A Comfortable Shoe

This is my take on why we came down into the world:

Before we were born we were souls enjoying paradise. Paradise is perfect. Everyone is so well taken care of that there are probably no needy souls. The Creator nourishes all the souls with all the spiritual lights they desire. The souls are given everything, except for the very ability to give.  Yet, even though paradise does not offer souls with meaningful opportunities to give, giving is not unknown to them. The souls are aware of giving because of the nurturing care being given to them by the Creator. In fact, implanted within the nurturing lights they receive, are traces of their Creator's  desire to give. Like a suckling ingesting traces of his/her mother's love, souls ingest traces of the Creator's desire to give - filling them with a yearning to give as well.


Besides, the way their Creator's desire to give becomes part of their fabric, there's yet another source for their passion to give. Like any child, they want to imitate their Divine Daddy.  By souls striving to resemble their Creator's behavior, they feel closer to Him. In the spiritual realms, space is defined by similarity and dissimilarity. What dissimilar is farther away. What's similar is closer. By imitating the Creator's ways, they become more similar to Him, i.e. closer to Him. 

As a compassionate favor, the Creator sent us earthward, down into the physical realm, where there is plenty of need;  hence, also plenty of opportunities to “give”! Next time you face human suffering and you wonder why? Just ask yourself, "What would I expect a place where there are plenty of opportunities to give to look like?"

Each soul is given a body along with a set of resources, a special tool kit for giving. Often what looks like the gifts the Creator had intended to give to us, are really the gifts the Creator intended to give through us. He also, gave each of us areas of weakness and vulnerability, so we can serve as an opportunity for other souls to give as well. What others need we give. What we need others give. This way the physical realm can serve as an opportunity to allow all souls their passion to give.


Yet, to allow for this opportunity to give, to give again and again, the soul needs a body. There's just no other way for the soul to reach down into planet earth and participate in the sweetness of giving. One needs shoes to walk the rough streets of the world. The body is the soul's shoe. Fortunate, is the soul who is privileged to enjoy the company of his/her soul-mate.  That soul walks with two legs in two shoes - far more balanced than those who have to hop along in one shoe. Even if another hopping shoe joins the hopper, its just not the same. It belongs to a different being. Coordination is not as smooth.


With the awareness that the body is the means for the soul to reach into the physical realm and disseminate kindness, a person should try his/her best to take good care of his/her health. The body is truly a special and precious partner on the soul's journey. The healthier the body, the more giving the soul will be able to perform; as she finds her body a sturdy and comfortable shoe for a very long walk ahead ... in dissemination of kindness.



             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soul Download

                        ~ On Free Choice and Spiritual Growth

        ______________________________________________

Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler [i] teaches in “Michtav M'Eliyahu” that the free choice to behave according to the teachings of the Torah is not evenly distributed. Not everyone necessarily has free choice in the exact same areas. Rather, free choice is an individually tailored range, which can change moment to moment. What the Creator expects of the person depends on what the person's range is. [ii] 

This is in line with what Rabbi Zusya of Anapoli [iii] remarked when caught by his colleagues weeping, "When I arrive before the heavenly court I won't worry about being asked why I wasn't on the level of our Teacher Moses or why I wasn't as great as the other saintly Biblical figures. What worries me is when they will ask, 'Zusya, were you Zusya?"

The lesson is that though each of us might not have the free choice to become somebody else's best; we each have the free choice to become our own best.

___________________________________________________

The idea of free choice being individually unique follows along with most of life’s patterns. Humans tend to vary from each other in most areas. Our faces appear different. Our sizes are different. Our intelligence varies. So why shouldn't our individual areas of free choice also vary? 

To demonstrate how intensely different the individual ranges of free choice can be Rabbi Dessler contrasts two people’s very different levels of free choice. One person regularly attends Synagogue. He’s comfortably accustomed to the daily ritual recital of liturgy. However, he struggles with concentrating on the words. He’s constantly trying to reign in his wandering thoughts and bring them back into the text of the prayer book.This contrasts with another person who was brought up among thieves. Attending synagogue is so far removed from his life patterns that it’s not even within his range of free choice at all. As a result, it had no reason to occur to him at all. In fact, because of his harsh upbringing even the common sense practice of not to steal is also outside his range of free choice. Rabbi Dessler explains that his custom made spiritual challenge will arrive on the day when he’s caught by the authorities. Will he try to shoot his way out or will he refrain from murder – even if it possibly means self sacrifice? [iv]

According to Rabbi Dessler, each of these two people certainly have free choice, but in very different areas. Personally, I harbor some reservations about Rabbi Dessler's "thief" example because it claims that a human can lack free choice for even the most basic of humane behavior, such as not stealing. Still, Rabbi Dessler's sweeping overall message that areas of free choice can vary greatly among human beings resonates very deeply within me.  This means that no matter what life situation a human being is in, s/he usually has a range of free choice in some areas of life.  Why has the Creator designed humans in this way, couldn’t a human being live very nicely without free choice?

