A Golden Mountain and Pearl Castle

In the first of thirteen tales authored by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, there is an image of a golden mountain and a pearl castle. There, a lost princess awaits discovery by the King's, her father's, viceroy. After a couple of near misses, part of an exhaustive and adventurous search, a wind eventually carries the viceroy to the place of the golden mountain and pearl castle. There, Rebbe Nachman assures us that he finds her, though he does not explain how. My hunch is that he left that part of the story for the Messiah to fill in.

The imagery of the story is beautifully explained by successive generations of Rebbe Nachman’s followers. However, recently there dawned on me a new interpretation of the golden mountain and pearl castle; one which uniquely resonates for me and seems entirely consistent with Rebbe Nachman’s teachings.

The golden mountain might represent Torah and the pearl castle might represent prayer. Gold is a precious item which is produced by a process of continual refinement. It’s melted, melted again and again until reaching a state purity which utterly abandons any trace of impurity. Only then, is it considered suitably precious. Such is the nature of Torah. It’s a continuous discussion and debate, a purification process which abandons any trace of falsehood, to expose God’s truth for humanity.

In contrast, a pearl is created around a speck of impurity. It's creation is stimulated by an oyster protecting itself from being irritated by the impurity. Despite its exquisite beauty, at the heart of a pearl lay its impurity; entirely intact. Such is the nature of prayer. It builds around what irritates a person. Prayer does not wash or burn away the impurity which stimulated it. Quite the contrary, prayer incorporates it and builds layer upon layer around it.

Thus, the golden mountain and pearl castle, represent the twin forces of Torah and prayer; the unity of mind and the heart reaching out to God, each in their own style. 

Though the story does not literally say it this way, I imagine that the pearl castle is perched on top of the golden mountain, the way the Holy Temple is perched on top of Mount Moriah. This would place what’s constructed of pearl above what’s solidified of gold, indicating in a certain sense, a supremacy of prayer over Torah. Perhaps, the supremacy comes from prayer’s ability to include impurities in a way which Torah can’t; thus, elevating what’s truly lowly.

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"Kiruv" Work

It dawned on me that when I learn deeper Torah, I am actually doing "kiruv" work. 

I am doing it on myself!

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Evasive Ceiling

 

In Judaism,

Whether Kabbalist,

Or Philosopher,

The "Ceiling" above,

Evades the tongue.

All that's discussed is,

The nature and décor,

Of the walls and floor.

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Unified Space-Time-Life

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As part of preparing humanity for a deeper truth, technology and social media brings a higher degree of honesty to relationships. Virtual clans, tribes and communities are forming in ways which transcend geographic factors. People dispersed across the globe are now connecting soul to soul. At times, relationships among virtual neighbors may resonate deeper than among geographic ones; as the like-souled arise triumphantly to elude the grasp of geographic constraints - rendering them dusty relics of a receding past.

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Part 1 - Spiritual Closeness and Distance

In several of my writings I rely on a concept, popularized by Rabbi Yehuda Lieb Ashlag, about how space operates in the spiritual realms.¹ The basic concept is as follows.

In Jewish mystical thought, the nature of space in the spiritual realms is quite different from what it is in our physical universe. In the spiritual realms, the dynamics of space resembles the psychological dynamics between people. Typically, people who are close share many important similarities. While typically those who are distant do not share much in common. The paradoxical result is that two people who live right next door might be distant, while another two people who live at other ends of the globe might be close.

The basis for this paradox is that spiritual space and physical space operate differently. Psychology mostly centers on guests from the spiritual realms, human souls. Thus, the dynamics of human relationships are mostly patterned on the spiritual version of space. Though souls are touring the foreign country of the physical universe, they still maintain the language, customs and ways of their country of origin - the spiritual realms.

As with human relationships, in the spiritual realms the more similar two entities are, the closer they are said to be. In contrast, the more dissimilar they are, the more distant they are said to be. Between the polar extremes of utter similarity and utter dissimilarity, exist a vast middle ground with a broad spectrum of degrees. As a result, there are nearly endless possibilities of just how near or distant entities can be to each other.

Still, there is a core difference between the versions of space operative in spiritual realms and in human relationships. In human relationships physical proximity can still play a large role. It’s a factor that can either enhance a relationship or wear at it. Even the most foreign of tourists can still be affected by local conditions. By contrast, in the spiritual realms the physical factor is entirely absent. There, similarity and dissimilarity alone are the main players. Two entities who share significant similarities will automatically find themselves, on some level, close to each other. Whereas, two entities with significant differences will automatically find themselves, on some level, at a distance from each other.

