In Expression
What's Your Compassion,
Whilst lacking recipients?
What's Your Infinity,
In absence of the finite?
What's Your Eternity
Without earthly temporality?
Your Infinite Light,
Is Your Infinite Life,
Endless in potential,
Whilst latent n’ lurking,
Yearning for expression,
Burning for actualization!
For even n’ especially,
Within the Infinite Light,
To be denied expression,
Is to be denied reality!
Being Sweepingly Seamless,
Means Oneness, no drops...
For to express a drop,
Is to express everything.
To express everything,
Is to silence a drop;
Which is a definite,
Very “All or nothing” deal!
So to nuance nuances,
Within Infinite potential,
As vast ocean recedes,
Around a tiny air bubble,
So Infinite Light receded,
Leaving a tiny vacated space.
Now there was needy,
Lending reality to Compassion.
Now there was finite,
Lending reality to Infinite.
Now there was temporal,
Lending reality to Eternal.
Now there was lack,
In multiple hues n’ versions,
Lending reality to,
Multiple nuances of potential,
Awaiting expression,
Within vast Infinite Light!
-----O-----
Recently, some in the physics community have been considering a theory called, “A multiverse”, which claims the possibility that our universe is just one of many. About 1997 I considered a similar possibility, just not from the perspective of physics, but rather from the perspective of Kabbalah. Though I ultimately rejected the idea, the exploration enlightened me; with much learned on the journey.
In Kabbalistic parlance God is often called, “The Infinite Being”. The term “Infinite” is used here in the sense of “no limitation”, nothing which any finite entity can relate to. The Lurianic school of Kabbalah teaches that our universe began inside of an attribute of the Infinite Being called, “The Infinite Light”. For our purposes the Infinite Light can also be called, “The Infinite Life”, i.e. God presented as being infinitely alive and also the infinite source of life. To my understanding, this is the most primal attribute of God that the human mind can identify. (Unless I am misunderstanding, it seems to me like there are a few Kabbalists who prefer that their students think of the Divine Will as the very earliest identifiable attribute, but logically speaking, being alive precedes having a will.)
The Infinite Light withdrew from an area within His midst to make space for a finite universe. An Infinite system lacks variation and thus, carries a connotation uniformity or evenness. Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that the force of withdrawal was even on all sides. As equal force was applied on all sides, the resulting vacated space ended up shaped very evenly, like a ball or sphere; a tiny bubble nestled in the midst of the Infinite sea of Light.
The interior of the vacated sphere eventually became our universe. As with a human, the universe has both a body and various soul levels. The universe’s body is the physical part, which is perceptible to scientists. The universe’s various soul levels are the parts which are not detectable by physical means, as they are beyond the range of anything to do with physical senses or possibly even the current limits on biologically bound intelligence. They are realms which are typically conceived of as being home to various levels of souls, angels, divine forces, divine names and certain divine attributes, etc. So to travel into the spiritual realms, is to travel into the very soul levels of the universe.
Lurianic Kabbalah teaches that the universe was created to give meaning to the endless array of latent nuances of potential within the Infinite Light by providing them with a stage for expression. For example, of what meaning is there to God’s attribute of kindness or compassion if there is nobody to whom to be kind or compassionate to? Therefore, there needs to be a world to serve as a stage where kindness and compassion can be meaningfully acted out. (see beginning of Etz Chaim or of Adam Yashar)
Being that the Light is Infinite, so too is the contained latent potential - with an endless array of nuances yearning for expression. Actually, the latent nuances awaiting expressive manifestation must by far outweigh those which had actually been manifest at the time the vacated space took shape. If so, then why were only a select few latent nuances allowed manifestation, leaving the vast majority in abeyance? If the goal is near-full expression of these nuances, how is such a limited selection helping the process?
In one form or another, I have harbored this question in my heart for about the past twenty years. The question has coaxed me to consider whether many universes simultaneously happen within the Infinite Light, like a family of tiny air bubbles materializing in a vast sea, with each giving expression to different sets of the latent nuances. This way other sets of nuances unexpressed in one universe, might actually find expression in another universe. Then in the aggregate, the Infinite Light would enjoy near full expression of His latent potential.
