Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
ATZILUT

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GREY W G CONDENSATION OF KABBALAH

creating man after his own image and likeness. this four-fold process suited the creative name of god perfectly. yhvh (i was, i am, i will be. three letters with the second re-used as a final. the kabbalists thought in terms for this by postulating a four world theory, or four distinct advances of consciousness by which god arrived at the state of creation we live in. they classified these as: 1. atzilut or a condition of origination in which god did no more than conceive the bare idea of anything, such as wet-dry, light-dark, and hard-soft, and so forth. because kabbalists saw this as a direct act of god they classified it by a 3 figure 1 development of spheres figure 2 original position of spheres figure 3 spheres after the fall different god-aspect for each sphere, and saw it as a conti

LAITMAN M BASIC CONCEPTS IN KABBALAH

. these sefirot constitute filters inhibiting the light that the creator directs to the created beings. the task of these filters is to weaken the light to such an extent that the creatures existing in our world will be able to perceive it. b a s i c c o n c e p t s i n k a b b a l a h 24 sefirat (singular for sefirot) keter is also called the world adam kadmon; sefirat hochma is called the world atzilut; sefirat bina the world beria; the sefirot hesed to yesod the world yetzira; and sefirat malchut the world assiya. the last level of the world, assiya, constitutes our universe (see drawing 1. drawing 1 kabbalah calls this level olam ha zeh (this world. it is perceived by those who exist in it, and the vessel, or the will to enjoy, is called the body. the light, called pleasure, is perceiv

ion (or attainment) in our world: matter, form in matter, abstract form, and essence. these four levels of attainment also exist in the ten sefirot. the first boundary: the zohar researches only matter and form in matter, but it in no way concerns itself with abstract form and essence. the second boundary: all that was created consists of three levels: 1. the world ein sof (infinity; 2. the world atzilut; 3. the worlds beria, yetzira, and assiya (bya. the zohar studies only the three last worlds bya. it does not study the worlds ein sof and atzilut in and of themselves, but only what the worlds bya receive from atzilut and ein sof. f r o m t h e p r e f a c e t o t h e z o h a r 55 the third boundary: each of the worlds bya consists of three levels: the ten sefirot that constitute the crea

human souls; everything else that exists: mala'achim (angels, levushim (dresses, and heichalot (palaces. the book of zohar studies human souls, whereas all other objects are analyzed only with respect to human souls. it is worth noting that all mistakes, inaccuracies, and delusions are the results of transcending these three boundaries. the following sefirot correspond to the four reviewed worlds atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya (abya: sefififirat (sefira of) hochma corresponds to the world atzilut; sefirat bina corresponds to the world beria; the six sefirot, from hesed to yesod, collectively called tifferet, correspond to the world yetzira; sefirat malchut corresponds to the world assiya. all that exists above the world atzilut refers to sefirat keter. however, each of the above worlds is

see it with its corresponding hue. thus, in all five worlds (from ein sof to our world, the light that emanates from the creator is an absolutely colorless, imperceptible substance. only after it traverses the worlds and sefirot as if through color filters do we perceive it as having a certain color and intensity, depending on the level of the soul that receives the light. for example, the world atzilut passes the light without coloring it at all because this world has similar properties to those of the light. this is why the color of the light in the world atzilut is defined as white. the properties of other worlds differ from the properties of the light; hence, each of them affects it depending on its spiritual closeness to the light. if we compare the white light to paper, then the mes

he properties of other worlds differ from the properties of the light; hence, each of them affects it depending on its spiritual closeness to the light. if we compare the white light to paper, then the message written on it presents the information, and its color stands out against the white background. in the same way, by perceiving red, green, and black, we are able to perceive light. the world atzilut (sefirat hochma) is the white background of the book, thus we are unable to conceive it. however, bina (the world beria, tifferet (yetzira, and malchut (assiya) that respectively correspond to red, green, and black, provide us with information based. f r o m t h e p r e f a c e t o t h e z o h a r 57 on their combinations, interactions, and reactions to the light passing from the world atz

e world beria, tifferet (yetzira, and malchut (assiya) that respectively correspond to red, green, and black, provide us with information based. f r o m t h e p r e f a c e t o t h e z o h a r 57 on their combinations, interactions, and reactions to the light passing from the world atzilut to our world. thus, it is as if the worlds beria, yetzira, and assiya form concentric coverings of the world atzilut. now let us look into four kinds of the object s attainment matter, form in matter, abstract form, and essence. suppose the object is a deceitful person: matter is that person s body; form in matter is the property of deceitfulness; the abstract form is deceitfulness, as perceived regardless of the matter; the person s essence (which is absolutely inconceivable when separated from the body

d incorrectly. only matter and its form, when analyzed in conjunction with matter, yield true and sufficient data about the researched object. in the spiritual worlds bya every object is attained only in its matter and form. colors (red, green, and black) in these worlds constitute matter, and we attain them atop the white background of f r o m t h e p r e f a c e t o t h e z o h a r 59 the world atzilut. readers studying the zohar should remember the necessity to restrict themselves to the two types of research available to us. as previously mentioned, all the sefirot are subdivided into four levels of attainment. thus, sefirat hochma constitutes the form, and bina, tifferet, and malchut constitute the matter dressed in the form. only sefirot bina, tifferet, and malchut are examined in th

rat hochma constitutes the form, and bina, tifferet, and malchut constitute the matter dressed in the form. only sefirot bina, tifferet, and malchut are examined in the zohar. the book does not concern itself with examining the form abstracted from matter, let alone with the essence the creator s part (ein sof) that animates every part of creation. sefirot bina, tifferet, and malchut in the world atzilut are available for our research, whereas sefirot keter and hochma, even at the end of the world assiya are unavailable to us. all that exists in each world is divided into four levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human. these correspond to four levels of desire. similarly, every object consists of these four sub-levels of desire: the aspiration to sustain one s existence corresponds

ith regard to any other objects in other worlds. the entire program of creation from beginning to end is included in ein sof, and the worlds beria, yetzira, assiya, as well as our world, constitute the actual implementation of this program. therefore, all actions in all the worlds are consequences of the execution of the program that was rooted in ein sof, and from there they descend to the world atzilut and break into distinct sub-prof r o m t h e p r e f a c e t o t h e z o h a r 61 grams. they come down in a certain order through the worlds to our world in the form of general governance and individual governance. human souls originate in the world beria. this is why, starting with this world, one can research their dependency and connection to ein sof. the ten sefirot in each world of t

o our world in the form of general governance and individual governance. human souls originate in the world beria. this is why, starting with this world, one can research their dependency and connection to ein sof. the ten sefirot in each world of the worlds bya accordingly receive the program, method, and time allotted for the implementation of each of its parts from the ten sefirot of the world atzilut. since in the world atzilut, the plan of creation exists as a program, the light of ein sof that passes through atzilut remains uncolored. all the information we obtain is based on the endless transformations of light, which reveal the colors of beria, yetzira, and assiya to us. 62 c h a p t e r 10 f r o m t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e z o h a r to understand at least something a

d wished only to please ourselves cannot break through this shell without kabbalah, the instrument of our correction. we cannot turn the will to enjoy into a will to please others and the creator. this is why we think that the entire world is only what we see and feel, failing to perceive how much good the creator has prepared for us. all that was created is divided into five worlds: adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. nevertheless, every one of them consists of an endless number of elements. the five worlds correspond to five sefirot: adam kadmon corresponds to sefirat keter, atzilut corresponds to sefirat hochma, beria to sefirat bina, yetzira to sefirat tifferet, and assiya corresponds to sefirat malchut. f r o m t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e z o h a r 75 the lig

sefirat tifferet, and assiya corresponds to sefirat malchut. f r o m t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e z o h a r 75 the light (pleasure) that fills the worlds is accordingly divided into five types: yechida, haya, neshama, ruach, and nefesh (the abbreviation in the reverse order forms the word nrnhy. therefore, the world adam kadmon is filled with pleasure (light) called yechida; the world atzilut is filled with pleasure called haya; the world beria is filled with pleasure called neshama; the world yetzira is filled with pleasure called ruach; and the world assiya is filled with pleasure called nefesh (see table 1. table 1 b a s i c c o n c e p t s i n k a b b a l a h 76 from the creator come the worlds. that is, both the desire to receive delight and the delight that fills them com

to feel other people s feelings, and to know others thoughts. the received light (pleasure) differs from that of the previous level just as a person in our world differs from an animal. yet, these five levels are merely the pleasures of nrnhy of the world assiya, i.e. nefesh. even ruach is absent in it because ruach is the light in the world yetzira, neshama in the world beria, haya in the world atzilut, and yechida in the world adam kadmon. however, that which exists in the general is also present in each part of the general, meaning in the specific parts. in other words, these five types of light are in the world assiya, albeit at the smallest, inanimate level of nefesh. in the world yetzira these five types of light exist at the general level of ruach. in the world of beria it is the n

on. however, that which exists in the general is also present in each part of the general, meaning in the specific parts. in other words, these five types of light are in the world assiya, albeit at the smallest, inanimate level of nefesh. in the world yetzira these five types of light exist at the general level of ruach. in the world of beria it is the nrnhy of the level of neshama; in the world atzilut it is the nrnhy of the level of haya, and in the world of adam kadmon, it is the nrnhy of the level of yechida. the difference between the worlds is like the difference between the levels of nrnhy in the world assiya. thus, everything depends on the spiritual level of those who wish to attain the upper world, and therefore equalize their spiritual qualities to the properties of the worlds

ughts, and goals. it helps us to know him better, and through this knowledge, we will come to love him and aspire to him. although we all start from the farthest point, everyone is obliged to achieve the level of love and complete attainment of the creator. before being handed to us, kabbalah had passed through a great number of consecutive restrictions from the level of its creation in the world atzilut. however, its essence is constant and unchanging. the lower the level of the created beings, the more important it becomes for them. it helps them to free themselves from the shackles of a body constrained by its inner desires. in our world, kabbalah is hidden under coverings (nature, animate creatures, and time) that are controlled from the world atzilut. these shells are the sources of o

ng the world yetzira, one reveals kabbalah and the light replaces the meaningless names. thus, one starts learning kabbalah from a secret until it becomes a reality. this corresponds to the creator s double and single concealments in the world assiya, to the revelation in the world yetzira, the attainment of love for the creator in the world beria, and to the merging in absolute love in the world atzilut. ari s book, the tree of life, was written to help people attain the creator consistently, painlessly, and with confidence. 90 c h a p t e r 1 2 c o n d i t i o n s f o r d i s c l o s i n g t h e s e c r e t s o f t h e w i s d o m o f k a b b a l a h there are three reasons for the concealment of kabbalah: there is no necessity, it is impossible, and it is the creator s personal secret