Part 2 - The Chain of Realms

I had wondered for quite a while, why is it that in the spiritual realms similarity closes the space gap, whereas in the physical realm similarity barely seems related to space?

"Sefer Yetzirah" teaches that there are three main dimensions which comprise the framework of any universe, regardless of whether it’s spiritual or physical. These dimensions are: space, time and life (in Hebrew: olam, shana and nefesh).² A universe is defined as an entity which shares this common framework.³ All entities occupying this framework are said to exist in the same universe. Thus, both humans and dogs live in the physical universe; even if their biologically based perceptions do not entirely overlap, leading them to experience the same universe somewhat differently. Similarly, souls and angels often co-inhabit the same universe.

Each with their defining frameworks, these universes are stacked, layered one upon the other. For simplicity’s sake, all universes together can be envisioned as comprising a long vertical chain. Each link along this chain is a unique realm or universe. The uppermost link is attached to the Infinite Light, God's ambassador of Oneness/Infinity to the entire chain. By contrast, the chain's lowermost link is our physical universe; where we live.

Taken together, this chain of realms forms a very long spectrum. Those realms higher up the chain, more closely resemble the Infinite Light. Therefore, their character is more marked by oneness/infinity. By contrast, those lower down the chain will more closely resemble the physical universe. Therefore, their character is more marked by the diverse and finite. Each realm has a unique character, formed by a unique blend of elements drawn from the two extremes of finite and infinite, diversity and oneness.

Part 3 - Unity Across Dimensions

Of course, possessing a character reflective of oneness/infinity does not make even the highest of realms One/Infinite in the same sense that God is. It’s important not to confuse a reflection with the reflected. To the extent that a higher realm is described as a state of oneness/infinity it is only in the borrowed sense of the term; meaning, in a relative sense, but not at all in an absolute sense. (This is likely the kind of oneness/infinity to which Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy refers to in “The Kuzari” and can explain why he calls oneness/infinity an “attribute” and even places the Tetragrammaton spiritually above it.)⁴

Still, even though higher realms reflect increasing degrees of oneness/infinity as they ascend up the cosmic chain, to one extent or another, there’s still a presence of multiplicity. Otherwise, what differentiates their oneness/infinity from God’s own Oneness/Infinity? Also, without multiplicity what’s there to unify via the Kabbalistically instructed devotions?⁵

However, in relation to the realms beneath them, the higher realms seem absolutely seamless, as if oneness/infinity is their essence. But truthfully such oneness/infinity is only a “divine attribute”, not a statement of core identity.

Why don’t we, nether beings, experience the oneness/infinity of the higher realms’? Besides for the droplet of soul consciousness which comprises our minds, these higher realms do not seem to leave us any trace of themselves at all.⁶ With regards to them, we mostly draw an utter blank, an utter absence of perception.

There are a number of ways to evade the grasp of human perception. Most commonly, when we think of items as being outside of our perceptive grasp we tend to think of items which are either too tiny or too distant. With mixed results, we try to bring them into the grasp of our perception via the microscope or the telescope. However, there are other reasons why entities can evade our perceptive grasp as well. Perhaps, there are even many such reasons.

Among them is that our perceptive range occupies a certain spectrum along the vast range between fragmentation and oneness. What’s too fragmented lies below our perceptive range. At the other extreme, what’s too unified in oneness exists above our perceptive range; as it’s too seamless to perceive. During meditation if one concentrates one’s attention in the direction of oneness, entry into the mystical state of nothingness can be attained. Here, the internal multiplicity consists of elements far too elevated and subtle to be separately discerned. Therefore, the meditation begins as a groping at what is beyond the grasp of perception until the meditator settles into a state of peaceful surrender. (According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan obm, it’s even possible for prophetic visions to form upon this blank slate. However, it’s also possible for the meditator to get so drawn into the experience that s/he requires the aid of a spiritual master to return. Thus, the uninitiated should not try it out unsupervised.)

