spirit and body

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Spirit and Bodyby Rav Michael Laitman

Introduction

Since the beginning of time man has been searching for answers to the fundamental questions of

being: who am I, what is the purpose of my existence and the existence of the world, what happens

after we die, etc? The question about the purpose, the meaning of life heightens daily human ordeal

and suffering, bringing it to a global level why do we have to suffer at all?

Because there are no answers to these questions, the search continues in all possible directions.

Ancient belief systems, now trendy eastern teachings are part of this search. Humanity is constantly

searching for a logical substantiation of its existence; man investigates the laws of nature for many

thousands of years already.

Modern scientists are finding that the more they advance in their scientific investigations, the more

confusing and unclear the picture of the world becomes. However, answers to the questions about

the purpose of this world and mankinds have not yet been found.

Kabbalah as a science offers a method for investigating the world. This method allows a person to

develop the ability to sense the hidden part of the universe. The word Kabbalah means

reception and expresses a human aspiration to receive the highest knowledge, to sense the true

picture of the world.

Spirit and BodyActions of the Creator

The main goal of researching creation is to analyze the actions of the Creator in order to learn how

to act the way he does and to acquire the ability to imitate His actions.

The acts of the Creator are called "governance" or "nature of creation". Scientists also investigate

the actions of the Creator (they call them "nature", "laws of nature") pursuing the same goal to

learn something in order to imitate the "wise" nature.

Everything that we do in our life all is imitation of nature. All the works of human hands or

thought technology, music, art everything is based on resemblance to nature.

Even the wildest fantasy is a consequence of our nature. We cannot escape it. Anything that we arecapable of creating is nothing else but the development of something that is instilled in us already.

We cannot create anything new. Everything that we do is further actions of the Creator, which He

enacts through us. It just seems to us that we perform actions ourselves. We are created this way:

constantly acting as directed by nature, we are absolutely convinced that we are carrying out our

personal desires.

The truth is that these are also the actions of the Creator. This is a program of our development. All

our "discoveries" are revelations of things that already exist, but were concealed from us before.

Our physical body is like an animal's body. It is similar to all bodies of our world and, obviously,

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does not have any spiritual property in itself.

Bodies, in our world, do not differ in terms of spiritual properties and just change each other in the

process of reincarnation.

If there is no qualitative, spiritual difference, then no matter how different our physiological bodies

are, spiritually, all of them are considered to be as one body. The difference in the spiritual consists

of the difference in properties, qualities. It is because outer material sheath does not exist in thespiritual realm.

For this reason, when a Kabbalist looks into this world, he sees one representative of each species.

But if a Kabbalist looks into nature through the prism of true spiritual properties then his vision,

which distinguishes only spiritual properties, captures nothing in our world but emptiness.

Physiological properties of bodies are identical. Say, if someone suffers from a certain illness, then

a physician treats this body the same way he treats other people with the same illness.

In other words, our bodies are similar. Meanwhile, in the spiritual, one body is completely different

from the other.

Of course, all this holds for all objects of our world all still bodies are like one body; all plants arelike one plant; all animals are like one animal.

There is only one spiritual realm. It is the realm of properties that are closer further in relation to

the Creator. The presence of the material bodies still, vegetative, animated does not make a

difference in the spiritual realm, because here the difference is defined only in terms of spiritual

properties.

If a certain amount of bodies do not differ between each other, they merge into one. According to

this law of equivalence of form whoever acquires the qualities of the Creator merges with the

Creator.

All the creation exists in this spiritual realm. It came into existence after the Creator revealed

Himself and is revealing Himself, to the degree of similarity of form to Him. There is only He andwe.

To the degree to which our properties are becoming similar to His, our sensation of Him increases.

Spiritual movement is inner change that occurs when the sensation of the Creator becomes more or

less evident.

We can say that the force of the Creator's Attraction operates in the spiritual realm. This force

attracts a person towards the Creator, to the degree to which a person is similar to Him, and this is

how a person moves around.

These are consecutive, multi-graded movements. A person improves his properties gradually: it is a

process of inner realization and evaluation of one's own properties as bad, followed by willfulefforts to improve them with the help of the Creator.