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

alah revealed desires are divided in the following way: the world adam kadmon is the workable part of the still level, and the lower part of the still level, the creature, is the unworkable part. actually, at the still level there is nothing to correct because it s immobile and doesn t use its desire. the still level (on both parts) is only the root of everything that will follow. next, the world atzilut is the workable part of the vegetative level, and the lower part of the vegetative level, the creature, is the unworkable part. the world beria is the workable part of the animate level, and the lower part of the animate level, the creature, is the unworkable part. from all we ve learned so far, we still don t know which of the five worlds we talked about is our world. actually, none of th

y, everything else will be corrected at the same time. so let s talk about us and what happened to us. a dam h a r i s h o n x t h e c ommo n s o u l adam ha rishon, the common soul (the creature, is the actual root of everything that happens here. it is a structure of desires that emerged once the formation of the spiritual worlds was completed. as we ve said above, the five worlds, adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya complete the development of the upper part of phase four. but the lower part still needs to be developed. in other words, the soul is made of unworkable desires that couldn t receive light in order to give to the creator when they were first created. now they must surface one by one and become corrected xworkable xwith the help of the worlds, the workable desire

idered the lower part of creation. the worlds and the soul are constructed similarly, but with a different intensity of desires. because of that, the worlds can show the soul how to work in order to bestow and thus help adam ha rishon become corrected. roughly speaking, each desire is corrected in a specific world: the still level is corrected in the world adam kadmon; the vegetative in the world atzilut; the animate in the world beria; the speaking in the world yetzira; and the desire for spirituality can only be corrected in the world assiya, the lowest part of which is our physical universe. and that brings us to the topic of our next chapter. 75 4 our universe in the beginning of the previous chapter, we wrote that before anything was created, there was the thought of creation. this th

igger the kli, the greater the light; the greater the light, the quicker we ll find the correct path. we still need to understand how the surrounding light builds our kli and why it is called light to begin with. and to understand all that, we must understand the concept of reshimot. the spiritual worlds and the soul of adam ha rishon evolved in a certain order. in the worlds, it was adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya; and in adam ha rishon, the evolution was named after the kind of desires is there a difference between naming the light surrounding light or just light? the different titles, surrounding light and light, relate to two functions of the same light. light that is not considered surrounding is what we experience as pleasure, while surrounding light is the light tha

at the last level, the level of spiritual ascent. we must always remember that our final level of human development should unfold consciously and willingly. without an explicit desire for spiritual growth, no spiritual evolution can occur. after all, the spiritual evolution from above downward had already happened. we have been brought down the four phases of light to the five worlds adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya, and were finally placed here in this world. if we are now to climb back up the spiritual ladder, we must choose to do so. if we forget that the purpose of creation is for us to become like the creator, we will not understand why nature doesn t help us xand sometimes even places obstacles on our way. but if, on the other hand, we keep only nature s goal in mind

now for sure how great it is until i have actually reached it. if i knew my reward in advance, it wouldn t be real altruism, but disguised egoism. i n a n u t s h e l l the physical world evolves by the same order of degrees as the spiritual world, through a pyramid of desires. in the spiritual world, the desires (still, vegetative, animate, speaking, and spiritual) create the worlds adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. in the physical world, they create minerals, plants, animals, people, and people with points in their hearts. the physical world was created when the soul of adam ha rishon shattered. in that state, all the desires began to appear one by one from light to heavy, from still to spiritual, creating our world phase by phase. today, at the beginning of the 21st cent

r, we have already passed the creation of these worlds, and are on our way up to higher levels, though it doesn t always feel like it. in our state, adam s soul has already broken in pieces. the zohar teaches that the vast majority of the pieces, whose reality is reality? 97 99 percent to be exact, were scattered to the worlds beria, yetzira, and assiya (bya, and the remaining one percent rose to atzilut. since adam s soul makes up the content of the worlds bya and has been scattered throughout these worlds, and since we are all pieces of that soul, clearly everything we perceive can only be parts of these worlds. everything we sense as coming from higher worlds than bya, such as atzilut and adam kadmon, is therefore inaccurate, whether or not it appears that way to us. all we can perceive

adam s soul makes up the content of the worlds bya and has been scattered throughout these worlds, and since we are all pieces of that soul, clearly everything we perceive can only be parts of these worlds. everything we sense as coming from higher worlds than bya, such as atzilut and adam kadmon, is therefore inaccurate, whether or not it appears that way to us. all we can perceive of the worlds atzilut and adam kadmon are their reflections, as seen through the filters of the worlds bya. our world is at the lowest degree of the worlds bya. in fact, this degree is completely opposite in nature from the rest of the spiritual worlds, which is why we don t feel them. it is as if two people are standing back to back and going in opposite directions. what are their chances of ever meeting each

fact, this degree is completely opposite in nature from the rest of the spiritual worlds, which is why we don t feel them. it is as if two people are standing back to back and going in opposite directions. what are their chances of ever meeting each other? but when we correct ourselves, we discover that we are already living inside the worlds bya. eventually, we will even rise along with them to atzilut and to adam kadmon. third boundary xwho perceives even though the zohar goes into great detail about the content of each world and what happens there, as if there is a physical place where these things occur, it is actually referring only to the experiences of souls. in other words, it relates to how kabbalists perceive things, and tells us so 98 kabbalah revealed that we, too, can experie

99 when we talked about the first boundary, we said that the zohar speaks only from the perspectives of matter and form in matter. we said that matter is the will to receive, and form in matter is the intention for which the will to receive actually receives xfor me or for others. in simpler terms: matter= will to receive; form= intention. the form of bestowal in and of itself is called the world atzilut. bestowal in its abstract form is the attribute of the creator; it is totally unrelated to the creatures, who are receivers by their nature. however, the creatures (people) can wrap their will to receive with the form of bestowal, so it resembles bestowal. in other words, we can receive, and in so doing actually become givers. it is imperative to remember that the zohar shouldn t be treate

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

orn qualities will enable us to comprehend the creator. the existence of a spiritual place is not related to any actual space. all those who reach this state after correcting their spiritual qualities can see and perceive the same things. the ladder of the creator has 125 levels. these levels are divided evenly between five spiritual worlds. these worlds are: the world of adam kadmon the world of atzilut the world of beria the world of yetzira the world of assiya. each level provides a different perception of the creator, depending on each level s particular properties. therefore, those who have acquired the properties of a specific level see kabbalah and the creator in a completely new way. everyone who attains a particular level of the spiritual world receives the same perception as ever

can be derived from the light of the creator. the light above the line is called "torah" the screen, or the line separating our world from the spiritual one, is called a "barrier (machsom. those who pass this barrier never again descend spiritually to the level of our world. below the line is the realm of egoism, while above the line is the realm of altruism. advancing toward altruistic pleasure atzilut is the world of complete perception of, and unification with, the creator. an individual gradually rises to the world of atzilut, acquiring altruistic qualities. when one has reached this world, having fully acquired the ability to "give" even standing on its lowest step, one starts "receiving for the sake of the creator- 104- attaining the worlds beyond we do not destroy our desire to exp

eyond we do not destroy our desire to experience pleasure, but rather alter our essence by changing the reason for which we are seeking the pleasure. by gradually replacing egoism with altruism, we can rise accordingly until we receive everything to which we are entitled, in accordance with the root of our soul (shoresh neshama, which originally was a part of the last level (malchut) of the world atzilut. as a result of corrections we make to ourselves, our souls will rise to a state of complete unification with the creator, and in the process we will receive 620 times more light than what our souls possessed prior to entering the human corporeal body. all the light, the entire pleasure that the creator wants to impart to his creations, is known as the "common soul" of all the creations (s

he creator" the same way as the creator pleases us, irrespective of our egoistic desires (ascending the levels of inner motion and development- 115- the worlds bya. then, we should determine what will please the creator. consequently, we will see that we can only please the creator by experiencing pleasure. this is called "receiving for the sake of the creator" and denotes the level of the world (atzilut. attaining the different degrees of intensity of the desire to give selflessly to the creator is called "the steps of the worlds bya (beria, yetzira, assiya. acquiring the power to receive pleasure from the creator for his sake is known as "reaching the level of the world (atzilut. beit midrash is the place where we learn to demand (lidrosh) spiritual strength of the creator and the spirit

or listens to all of my requests and prayers for help" if we are able to stand firm on our answers to both intellect and heart, then the creator will reveal himself to us, so that we will see and sense only the creator. within each of us are seventy fundamental desires. these are called "the seventy nations of the world" therefore, our souls correspond to the partzuf of zeir anpin in the world of atzilut, which includes 70 sefirot. after we begin to seek more closeness with the creator, and receive the light of the kabbalah, we are given feelings and desires that we never imagined existed. the seventy desires derive from two sources, since we move forward in combinations of the two lines the right and the left. our actions in accordance with the right line are countered by our evil (egoist

gradually becomes filled with pure and good desires. thus, we gain the perception of the creator on the first spiritual level, the level of the world assiya. then, passing in his perceptions all the stages of the world assiya, we can begin to perceive the creator on the level of the world yetzira, and so on, until we reach the highest level the perception of the creator on the level of the world atzilut. every time, we experience all our perceptions in the same inner point of our hearts. in the past, when our hearts were under the influence of the desires of the body, so the inner point in the heart received absolutely no perception of the- 212- attaining the worlds beyond creator. we could only think about the desires that the body forced us to think about, and desire only that which the

e entire creation and bringing it to the initially predetermined condition. when he decided to create all the worlds and the human beings in them to bring them closer to him, the creator gradually decreased his presence by diminishing his light in order to create our world. the four phases of gradual (from above downwards) concealment of the creator s presence are known as "the worlds" these are: atzilut: a world in which those present are completely unified with the creator. beria: a world in which those present have a connection with the creator. yetzira: a world in which those present perceive the creator- 227- assiya: a world in which those present almost completely or completely do not perceive the creator. this level includes our world as the last, the lowest and the most removed fro

f existence. thus, everything in our world is the direct result of processes that have already taken place in the past in a higher world, and all that has taken place there is the result of what took place even earlier, and so on, up to the point where all four parameters world, time, soul, and the source of existence merge in a single source of existence, in the creator! this "place" is known as atzilut. the clothing of the creator in the garments of the worlds atzilut, beria, yetzira (his appearance to us by means of illuminations of light through screens which weaken these worlds) is known as kabbalah. the clothing of the creator in the garment of our world, the world of assiya, is known as the written torah. in truth, however, there is no difference between kabbalah and the torah of th

ing the worlds beyond yetzira and beria. then the torah and all reality will appear different, as it does to those who reach the level of the world, yetzira. at that point, the bible, with all its stories about animals, wars and the objects of this world, will be transformed into kabbalah the description of the world, yetzira. if the person elevates himself even further into the world of beria or atzilut, then an entirely new picture of the world and of the mechanism that governs it will appear, in accordance with one s spiritual state. there is no difference between the events of the bible and kabbalah, the bible of the spiritual world. the difference is in the spiritual level of those who are involved. in fact, if two people were reading the same book, one would see in it historical even