However, this evasive experience is not the reserve of meditating mystics alone. They just face it more actively, consciously and directly. Since from our perspective the elements of higher realms converge into a seamless state of oneness/infinity, our collective perception is utterly evaded - though we may walk around unconscious of it. Admittedly, this is all relative to our state of existence. From the perspective of merely one realm beyond our perception what’s seamlessly one/infinite to us exists as a multiplicity of elements. Indeed, this is a pre-Einstein theory of relativity.

The sheer beauty of this relativity is that it does not only apply to us in relation to the realm just above us. Rather, it is a repeating pattern which reverberates all the way up the immense chain of realms. Therefore, every realm simultaneously exists as a multiplicity to itself and as a oneness/infinity to what’s below it. The pattern which repeats itself upward, realm by realm, until reaching the Infinite Light.

Though each of the higher realms internally possesses multiplicity. Yet, their multiplicity is mild when compared to the multiplicity present in lower realms, where fragmentation is much more rampant; being at a greater distance from the Infinite Light’s Oneness/Infinity - making Its reflection much dimmer.

This leads into the likely reason why in the spiritual realms similarity and dissimilarity can affect closeness and distance in space. As mentioned, there is more unity occurring in the higher realms than in the lower ones. Just as all the elements of higher realms are more unified, so too are their three core dimensions of space, time and life. The greater the degree of unity in a realm’s framework of space-time-life, the more an occurrence in one of the dimensions will automatically manifest corresponding occurences in the other two as well. Thus, closeness in the life dimension causes corresponding manifestations of that closeness in the space and time dimensions as well.

Here's an example. In a spiritual realm, if two souls share similar tendencies and interests, they could be said to share similarities in the "life" dimension of their universe. Since the "life" dimension is openly unified with the "space" dimension, they will automatically be in each other's proximity as well. Of course, the same can be said for the "time" dimension as well. They will travel as partners along time’s sequential unfolding of cause and effect.

Part 4 - Unity Within Dimensions

Increasing unity does not only apply across the three dimensions as they interact and integrate with each other, but also individually within each of dimensions on their own. Here are just a couple examples (out of countless possible ones) to help clarify the idea.

• A convergence into greater unity within the “time” dimension, is often reported by people who have had near death experiences. Some have shared that as they moved beyond the physical realm and perceived reality with their souls, the past, present and future (as we know it) seemed to take on a kind of simultaneity; converged into a greater unity.

• We see a similar phenomena in the “life” dimension. Soulmates are a single soul in the spiritual realm where they originate from. Yet, as they descend down the realms to enter earthly life, they divide into male and female souls; as the lower realms cannot sustain the oneness present in their higher realm of origin. Marriage is the closest possible reflection of this original oneness that soulmates can achieve in our physical realm; thereby, reflecting their oneness above as a unified integration below. Thus, what below can only exist as a unified integration of two personalities and their lives, in higher realms can exist as a seamless convergence into oneness.

Part 5 - The Physical Universe and the Messianic ERA

Unlike the higher realms, the various levels of oneness between/within the dimensions of time, space and life has yet to manifest in our physical world with any reliability of appearance - though there are faint echoes of it even down here (for example, as in Einstein’s space-time and as events which seem all too well timed to be believed). The disparate nature brought on by physical limitations permeate the structures of our world’s space-time-life framework; causing each of the three dimensions to appear as if they’re almost “strangers” to each other.

Of course, with each step closer and closer to the messianic era these three dimensions will increasingly demonstrate integration with each other. Events will increasingly coincide more and more meaningfully (which brings to mind Yitta Halberstam’s book series “Small Miracles”). Obviously, unification of these three dimensions is an ongoing process which will continue onward across the threshold of the messianic era itself. And so, the closeness between these three dimensions will increase as we enter into deeper and deeper phases within the messianic era itself - enhancing our world to ever more closely resemble paradise above.

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Endnotes:

1. See “Ma’amar L’Siyum HaZohar” at the end of the book “Matan Torah” by Rabbi Yehuda Lieb Ashlag. Rabbi Ashlag calls this concept “Hashva’at HaTzurah” (meaning, “similarity of form”). As this concept is foundational to his mystical system, it echoes across much of his other writings as well.

2. See “Sefer Yetzirah” chapters 3 - 5, where the Hebrew letters are described as energetically manifesting in space-time-life. Since these letters do not only manifest in the physical universe (see standard edition of Tanya top of P. 312), “Sefer Yetzirah” must be referring to them as manifesting in the spiritual universes of Briyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah as well. Thus, the various realms of these spiritual universes must have frameworks of space-time-life to accommodate such manifestations on their own levels. This would include universes above what we would consider Briyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah as well; as everything in Kabbalah is a repeating pattern functioning on a relative scale.