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto [v] in one of his popular works “The Way of G-d” treats his reader to an intellectual Torah tour through precious value of free choice. He demonstrates logically the role free choice plays in our relationship with the Creator, Whose sole desire is to bestow kindness upon His creations. Since He’s perfect, everything about Him is perfect. This includes all His actions as well. They must also be perfect. Unlike humans, who are often wrapped with desires to receive, the Creator only yearns to give. Chief among His yearnings to give is to bestow kindness on humanity. Being true to Himself, He designed this bestowal of kindness to be perfect. Since He’s the only perfection in all of existence, for this bestowal of kindness to be perfect, He would have to give Himself – as He Himself the only perfect gift. Of course for a human to receive Him as a gift would be far more difficult than for a teaspoon to contain the entire Pacific Ocean. So “giving Himself” really means the next closest possibility, which is to be associated with Him, i.e. being close to Him to the fullest possible extent.

However, for a gift to be perfect it’s not enough that the gift is of the highest possible perfection; but, the receiver also needs to feel perfectly comfortable receiving the gift. Since the gift is truly of tremendous magnitude for a human to feel comfortable receiving this gift, s/he must earn it. Otherwise, receiving closeness to the Creator will feel like receiving a charitable handout – very debilitating. The pain of receiving what’s unearned is called in Kabbalah, “nahamah d’kihsufah” or the “bread of shame”.

I’ve demonstrated this dynamic in a few of my classes. I selected a student with a very outgoing personality. Then I’d ask, “I just gave you a million dollars, can I visit you today?”

“Yeah, of course teacher”, comes the inevitable response.

“Can I visit you again tomorrow?” I inquire.

“I guess … why not?” the response is slightly paused and weaker.

“How about also visiting you the next day?” I continue.

In one case the student angrily blurted out, “What do you want? Leave me alone!”

In other cases, the students were visibly uncomfortable at this point – squirming, shrugging and questioning the need for such a visit.

Then I explain to the class how when somebody receives an unearned gift, it’s very difficult to stand the presence of the benefactor for too long. Invariably, a debilitating sense of shame and unworthiness plays on the recipient’s mind and heart. This is why the Creator designed a means for us to earn the reward of experiencing His presence.

What scenario did the Creator design for us to earn a perfect bestowal of His kindness? Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto explains that He gave humans a Torah, teachings to guide our lives. He also provided humans with free choice whether or not to live according to His guidance. By exercising their free choice, humans can earn His kindness. [vi]

Typically the Torah is envisioned as a document mainly for Jews. However, truthfully the Torah provides plenty of spiritual guidance to the rest of humanity as well. Although it is beyond the scope of this article, here are a few basics. The Creator gave all humanity the seven Noahide mitzvahs (i.e. commandments). These seven mitzvahs are: monotheism, to speak respectfully about the Creator, not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery/incest, not to eat flesh removed from terrestrial creature while it was still living and to support a fair system of justice. Additionally, males who can be clearly identified as descendants of Abraham are required to get circumcised.[vii]   Also, one who’s not Jewish can as a voluntarily practice any of the other Torah’s mitzvahs given to the Jews as an enhancement of his/her spiritual growth, with the notable exception of the Sabbath and phylacteries. Surprisingly, s/he can voluntarily do a certain mitzvah which is currently forbidden for Jews to do, bring an animal sacrifice on private alter. More comprehensive information and guidance about the Noahide mitzvahs are contained in the book “Path of the Righteous Gentile” by Chaim Clorfene and Yaakov Rogalsky. [viii]

Besides earning intimacy with the Creator, free choice also allows humans the dignity of engaging their Creator in a really dynamic relationship. Otherwise, the relationship would be sterile, stale and robotic. Imagine marrying your favorite programmed android … not much of a relationship. Nothing else in all of creation has a relationship with the Creator based on voluntary participation. The angels are too intelligent not to obey the Creator. They know the consequences all too well because His presence is very real to them. At the other extreme, animals are too ignorant to have free choice. Their behavior is largely stuck in a rut of instinct. Only humans straddle the delicate balance between knowledge and ignorance. Having a bit of each, this middle ground does not coerce one’s behavior in either direction and therefore, serves as a fertile garden of free choice. Allowing humans choices opens the door to a dynamic relationship with the Creator. As the relationship deepens, the person spiritually grows.