Receiving help creates a new property in a person. A person automatically according to the "law

of gravitation" occupies a new, higher level that corresponds to a person's new properties.

The higher the degree of a person, the more common qualities of the creation a person has. It is

similar to our world, when a person who went through many states and acquired experience

gains experience of many people. For this reason general is higher than particular.

This is why a person devoted to his nation is higher than man on the street; a person devoted to the

world is higher than someone devoted to his nation. There is a difference between people devoted to

their family, city, nation, or world.2/31 Spirit and Body

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Birth of Properties

The birth of the new property in a person is like the birth of a human body. At the beginning there is

conception: one cannot grasp that property or thought it is wandering somewhere in a person,

being an effect of certain previous courses.

Afterwards, it starts emerging it manifests itself through some other properties, thoughts, until it is

sensed as something of one's own existing separately, independently, as something that has beenborn.

This process is like the birth of a human being. At first, organisms of mother and father produce

certain cells that later merge together. A certain new organism starts to develop and it is completely

unaware of itself similar to an unrealized thought. Then gradually, this new entity becomes

increasingly aware of its own existence, separates itself from its original courses, becomes self-

conscious, and starts sensing itself.

These processes are inter-related: independence increases as one ceases to be under the influence of

parents. And on the contrary, birth is a change of power.

Spiritual birth is when a person replaces his own power with the power of the Creator: a person

voluntarily submits to the rule of the Creator, desires to act despite of his reason, and follows thewisdom of the higher spiritual level.

Spiritual birth appearance of the spiritual desires happens like birth on all the levels

intellectual or animated.

Until that moment, a person has no spiritual desires he is under the influence of his egoistical

desires. Receiving from the above new spiritual desires, replacing egoistical desires with altruistic

ones, is called spiritual birth.

It happens with the help of the Creator the spiritual force that gives birth to everything in all the

worlds, including ours. Everything that happens in our world is a consequence of the events in the

Spiritual worlds that descend upon us. It is said: the fortune in the world above, related to the grassin the world below, strikes it, forcing it to complete its growth.

Meaning, birth and further growth happens only under the influence of the compelling, striking

force from above. It is even more so when we talk about the spiritual birth and growth - this process

happens in spite of our egoistical nature.

If not for the spiritual force of the Creator that compels from above, life and movement would cease

to exist in our world all material manifestations are consequences, manifestations of the spiritual

forces.

When our eyes will open, we will see the Upper World; we will discover that the corporeal does not

exist. Everything is nothing but certain manifestation of actions of the spiritual forces, which we see

in their material form for they appear to us so in our material senses of perception.

As we ascend spiritually and get closer to the Creator, ever higher forces replace the previous ones,

until we see that there is nobody and nothing else but the Creator.

Acquiring the first spiritual property is called spiritual birth: a person leaves this egoistical world

and enters the spiritual world in his or her inner sensations.

Appearance of a new, distinct property that is different from properties of this world pushes a

person out of this world to the level corresponding to this property. This level is called the lowest

level of the spiritual world Malchutof the World ofAtzilut.

The first correction of a person is called a spiritual birth. After this, a person starts his or her3/31 Spirit and Body




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spiritual growth correction until the full equivalence of form with the Creator.

Spiritual Birth

A person can acquire altruistic properties and exit (liberate from) egoistic ones, enter the world of

correction and attain the first spiritual property only when he or she is able to subdue any

manifestation of his egoistical qualities.

Naturally, such anti-egoistical forces do not exist in a human being. A new spiritual force appears ina person only under the influence from above; this force assists him in overcoming his natural

desires.

Breaking free from the grip of egoism the Pharaoh is called liberation from Egypt, exodus from

Egypt, while acquisition of the new altruistic properties is called entering the land of Israel.

The spiritual birth resembles a birth of a human being in this world: an embryo inside of a mothers

body enjoys the environment that is most comfortable for its development. Until our spiritual birth,

we are under absolute control of the spiritual force that develops us.

However, in relation to a creature per se, one can say that until his birth, a baby exists in his

mother's womb, darkness, without realizing where he is, who he is; he cannot move or nurturehimself. Everything in him comes from his mother. Such is our state until the spiritual birth.