t the creator has never caused one harm, but only good. this corresponds to the level of beria. when the creator reveals the entire picture of creation and his dominion over all the creations, then there arises in one an absolute love for spiritual levels- 229- the creator, since his absolute love towards all his creations is now visible. this understanding elevates one to the level of the world, atzilut. therefore, our ability to understand his actions depends only on the degree to which the creator will reveal himself to us, since we are created in such a way that the conduct of the creator affects us (our thoughts, our qualities, our acts) automatically. thus, we can only ask that he alter us. regardless of the fact that all acts of the creator are inherently good, there are forces, als

re force of the world yetzira (step 2) this force aspires to convince us that the world is governed not through reward and punishment, but by means of arbitrariness- 230- attaining the worlds beyond the impure force of the world beria (step 3) this force aspires to neutralize our perception of the creator s love for us, which in turn invokes our love for the creator. the impure force of the world atzilut (step 4) this force aspires to prove to us that the creator does not always act in accordance with absolute love towards all his creations, thus attempting to prevent our feelings of absolute love towards the creator. thus, it becomes clear that our elevation to each consecutive spiritual level, the revelation of the creator and the attainment of pleasure from getting closer to him, requir

e creator and the attainment of pleasure from getting closer to him, requires our overcoming the corresponding opposite forces. these arise in the forms of thought and desire. only when they are overcome can we ascend to the next level and take another step forward on our path. from the above, we can conclude that the range of spiritual forces and senses of the four worlds, assiya- yetzira- beria-atzilut, has a corresponding range of opposite and parallel forces and senses from the four impure worlds of assiya-yetzira-beria-atzilut. movement forward is an alternating process. only after overcoming all the impure forces and obstacles sent to us by the creator, and then asking the creator to reveal himself, thus endowing us with the strength needed to withstand the power of impure forces, th

magnitude. if not for the desires of klipot, we would never experience the urge for more than the basic needs of the body. thus, we would remain on the child s level of development. it is the klipot that compel us to search for new pleasures, since they constantly create new desires that require fulfillment and that force us to develop. the attainment of the qualities characteristic of the world, atzilut, is known as "the resurrection of the dead" since in this manner we transform all the impure (dead) desires into pure form. prior to the world of atzilut, a person, as if moving on two rail tracks, can only alter the desires to opposite ones, but cannot transform all the desires into pure ones. upon entering the world of atzilut, we can correct past desires, thereby reaching higher stages

of the spectrum is the fifth stage of development, or the egoistical creation, which desires to counteract its own egoistical nature and to become akin to the first stage. though attempts are made, they are only partially successful in this endeavor. the first stage of egoism, which can counteract itself fully, is known as the world olam adam kadmon. the second stage of egoism, is the world olam atzilut. the third stage of egoism, which forms a part of the fifth stage that can no longer be compared to either the first or the second stage, is the world olam beria. the fourth stage of egoism, which forms a part of the fifth stage, has no strength to withstand itself, so as to be compared to the first, second, or third stages, but can only resemble the fourth stage of the development of ligh

tence of the creator, and the gradual revelation of his omnipotence, so that the creations can perceive him through their corrected qualities. for this reason, one of the names of the creator in hebrew is maatzil, from the word tzel "shadow" there is another name as well: boreh, derived from the words bo-re eh "come and see" consequently, from these words were derived the names of the two worlds: atzilut and beria. we are incapable of comprehending the true state of creation, but only that which our senses can perceive, whether material or spiritual. our consciousness divides everything that exists in the world into either an emptiness or sufficiency. this is so, even though "learned people" insist that there really is no such concept as complete emptiness or a vacuum. this concept is beyo

sure indication that the creator is experiencing the same feelings towards us (in accordance with the rule that "man is a shadow of the creator. thus, whatever a person feels toward the creator is the same as what the creator feels toward that person, and vice versa. after adam s spiritual fall as a result of his sin (which symbolizes the spiritual descent of the primordial soul from the world of atzilut to the level known as "this world" or "our world, his soul divided into 600,000 distinct parts. these parts clothed themselves into the human bodies that are born into this world. each part garbs itself in a human body as many times as it is necessary for it to correct itself completely. when all the distinct individual parts complete their independent process of correction, they will once

tions, the reading of words can be compared to placing empty plates on the table, and attaching to them tags with the names of fancy dishes. music presents a more abstract type of transmitting information. just like visible light, it consists of the seven primary forces-qualities-tones, in light of the fact that the spiritual entity (partzuf) that governs our world, known as partzuf zeir anpin de atzilut, consists of the seven parts, or sefirot. depending on one s particular condition, a person will discern various spiritual states of the composer in a given kabbalisticmelody. that person does not necessarily have to be on the same spiritual level as the composer of the melody; rather, the inner meaning can be grasped to the degree that one s personal spiritual level will permit. in 1996

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

hain of concealments (coverings) on the upper light, called worlds (the hebrew word for world is olam, which stems from the word haalama, concealment. at the bottom of the chain of worlds stands this world. because the process that created the creature was comprised of five parts, the lessening of the upper light occurs through five degrees of concealment, five worlds whose names are adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. in the process of constructing these worlds, the creature builds a surrounding environment for itself. in the world atzilut, the will to receive is split in two: an inner part soul--and an outer part environment (surroundings, in which the soul operates. this stage still does not pertain to our world. as a result of later events, the soul and its environment wi

uld turn to those who are disturbed by the fate of our world and the future of humanity. we do not expect billions of people to study kabbalah, but if we can use science to present humanity with the picture of reality, it will compel everything to change, as we are all parts of a single structure. as we have said above, the kli (vessel/creature) that the creator created became a soul in the world atzilut. this is the collective, or general soul, called adam ha rishon (the first man. in the beginning, all its parts were bonded in wondrous harmony, and it was filled with the upper light. in that state, the sum of the parts created perfection. later on, the soul experienced a process of shattering and fell to a degree called below the barrier, pa r t i: k a b b a l a h m e e t s q ua n t u m

lowered to this world. from here we humans must climb back to our roots. consequently, kabbalah deals with two successions: from above downward, t h e s t ru c t u r e o f r e a l i t y 95 pertaining to the cascading of the worlds and their degrees, and from below upward, pertaining to the soul s ascent through the very same degrees. the worlds that stem from the creator are ein sof, adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya, and finally, our world (figure 12. kabbalah describes both the creation of the worlds and how a soul descends from the creator through all the worlds down to ours. between the upper worlds and our world is the barrier that separates the material world from the spiritual world. figure 12 below the barrier, the body and the soul are at the level of this world, and we

orlds down to ours. between the upper worlds and our world is the barrier that separates the material world from the spiritual world. figure 12 below the barrier, the body and the soul are at the level of this world, and we begin our correction process at this level. from this world, the soul ascends by accumulating knowledge of the spiritual reality, traversing the worlds assiya, beria, yetzira, atzilut, pa r t i i: t h e e s s e n c e o f t h e w i s d o m o f k a b b a l a h 96 adam kadmon, ultimately returning to the world ein sof. there, in a state called gmar tikkun (the end of correction, the soul is completely reunited with the creator. the wisdom of kabbalah encompasses the entire reality below the creator: the worlds, everything within them, the descent of the soul to this world

use it is written by those who are corrected. one s desire to draw near to the states described in kabbalah books makes those states project a correcting force upon one s present state. this force is called surrounding light. it changes one s qualities, enabling individuals to sense their corrected state by gradually forming altruistic qualities in them. the study of kabbalah focuses on the world atzilut. the world atzilut, called the world of correction, is above the parsa. it is a system designed especially to correct a person whenever one wishes it. the light that fills the corrected soul of a person in the world atzilut shines upon one s present state as surrounding light, a force that corrects human nature from egoism to altruism. the surrounding light elevates the soul through all th

rm. thus, from the creator s perspective, we are in our corrected form. it makes no difference that we discover our true state gradually. hence, when we want to receive strength, we turn to the state of ein sof, which we call creator. to receive strength and discernments, we turn to the corrected reality in which we already exist, and to which we must aspire. ein sof is the thought, and the world atzilut is the detailed blueprint these are the two phaspa r t i i i: p e r c e p t i o n o f r e a l i t y 140 es preceding the execution of the thought. it is similar to the way one thinks about constructing a house and even puts one s thoughts in writing without having the materials. below the world atzilut is the parsa, the separation between the atzilut and the world below it. the creatures b

the world atzilut is the parsa, the separation between the atzilut and the world below it. the creatures begin from the parsa downward. yet, the creator does not have to wait for the creatures actions. for him, the thought and the blueprint are the whole reality. below the parsa exist the worlds beria, yetzira, assiya, and below them is this world (figure 14. figure 14 light comes from the world atzilut downward according to one s desire to build the house. this desire, which one raises towards the upper light, is one s intention to please the creator and resemble him. in other words, it is the intention to obtain similarity with the creator. r e g a i n i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s 141 the process of bestowal upon the creator consists of a beginning and an end. not only do the beginni

l to receive in the creature. material world the reality sensed through the five physical senses. matter the will to receive. nearing the creator obtaining greater measures of the attribute of bestowal. our world the reality that is felt in the will to receive. parsa the boundary between the upper guidance and leadership, and the creatures that it operates. the parsa is situated between the world atzilut and the worlds beria, yetzira, assiya. partzuf a structure made of the ten sefirot of the creature that operate in equivalence of form with the upper light. k a b b a l a h, s c i e n c e, a n d t h e m e a n i n g o f l i f e 198 patterns (forms) manners of reception or bestowal. perfection the state when the creature is in equivalence of form with the creator. person (in this world) the