3. In a meeting (likely June 2010) Rabbi Moshe Schatz told me that what links the “partzufim” are the lower four Sefirot of the higher Sefirah set inserting themselves into the higher Sefirot of the lower Sefirah set. However, the universes are only linked by the lowest Sefirah of the higher Sefirah set inserting itself into the lower Sefirah set. This does not contradict basing the differences between the universes on differing frameworks of space-time-life. One explanation explains it by way of Sefirot and the other explains it by way of the experience of living in those universes.

4. See “Ma’ayan Moshe” by Rabbi Moshe Schatz pages pages 22 - 25 and “The Kuzari”, by Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy, Feldheim, 2013 edition pages 146 - 148. Here is how Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy describes the “attribute” of oneness/infinity (directly quoted from page 147):

In the same way, God is called ‘One’ to remove any attribution of multiplicity, not to attribute oneness the way we understand it. For ‘one’ to us is when an object’s parts are all connected and the same, such as ‘one bone’, ‘one arm’, ‘one sinew’, ‘one gust of wind’, or ‘one body of water’. We do this with time as well, by taking a collection of components [of time] and assigning unity to this collection, such as ‘one day’ or ‘one year’. This is unlike the Divinity, Who is elevated above any type of attachment or separation. ‘One’ is therefore used to reject multiplicity.

It’s interesting that it’s the same philosophical description as Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pequda uses to refer to God Himself in “The Gate of Unity”. Apparently, due to the limits of the human mind, whether one is contemplating God’s true Oneness/Infinity or Its reflection as an attribute, the philosophical apex ends up identical. This can be compared to a person with a width of vision which can view landscapes 10 miles wide. Even if the person is shown a landscape that’s 20 miles wide, in a single glance s/he will still only see 10 miles of it. Similarly, if all the human mind can process (by process of elimination) is the equivalent of the “attribute” of oneness/infinity, then that’s also all the mind will attain when trying to contemplate God’s true Oneness/Infinity.

5. It may seem paradoxical that elements within realms with a character of oneness/infinity would be unified by Kabbalistic practices conducted in a world marked by fragmentation. The reason why it works is because while the higher realms reflect a character of oneness/infinity they still possess internal multiplicity that cannot easily come together due to insufficient similarity. While the earthly counterparts of these elements are certainly not more similar in the physical universe, the extreme limits of physical space (as opposed to spiritual versions of space) can force what’s dissimilar together. Once forced together in the correct ritual way, they can have contact in the spiritual realms as well.

6. The drop of consciousness which comprises our minds is really where our souls dip into the earthly realm. This is not a direct experience of the higher realms themselves, but rather tiny samples from higher realms which are temporarily constrained into earthbound bodies. What we experience of ourselves, our souls, is still a largely earthbound experience.

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Children’s Stories

Notice how in children’s stories the animals, birds, trees, mountains, clouds, sun and moon are often animated. They’re almost human-like. Could this be emerging from a residual memory in our souls of what life was like in the Garden of Eden? I suspect so.

See, the Garden of Eden was a very human friendly place. With the exception of the snake, everything in the Garden conversed pleasantly with Adam and Eve, were well intentioned and showed them a smiling face. So, what changed?

Kabbalah teaches that as a precursor stage to creation there was an event called, “the shattering of the vessels”. God had manifested ten sefirot, ten modes of expression. They were His tools to create the spiritual and physical worlds. Each of these ten sefirot consisted of an inner soul and outer body, called a light and a vessel (i.e. a receptacle for the light). The lights entered the vessels to animate them with life. However, since the vessels were too weakly constructed to handle the light, they shattered into shards. As each shard fell, as if grasping at a life preserver, it grabbed onto a spark of the light, hugging a droplet of life. This way it would not fade out of existence.

Fallen from their original perch, these sparks and shards descended down the levels of reality to become the building blocks of all lower realms - spiritual and physical. However, as the saying goes, “too much baby was thrown out with the bathwater”. When the vessels shattered not only had material designed to form the lower realms fallen, but also sparks and shards which were really meant to remain above, as part of the original ten sefirot, fell along with them. In their fallen state, these particular sparks and shards sowed chaos in the lower realms; not allowing these realms to properly organize, coalesce and form into worlds. 