What is meant by spiritual growth? Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shpielman in his Kabbalistic masterpiece “Tal Orot” explains the Jewish view of spiritual growth as the process of a person “downloading” his/her own soul into his/her conscious mind, i.e. the easily accessible aspect of the mind.[ix] However, the flow of this is “soul download” does not stop with the mind, but, continues downward entering the body as well, becoming part of the person’s entire earthly self. The person will then approach life with greater spiritual awareness and sensitivity. Also, his/her earthly being will evolve into an expanded vessel to contain greater quantity and quality of the spiritual force known as “holiness” – pretty much the way a more advanced computer can handle larger and higher quality downloads than an outdated one can.

Of course, in the midst of spiritual growth a person is not encouraged to focus on this soul download at all. Rather, the person is encouraged to focus on being in a relationship with the Creator. If the relationship is healthy and growing, the download happens on its own – just like altered bodily chemistry when in love. Focusing on the soul download is like focusing one’s altered chemistry; obviously, not a very romantic pursuit. Hopefully, one doesn’t enter love for a chemical buzz.

In the body/soul relationship, the soul dresses in the mind/body the way the body dresses in a shoe. Only a little bit at the bottom edge of the body inserts itself into the shoe, shuffling it along. So too, only a little bit of the bottom edge of the soul inserts itself into the earthly self, to animate it. The overwhelming vastness of the soul remains beyond the earthly self’s grasp. [x]

Taking this metaphor a bit further, through spiritual development a person can build his/ her “shoe” higher, fashioning it into a “boot”. Just like a boot encloses a greater part of the body than a shoe, so too, a person can encompass more of his/her soul within the field of his/her earthly self. This is in line with the teaching from the Saba D’Mishpatim section of the Zohar describing the continuum of ever higher soul levels a person takes in “If he’s worthy …”  [xi]

The aspect of the soul beyond the range of reach is referred to as “ohr makif”, meaning “surrounding light”. In an over simplistic way, this aspect of the soul can be depicted as surrounding the body like an aura. Of course, this is not entirely accurate since the soul is beyond our notions of space. Therefore, it’s technically inaccurate to assign locations to different aspects of the soul. Rather, “surrounding light” really means the aspect of the soul which cannot be grasped by the earthly self, but is still closely associated with it. Since it is not consciously experienced, it’s metaphorically described as surrounding the earthly self. [xii] This is similar to the common refrain, “That was over my head”, which essentially means, “I did not experience what was being communicated”.

The aspect of the soul grasped within the earthly self is referred to “ohr penimi”, meaning “indwelling light”. In an oversimplified manner this soul light can be pictured as filling the earthly self, the way water fills a cup. Since the soul exists beyond our notion of space, “indwelling light” really means the aspect of the soul that has become the person’s conscious mind and bodily life force. Over time this aspect can grow. The goal of Jewish spiritual growth over time is to deepen one’s relationship with the Creator. As the relationship deepens, “ohr makif” transforms into “ohr penimi” – “surrounding light” becomes “indwelling light”.

The “indwelling light” is quite complex, as each Torah command, mitzvah, draws into the person a different aspect of his/her soul. The soul is described being comprised of 613 different powers, corresponding to the 613 mitzvahs enumerated in the Torah scroll and to the 613 body parts, which according to some are 248 bones and 365 blood vessels. [xiii] Of course, being within the soul, all these 613 powers exist as a seamless whole, similar to the way separate rays of sunlight exist as a seamless whole within the sun, before radiating outward into space.[xiv]  However, each of the 613 parts of the human body has a different soul power which inhabits it. For example, the soul’s eyes inhabit the body’s eyes imbuing them with the ability to see.[xv]  Since in post Temple times, many of the 613 commandments are no longer available to us to perform, their absence doesn’t block our souls’ ability to download the lights associated with these mitzvahs. “The Creator does not withhold the possible (i.e. growth) for the sake of the impossible (that cannot be performed)”. [xvi]

This pattern of “surrounding light” and “ohr penimi” applies to every situation anywhere in creation where there’s a soul/body relationship. Kabbalah teaches that every detail of creation is alive in some way. This is because the Creator extends spiritual light to each and every creation in order to keep it in existence, kind of the way electricity flows through a light bulb to keep it lit. [xvii] This constant flow of spiritual light is that creation’s soul. Each and every creation has a soul appropriate to its own level. [xviii]  Even a seemingly inanimate rock has a soul of sorts, rendering it alive in some sense. This pattern is a repeating constant across the entire spectrum of creation, from the lowly rock to the lofty angel.  