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

f ein sof, meaning the absolute equivalence with the creator. q: i understand that, just as two hairs cannot grow from the same root, so two objects in this world cannot stem from the same spiritual root. each creation has its own spiritual root. but i thought that everything came from the same root v keter? a: you are right, everything does come from the creator and then descends to the world of atzilut, where the system of the management and the correction of the soul of the first man (meaning our souls) is formed. the three lower worlds to atzilut (beria, yetzira, assiya) were created in its image. these worlds are a diminished, yet accurate image of the world of atzilut. our world was created much like those worlds. everything that exists in any of the four worlds descends from the wor

t, where the system of the management and the correction of the soul of the first man (meaning our souls) is formed. the three lower worlds to atzilut (beria, yetzira, assiya) were created in its image. these worlds are a diminished, yet accurate image of the world of atzilut. our world was created much like those worlds. everything that exists in any of the four worlds descends from the world of atzilut. by the same path, the soul rises from our world to atzilut. we attain the world of atzilut by replacing our attributes, which are called our world, with attributes called the world of atzilut. this is our goal in this world, and everyone must follow it. the degree, the attributes, the place to which we all must rise, is called our root. the present degree is the place where we are at the

ator-oriented desire, it is considered pure and is called holiness. therefore, in the beginning, through the influence of proper study and labor, a desire to enjoy spirituality for self develops, and one begins to want the upper world, the creator, instead of this world. when that desire reaches its peak, we receive a screen, and only then does our desire become a part of malchut (of the world of atzilut. even if we are immersed in impure desires, they are still spiritual because we still want to delight in the spiritual pleasure, the creator, and not earthly pleasures such as sex, wealth or power. t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 26 c o m p l e t e a d h e s i o n w i t h t h e c r e at o r q: when malchut cleaves to the creator in its final state, does that state last until it i

rying out of that law. everything that happens at any given moment in creation, its t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 36 sole purpose is to make people come to the point of utter bliss v to be filled with the light of the creator. the creator acts much like gravity: in the center of creation is the creator. the souls were distanced five worlds away from him. these include ak (adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira and assiya, all the way to the farthest point called our world. from that last point, he pulls us toward him. we sense that pull as pain v beginning with disease and ending in painful death. but if we make an effort to approach the creator by cooperating with that force, we will not feel the pain. instead, we will feel that force as good. if, however, we refuse to go along

a special preparation, we may possibly accelerate our ability to sense, analyze, correct and digest the pains of the desire to enjoy. as a result, these go by so quickly that we immediately use them in the opposite way, meaning we turn desires that were meant to give us pleasure into a basis for desires to please the creator. a great part of the kabbalist s journey is spent in the worlds of abya (atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya, where the kabbalist gradually turns intended and unintended sins into virtues, and thus justifies the works of the creator and his guidance. in these worlds, the system makes it possible to shorten the process significantly. r e a l i t y i n t h e e y e s o f k a b b a l a h q: i read that kabbalah develops the ability to sense the elements of reality and the spir

is, through the upper light, our torments will gradually increase until they finally make us realize the reason for our pain. it is our souls need to reclaim the light that filled it before it came down to our world. the soul of man starts its existence in the world of ein sof. it then descends through five higher worlds, before finally clothing our physical bodies. those worlds are: adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. the result of the descent is that we are completely dependent on the components and characteristics of that spiritual system. thus, we must study that system in order to function according to its laws, instead of roaming blindly through our world, beaten time and again but not knowing why. the principal law of that system is altruism. it acts whether we are awa

our attributes, desires and thoughts. but how can we creatures, with our will to enjoy, want to delight in the creator, in his perfection and his stature, and make that will stem from within ourselves? for that purpose, the creator hides himself. by gradually descending from above, he slowly distances himself and creates five worlds (in hebrew the word, world, also means concealment: adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya. s p i r i t ua l wo r k 149 each degree, or each world, is another degree of concealment of the creator. below these worlds is our world, where the creator is not felt at all. the will to enjoy is five worlds apart from the creator, until the light reaches our world, which is why we only feel ourselves in this world. but that can only be felt through the concealmen

process mixes the attribute of the creature- to take pleasure- with the attribute of the creator- to render pleasure. thus, man gets to choose which of the two is better and more complete. the process of choice is called the correction of the breaking. it is a process that spreads over many life cycles under the providence of a special system designed to manage the correction, called the world of atzilut. at the end of the correction, the creature (the soul) wants to resemble the creator in everything. once it has gone through all the states t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 150 of equivalence of form with the creator, and through the comparison that the creature renders between itself and the creator, the creature justifies the creator entirely. equalizing the attributes (the equi

the creator, meaning it receives for him, the soul is called a part of god above. only that desire can be filled with light, meaning the sensation of the creator. the creator created only one thing: a desire to enjoy. that desire is divided in several parts: 1. desires of the world of ein sof (infinite world- the greatest desires. 2. desires of the world of adam kadmon. 3. desires of the world of atzilut. 4. desires of the world of beria. 5. desires of the world of yetzira. 6. desires of the world of assiya. 7. desires of this world- the smallest of all desires, which operate with the intent for myself. our substance is a small desire for pleasure. the soul evolves in us gradually. we develop our lowest desires through desires for food, sex and family. then come the desires for wealth, res

ever actually left the collective soul; it simply stopped feeling it, since it corrupted its spiritual feelings by acquiring an egotistical desire. but in the process of desiring correction, the soul corrects its feeling and becomes able to feel its true state in the collective soul. retrieving this feeling is called the ascent up the steps of the spiritual ladder from our world into the world of atzilut. q: how is the individual soul separated from the collective soul? a: as the soul acquires additional uncorrected egotistical desires, it loses its feeling of the spiritual world, interpreted by the soul as a separation from the collective soul. as a result, the soul starts to feel a more crude desire in itself, called a body. this is felt by the soul as birth in the biological body. q: ho

ew lifetimes, and others must incarnate hundreds of times. it depends on the society that a person chooses for himself to develop in. t h e wo r l d o f t h e k a b b a l i s t q: while dressed in the physical body, does the soul exist only in our world? a: that is not necessarily the case. take, for example, the physical body of a kabbalist. in his emotions (his soul) he might be in the world of atzilut, but his physical body remains in our world, with all its maladies, desires, habits and characteristics. h ow m a n y s o u l s d o e s a k a b b a l i s t h av e? q: baal hasulam (rav yehuda ashlag) wrote that he would not have been able to attain his degree if the creator had not placed the soul of rabbi shimon bar yochai in him. before that he had his own soul, and after that, the soul

s, in this life or in ten or a hundred lives from now, depends on the quantity and, even more so, on the quality of your efforts. t h e g e n d e r o f t h e s o u l q: does the soul have a gender, like the body? a: the soul does have a specific gender: male or female. that attribute extends from the root of creation, from the very beginning. zeir anpin (male) and malchut (female) of the world of atzilut are the prototypes of the genders in our world, and there are no greater opposites than these. throughout the system of creation, built from up downward, there is a division, a separation into a feminine part and masculine part. the lower the degree of creation, the coarser and simpler it becomes, and the more overlap there is between the masculine and feminine parts. s o u l, b o d y a n

t lie to yourself. consult your heart and do what it tells you v that will be the right choice. go this way until you change, develop, and grow out of your uncertainty. it is a permanent process till the very end of correction. good luck to you! w h at l i m i t s a s o u l q: first, a man is limited by his nature, egoism. in the spiritual world, man is limited by the root of his soul, malchut de atzilut. or does this root not limit the possibilities of a soul? a: acquiring the screen enables us to free ourselves from the slavery of egoism and understand that the intention for myself is foreign, artificially created in us from above with the purpose of letting us rid ourselves of it and discover how free, eternal and perfect it feels to be in the intention for the creator. w h e r e d o w

gin to study and correct their attributes. in their new attributes, the corrected ones, they receive the sensation of the cret h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 268 ator the spiritual world. the question, what is the meaning of my life? is what motivates them. it is because of that question that they grow spiritually. they attain the upper worlds (in ascending order- assiya- yetzira- beria- atzilut according to their efforts. one who attains the degree of the world of atzilut is called a man, and before one attains the degree of man, one s spiritual development is respectively: assiya- still; yetzira- vegetative; beria- animate. i suggest that you do not try to persuade anyone, and in general refrain from speaking to people who oppose or do not wish to hear, as you will not convince

n 275 a: one soul cannot be in several situations at the same time. all our future mental situations, to the last and most complete of them, are but future situations of the soul, which will attain them upon its ascent in each degree. from below upward: our world is the world of assiya, which resembles the world of yetzira, which in turn resembles the world of beria, which resembles the world of atzilut. and from above downward, the worlds were created and were copied one by one, the worlds of bya and our world. the torah speaks of what happens in the world of atzilut. the same thing happens in all the spiritual worlds of bya, which are beneath the world of atzilut (of a lesser degree, but on a smaller spiritual scale. and so it is in our world, everything happens as it happens in the wor

t. and from above downward, the worlds were created and were copied one by one, the worlds of bya and our world. the torah speaks of what happens in the world of atzilut. the same thing happens in all the spiritual worlds of bya, which are beneath the world of atzilut (of a lesser degree, but on a smaller spiritual scale. and so it is in our world, everything happens as it happens in the world of atzilut. however, this is in another substance, not in the spiritual desire, but in the corporeal one: the desire to delight self alone, which is the substance of our world. that is why we cannot describe what happens correctly. the link between our world and the other worlds is inconceivable because we have no conception of the spiritual worlds. only a kabbalist feels both worlds at the same time

inconceivable because we have no conception of the spiritual worlds. only a kabbalist feels both worlds at the same time, but cannot explain that sensation to one who cannot feel spiritual substance. the wisdom of attaining the upper world is personal and is therefore designated as the wisdom of the hidden. only one who attains it can see the results, and no one else. the pharaoh of the world of atzilut is the collective uncorrected will to receive that had been created by the creator. it is always in the height of the degree of the creator, but opposite him. therefore, the correction of pharaoh in the world of atzilut means a complete correction of malchut, which is the whole of creation. pharaoh in the world of beria, which is below the world of atzilut, symbolizes the corrected pharaoh

t which is around them- still, vegetative and animate. but if the soul of one accompanies his body in our world, that person is called a kabbalist. if the soul does not accompany him, that person is then still in the stage of preparation in the development of spirituality, prior to the reception of a soul. he then has no connection with the upper worlds, whether they are assiya, yetzira, beria or atzilut. in the corporeal world, in the substance of our world, there is a picture that accompanies the soul, which is an external adaptation of the picture of the world of atzilut. for example: the rulers of the world are an external adaptation of pharaoh (egoism, a shell. moses, the force that aspires for the creator, stands against pharaoh. if moses goes to pharaoh along with the creator in his

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

our current state and with our egoistic substance of this world. t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 28 there is a law for the spiritual nature that states that, every spiritual root must touch a corporeal branch. this means that every spiritual origin and spiritual force must hang down and build its final corporeal manifestation in our world. for instance, there is a negative force in the world of atzilut named pharaoh and a positive one named moses. these forces must materialize at least once in our world. in principle, everything that happened or that is happening in the spiritual world has already happened in ours, everything except the coming of the messiah and our ascent and exit from this world to the spiritual world. this is all that still awaits us. but the times to come before the

do let the light in, we want our objective to be to give to the creator. when there is a screen, there is no need for the curtain, because the screen can resist the light. t h e d i v i s i o n o f t h e 1 2 5 d e g r e e s t h at c o n s t i t u t e o u r wa y there are 125 degrees of attainment between our world and the world ein sof. but all we need for our correction is to reach the world of atzilut, meaning the end of the second restriction. we have to cross the worlds of assiya, yetzira, and beria, each consisting of 2,000 years (states, degrees. thus, the sum total of the corrections we have to go through is 6,000, after which we enter the corrections that belong to the first restriction. our souls consist of five parts: keter, hochma, bina, zeir anpin, and malchut. they are divide