During the six days of creation, most of these shards and sparks, belonging to the ten sefirot above, were elevated back to their origin. Besides being restored, these ten sefirot were further enhanced. A new inflow of light, from even higher up, descended into the ten sefirot. This fresh flow of light matured them into fuller structures called “partzufim” - literally “faces”. In their matured state they were able to be used by God to channel lights and organize the lower realms into worlds teeming with inhabitants, both spiritual and physical. By the time Adam and Eve were created, only a tiny drop of this elevation remained unfinished. This way God left a tiny corner of creation for Adam and Eve to finish off. He gave them something to do. If done successfully, they would instantly enter into an advanced stage of the messianic era.

However, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit this paradise collapsed. Much of the work to elevate the sparks during the process of creation was undone. What remained of the world was a diminished, physicalized, shadow of its former self. As if in disgust and distrust, the sparks moved further away from Adam and Eve. As if hurt, they no longer readily presented themselves in human friendly form. Thus, a prior necessary stage of elevating the sparks had to be introduced. Humans had to work at first returning the sparks to their human friendly state in order to re-ripen them for the elevation which Adam and Eve were originally supposed to accomplish.

This is why we go to work. During work, we participate in transforming the materials of the planet back into human friendly forms. From that state, a “Mitzvah” can be performed with these items and their sparks can be elevated back to the higher sefirot; as was done to create the world in the original state, which Adam and Eve inhabited. Eventually, when enough of these elevations occur we will enter the messianic era.

As we move forward in time, it’s self-evident that we have become ever more adept at transforming the materials of our planet into improved versions of the human friendly form. In fact, if we consider what we accomplished in the past 70 years with artificial intelligence, we’ve managed to bring almost human-like thinking and behavior out of inorganic materials. Amazing! 

However, the basic principle of this effort is nothing new. Our times are just experiencing a more advanced reiteration of a pattern which has been around ever since the exile from Eden. For thousands of years, we’ve bred select animals and plants, making them ever more human friendly - catering specifically to our needs. Building homes, machinery and other products, to one extent or another, are also examples of age-old transformations of raw nature into human friendly form. The same can be said for food preparation. Ever since Eden we have been engaged in a never ending project of little by little transforming the elements around us into human friendly forms.

There’s another pathway, a higher one, which can increase the human friendliness of the elements which comprise our world. It’s living a life of sincere holiness. There are many stories in the Bible, Midrash, Talmud and about the saintly of later generations which point to how the elements of the world happily cooperated with human beings who were very sincere in their relationship with God. Though this path requires a lot of faith, it’s less abrasive to the environment and is ultimately, more respectful to God. Still, we see that in certain cases, such as circumcision and agricultural work, God Himself asks humans to make changes to nature. Accordingly, the best approach is likely a blended one.

A totally human friendly world, where everything smiles at us and communicates pleasantly with us, seems like quite a while off. However, we’re closer than we’ve ever been since Eden. In the meanwhile, children's stories unconsciously attempt to bring us full circle, by introducing us to this goal at the very formative stages of our education.

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(This mini-essay includes material culled from “Etz Chaim”, “Beit Lechem Yehuda”, “Da’at TeVunot” and “Rebbe Nachman on Why We Work - Earning a Living, Earning a Life” - especially, chapter eight.)

Different Kinds of Succahs

My Uncle just shared with me his thoughts on the argument in Tractate Succah 11b -12a (including Tosafos) between Rabbi Yochanan and Raish Lakish. They argue about the nature of the clouds of glory. Did these clouds ascend from the ground or descend from heaven? 

My Uncle suggested that from a Kabbalistic view the argument can be restated as whether these clouds were a result of an "arousal from below" or an "arousal from above". He suggested that both are true. When human behavior was appropriate, there was an "arousal from below" and no need for one from above. When behavior was inappropriate, then the clouds needed to continue functioning on the basis of an "arousal from above" only.

Then he ended the lesson with that it's good to consider what kind of Succah we're sitting in. Is it one which is from an "arousal from below" or one which is from an "arousal from above" or perhaps some kind of mixture?

Chag Same'ach!

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Holy Music

Holy music is a soothing communication from an highly illuminated future to an aching and yearning present.

~ Based on Breslov teachings