However, unlike humans nothing else can grow voluntarily. Nothing else can convert “surrounding light” into “indwelling light” on its own. This is why in the Book of Zachariah, Joshua, the high priest, is described as walking among the angels who are merely standing by. [xix] Being a human, Joshua was able to voluntarily advance his own spiritual level. This is referred to here as “walking”. In contrast, angels cannot voluntarily advance spiritual levels, on their own. This situation is referred to as “standing”, being stationary. [xx] While the entire cosmos and all it contains (including the angels) can spiritually grow, their growth process is passive, whereas, humans actively engage the process.

The human ability to convert “surrounding light” into “indwelling light” through mitzvahs is the spiritual fruit of the “free choice” dynamic.  A person’s real free choice involves engaging the mitzvahs whose spiritual lights straddle the border between his/her own “ohr makif” and “ohr penimi”.  These mitzvahs might be in the form of thoughts, speech and/or deeds. An example of thought mitzvah might be developing a greater awareness of the Creator’s Oneness. An example of a speech mitzvah might be a kind word to the emotionally broken. An example of a deed mitzvah might be a providing for the homeless.

It is important to have a trusted spiritual guide to honestly facilitate growth into the next step. Sometimes, a person is too subjective to notice areas of potential growth and might miss opportunities for spiritual growth by mistakenly underestimating his/her abilities and misjudging what’s truly spiritually attainable as unattainable (and maybe, what’s unattainable as attainable). A trusted spiritual guide can provide an experienced, nurturing and objective eye necessary to avoid these pitfalls.

The soul lights on the “surrounding light”/”indwelling light” border are known in Kabbalah as “makif hachozer” or “pulsating makif”. This “pulsating makif” is continuous with the “surrounding light” and “indwelling light” on either polar end, serving as their bridge. Above, the “pulsating makif” eases and blends into the “surrounding light”. Below, the “pulsating makif” solidifies into “indwelling light”. The three levels form a continuous spectrum of soul light.

Why is this light referred to as “pulsating”? Unlike the other two kinds of soul lights, which are clearly either at home within the earthly self or beyond the grasp of the earthly self, these lights constantly pulsate in and out of the earthly self, entering and leaving; partially partaking of both realities – but not fully settled in either. Their soft pulsating touch, casts tantalizing hints of what our future levels can potentially be like. However, what they present at the moment can be visions or fantasies – depending on how a person reaches for them. This is because we do not yet have a stable grasp on the level that the “pulsating makif” is projecting into our consciousness. Yet, being the in middle these lights are poised and on the verge of streaming into conscious awareness, eagerly awaiting their full integration with our earthly selves.

The mitzvahs which cause the “pulsating makif”  to download are the ones which the person finds challenging, but, not impossible to do – for this is where an individual’s range of free choice exists. Mirroring how the lights of the “pulsating makif” bridge the “surrounding” and ”indwelling” lights, one’s range of free choice stands between the extremes of what’s “too difficult” and what’s “too easy”.

It would seem logical for free choice to straddle the border between too easy and too difficult. After all, something easy is already part of the fabric of a person’s being. It’s within easy grasp to do and repeat. There’s no real “free choice” involved. For example, for a wealthy philanthropist dispensing some pocket change to a street beggar not a real act of free choice. His free choice might actually reside in what kind of smile he gives the beggar while dispensing alms.

In contrast, something too difficult to do might be too far out of reach. It could be because of psychological factors. For example, a person who was badly abused as a child might find it too difficult to extend kindness to his/her abuser in adulthood.

Sometimes the barriers can be practical. For example, someone suffering financially to the extent that he’s having difficulty feeding his family might not be able to respond to the ching of change from a passing alms can.

Innocent ignorance can also place mitzvahs out of reach (unless, they’re also common sense or part of societal norms) making them too difficult to perform. For example, it’s statistically unlikely that a person who does not know how to observe the Sabbath will manage to perfectly observe the Sabbath.

Extreme difficulty dissipates “free choice” from these scenarios. Therefore, logic clarifies that true “free choice” exists as a range somewhere between what’s too easy and too difficult.