(mouth. the structure of all souls is identical: the first part of the soul enjoys giving, while the second enjoys receiving. we should only concern ourselves with correcting our galgalta and eynaim (ge, our vessels of bestowal, the desires to give. our spiritual path begins with an ascent above our world. an ascent is a gradual correction of our galgalta and eynaim. by ascending to the world of atzilut, we confirm that our vessels of bestowal are corrected. we cannot correct our vessels of reception. so what can we do? we can gradually raise our vessels of reception (ahp) from the worlds of bya to the world of atzilut. we first raise the ahp from the world of beria, which is the ahp with the least amount of egoism. after that we raise the ahp from the world of yetzira, which are more ego

the world of assiya, the most egoistic of all vessels. we don t actually correct the vessels/desires, only connect them with their corresponding ge, and combine them with the altruistic desires. after every correction we receive more light. the correction is called an ascent. there is an ascent from each of the places of the worlds of beria, yetzira, and assiya. the ahp that rise to the world of atzilut are not real desires to receive (vessels of reception, they are not our self, our stony heart. we are incapable of correcting that part. the only part we can correct is a small portion called ahp de aliyah (raised ahp. but no greater correction is needed. as soon as this correction is made, the creator himself will correct the stony heart. in order for us to know what we must correct, we h

ction. for that there are ascents and descents that do not depend on us, called an awakening from above. these are the holidays, the shabbat (saturday, the seventh day of the pa r t o n e: t h e b e g i n n i n g 31 week, and the beginnings of the month. they are given to us only because we have already corrected our vessels of bestowal, want nothing for ourselves, and are already in the world of atzilut. the first act the ascent will be the joining of the ahp de aliyah of the world of beria; the second will occur by adding the ahp of the world of yetzira; and the third will be the adding of the ahp of the world of assiya. when a person has already ascended these three degrees, the stony heart is corrected, constituting the end of correction. we can feel pleasure either from receiving or f

us to enjoy only when we receive. they are much more difficult to correct because we have to please another by receiving. this demands a much tighter connection with the creator because receiving runs through the core of the self, the human ego. for that reason, the ahp are corrected gradually, following the correction of galgalta and eynaim. thus, it is not as difficult to ascend to the world of atzilut with vessels of corrected ge, as it is to add the ahp to them, because the correction of the ahp contradicts the aim. all five worlds are like curtains hiding the light of the creator. the lower the world, the more it covers the light. the worlds/screens end at the barrier, which hides the light completely from our world. only a tiny spark called minute light enters our world. it is just e

the coarseness of the egoism. we cross the barrier when we acquire a screen of root coarseness and attain the spiritual degree of the world of assiya. a screen for first degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of yetzira. a screen for second degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of beria. a screen for third degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of atzilut. and finally, a screen for fourth degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of adam kadmon. above adam kadmon, the soul ascends to the world of ein sof. there are five partzufim in every world, comprised of five sefirot. each time a person acquires five new sefirot, he acquires a new degree, a new partzuf. if it is in the world of assiya, the first five sefirot give us the abi

iya to the world of yetzira, which corresponds to the birth of a baby in our world. in the world of beria, the soul undergoes a two-year phase of suckling, during which the soul evolves and receives light that gradually increases its screen. t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 34 but in the world of beria, the soul is still in a state of katnut (meaning it only has vessels of ge. beyond the world of atzilut begins the gradual process of the growth of the soul, the acquisition of the vessels of ahp. growth continues until the age of thirteen, the bar mitzvah age. at this stage the soul becomes independent in atzilut, and has the screens with which it can commence receiving in order to bestow by adding the vessels of reception denominated ahp de aliyah. there are two partzufim called zeir anpin

the growth of the soul, the acquisition of the vessels of ahp. growth continues until the age of thirteen, the bar mitzvah age. at this stage the soul becomes independent in atzilut, and has the screens with which it can commence receiving in order to bestow by adding the vessels of reception denominated ahp de aliyah. there are two partzufim called zeir anpin and nukva (malchut) in the world of atzilut. they relate to one another in various ways, depending on whether the soul is in katnut (smallness) or in gadlut (greatness. these states are called zivug (spiritual mating. the term, eretz (land) in the spiritual world refers to where you are or the place you are headed. the word, eretz comes from the word, ratzon (desire. our souls consist of one big desire (eretz) with many smaller land

son experiences them differently. the spiritual world is attained from below upward. but in order for this instruction to be suitable for everyone, kabbalists wrote it from above downward, not from below. it is actually the same road, but when looking from above, it is described in more general terms, more uniform. light descends from the creator, building five worlds on its way down adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. below the world of assiya there is the barrier a partition that separates this world from the spiritual worlds. there is another partition between the world of atzilut and the worlds below it. it is called parsa. between the world of ein sof and the world of atzilut, there is the restriction. thus, from the highest state the world of ein sof down to the lowest

ld of assiya there is the barrier a partition that separates this world from the spiritual worlds. there is another partition between the world of atzilut and the worlds below it. it is called parsa. between the world of ein sof and the world of atzilut, there is the restriction. thus, from the highest state the world of ein sof down to the lowest, where we are, there are five worlds adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya, each consisting of five partzufim and each partzuf of five sefirot. in total, the number of degrees that stand between our (necessary) future state and our present state is 125. these degrees are not carved in stone, but are inside us. they are degrees of internal spiritual development. when we change something inside us, we ascend by one degree. when we change ano

ealed in our world, then all our forces turn against him. the truth is that the impure forces in our world are very weak compared to the impure forces in spirituality. our egoism, our evil force, is tiny. the higher we climb and the greater the disclosure of the creator becomes, so grow the forces that oppose the creator. these dark forces continue all the way from this world through the world of atzilut. the pure forces (the creator) and the impure forces (the sitra achra) remain parallel throughout the climb from bottom to top. c h a p t e r 1 .1 2 q u e s t i o n s& a n s w e r s question: why study kabbalah? answer: to answer that, we must read not only the explanations of the kabbalists regarding the upper worlds, but also the connection between the upper world and ours. there seem to

ywhere. it is there that we find the secrets of torah. there are subtle hints of this in the zohar and in the talmud. that spiritual state is called maase merkava and maase bereshit. but those are all very subtle hints. it is actually impossible to describe these spiritual feelings in words because the words and the letters in our language are valid only in the correction zone (until the world of atzilut, since that is from where they are taken. we cannot feel anything above the system of correction, and therefore cannot describe those feelings in words or define it in terms and concepts that we understand. the first verse in the torah speaks of heaven and earth. the two terms relate to two properties: an egoistic and an altruistic property. the egoistic property of earth (the soul) is cor

realization of the necessity of spiritual development. there will be no way to escape it. that is why we place such emphasis on the circulation of the wisdom of kabbalah, so that everyone will know and recognize its importance. 70 part two: phases of spiritual evolution c h a p t e r 2 .1 t h e p u r p o s e o f c r e at i o n there are five worlds between the creator and our world: adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira and assiya. beneath the world of assiya there is the barrier and under the barrier there is our world. our goal in this world is to attain the degree of the world of ein sof while our souls are still clothed in our corporeal bodies, thus attaining complete unification with the creator. the properties of egoism change in every degree, according to the properties of the creat

e, not knowing precisely how to define the situation. t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 80 the world of beria is called almost good. when we correct our vessels enough to ascend to the world of beria, we feel with growing certainty that the creator wants only what is best for us. hence, when we have climbed to the world of yetzira, we are called incomplete righteous. when we ascend to the world of atzilut (called all good, we see only good there, without a hint of evil. consequently, if we have climbed to the world of atzilut, we are called complete righteous (we justify the creator and think that what he is doing is right. our feelings constitute our attitude toward the creator in each and every situation. we cannot have a completely positive attitude toward the creator and justify him com

ly, if we have climbed to the world of atzilut, we are called complete righteous (we justify the creator and think that what he is doing is right. our feelings constitute our attitude toward the creator in each and every situation. we cannot have a completely positive attitude toward the creator and justify him completely before we rise to the highest degrees, and that can only be in the world of atzilut. we should not stay in our current evil state, but should try and rise above it as fast as possible after we have examined and analyzed our situations. then, we should try to reach a better state. but the truth is that we can never see our actual state while in it. only when we move to a new level, when we are certain that we really did attain a new degree, can we examine and analyze our p

h is also expressed in how we relate to our everyday lives. at the end of the process, our lives in this world should be subordinate to spiritual rules. this is the desire of the creator. the more we are able to leave our egos, the better are our chances of feeling spirituality and liberating ourselves from our corporeal bodies. the body is the root of our every problem. for example, the world of atzilut serves as a model for building our society in this world. by doing that, we immediately fall under the influence of spiritual forces that guard, protect, and lead us. the bounty that each of us receives corresponds to our ability to sense these forces in corrected vessels. the spiritual world and the corporeal world are parallel. spiritual light and power come down from above, but cannot c

e spiritual world and the corporeal world are parallel. spiritual light and power come down from above, but cannot clothe our world because there is a different form of reception that prevails here. for pa r t t wo: p h a s e s o f s p i r i t ua l e v o l u t i o n 93 me is the opposite of the spiritual form. if we organize even a very small community that lives according to laws of the world of atzilut, then all the upper positive forces will be able to clothe each of its members and raise them respectively to a high spiritual degree. but building a spiritual frame of life demands serious preparation on our part. it is the best thing that one can do for oneself, for one s family, for the environment and for the entire world. the whole world will gradually feel better if even a small soci

RABBI AMIRAM MARKEL MARKEL THE KNOWLEDGE OF G D VOL 1

easuring line the three abilities hagadol, hagibor, v hanorah- the great, the mighty, and the awesome the ten sefirot the three upper sefirot (mochin brains) the seven lower sefirot (midot emotions) the realm of desire the primal desire ratzon hakadoom the primal desire the sefirot of igullim circles the sefirot of yosher upright adam kadmon primal man (ratzon l ratzon) malchut and keter keter of atzilut, atik yomin& arich anpin (pleasure& desire) the enclothement of atik in arich binah comprehension hitbonenut contemplation& analysis da at concentration abba& imma (father& mother) the world of tohu chaos the world of tikkun rectification the worlds of akudim, nekudim& brudim the three lines of the sefirot of yosher the inner keter of atzilut inclusion& subdivision the enclothement of aric

peaking& saying dibur& amirah the closed mem& the open mem the name elokim the firmament on the heads of the chayot the garment called "the chashmal" shvirat hakelim the shattering of the vessels the cloak of leather the cloak of light the sleep of zeir anpin the eight kings of tohu moshiach ben yosef messiah the son of josef the source of nogah summery of the shattering& rectification malchut of atzilut the tenth achor b achor back to back panim b achor face to back& achor b panim back to face panim b panim face to face a point under yesod malchut keter malchut the desire for kingship the sefirot of malchut thought, speech& action of speech the divisions& combinations of the letters of speech abba yasad barta the father founded the daughter the combinations of the six days of creation bri

to back& achor b panim back to face panim b panim face to face a point under yesod malchut keter malchut the desire for kingship the sefirot of malchut thought, speech& action of speech the divisions& combinations of the letters of speech abba yasad barta the father founded the daughter the combinations of the six days of creation briyah, yetzirah& asiyah in general the masach the screen, between atzilut& briyah the source of the masach the expansions of the holy name the lower unity the world of briyah creation the world of yetzirah formation the world of asiyah action everything that g-d desired he did hechalot u malachim the chambers& angels kelipat nogah the intermediary shell olam hashafel the lowly world part two: contemplation& meditation what is contemplation hitbonenut girsah surf

