own right. Rather, they
only dress and undress forms under the influence of conditions
such as heat or cold.
The primary part of the corporeal substance is the “force” in
it, though we are not yet able to tell these forces apart, as
with chemical elements. Perhaps in the future they will be
discovered in their pure form, as we have only recently
discovered the chemical elements.
Equal Force in Spiritual and Physical
In a word: all those names
that we ascribe materials are completely fabricated, meaning
stem from our concrete perception in our five senses. They do
not exist in and of themselves. On the other hand, any
definition we ascribe to the force, which separates it from the
material, is also fabricated. Even when science reaches its
ultimate development, we will still have to regard only the
tangible reality. This means that while seeing and feeling a
material operation, we must still perceive the operator, who is
also a substance, just like the operation itself.
We must know that this
erring of separating the operator from the operation comes from
the Figurative Philosophy, which insisted on proving that
the spiritual act influences the corporeal operation. That
resulted in erroneous assumptions such as the above, which
Kabbalah has no need for.
Body
and Soul in the Upper Ones
The opinion of Kabbalah in
this matter is crystal clear, excluding any mixture of
philosophy. That is because it is the opinion of the sages of
Kabbalah that even the separated spiritual entities, which
philosophy denies having any corporeality and displays them as
purely conceptual substance, although they are indeed spiritual,
more sublime and abstract, consist of a body and soul
just like the physical human.
Therefore, you needn’t
wonder how two can win the prize and say that they comprise of
layers. Furthermore, philosophy believes that anything complex
will eventually disintegrate and decompose, meaning die. Thus,
how can one declare that they are both complex and
eternal?
Lights and Vessels
Indeed, their thoughts are
not our thoughts, for the way of the sages of the Kabbalah is
one of finding actual proof of attainment, making its revocation
through intellectual pondering impossible. But let me make these
matters very clear for every person’s understanding:
First we must know that the
difference between Lights and vessels is created immediately in
the first emanated being from Ein Sof. Naturally, the
first emanation is also the most complete and noble of every
thing that followed it. It is certain that this pleasantness and
completeness is received from His essence, which wants to give
that more than any pleasantness and pleasure.
It is known that the
measurement of the pleasure is essentially the
will to receive that pleasure. That is because what we most want
also feels as the most pleasurable. Because of that, we should
discern two observations in this first emanation: the “will
to receive” that received essence, and the essence of the
object itself. We should also know that the
will to receive is
what we perceive as the “body” of the emanated, meaning its
primary essence, being the vessel to receive the goodness. The
second is the essence of the good that is received, which is the
Light that is eternally extended to the emanation.
It turns out that we must
necessarily distinguish two opposites that clothe one another
even in the most spiritual and sublime matters the heart can
contemplate on. It is the opposite of the opinion of philosophy,
which fabricated that the different individuals are not combined
materials. It is necessary that that “will to receive” that is
obligatory in the emanated being (for without it there would be
no pleasure but coercion, and no feeling of pleasure) is absent
in His essence. That is the reason for the name “emanated,”
since it is no longer His essence, for from whom would He
receive?
However, the bounty that one
receives is necessarily a part of His essence, for here there
need not be any innovation. Thus we see that great difference
between the renewed body and the received abundance deemed His
essence.
How can a Spiritual Beget a Corporeal
It is seemingly difficult to
understand how the spiritual can beget and extend anything
corporeal. This question is an ancient philosophical query that
much ink has been spilt in attempting to resolve it.
The truth is that this
question is a difficult one only if one follows their doctrine.
That is because they have determined the form of spirituality
without any connection to anything corporeal. That produces a
difficult question: how can the spiritual lead to or father
anything corporeal?
But it is the opinion of the
sages of Kabbalah that this is not difficult at all, for their
terms are the complete opposite to the philosophers’. They
maintain that any spiritual quality equalizes with the corporeal
like two drops in a pond. Thus, the relationships are of the
utmost affinity and there is no separation between them except
in the substance, meaning the spiritual consists of a spiritual
substance and the corporeal consists of a corporeal substance.
However, all the qualities
in the spiritual materials abide in the corporeal materials as
well, as the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
explains.
The old philosophy presents
three opinions as obstacles before my explanation:
1.
Their decision that the power of the human intellect is
the eternal soul, man's essence.
2.
Their conjecture that the body is an upshot of the soul.
3.
Their saying that spiritual people are simplex and not
complex.
Materialistic Psychology
Not only is it the wrong
place to argue with them about their fabricated conjectures, but
also their time has already passed and their authority revoked.
We should also thank the experts of materialistic psychology for
that, having built its plinth on the ruin of the former, winning
the public’s favor. Now everyone admits to the nullity of
philosophy, for it is not built on concrete foundations.
The old doctrine became a
stumbling rock and a deadly thorn to the sages of Kabbalah.
Where they should have subdued before the sages of Kabbalah and
taken upon themselves abstinence and prudence prior to
admittance to even the slightest thing in spirituality, they
received what they had wanted easily from the figurative
philosophy. Without payment or a price they have watered them
from their fountain of wisdom to satiation, and refrained from
delving in the wisdom of Kabbalah. As a consequence, the wisdom
has almost been forgotten from among Israel.