Elaborating on how this logical pattern plays out with “ohr makif / ohr penimi”, a person’s “indwelling light” is the soul light s/he has already brought into his/her earthly self through previous mitzvahs. The behavioral patterns which draw in these lights are already familiar, entrenched and well integrated into the fabric of the personality, as the lights themselves are. In these areas of life, the person has no real challenges which can properly be called “free choice”. In contrast, a person’s “surrounding light” is just the opposite. These are soul lights which have yet to be brought in and integrated into the personality. These lights will be brought in by mitzvahs the person will grow into as part of his/her future levels of development – which for now are out of reach. Being inaccessible, their performance is not yet an option and “free choice” does not yet come into play.

Therefore, true free choice literally, lives on the border between the goodness we’re comfortable doing and the goodness which at the moment feels like too far of a stretch for us. Obviously, this border is not too narrow, but rather wide enough to be considered a real range. This is the range Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler teaches us about in his work “Michtav M'Eliyahu”. Along this range includes activities which are closer to our “indwelling light” and are less challenging, as well as activities which are closer to our “surrounding light” and are more challenging. The latter are considered our “tests of faith”. Like a true rainbow with one color seamlessly easing and blending into the next, this range is a spectrum. 

The spectrum represents what’s attainable. With some effort we can accomplish these mitzvahs. This range is our spiritual frontier. By working on this level, we illuminate our earthly selves with brand new soul light. Once this happens the boundary of our free choice gets advanced upward and we attain a new higher level of free choice, allowing us opportunities to import yet greater spirituality into our earthly selves. So as we grow upward, our range of free choice grows upward with us.

This spiritual model for understanding the shifting nature of free choice might shed light on Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pequda’s ambivalence towards the notion of people always having free choice to perform mitzvahs. He expresses this uncertainty in his work “Duties of the Heart”, in the chapter “Gate of Trust”.[xxi] He comes out clearly stating that people are not always empowered on their own to carry out mitzvahs. He leaves the reader with the impression that whether a person has the ability to carry out a mitzvah is a Divine decision, not a human one. He seems to understand the Torah’s advice to “choose life”[xxii] as referring to a person’s inner desire to perform mitzvahs, rather than a guarantee of automatic access to their performance – if only one tries hard enough.  This suggests that Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pequda was aware that the free choice to perform mitzvahs is variable and does not blanket every area of religious life in every situation.

By being aware that free choice is a moving range which differs from person to person and (since people are not static) even differs within the same person from moment to moment, we can learn to be tolerant and patient when dealing with others and even with ourselves. Sometimes we know that a person behaved out of alignment with Torah teachings. We might know this side of the story either because we have seen it with our own eyes or had heard it from a reliable source. However, there is another side to the story which we’re often not privy to – the question of whether it was within the person’s range of free choice to do otherwise. If we rarely know the exact range of our own free choice, how can we accurately know someone else’s range?

This awareness provides a basis for not judging ourselves too harshly either. If we have slipped and acted inappropriately, maybe we lacked free choice for the situation we faced in that particular moment. A positive response to this recognition might be to try to develop the knowledge and skills needed to properly handle the situation next time around.

---

[i] Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler was a spiritual mentor and educator in the renowned Ponevezh yeshiva, in Bnei Brak, during the late 1940s until 1953.

[ii] “Strive for Truth” Part Two, by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, “Michtav Me’Eliyahu” rendered into English by Aryeh Carmell,  Discourse on Free Will,  P. 52 – 57

[iii] Rabbi Zusya of Anapoli was a spiritual master from the third generation of the Chassidic movement. He was a disciple of Rabbi Dov Ber of Meziritch.

[iv] Ibid, page P. 55

[v] Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto was a Kabbalist who was born in Padua, Italy in the early 18^th century. His writings are characterized by being highly organized and philosophically intellectual. Most of his works are Kabbalistic. However, he also wrote a few Kabbalistically influenced non-mystical works.

[vi] “The Way of G-d”, by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Part 1, Chapter two.

[vii] It is a question as to whether or not this applies to contemporary Arabs or other Middle Eastern people since many populations have mixed over time.

[viii] This work is quite comprehensive and is available for purchase on-line.

[ix] “Tal Orot”, by Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shpielman, Section I, Chapter 4.