keter of the lower world. for instance, as mentioned before, the sefirah of keter is desire, and the sefirah of malchut is speech. from this we understand that the speech of the king becomes the inner motivating desire of the servant or that the speech of the teacher becomes the inner motivating desire of the student etc. likewise, the last level of adam kadmon (primal man) becomes the source of atzilut (the world of emanation. this is to say that malchut of adam kadmon becomes the keter of atzilut. keter of atzilut, atik yomin& arich anpin- pleasure and desire the first sefirah of every level is its keter which is the desire to bring it about, for if there were no desire for it, it couldn t exist. this principle applies both above, in regard to the creation of the world, and below, in ma

it. this is true even when he does something he does not want to do. in such a case, there is another, overriding desire which compels him to do that which he would not otherwise do. for instance, if a person hates his job, he does it anyway because his desire to survive overrides his hatred for the work. above too, the desire for something is what gives it its existence. therefore, the keter of atzilut is the desire to bring about the world of atzilut. now, there are really two parts to the sefirah of keter. the external aspect of keter is desire, and its inner aspect is pleasure. in truth, these two aspects are inseparable from each other, for the one cannot be found without the other. furthermore, pleasure does not necessarily precede desire nor must desire precede pleasure. in any cas

all about himself. this is the way it is in the desire, which is arich anpin. however, the pleasure of it, is still all about himself. for this reason, atik yomin, which is the pleasure of it, still relates to the self, and is still considered to be part and parcel of the self. in contrast, arich anpin already relates outward, toward the world. for this reason it is considered to be the source of atzilut (the world of emanation. the enclothement of atik in arich more particularly speaking, it is only the upper three sefirot of atik which are considered to be part of the self. this may be understood as follows. each of these two parts of keter, contain ten sefirot as well. the seven lower emotional sefirot of the pleasure (atik yomin) are enclothed in the sefirot of the desire (arich anpin)

t of keter (pleasure and desire, which itself is higher than the division into lines. it is specifically because of this that it has the power to unify and synthesize the two opposite lines to the right and left, and to go down and connect with malchut (speech and action. in this way the middle line is actually made up of the sefirot of keter, da at, tiferet, yesod and malchut. the inner keter of atzilut now for the explanation of the matter of the "inner keter of atzilut: this is called keter of keter (desire of desire. it is the inner revelation of desire (arich) and pleasure (atik) and is the inner light of keter. it likewise, has ten sefirot. however, the next level of keter, which is chochmah of keter (insight of desire, constitutes the intellectual reason for the desire and is called

totally assimilated and "one" with the mind of the student, but he then will be able to convey them and explain them to others. from the last level of the letters of his thoughts, the ideas will come into his speech to convey them to someone else. this is how names work in general. from the external name and description of chochmah of adam kadmon, the tangible light and revelation of chochmah of atzilut is revealed. it is from the "thickening" of the internal light that the vessels of that light come about. these vessels, in turn, become the "light" of the next level. so, as in the above example of a customer placing an order with a craftsman, from the internal letters of the seminal idea in the mind of the customer, come the letters of thought in the customer s mind, of the details of th

ndments in the torah. altogether, there are 613 commandments in the torah. the 248 positive commandments correspond to the 248 limbs and organs in the body, and the 365 negative commandments corresponds to the 365 sinews in the body, as well as the 365 days in the solar year) zeir anpin the emotions now that we have understood all of the above, we must return to the explanation of the emotions of atzilut (emanation) which are born out of the unification of nehi"y of abba and imma (the gut emotions of insight and comprehension),which are the lowest level of the emotions of the intellect of atzilut, as explained earlier. the emotions of atzilut, on the other hand, are called zeir anpin (the small face. now, as is known, zeir anpin is still considered to be part of the infinite, as stated "he

the same way, the original source and root of the garment called chashmal is within the very essence itself. it, therefore, can become disconnected from the intellect, yet remain vital] the shattering of the vessels the torah states "g-d made a cloak of leather for adam and his wife, and he clothed them" this cloak is known as the aspect of the chashmal which encompasses zeir anpin and malchut of atzilut, which are called adam and his wife. now, the word for "leather" in hebrew, is "or) and is spelled with an ayin. however, in the torah of rabbi meir, this word was not spelled with an ayin) but with an aleph. when it is spelled with an aleph, it means "light" rather than "leather. therefore, in the torah of rabbi meir, rather than saying that he clothed them with a cloak of "leather, it sa

on and disunity. through the ultimate rectification, evil will be destroyed completely. as explained, evil is the absence divine revelation. this being the case, when g-dliness is revealed evil ceases to be. when the allegory will be revealed as being one with that which is being allegorized, there no longer will be any sense of self, separate and apart from g-d s absolute singularity. malchut of atzilut we will now explain the aspect of malchut of atzilut, which is called "the world of speech" or the "revealed world, as mentioned before. as explained above, speech is the aspect of rachel, and is represented by the last letter heh) of the four letter name of g-d (the tetragramaton. this is because binah represents the first heh of the name of g-d and as stated in ezekiel 16:44 "like mother

according to how he thought to speak. this is the intellect of speech. the "emotions of speech, is the emotion which is heard in the voice, as explained above in regard to the "voice of yaakov. these are the various combinations of water, fire and vapor (chesed, gevurah and tiferet, which give emotion to the speech, as explained above. all of the levels above malchut become revealed in malchut of atzilut, which is likened to the speech of the king. it is for this reason that malchut (speech) is termed "alma d itgalia (the realm of revelation, because all the upper levels become revealed in malchut of atzilut, from the first essential heyulie desire for kindness in the essential self, through the entire chaining down (seder hishtalshelut, from the circles of desire (sefirot d igullim, until

ions of adam kadmon, to arich anpin, and to the intellect and external emotions of zeir anpin, all the way to the external vessels and compositions of fire, water and vapor of the external "breath of the heart" of zeir anpin. this is the meaning of the verse "i am first and i am last "i am first" refers to the essence of the infinite light before the tzimtzum, and "i am last" refers to malchut of atzilut, which the zohar calls "the end of all levels (sof kol dargin. as previously stated, yesod is the "giver" or "influencer" and is called "kol (everything, as in the verse "ki kol bashamayim u baaretz, which means "everything in the heavens and the earth" and which translates into aramaic as "he unites the heavens and the earth. the reason yesod is called "kol (everything) is because all the

hut. it, therefore, is called keter malchut (the crown of kingship. as mentioned previously, malchut corresponds to the faculty of speech and action, because the speech of a king is tantamount to an action. if a king commands something with his mouth, it happens, as stated "dvar melech shilton (the word of the king rules. the sefirot of malchut from the above, we may now understand how malchut of atzilut which is "the end of all levels (sof kol dargin) is g-d s desire and pleasure to be king over the created worlds of briyah, yetzirah and asiyah (creation, formation and action. now, in order for this kingship to be realized, there must be a tzimtzum and a separation between atzilut and the created worlds. this is called a masach (screen, and will be discussed later. from the above, we may

, the "end, in which g-d actually rules over the world, is dependant on the essential desire to rule, which is in the "beginning. however, the "beginning" must also be bound up with the "end. this is to say that the essential desire to rule must be awakened by the "end, i.e. by the recipients. now, before we begin to explain the created worlds, let us understand the specific details of malchut of atzilut. as explained previously, the simple essential pleasure and desire which comes to enliven a quality, is its keter. following the keter of each sefirah are the intellectual sefirot of each sefirah, as explained before. likewise, in the sefirah of malchut, there is a lessening from the keter of malchut, which is the pleasure and desire to rule and is above intellect and reasoning, to the int

a) and its original source is in "the upper mother (imma ila a. this is to say that the original source of binah of malchut is malchut of binah which is called "the upper mother. as explained before, the sefirot of malchut are derived from the malchut of each of the sefirot of zeir anpin. likewise, the chochmah and binah of zeir anpin are derived from the general sefirot of chochmah and binah of atzilut. therefore, the chochmah of malchut originates from malchut of chochmah as it comes down through malchut of chochmah of zeir anpin, etc (this explains the statement that the word "bereshit (in the beginning, which is the first word of the torah, is also one of the ten utterances of creation("bereshit nami ma amar hoo. targum yonatan translates "bereshit" into aramaic as "b chochmetah (with

eech or action will determine what the action will be and how it will come out. furthermore, it is stated "he renews every day the act of creation (ma aseh bereshit. as explained above, the word bereshit translates as "chochmetah (wisdom. this means that the intellect of malchut, which determines the final outcome, is dependant on the influence it receives from the general intellectual sefirot of atzilut, which are called abba and imma (chochmah and binah of atzilut, as explained earlier. now, the intellectual sefirot of atzilut (abba and imma, are themselves influenced by the desire (keter, which reaches up to the essential desire in the very essence of the infinite light before the tzimtzum. due to all the above, at times the revelation which comes into malchut may be great and expansive

ince he is actualizing his desire to speak etc. there are times when speech is not a command and does not pertain to action. in such cases too, action of speech is when the sounds of speech are brought out into actuality, as explained above) now, the effect which comes about from the speech of "let there be light, which is the actualization of "and there was light, is called malchut of malchut of atzilut. in other words, this is when the influence of the light of the speech comes out to become the source of existence, in the creation of something out of nothing. this occurs when the aspect of malchut of malchut of atzilut (which is still an emanation which is inseparable from the emanator) breaks through the "masach (screen) to become the source of the world of briyah (creation of somethin