A newly born baby comes into this world the moment he reaches complete pre-natal maturity.

Unless he is born, leaves the place that was so suitable until this moment, he will perish.

Thus, the best place turns into the most dangerous one. If he stays there too long, he will die! This is

why a mother herself pushes the fetus out.

A person can sense his egoistic nature and consciously exist under its control - in Egyptian exile -

only if he partially senses, as if from afar, the wind of freedom, the properties of the spiritual

world.

Unconscious and subsequently conscious stay in the Egyptian exile is one of the mandatory stagesof pre-natal period of persons development and is calledIbur(fetus) in Kabbalah.

Before being born spiritually, one must first feel as a spiritual embryo, perceived as the birth of

ones spiritual desires.

Only after one is born spiritually does he receive the sensation and realization of what it means to

exist in the spiritual world: to breathe independently, to receive from the Higher, to plead, to sense

the Higher as the begetter and guardian.

Subsequent development resembles the development of a newly-born human being in our world:

the Upper force meticulously guides him through the spiritual degrees, and each forthcoming

spiritual degree differs from a previous one only in terms of an additional, new, corrected spiritual

desire.

Initially, mans spiritual path consists of acquiring altruistic powers-properties: he grows from

Malchutof the world ofAssiya to Malchutof the world ofAtzilut, passing the degrees of 30 Sefirot.

During this process, one does not use his egoistical desires at all; he only rejects them.

When one, in his properties, reaches Malchutof the world ofAtzilutit is said that one fully acquired

his altruistic desires GE.

Later, being part ofMalchutof the world ofAtzilut, one starts correcting his egoistic desires: riseshisAHPto the world ofAtzilut, transforming egoistic desires into altruistic ones: receiving pleasure

in them for the sake of the Creator. These corrections are performed gradually, in 6000 parts-steps,4/31 Spirit and Body




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called years.

Final Correction (Gmar Tikkun)

When a person completes his corrections, he reaches the last degree, the end of the entire correction

Gmar Tikkun.

The next degree that follows is called Messiah Redeemer. The light that a person receives from

this degree is so strong that it helps him to correct his very nature, transform the in-born egoism intoaltruism, and changes the stony heart (Lev HaEven) into the living heart (Lev Basar).

Then one rises to the ultimate degrees of adhesion with the Creator, called 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th

millennia. As Baal HaSulam writes, there are individuals who attain these degrees while living in

this world.

The article Vision of Rabbi Chiya in the Book of theZoharnarrates how after the death of Rabbi

Shimon his disciple, Rabbi Chiya, could not understand why his teacher did not reach the final

degree, the final correction, Gmar Tikkun.

The answer is given in the same article: there is personal and general final correction. Although the

righteous men reach their personal final correction, only general correction of all the souls willelevate everyone to the qualitatively new, highest degree of adhesion with the Creator.

Emerging from the Darkness

When a person realizes that he exists in a dark, dead world and anxiously tries to get out of it with

all of his might and desires, he is born into the new, spiritual world, much like a fetus whose level

of development does not allow him to stay in the mother's womb any longer.

But if a pregnancy (sensation of being under Egyptian slavery of egoism) results in a pre-mature

birth, that is, one is not matured enough, has not acquired altruistic properties for independent

existence in the new world, it is considered that he is still-born.

In this case, a person is forced to continue this struggle with egoistical desires (the war withAmalek, internal conflicts, Golden Calf worship, sensing the new spiritual world called Sinai

from the world "Sina" hatred).

Passing the states of realization of Egyptian slavery and finally realizing the need to come under the

power of altruistic forces, one is still not fully prepared to assume altruistic properties.

Despite being given the altruistic powers from above, one is still not capable to take them on.

Still-born

Being still-born means that a person was not able to acquire the spiritual properties, regardless of

what was prepared for him or her. A person does exit egoistic properties; however, he comes into

darkness.The spiritual shines, but there are tremendous obstacles ahead: "Yam Suf" "the final sea" (Red

Sea), dry, lifeless dessert (Sinai) this is how a person imagines the spiritual world in his

uncorrected properties.