Tal Orot is a very interesting Kabbalistic work that is currently out of print. It was written in the 19^th Century and is unusual for a Kabbalistic work of its time because of its blend of Kabbalistic currents which developed in geographically distant locations. The author’s was born into a Chassidic family in Romania. However, he was well traveled. Over the course of his life had learned the Rashash’s (Sephardic) pathway to understanding the Ari z’l’s system in Tunisia. He also traveled into Russia and learned the Chabad pathway into the Lurianic system. It is noteworthy that Tal Orot carries a letter of approbation from Rabbi Chaim Palagi, the Chacham Bashi of Izmir, Turkey and a letter of approbation from Rabbi Yosef of Kremenschuk, from the inner circle of the Lubavitcher Chassidim of that time. There’s a third letter of approbation from Rabbi Yosef Shaul HaLevi Nathanson who wrote a Halachic work “Shoel U’Mashiv”. He identifies himself as the head of the Rabbincal court of L’vov and the Galilee. I was told that he came from a Lithuanian styled Torah background.  All this was probably very rare for that time. The work itself represents a beautiful blend of the different streams of Lurianic styles. Probably, the most user friendly part of the work is the first eleven chapters. It would be a great mitzvah to republish this work in block lettered Hebrew and also to possibly translate the first eleven chapters into English for the benefit of a wider audience.

[x] “Lekutei Torah”, from the Rosh Hashanah discourses, “A Song of Ascent, from my depths…” by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.

The Ari z’l applies the same notion on the cosmic scale in “Etz Chaim” Part I, Gate 3, Chapter 2.

[xi] Saba D’Mishpatim section of Zohar, P.94:2

[xii] “Lekutei Amarim”, Chapter 48 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.

[xiii] The Torah Anthology / Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez, by Rabbi Yaakov Culi and translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Volume 1, P.115 the author enumerates all 248 bones. Tal Orot, Section I, Chapter 11, P. 31 writes about the 365 limbs in a way that it’s clear that the author is referring to blood vessels.

“Anatomy of the Soul” by Rabbi Chaim Kramer is an interesting book devoted to the spirituality of the human body. Chapters 9 and 36 discuss the bloodstream and skeletal system.

[xiv] ““Tal Orot”, by Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shpielman, Section I, Chapter 2. Evidently, he borrowed this metaphor from “Shaar HaYichud V’Emunah” by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. However, he used it a bit differently by applying it to the soul instead of to the Creator.

[xv] “Tal Orot”, by Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shpielman, Section I, Chapter 2

[xvi] Matok M’Dvash version of Shaar HaGilgulim, Chapter 11, P.150

[xvii] “Shaar HaYichud V’Emunah” Chapter 1

[xviii] Ibid. Chapter 1

[xix] Zachariah 3:7

[xx] HaYom Yom of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Entry for the 6^th of Iyar.

[xxi] “Duties of the Heart”, by Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pekuda, Chap. 4 - Gate of Trust (in recent Feldheim edition translated by Daniel Haberman, Pages 426 – 435)

[xxii] Deuteronomy 30:19

Soul Study

Jewish mystics study the universe's soul,
After first understanding their own souls.

                ~~~*~~~

A Castle of Seven Stories

______________________________

 

           About a decade ago, I heard the following parable from a teacher of mine, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson, who quoted it from the holy Baal Shem Tov:

            There was once a King who decided to set a date when all the subjects of His kingdom can meet Him freely, without appointments. He sent heralds around the kingdom announcing the date. The populace was very excited. The people prepared for the day. As the day approach their lists of requests grew longer.

            Finally the long awaited day arrived. They donned their best clothing and before dawn eagerly surrounded the castle. The moment dawn broke, a herald blew a trumpet and the drawbridge started descending. Hearts pumped with excitement. The moment the bridge was down, the crowd poured in.

            The castle had seven floors. The King, wanting to honor his guests, had each floor set up with its own unique entertainment. The first floor was set up as a banquet hall. The King hired the finest chefs in the kingdom to create the most delicious mouth-watering delicacies.  Many of the people never even witnessed such culinary creations in their whole lives. Some were so entranced that they just kept eating without ever realizing that they were full.

            The second floor was set up as a tavern, featuring the finest wines the kingdom had to offer. Many of these wines were brought up from the royal wine cellars. Each wine came with a unique history about its vintage, its age and the barrels it fermented in.  Some of the wines were literally centuries old. If you were into wine this was your spot.   

            The third floor was set up as a concert hall, where the finest musicians of the kingdom gathered to entertain the guests. They spent months rehearsing together just for this momentous occassion. They played in a wide variety of musical styles. Never once that whole day was the same melody played in the exact same way. It was too intriguing to resist.

            The fourth floor was the royal library. Books, manuscripts and scrolls containing all the wisdoms available to the kingdom were set out for display. It was literally an intellectual’s paradise. There were many intellectuals who finally opened books the answered their deepest questions; questions that haunted them for years and years.