When I ran this idea past my Kabbalah teachers, I was told that even if multiple universes co-exist within the Infinite Light, they would not serve the purpose of lending vaster expression to the endless nuances of potential within the Infinite Light ~ as each universe would not be different enough from the next to accomplish this. In an attempt to clarify, they gave me an answer which I did not understand all that well. Hence, I continued to harbor the question for about the next twenty years.
Today, I have come around to their conclusion, but for a different reason (as I still do not clearly understand their reason). Very basically, greater numbers can’t do justice to express that which is beyond numbers. For example, a million infants won’t collectively add up to the intelligence of a single adult Einstein; reflecting the various nuances of his intellectual potential. Similarly, one universe or a zillion universes will still lack the ability to grasp at, manifest and express the endless sea of nuances existing within the Infinite Light.
Imagine bringing a net to a well to fetch water. A net can’t really grasp the water. It can only to get wet. Obviously, the answer isn’t to bring more nets to the well. The answer is to bring along a more solidly developed container - like a bucket.
Similarly, the only way to gather more expression from the Infinite Light is to grow and develop the very universe which already exists ~ so that it may become a vessel to manifest something more and higher. This would be akin to an infant growing, maturing and eventually becoming Einstein’s prized student.
The universe’s growth includes the various states of pre-messianic refinement, the messianic era, the era of resurrection, the ultimate Sabbath and all the stages beyond ~ millennium by millennium. The choice as to what expression to begin the universe with, probably just has to do with what’s minimally necessary to manifest for the universe’s birth and early stages. Once the universe grows and grows, more and more latent nuances within the endless potential get expressed into manifestation. It would seem like this process can continue on and on, until nearly all nuances eventually find expression in the ever maturing universe ~ whose stages of maturing and growth are endless. Viewed from the past, it’s always an adult. Viewed from the present, it’s always maturing. Viewed from the future, it’s always an infant ~ or even a fetus.
Of course, if this process were to actually reach the point where every latent nuance of potential became manifest, the ever-growing universe would totally merge into Infinite Light ~ becoming a single unit. Such an outcome would effectively end the whole process of lending expression to the Light’s endless sea of seamless potential. As the Medieval Jewish poet proclaimed, “If I knew Him, I’d be Him”.
Since the Infinite Light is beyond any type of time, as far as He’s concerned, every stage of the universe whether past, present or future is experienced simultaneously. He experiences the great deluge and the great resurrection at once! This not only refers to the earthly side of these events, but, also to the spiritual side of these events as well ~ as each event which happens physically also happens spiritually. Each event has it’s body and soul. Therefore, every possible expression of the latently seamless potential within the Infinite Light can be appreciated at once. It’s like someone looking in a mirror and seeing every stage of his/her face from infant to aged at once, in the single flash of a glance!
As I’m contemplating this topic, I am reminded of a passage in the Zohar which mentions that all three patriarchs of the Jewish people had four wives. By Jacob, it’s clearly spelled out in Genesis that he married two sisters and their servants - equaling four wives. By Abraham it’s derived by the passage stating that later in his life he had “concubines”, plural, after Sarah had passed on and Hagar was dismissed (following a different opinion than Rashi who states that Hagar was later taken as Keturah, i.e. both names belong to the self same woman).
When it comes to Isaac, the Zohar wonders how did he have four wives? The Zohar responds that Rebecca was so amazing that Isaac had four wives in her. She was seamlessly multileveled. This is how I feel about my own Wife. Every level within me yearning for expression finds a matching level mirrored back to me in her. Similarly, the Creator does not require multiple “wives”, i.e. universes. Just one great universe in continuous growth does the best possible justice to the goal of expressing nearly all capacities seamlessly latent within His Infinite Light.
So unlike Abraham and Jacob, Isaac’s marital situation was closer to the true Jewish ideal; as it more closely resembled the relationship the Infinite Light to the universe ~ one cosmic male discovering nearly full expression of self mirrored back by one cosmic female.
--o-----)---O---(-----o--
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