For that reason we are
grateful to materialistic psychology for having beaten it a
deadly blow.
I am Solomon
The above is much like a
fable that our sages tell: “Asmodeus (the devil) drove King
Solomon four hundred parsas (a distant measurement) from
Jerusalem and left Him with no money and means of sustenance.
Then he sat in King Solomon’s throne while the king was begging
at the doors. Every place he went he said: “I am Ecclesiastes!”
but not one would believe him. And so he walked from town to
town declaring “I am Solomon!” but when he came to the Sanhedrin
(the sages of the Talmud) they said: “A fool does not utter the
same folly all the time, saying, “I was once a king.”
It seems as though the name
is not the essence of a person, but rather the owner of the name
is. Therefore, how can a wise man such as King Solomon not be
recognized if he is indeed the owner of the name? Moreover, it
is the person that dignifies the name, and should have displayed
his wisdom to the people!
Three Preventions
There are three reasons that
prevent us from knowing the owner of a name:
1.
Because of the truthfulness of this wisdom, it becomes
clear only when all the details appear together. Therefore,
before one knows the entire wisdom, it is impossible to glimpse
at even a tiny fragment of it. Thus, it is the publicity of its
truthfulness that we need, so as to have enough prior faith in
it to make a great effort.
2.
Just as Asmodeus, the demon, wore the clothes of King
Solomon and inherited his throne, so philosophy sat on the
throne of Kabbalah with easier concepts to grasp, for the lie is
quickly accepted. Therefore, there is a twofold trouble here:
first, the wisdom of truth is profound and laborious, while
philosophy is easily grasped; second, it is superfluous, because
philosophy is quite satisfying.
3.
As the demon claims that King Solomon is mad, so
philosophy mocks and dismisses Kabbalah.
However, as long as wisdom
is sublime, it is elevated above the people and separated from
it. Because King Solomon was the wisest man, he was also higher
than every man. Thus, the finest scholars could not understand
him. Only those friends, meaning the Sanhedrin, whom he taught
his wisdom to every day for days and years, understood him and
publicized his name in the entire world. The reason for this is
that minute wisdom is perceived in five minutes and thus easily
publicized and accessible to every person. However, a weighty
concept will not be understood in less than several hours. It
may even take days or years, depending on the intelligence.
Accordingly, the greatest scholars will be understood only by a
selected few in the generation, because profound concepts are
founded on much prior knowledge.
It is therefore not
surprising that the wisest of all men who was exiled to a place
where he was not known, could not demonstrate his wisdom or even
show a hint of it before they believed that he was the owner of
the name.
It is the same with the
wisdom of Kabbalah in our times: The troubles and the exile that
have come upon us brought us to forget it. Moreover, if there
are people who do practice it, it is not in favour of Kabbalah
but rather does it harm. That is because they did not receive it
from a Kabbalist sage. Hence, Kabbalah is in the same situation
today, as was King Solomon in exile, declaring, “I am the wisdom
and all the flavours of religion and Torah are in me,” yet none
believe it.
But this is perplexing, for
if it is a genuine wisdom, can it not display itself like all
other wisdoms? It can not. As King Solomon could not display the
depth of his wisdom to the scholars at the place of his exile
and had to come to Jerusalem, the place of the Sanhedrin, who
knew him and testified to the profoundness of his wisdom, so
Kabbalah requires great sages who examine their hearts and study
it for twenty of thirty years. Only then will they be able to
testify to it. It is the same as with King Solomon, who could
not prevent Asmodeus from sitting on the throne pretending to be
him until he arrived in Jerusalem.
Sages of Kabbalah also
observe philosophic theology and complain that the philosophic
theologians have stolen the upper shell from their wisdom, which
Plato and his Greek predecessors had acquired while studying
with the disciples of the prophets in Israel. They have stolen
elementary constituents from the wisdom of Israel and wore a
cloak that is not their own. And up until these days,
philosophic theology sat on the throne of Kabbalah, being hair
under her mistress.
Who would believe the sages
of Kabbalah at a time when others sit on their throne? It is as
when they did not believe King Solomon in exile for they knew
him to be sitting on his throne, meaning the demon Asmodeus. As
with King Solomon, it is hopeless that the truth will be
exposed, for it is deep and cannot be expressed by testimony or
by mere experimentation. It is only shown to those believers
that dedicate themselves to it with heart and soul.
Just as the Sanhedrin did
not recognize King Solomon as long as the falsehood of Asmodeus
did not appear, so Kabbalah cannot prove its nature and
truthfulness, before the futility of theological philosophy that
has taken its throne becomes apparent. Until that time, not any
kind of revelation will suffice for people to recognize it.
Therefore, there was not a
salvation for Israel as at the time when the materialistic
psychology appeared and struck theological philosophy on its
head a lethal blow.
Now, every person who seeks
the Lord must bring Kabbalah back to its throne – and restore
its past glory. |