            The fifth floor was a royal art museum. All the finest royal artwork was tastefully set up for display. The people were finally able to gasp at real life portraits of the kingdom’s legendary heroes and historical figures. The history of the kingdom was all there in it’s art. Among the paintings were also landscapes of places whose features had changed centuries ago. Here they were remembered in their original state.  Also, there were special exhibits featuring contemporary paintings emphasizing their new styles of creative expression.

            The sixth floor was a display of the royal jewels. The spotlights were aimed just right to make each gem cheerfully gleam and glisten. There were the royal crowns: the coronation crowns, the ceremonial crowns, the crowns worn at balls, the crowns for visiting places of worship, crowns for receiving diplomats, etc.   And of course there was much personal jewelry as well, like royal wedding rings, bracelets, etc.

            On the seventh floor was the throne room. The King sat eagerly awaiting His guests. 

            Twelve hours from opening, when royal heralds made the rounds to all the floors announcing “the castle is closing”, the visitors were shocked. It felt like their day just began and they were being chased out too fast! Except for one person, nobody ever got to see the King. They were all so busy enjoying the royal entertainment that their sense of time had disappeared. 

            Who was this one person who got to see the King? He was an uncultured peasant who was so uncultured that none of the entertainment gripped him. He had no basis for appreciating what he was being exposed to and what the crowd was raving about. When he tasted the food it tasted weird, he was actually happy that his wife packed lunch. He tried out a few wines, each one more or less tasted like the next. He found the fine unique process of creating each wine seemed to him like an impractical waste for something that will end up tasting the same anyway.  He was too tone deaf to appreciate the music. He could not read the books. The art gallery was a pretty view; but to him, it looked to him much like the rest of the artfully decorated castle. In his mind, it blurred with the portraits and other art work throughout the castle. The royal jewels were somebody else’s valuables, not his. So before he knew it he climbed up enough steps and stood right in front of the King. 

            He told the King that he needed a new cow, a new roof, better quality feed for his animals. He also needed the landlord to reduce the rent. He asked for everything that his peasant sensitivities were able to fathom and imagine. The King approved and the peasant left happy.

Lesson: 

            The parable describes why a human being on earth can have a special relationship with the Creator that cannot be enjoyed by the inhabitants of the celestial realms.  

            The King in the parable is the Creator. The various floors of the castle are the levels of paradise. All the entertainment on each of these floors represents the Divine pleasures offered in each heavenly realm.  

Even though the pleasures are very spiritual, they're all “about the King”. They're not the King Himself. Paradoxically, only a being too unrefined to appreciate the spiritual music of paradise and be distracted by its allure has the privilege to meet with the King Himself. This “being” is an earthbound human who lives like a "peasant” by inhabiting a realm deprived of spiritual delights. Now you know why we are the lucky ones. 

***********************************************************************************

Soul Walk

Possibly one has reached a new spiritual level when people strolling along the street seem like souls walking their bodies.

                     ~~~ * ~~~

Cosmic Dreamscape

Since much of the dynamics in the relationship between the Creator and creation is difficult for the mind to grasp, Jewish mystics have traditionally employed a variety of metaphors drawn from everyday experience to help explain this relationship. While none of these metaphors are perfect. Despite their limitations, to some extant each one is helpful in explaining at least some aspect of the relationship. One of my favorite metaphors is to describe the relationship between a "dreamer and a dream". In this metaphor the dreamer is the Creator and the dream is the creation. Both a dream and the interaction between Creator and creation share enough features in common that this metaphor can really serve as a golden stairway into the abstract thought where an understanding of this special relationship resides.

It's my hope that this essay will illuminate some of these common features in an effort to explain monist thinking.  A monist is someone who believes that that the Creator is really the only existence. Monism is special stream of monotheism, with a philosophy of its own. Standard monotheism proclaims that there is only One Creator. The monist agrees, but, goes further to proclaim that the Creator is the only existence. I've encountered this style of monotheism first in Chassidic teachings. However, this belief shared by most Kabbalists. It also exists outside Judaism. For example, Neo-Platonism, an ancient Greek philosophy, was known for monism. Also, the Sufis, Islamic mystics, are monists.

According to monism the Creator is an Infinite being whose seamlessly One. This means that He has no dimensions, borders or parts. This raises a very central question, “If He's Infinite in this sense then He fills the entire existence. Where is there room for the creation?"