RABBI MOSHE WISNEFSKY APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD THE ARIZAL ON THE PARASHAH

powered by chabad.org c 2001-2007 chabad-lubavitch media center. all rights reserved. in everlasting memory of rabbi yosef y. kazen, pioneer of torah, judaism and jewish information on the web 11 parashat bereishit the first verse in the torah literally reads gin the beginning, g-d created the heavens and the earth. h the verb in this verse, gto create, h refers to the second of the four worlds, atzilut( gemanation h, beriah( gcreation h, yetzirah( gformation h, and asiyah( gaction h. the torah does not [here] speak about the world of atzilut, but rather the world of beriah. the torah is therefore called gthe torah of beriah. h and therefore the torah begins with the letter beit, for the alef (which is the first letter) alludes to atzilut [which is both the first world and begins with the

is according to the beginning. h this letter, beit, refers to the world of beriah both because its numerical value is 2 and because it is the initial of the word beriah. it is also known that gima nests in the [world of the] chariot. h1 this is another reason why the torah begins with the letter beit, for beit is the first letter of binah. it is stated in the zohar that abba nests in the world of atzilut; ima in the world of the chariot; z feir anpin in yetzirah, and nukva d fzeir anpin in asiyah. beriah is called here gthe world of the chariot h because the divine chariot that figures in the vision of ezekiel is identified with this world. the partzufim referred to here are the partzufim of atzilut; the meaning is that abba of atzilut nests in atzilut, while ima of atzilut descends and re

to here are the partzufim of atzilut; the meaning is that abba of atzilut nests in atzilut, while ima of atzilut descends and rests in beriah, and so forth. all this simply means that, although each world possesses its own array of ten sefirot (in the form of their respective partzufim, each world is nonetheless pervaded by an overall consciousness that is an expression of one of the partzufim of atzilut. abba is the partzuf of chochmah, which is the consciousness of bitul( gself-nullification h; a person experiencing a flash of insight is not aware of himself but is rather absorbed totally in the experience of the revelation. this, overall, is the general consciousness of the world of atzilut; the revelation of g-d in this world is so great that it leaves absolutely no room for self-aware

f of binah, which is a consciousness of self-awareness. a person involved in understanding the implications, applications, and ramifications of an insight he has received is very aware of himself and the way he perceives the world; it is precisely this self-awareness that he uses to evaluate the effect of his insight. this self-awareness is what distinguishes the world of beriah from the world of atzilut. in beriah, for the first time, there is such a thing as self-awareness or self-consciousness; the beings that exist in this world are aware of themselves as entities distinct from g-d. the same paradigm applies to z feir anpin with regard to yetzirah and nukva d fzeir anpin with regard to asiyah. this is why the world was created in tishrei, which is [an expression of the idea contained i

poetically be taken to mean gthe beginning is wisdom. h also, since chochmah is the first conscious sefirah (as opposed to keter, which is sub- or super-conscious, it can rightfully be called gthe beginning h of the sefirotic (and thus any) process. thus, although the first verse of the torah seems to revolve principally around beriah and ima, it also contains an allusion to chochmah (and thus to atzilut. this [double allusion to chochmah and binah] may be seen in the beit [the first letter] of bereishit[ gin the beginning h [the dagesh inside the letter] alludes to gthe point in its palace, h i.e [the state in which] abba and ima are equal and together. the dagesh (point) inside the beit alludes to chochmah, the gpoint h or gdrop h of insight surrounded and encompassed by the three-line (

m, which refers to ima. furthermore, the numerical value of the name elokim [alef-lamed-hei-yud-mem, 86] is the same as that of the word for gthe throne h [hakisei, hei-kaf-samech-alef, for gima nests in the [world of the] throne, h as above. these two words, gcreated h and the name elokim, thus refer to ima of beriah. gcreated h.beriah; elokim.ima .which nonetheless acts with the power of ima of atzilut that is vested in it. this is the meaning of bereishit, gin [i.e, with (the power of] the beginning, h the word gthe beginning h referring to [ima of] atzilut. the meaning of the entire verse is thus: in the beginning.i.e, with the power of ima of atzilut, g-d created.i.e, ima of beriah created, the heavens.i.e, z feir anpin of beriah, and the earth.i.e, nukva of z feir anpin of beriah. th

the [seven] kings [of edom] that died, for as is known, remnants of these gkings h exist in every world. as we have discussed previously, the seven kings of edom who are all referred to as having ruled and died allude to the midot of tohu whose vessels broke. the sparks of tohu gfell h into the subsequently created worlds of tikun (the four mentioned above, the most sublime elements remaining in atzilut, the less refined falling to beriah, the even less refined falling to yetzirah, and the least refined falling to asiyah. this is the mystical meaning of the next verse, gthe earth was without form and void, h referring to the shattering of the vessels. we must therefore read this verse as if the verb were in the pluperfect: gthe earth had been without form and void, h i.e, the world of toh

ated, one after another, the coarsest 5 genesis 1:20. 6 literally: the refuse from the food. the arizal on parashat bereishit 15 refuse of the world of tohu was separated out of the entire mass of sparks (we could imagine the world as a spiritual fruit bowl, from which g-d removes all but the finest gapples, h placing the rotten ones in another bowl. the bowl of perfect fruit becomes the world of atzilut. the second bowl now contains only grade b, c, and d apples. gd removes all the grade c and d apples from this bowl, which then becomes the world of beriah, and puts them in a third bowl. the third bowl contains only grade c and d apples. g-d removes the grade d apples, leaving a bowl of grade c apples, which becomes the world of yetzirah. the bowl into which the grade d apples have been p

the mystical meaning of the primordial kings [of edom. this is referred to by the phrase gthe heavens and the earth, h which alludes to the seven kings that were broken. since the letter hei alludes to the 63- name, the letter hei is prefixed [as the definite article] in gthe heavens and the earth. h the definite particle [et] is used twice to allude to the z feir anpin and nukva of asiyah within atzilut after the rectification, for the root of all of them was here. and since the primary fall occurred in nukva, the torah says that gthe earth was chaos c, h focusing on her. z feir anpin is only alluded to [by the prefixed vav] in the word gand the earth was c. h the arizal on parashat bereishit (2) 18 the following words are gchaos, emptiness, and darkness, h referring to the shattering [of

[ gthe light h] referring to [the light of] the 45-name that rectified [reality. 1 psalms 53:4. the arizal on parashat bereishit (2) 19 g cand there was light h refers to the actual rectification, which occurred during the seven days of creation [the torah] therefore says at the end [of the creation account] gfor on it he rested from all his work, h for the gwork h took place only in the world of atzilut, inasmuch as all the other worlds.beriah, yetzirah, and asiyah.are nothing but the seal of atzilut. it is therefore stated that gfor on it he rested from all his work. h now, up to this point [in the first creation account, man has not been mentioned [all that has been mentioned is] heaven and earth, above at the level of the 63-name, and the ensuing days of the rectification, as stated. a

he other worlds.beriah, yetzirah, and asiyah.are nothing but the seal of atzilut. it is therefore stated that gfor on it he rested from all his work. h now, up to this point [in the first creation account, man has not been mentioned [all that has been mentioned is] heaven and earth, above at the level of the 63-name, and the ensuing days of the rectification, as stated. after the rectification of atzilut was completed, from this point downward man is mentioned, referring to z feir anpin of beriah, of yetzirah, and of asiyah. when [the torah] says in its account of the sixth day, gand g-d created man in his image, h this refers to the gman h of beriah. the preceding phrase, glet us make man, h refers to [the gman h of] asiyah, while the following phrase[ gand g-d created man in his image h]

to [the gman h of] asiyah, while the following phrase[ gand g-d created man in his image h] refers to [the gman h of] beriah. in the first phrase [referring to the gman h of asiyah, it is said, gin our image, after our likeness, h while in the second phrase [referring to the gman h of beriah, it is said only gin his image. h this is because the words [of g-d] issued from z feir anpin and nukva of atzilut, and he was only consulting [with the heavenly court] concerning the gman h of asiyah, who was destined to sin. as is mentioned in the zohar, it was about this that [g-d] consulted [the heavenly court when he made man, saying] glet us make man in our image, after our likeness. h this statement was made by ima of beriah to abba of beriah, via the clothing of z feir anpin and nukva of atzilu

n h of beriah. thus, the gman h of asiyah contains both the image and the likeness, while the gman h of beriah contains only the image. even though it is stated in the zohar that gthe eimage f exists in the male, h this refers to the gimage h in z feir anpin of asiyah, and gthe elikeness f exists in the female h of asiyah. the terms gmale h and gfemale h usually refer to z feir anpin and nukva of atzilut, but in this case they refer to z feir anpin and nukva of asiyah. 1 genesis 1:26. the arizal on parashat bereishit (2) 22 nonetheless, all this occurred through ima of beriah [clothing the partzufim of] asiyah, and all of this is the feminine. thus, the question was solely regarding the gman h of asiyah. as was stated previously, the statement glet us make man in our image, after our liken

eaning, even the tree of knowledge in the garden, for with this man there was no apprehension [that anything negative would happen by his eating of it. 2 genesis 1:27. 3 psalms 33:6. 4 genesis 1:29. the arizal on parashat bereishit (2) 23 the arizal now addresses the following question: we saw previously that the account of the first seven days of creation refer to the seven midot of the world of atzilut. why, then, does the torah discuss the creation of the gman h of beriah in its discussion of the sixth day of creation, which refers to yesod of atzilut, not beriah? the creation of this gman, h of beriah, is described in [the torah fs account of] the sixth day, while his creation should have occurred after the seventh day, which expressed the nukva of z feir anpin of atzilut. but [it is]

d have occurred after the seventh day, which expressed the nukva of z feir anpin of atzilut. but [it is] because the seventh day, which is always the feminine, and the sixth, which embodies yesod, are never separated, for yesod and malchut are never separated. since this is so, the sixth day includes the feminine principle as well [as the masculine principle. thus, in a sense, the entire array of atzilut has already been dealt with by the sixth day, so while still discussing the sixth day, the torah can go on to discuss what happened in the world of beriah. furthermore, the main aspect of the male [partzuf] is yesod, for the feminine [partzuf] is essentially just a receptacle for the [seminal] drop that yesod posits in it. she is gan non-shining speculum. h since the feminine partzuf is es

descended below [the vav, and [the name havayah] became yud-hei-vav-hei. this is the meaning of the verse, gthese are the generations of heaven and earth c h i.e, of z feir anpin and nukva of beriah. g cwhen they were created h clearly refers to the world of beriah. the word for gwhen they were created h [behibaram] is written with a small hei because these [partzufim] were created by malchut of atzilut, which is indicated by the small hei. behibaram: beit-hei-beit-reish-alef-mem. the hei, as we said, indicates malchut. the fact that the hei is small indicates that it refers to a form of malchut that is selfless relative the rest of the context of this verse, i.e, malchut of atzilut. this occurred gon the day that g-d made earth and heaven. h note that in the account of creation, it says

hei of the name havayah. this unpronounced hei is also the hei implicit in the spelling of the letter hei, as mentioned above regarding the definite article of gthe sixth day. h in the account of creation [of the world of beriah, the heavens are mentioned first, while in the account of the making [of the world of asiyah. this is because the creation occurred by means of z feir anpin and nukva of atzilut as they were clothed [atzilut] is a masculine world, so therefore the heavens, the vav of the name havayah, were created first. atzilut is indicated by the yud of the name havayah and corresponds to chochmah (abba, male principles. asiyah is a feminine world, in which the female rules over the male, so therefore the earth was created before the heavens. this is another reason why asiyah wa

mpure only two each? and 3. who exactly were the generation of the flood and the generation of the dispersion? the end of the portion describes the events of the tower of babel, the aftermath of which was the dispersion of mankind [to answer these questions] know that adam, before he sinned, was not physical. his was clothed in light, and he encompassed all [the spiritual] worlds. his head was in atzilut; his [torso, corresponding to the] middle triad [of sefirot, chesed-gevurah-tiferet] was in beriah; his [lower extremities, corresponding to the] final triad [of sefirot, netzach-hod-yesod] was in yetzirah; and the crown [of his sexual organ] was in asiyah. as we have explained previously, the sefirot in the world of tikun are positioned as triads. the upper triad is chochmah-binah-da fat

