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"But if you listen with your heart to one
famous question, I am sure that all your doubts as to whether you
should study the Kabbalah will vanish without a trace. This question
is a bitter and fair one, asked by all born on earth: `What is the
meaning of my life?' " (Rabbi Y. Ashlag, "Introduction to Talmud
Esser Sefiroth Sections 2, 12-17, 44-57)
...Generation follows generation on our planet, yet every generation
and every individual asks the same question about the meaning of
life, especially at times of wars, global suffering or runs of bad
luck that each of us is prone to. What is our life for, the life
where minor joys cost us so dearly that absence of suffering seems
like happiness to us?
If we are at nature's mercy, if we are what we are because this is
the way nature created us, and we have to live with whatever
qualities we have in us like semi-intelligent beings, intelligent
only in that we are aware of the fact that our actions are
determined by the characteristics and nature traits we were created
with and cannot do anything about - in this case, there is no
telling where wild, non-intelligent nature can lead us, causing us
permanently to fight one another, making whole nations, like wild
animals guided by instinct, fall upon one another in a vicious
fight. Yet, subconsciously, we cannot reconcile the idea of
ourselves as intelligent beings with this concept.
If, however, there does exist the Divine force that has created us,
why then do we not perceive it, why does it conceal itself from us?
For if we knew what it required of us, we would not commit mistakes
in our lives for which we are punished by suffering!
...We know how much torment and pain that are worse than death
mankind has suffered since the creation of the world. And who is the
source of all that suffering, who causes it but the Creator?
...And how many there have been in all mankind's history who were
willing to suffer any pain for the sake of comprehending superior
wisdom and achieving spiritual elevation, who voluntarily subjected
themselves to unbearable anguish and agony for the sake of finding
at least a drop of spiritual perception and comprehending the higher
force, of becoming united with the Creator and able to be His
slaves!
Yet, they all lived out their lives without ever getting a response,
without achieving anything, they left this world with nothing, just
as they had come into it...
...So, why had the Creator ignored their prayers, why had He turned
away from them, why had He scorned their sufferings?..
...And they did feel His scorn! They did feel subconsciously that
there is a higher purpose to the universe and to all that is
happening, called the drop of man being united with the Creator.
And, still immersed in their egocentrism, while going through
unbearable agony, sensing the Creator's rejection, they suddenly
felt an aperture opening in their heart, which had until then been
closed to the truth and able to feel only its own pains and desires
- an aperture due to which they were honoured to feel that
longed-for drop of unity penetrating into the heart through its
broken wall...
...And thus all their qualities were replaced by those opposite to
them and similar to the Creator's, and they realized that only in
the depth of those sufferings and nowhere else could they experience
the unity with the Creator, for He and the drop of unity with Him
are there...
...And at the instant of experiencing this sensation that revealed
itself to them and healed their wounds the Creator Himself fills
with infinite bliss, so delightful that nothing more perfect could
be imagined, so that they feel that it has been worth suffering all
that agony in order to achieve this perfection...
And every cell of their bodies convinces them that anyone in our
world would be willing to go through unthinkable torment in order to
experience, at least once in a lifetime, something like the bliss of
being united with the Creator...
...And the reason for the Creator's silence in reply to man's
appeals lies in the fact that man is more concerned with his own
progress than with glorifying the Creator in his own eyes, which
should be his only concern. But if it is his only concern, then all
his efforts will be painless. Otherwise he will only cry in the
wilderness and leave this world just as he has entered it, without
having perceived the Creator...
...For the drop of unity, the purpose of creation, flows into the
heart of him who is concerned with the Creator's glory and love, who
is convinced in his heart of hearts that all the Creator has made,
He has made for him, rather than complain selfishly about the
unfairness of divine rule...
...The spiritual cannot be divided into separate parts, but man can
comprehend one part of the whole and then another, until he
comprehends it all... This is why it all depends on the purity of
yearning, and it is into the part of man's heart purged of all
egocentrism that the spiritual light comes flowing.
How much easier life would be if the Creator did not conceal Himself
from us but were clearly perceivable or visible to each and every.
We would have no doubts whatsoever as to His existence, we would be
able to observe the effects of His rule on ourselves and on the
surrounding world, to realize the cause and purpose of our creation,
to see the consequences of our actions and His response to them, to
discuss all our problems with Him, to ask Him for help, to seek His
protection or advice, to complain about our troubles and ask Him to
explain why He does that to us, to ask His advice concerning the
future, to be constantly in touch with the Creator and change
ourselves in accordance with His advice, the way He wants us to be
and the way it is best for us.
We could be in constant communication with the Creator from the
moment of our birth, the way a child is aware of its mother from the
moment of its birth (and the Creator would be just as close to man
as its mother to the child, for man would see Him as the source of
his birth, his Parent, the cause of his existence and all future
life), we could be learning to live the right way by observing His
responses to our actions and even intentions.
There would be no need in schools, educators. All nations would
coexist simply and wonderfully united by the common cause obvious to
all - the spiritual unification with the openly visible and
perceivable Creator.
All would be guided in their actions by spiritual laws that would be
common knowledge, the laws of spiritual worlds called commandments
that would be obeyed by everyone naturally, for everyone would see
that disobeying the commandment meant doing themselves harm, like
jumping into the fire or off a cliff.
If we could clearly see the Creator and His rule over us, the world
and the universe, we would not groan under the hardest toil, for we
would see its benefits for us. For instance, anyone would gladly
give his all to a stranger, without a thought to himself, for he
would be aware of the divine rule, would see the beneficial outcome
of his selfless acts, would know that we are all in the power of the
kind and eternal Creator.
How natural it would be, and how unnatural and impossible under our
present conditions of concealed rule, to give ourselves fully to the
Creator, give all our thoughts and desires to Him without reserve,
be what He wants us to be, have not the least concern for ourselves,
give no thought to ourselves - as it were, cease to be aware of our
own selves, transfer all our feelings from ourselves to Him, try to
enter Him, to live by His thoughts and His will.
All the aforesaid makes it clear that there is only one thing
lacking in our world, and that is a perception of the Creator!
This is why that should be man's only purpose in this world, the
only goal man should spare no effort to achieve, for only in
perceiving the Creator lies his salvation, both from the calamities
of this life and from a spiritual death.
The methods of searching for a perception of the Creator is called
the Kabbalah.
Perceiving the Creator is called faith. A common mistake in
interpreting this word lies in thinking that faith means groping in
the dark, without seeing or perceiving the Creator, i.e. taking this
word in a sense directly opposite to its true meaning. According to
the Kabbalah, the Creator's light pervading man, the light of man's
link with the Creator, the sensation of unification is called the
light of faith or just faith.
Faith, the Creator's light, gives man a sensation of being linked
with the eternal, a comprehension of the Creator, a sense of
complete, explicit communication with the Creator, of absolute
safety, immortality, greatness and strength.
All the aforesaid makes it clear that deliverance from our temporary
existence fraught with suffering and wearisome pursuit of transient
pleasures lies only in attaining faith, i.e. perceiving the Creator.
In any case, the only cause of our misfortunes, of the uselessness
and temporary nature of our life is our failure to perceive the
Creator. The Torah itself tell us, "Try it and see for yourselves
how good the Creator is!"
The aim of this book is to help the reader make the first steps on
his way to perceiving the Creator. Those who will come to realize
the vital necessity of perceiving the Creator will arrive at the
decision to study the original works of the Kabbalah: the book Zohar
with commentaries Sulam, the works of Ari and the works of Ashlag.
Author: Rav Michael Laitman, PhD |
