Though space exists in the spiritual
realms, it does in a way that is qualitatively different than physical space.
Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag explained that it's closer to what we relate to as
“psychological space”. Psychologically speaking, people who share similarities
have the capacity to be close. Those who are dissimilar are considered distant.
In that sense two people who live right next door might be considered distant,
while two people who dwell on other ends of the globe might be considered
close. The basis for this paradox is that spiritual space and physical space
operate differently. Since psychology involves the human soul, it’s not
surprising to discover that it echoes the spiritual version of space into the
earthbound human experience.
When examining Rabbi Ashlag’s concept of how to
understand spiritual space, one can wonder why it seems to serve as the law of
closeness or distance for countless spiritual realms and then just one realm,
our physical realm, suddenly has a different kind of distance and closeness.
This exception seems very disproportionate to say the least.
To appreciate the magnitude of this disproportion,
consider why people are inclined to believe in the likelihood of life in outer
space. Doesn’t it seem rather disproportionate that only one tiny speck alone
in this vastness of billions, even trillions, of light years harbors life? So
similarly, doesn’t it seem disproportionate that countless realms have one kind
of law for distance and closeness, while just one realm alone out of so many is
singled out as a unique exception to bear an entirely different law? What
changed that makes distance and closeness in the physical realm
different?
To me, the answer to the question seems simple, more
limitation. With more limited space there is not enough room for entities which
are similar to bunch up and move out to their own corner nor is there enough
room for entities which are dissimilar to move away, avoiding each other’s
company. This does not indicate an absence of the tendency. Merely, it’s
suppression to one extent or another.
My example to describe this is to imagine a huge fishing
freighter which casts a very wide net in the open seas. Initially, schools of
fish which are caught in the net are likely unaware of their situation. The net
is so wide and sparsely populated that each school swims in its own area of the
net with its own kind - seeking similarity. Eventually, the net gets more and
more crowded as more fish are caught. Plus, as hoisting time arrives the net is
likely narrowed. During this period there’s less room for fish to keep to their
own schools. The space becomes so limited that fish of different schools
unavoidably get mixed up together.
That’s how I understand how a more limited space works to
force what’s dissimilar together and prevent what’s similar from bunching too
exclusively into their own areas. Our physical realm, by God’s design, has
reached a critical point of limitation where this occurs.
Of course this understanding about why space in the
physical realm is suddenly different, does not really seem to address framework
of space at all. It only addresses closeness and distance within space. What’s
similar tends to draw close and what’s dissimilar seeks distance. However, such
a concept does not automatically convey that the space within which closeness
or distance occur have anything to do with similarity or dissimilarity. The
space could be just a passive stage upon which the drama plays out. In that
role, theoretically it could be utterly neutral and indifferent to the dynamic
interplay of similarity and dissimilarity.
Is this true, could there be a way to understand space as
a player in the similarity/dissimilarity dynamics as well?
Besides the dynamics of similarity/dissimilarity, the
framework of space exists differently in different realms. Each realm can be
said to have its own character and consequent properties. The inhabitants of a
particular kind of space must share in the character and properties of the kind
of space they find themselves. In that sense they share a state of similarity
with the fabric of space they inhabit.
For example, inhabitants of physical space must possess
the character of physicality. Whereas, creatures that exist in a realm of space
whose fabric is entirely emotional in nature, must also be composed of
emotional fabric. Similarly, creatures that inhabit realms whose space is made
of purely intellectual fabric must be of a pure intellectual
character.
So, beings of a particular realm share a similarity to
the character of their unique kind of space. This similarity is what places
them in their own realm and not in other realms. Thus, the realms themselves
are players in the dynamics of similarity/dissimilarity; as entities can only
exist in realms which match their characters and not in others which are of
dissimilar character. What can be a greater expression of similarity and
closeness between two beings than one existing in another, like a fetus in the
womb?
Even though one entity existing inside another is clearly
a sign of similarity, what particular “concept of similarity” is behind this
particular formation? It seems likely it’s a disparity between the two
entities’ respective levels of differentiation. Just like a fetus starts off as
a single undifferentiated cell of pure potential and then in various stages
differentiates out organs, organ systems and limbs, so too this pattern exist
through all of emanated and created reality. The fetus merely mirrors an
already existing and widespread pattern.
In the case of a light and a vessel relationship, like
with the body and soul, the light is relatively undifferentiated, while the
vessel is much more differentiated. This is what makes one a light and the
other one a vessel. Thus, instead of the high degree of similarity driving them
to be identical to each other, one encases in other (in a manner of speaking).
The vessel encases the aspect of the light closest to differentiation, while
the aspect of the light which is relatively undifferentiated surrounds the
vessel, encompassing it within its energy field. This “encompassing” can also
be said to be a kind of “containing”.
Whatever version of space we discuss, there’s a
“differentiation disparity” between the fabric of space and what it contains
(or encampasses). The fabric of space contains the undifferentiated potential
for all which it contains (and much more). The contained entities differentiate
out from the very fabric of space itself and as a result are contained by the
fabric.
Obviously, the entire potential contained within the
fabric of space does not differentiate. The entities are formed from mere
aspects of the vast potential. Overwhelmingly, most of the fabric remains
undifferentiated to serve as the fabric of space itself.
What force stimulates emergence of form from fabric? The
answer to that question really deserves its own essay. (A hint can be found in
“138 Openings of Wisdom” on the subject of the interaction between the “line of
light” and the “afterglow”.)
After all that has been explained, it’s not surprising
that the different realms themselves require points of similarity to connect
with each other. How else do frameworks of space of different character link up
with each other to form that breathtakingly long chain of realms, which flows
spiritual light/life down the chain and eventually brings it to the creatures
in our physical realm, all the way on the bottom? It must be each realm has a
point of similarity with its neighboring realm, where they meet and even
slightly overlap. It’s this shared point of similarity which allow the flow of
spiritual light/life to pass from realm to realm.
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