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

te it out into the four worlds as follows; azilut: what are the highest, most abstract, aspects of the situation? what are the principles involved if you were to dramatise the situation? is it a situation of love, or honour, or money and pleasure? how does it relate to the evolution of our species! what spiritual impulses are there involved (yes, not many of our activities, unfortunately, involve atzilut. beriah: what is the situation creating that wasn't there before? what new ideas, events, feelings, objects, points-of-view, movements of people are involved? is it a very creative situation, or one that doesn't involve much change? yetzirah: what forms and patterns are apparent in the situation? does it have a regular, predictable, quality, or is it chaotic? is it all over in a moment, or

THE PATH OF KABBALAH

wn. the ascent in our world is done in our current state and with our egoistic substance of this world. there is a law for the spiritual nature that states that, every spiritual root must touch a corporeal branch. this means that every spiritual origin, spiritual force, must hang down and build its final corporeal manifestation in our world. for instance: there is a negative force in the world of atzilut named pharaoh and a positive one named moses. these forces must materialize at least once in our world. in principle, everything that happened or that is happening in the spiritual world has already happened in ours, everything except the coming of the messiah, the ascent and the exit to the spiritual world. this is all that still waits to happen. but the times to come before the ascent ar

egoistic form. and if i do let the light in, i want it to be with the aim to give to the creator. when there is a screen there is no need for the curtain, because the screen can resist the light. what is the division of the 125 degrees that our way consists of? there are 125 degrees of attainment between our world and the world ein sof. but all we need for our correction is to reach the world of atzilut, meaning the end of the second restriction. we have to cross the worlds of assiya, yetzira and beria, each consisting of 2,000 years (states, degrees. thus, the sum total of the corrections we have to go through is 6,000, after which we enter the corrections that belong to the first restriction. our soul consists of five parts: keter, hochma, bina, zeir anpin and malchut. they are divided

(mouth. the structure of all souls is identical: the first part of the soul enjoys giving, while the second enjoys receiving. we should only concern ourselves with correcting our galgalta and eynaim (ge, our vessels of bestowal, the desires to give. our spiritual path begins with an ascent above our world. an ascent is a gradual correction of our galgalta and eynaim. by ascending to the world of atzilut we confirm that our vessels of bestowal are corrected. we cannot correct our vessels of reception. so what can we do? we can gradually raise our vessels of reception (ahp) from the worlds of bya to the world of atzilut. we first raise the ahp from the world of beria, which is the ahp with the least amount of egoism. after that we raise the ahp from the world of yetzira, which are more egoi

. we don t actually correct the vessel-desires, only connect them with their corresponding ge, and combine them with the altruistic desires. after every correction we receive more light. the correction is called an ascent. there are three ascents altogether, or better phrased, there is an ascent from each of the places of the worlds of beria, yetzira, and assiya. the ahp that rise to the world of atzilut are not real desires to receive (vessels of reception, they are not our self, our stony heart. we are incapable of correcting that part. the only part we can correct is a small portion called ahp dealiyah (raised ahp. but no greater correction is needed either. as soon as this correction is through, the creator himself will correct the stony heart. in order for us to know what we must corr

what it is that needs correction. for that there are ascents and descents that do not depend on us called an awakening from above: they are the holidays, the shabbat (saturday, the seventh day of the week) and the beginnings of the month. those are given to a person only for the reason that he has already corrected his vessels of bestowal, wants nothing for himself and is already in the world of atzilut. the first act the ascent will be the joining of the ahp dealiyah of the world of beria; the second will be done by adding the ahp of the world of yetzira, and the third the adding of the ahp of the world of assiya. when a person has already climbed these three degrees, there is the correction of the stony heart, constituting the end of correction. we can either feel pleasure from receivin

y only by an act of reception. they are much more difficult to correct because we have to please another by receiving. that correction demands a much tighter connection with the creator because it runs through the core of the self, the human ego. for that reason, the ahp are corrected gradually following the correction of galgalta and eynaim. thus, it is not so difficult to ascend to the world of atzilut with vessels of corrected ge, as it is to add the ahp to them, because the correction of the ahp contradicts the aim. all five worlds are like curtains that hide the light of the creator. the lower the world, the more it covers the light. the world-screens end at the barrier, which hides the light completely from our world. only a tiny spark called minute light enters our world. it is just

ing to the coarseness of the egoism: we cross the barrier when we acquire a screen of root coarseness, and attain the spiritual degree of the world of assiya. a screen for 1st degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of yetzira. a screen for 2nd degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of beria. a screen for 3rd degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of atzilut. and finally, a screen for 4th degree coarseness raises us to the degree of the world of adam kadmon. above adam kadmon the soul ascends to the world of ein sof. there are five partzufim in every world, comprised of five sefirot. each time a person acquires five new sefirot, he acquires a new degree, a new partzuf. if it is in the world of assiya, the first five sefirot give us the ability

eness, from the world of assiya to the world of yetzira, which corresponds to the birth of a baby in 24 of 273 our world. in the world of beria the soul undergoes a two year phase of sucking, during which the soul evolves and receives light that gradually increases its screen. but in the world of beria the soul is still in a state of katnut (meaning its only got vessels of ge. beyond the world of atzilut begins the gradual process of the growth of the soul, the acquisition of the vessels of ahp. the growth continues until the age of thirteen the bar mitzva age, when the soul becomes independent in atzilut, and has got the screens with which it can commence receiving in order to bestow, by adding the vessels of reception denominated ahp dealiyah. there are two partzufim called zeir anpin an

of the growth of the soul, the acquisition of the vessels of ahp. the growth continues until the age of thirteen the bar mitzva age, when the soul becomes independent in atzilut, and has got the screens with which it can commence receiving in order to bestow, by adding the vessels of reception denominated ahp dealiyah. there are two partzufim called zeir anpin and nukva (malchut) in the world of atzilut. they relate to one another in various ways, depending on the situation of the soul (katnut or gadlut. these situations are called zivug (spiritual mating. the term eretz (land) in the spiritual world refers to the place you are or the place you are headed for. the word eretz comes from word ratzon (desire. our soul consists of one big desire (eretz) with many smaller lands inside it. ther

n the ascent, but though the ways are common to all, each person experiences them differently. in order for this instruction to be suitable for everyone, kabbalists wrote it from above downward, not from below. it is in fact the same road, but when looking from above, it is described in more general terms, more uniform. light descends from the creator, building five worlds on its way adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya. below the world of assiya there is the barrier a partition that separates this world from the spiritual worlds. there is another partition between the world of atzilut and the worlds below it. it is called parsa. between the world of ein sof and the world of atzilut there is the restriction. thus, from the highest state the world of ein sof down to the lowest, wher

ld of assiya there is the barrier a partition that separates this world from the spiritual worlds. there is another partition between the world of atzilut and the worlds below it. it is called parsa. between the world of ein sof and the world of atzilut there is the restriction. thus, from the highest state the world of ein sof down to the lowest, where we are, there are five worlds- adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, assiya, each consisting of five partzufim and each partzuf of five sefirot. thus, the total number of degrees that stand between our (necessary) future state and our present state is 125. these degrees are not made of marble or stone, they are inside us. they are degrees of internal spiritual development. when a person changes something inside himself, he ascends by one de

the creator is totally concealed in our world, then all our forces turn against him. the truth is that these forces are very weak compared to the spiritual impure forces. our egoism, our evil force is tiny. the higher we climb and the greater the disclosure the creator becomes, so grows the force that opposes the creator. these dark forces continue all the way from this world through the world of atzilut. the pure forces (the creator s) and the impure forces (the sitra achra s) remain parallel throughout the climb from bottom to top. 35 of 273 chapter 1.12 questions and answers question: why study kabbalah? answer: to answer that, we must read not only the explanations of the kabbalists regarding the upper worlds, but also the connection between the upper world and ours. there seem to be t

ywhere. it is there that we find the secrets of torah. there are subtle hints to that in the zohar and in the talmud. that spiritual state is called maase merkava and maase bereshit. but those are all very subtle hints. it is in fact impossible to describe these spiritual feelings in words because the words and the letters in our language, are valid only in the correction zone (until the world of atzilut, since that is where they are taken from. we cannot feel anything above the system of correction, and it is therefore impossible to describe those feelings in words and define it in terms and concepts that we understand. the first verse in the torah speaks of heaven and earth. the two terms relate to two properties, an egoistic and an altruistic property. the egoistic property of earth (th

er 3.12- the second restriction..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.13- the world of nekudim..error! bookmark not defined. 48 of 273 chapter 3.14- the division of rosh desag to five phaseserror! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.15- the birth of a partzuf from the upper oneerror! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.16- the world of correction..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.17- the world of atzilut..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.18- the worlds of bya..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.19- the first man..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.20- the rising of the worlds..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.21- the formation of the worlds of abya..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.22- the first man..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 3.23 basic terms..error! bo

on holidayserror! bookmark not defined. chapter 7.4 a holiday as a means for correction..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 7.5 questions& answers..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 7.6 talk..error! bookmark not defined. 49 of 273 part two: phases of spiritual evolution 50 of 273 chapter 2.1 the purpose of creation a talk there are five worlds between the creator and our world: adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira and assiya. beneath the world of assiya there is the barrier and under the barrier there is our world. our goal in this world is to attain the degree the world of ein sof, while our soul is still clothed in our corporeal body and thus attain complete unification with the creator. the properties of the egoism change in every degree, according to the properties of the creator

is as though he is in between them, not knowing precisely which mark to give them. the world of beria is called almost good. when one corrects one s vessels enough to ascend to the world of beria, he feels with growing certainty that the creator wants only what is best for him. hence, a person who has climbed to the world of yetzira is named incomplete righteous. when one ascends to the world of atzilut (called all good, he sees only good there, without a hint of evil. consequently, a person who has climbed to the world of atzilut is called righteous (he justifies the creator and thinks that what he is doing is right. it is all done in such a way that pains force us to rise ever higher. one s feeling constitutes his attitude toward the creator in each and every situation. one cannot have

ous (he justifies the creator and thinks that what he is doing is right. it is all done in such a way that pains force us to rise ever higher. one s feeling constitutes his attitude toward the creator in each and every situation. one cannot have a completely positive attitude toward the creator and justify him completely before he rises to the highest degrees, and that can only be in the world of atzilut. one should not stay in his current evil state but try and rise above it as fast as possible, but not before he examines and analyzes his situation. after he has done that, he should now try to reach a better state. but the truth is that one can never see one s real state while in it. only when he moves to a new level, when he is certain that he really did attain a new degree can he examin

it, which is also expressed in how we relate to our everyday life. at the end of the process, our life in this world should be subordinate to spiritual rules it is the desire of the creator. the more we are able to leave our ego, the better are our chances of feeling spirituality and liberating ourselves from our corporeal body. the body is the root of our every problem. for example: the world of atzilut serves as a model for building our society in this world. by doing that, we immediately fall under the influence of spiritual forces that guard, protect and lead us. the bounty that each receives corresponds to the ability to sense them in corrected vessels. the spiritual world and the corporeal world are parallel. spiritual light and power come down from above, but cannot clothe our world

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