The answer is that the creation exists seamlessly integrated in the Creator - not as an outside independent being. Here is where considering the relationship between a dreamer and dream comes into play.  A typical dream has a dreamscape, i.e. the mental scenery which serves as the setting. The dreamscape is typically inhabited by dream characters. They are the beings whom the dream is about. Both the dreamscape and the characters are happening within the mind of the dreamer. As independent as the dreamscape and characters may seem, the whole dream is nothing other then the dreamer's own mind. Every drop of the scenery is the dreamer's mind. Every character is the dreamer's mind. If the dreamer were to awake, the whole dream would merge back into its source - the dreamer's own mind. There would no longer be a dreamscape or it's characters. There would just be the now awakened dreamer.

Often when people are exposed to the view that the creation is within the Creator, their initial reaction is to think of the creation as being nested within the Creator, perhaps in a similar way that a fetus is nested in a mother's womb. However, in the basic sense the fetus and mother can be viewed as two different beings. With both the Creator/creation and dreamer/dream there's only one being through and through. Any sense of independence is purely an illusion.

Since the Creator is the only existence, He's also the only living being. Anything else which seems alive, is really only drawing on a feature of His life and not alive on its own - like a wave on the sea. This is similar to a dream character whose whole life is really an extension of the dreamer's own life. If the dreamer were to stop dreaming for even one moment the dream character's identity would merge back into the dreamer's mind - dissolving any sense of self identity. This is because the dream is not the default state of the dreamer's mind, but, an unstable temporary condition in constant need of second to second rebirth - like a light bulb lit on a constant flow of electricity.
 
Similarly, the whole creation is not the default state of the Creator's Infinity. Creation is merely a finite experience within Infinity, an unstable temporary condition in constant need of second to second rebirth.  If the Creator stopped bringing the creation into existence for even a fraction of a second, like a dream, the whole creation would merge back into its source, dissolving within Infinity. 

When a dream dissolves in its dreamer's mind, the dreamscape and characters lose any sense of independence. It's paradoxical how complete contact with their very source of life is the end of their own life; at least, as an independent beings. In this state their true state is exposed. They are just seamlessly part of their source - the dreamer. Similarly, if creation were to dissolve back into the Creator, it's Source, there would just be Creator - no creation!

Therefore, for the creation to exist, there needs to be a space cleared from the Creator's revelation. In other words, though the Creator is ever present simply as a condition of His Infinity, He chooses whether to reveal Himself. He can project or withdraw His revelation at will; like an on/off switch. When He withdraws His revelation there remains an empty dark space. It's this darkness, that allows the various creations to feel like separate identities. A similar pattern occurs during sleep. While the sleeper's soul is still present, much of his/her soul's revelation withdraws from the body.  The dimming of soul light creates a dark space in the psyche, allowing dreams to occur. In this dark space, the remaining fragments of the dreamer's identity can come to life as dream characters, who seem to exhibit their own identities - independent from their dreamer.

After the Creator withdraw His revelation, A tiny wisp of His original revelation lingers, like a faintly dim glow cast throughout the dark area. This wisp was potent enough to turn into dream identities, but, not potent enough to give those identities a sense of continuity with their Source Identity, like rays extending from the sun. Instead, these new identities feel very self contained - leading eventually to selfishness. Similarly, when a dreamer's soul withdraws her revelation during sleep, the withdrawal is only partial. The dark mind space is still inhabited by a dim glow of soul - sufficiently potent to allow a dreamscape and characters to form, but, not potent enough to give those identities a sense of continuity with their source identity - the dreamer.

The whole creation is in some way a metaphor for it's Creator. Any and every aspect of creation can illuminate lessons about the Creator's ways.  With some basic contemplation, one can explore the Creator's ways crystallized through the lens of creation. I just picked one aspect of creation, dreams, to demonstrate the Creator's ways, I invite you to explore another aspect of creation that interests you and do same. You can share your findings and insights as a comment to this post.

Open To My Depth

_______________________

Tonight, I realized ...

It's not too late to repair some of my mistakes, 

But, it might be too late in life to repeat them.

My past is riddled by attempts to share my depth,

While around me, they beg for my mere surface.

I wanted to give treasures from my inner sanctum,

While they tear at my pockets for a tidbit of candy.

Maybe, my quest to give depth is too premature?

Maybe, if I gave surface it would open to depth?

"Kindness follows kindness", echoes within me.

"This teaching will expand your serving vessel.

"True growth begins humbly with a foundation,

Skipping steps, builds illusory castles in the air.

"Just by growing your serving bowl correctly ...

"Opportunities to do small favors will find you.
Welcome them, for they are gifts from paradise! 

Small favors will open up to bigger kindnesses,

Bigger kindnesses will reach for an inner depth.
Then you will ladle out deliciously deep juices."

        """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""