Although a person does receive the Upper light, he does not relinquish his previous properties

completely, which results in subsequent breaking of the tablets, sin of the Golden Calf, and so on.

As Baal HaSulam writes, premature exit from the Egyptian exile became the reason for all other

exiles. But none of the Creator's acts is imperfect: all of that will prove to be a necessary step for

further mixing of the altruistic and egoistical properties, required for their mutual penetration,

which, in turn, makes it possible to correct the entire egoism.5/31 Spirit and Body




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Thus, on each step there has to breaking of the desires. For without the breaking, mixing of these

opposite properties in man, correction is impossible. This is why mixing occurs on all the levels.

The process of birth is gradual, and contains many seemingly ill-fated processes. We are lifted up a

little - the spiritual seems desired - and then let go feel disappointment in the spiritual.

The desires get mixed so that the spiritual could enter into all material elements, into the will to

receive, into egoism to the extent that would make it possible to correct the lowest, most distantfrom the Creator desires. Only then do we achieve complete, perfect "Final Correction".

Birth

However, after genuine spiritual birth, a newly born person gulps the invigorating spiritual air and

the first spiritual sensations burst into him.

Afterwards, he grows, as described earlier: first, he attains only the desires "to bestow", GE, and

then corrects and incorporatesAHP, the desires "to receive", applying the intention for the sake of

the Creator.

Receiving desires are corrected by following the commandment of loving thy neighbor: when a

person with his egoism loves "the neighbor" and not himself.There are three states:

1. "Will to receive" when one loves just oneself.

2. "No will to receive" one wishes nothing for oneself. One still is not capable of giving to the

others: "neither to me, nor to others". This is a certain level of correction: a person does not want to

take advantage of his or her egoism.

3. "Will to bestow" one loves the other as oneself.

When a person renounces egoistical desires, thoughts about himself, he wants nothing. Afterwards,

when his eyes open up and he sees the Creator, he starts feeling love for Him.

As in our world, a newly born baby falls into the loving hands of his parents, who ensure his safeand necessary development, so does a newly born person in the spiritual: each spiritually born

person finds himself in a certain spiritual environment, called 600 000 caring souls, forces, which

have qualities that help a newly-born to survive and develop in the spiritual realm.

Ascending, a person feels that everything but him is corrected.

The Secret of Past

Man's nature is such that he is always turned towards the future, his further growth, progress. His

path seems to him as rising "from down upwards"; he relates to each future state as greater, better

that his present state today.

Man is created in such a way that he always aspires towards his next condition as a better one inrelation to his previous one.

And because man is created as aspiring towards the future, he is unable to perceive and sense the

states that precede his physical birth.

He also is unable to sense how any desire is conceived in him; he has no idea what is the origin of

that which constitutes his "I".

The degree that begot a person, the preceding spiritual state is called "fathers" ("forefathers", "father

and mother"). This highest degree gives birth to certain properties in man.

But how can a person embrace the degree from which he receives all the desires and where, in other




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words, his future lies?

Suddenly, a person has a desire to achieve something: he suddenly feels an urge to receive, find out,

or understand something. However, this thought is an upshot of the desire descending onto him.

This descending desire is what gave rise to a thought in him to commit a certain action, attain

something.

For this reason man is like a book which lacks the first half of the pages. And "reading himself",investigating himself with his uncorrected, "earthly" properties, we are not able to understand

anything about ourselves not just the past, but also the future, although it seems to us that we do.

Foreseeing the Future from the Past

Those who enter the spiritual have an advantage of seeing the future, for they attain their past. They

also acquire a possibility to attain the original causes of that which compels them to develop,

determines their current condition, their "I".

Attaining one's spiritual parents, one becomes fully aware of his current degree, can look at himself

from the side, becomes objective.

The entire advantage that people who attain the spiritual, Kabbalists have is that they see theirconception from the Creator down to our world; they climb the same ladder down by which their

soul descended into our world.

Kabbalists start sensing their previous "I" and gaze into the future. Only if a person attains his

spiritual root does he really see both himself and also what awaits him in the future. Without this

attainment, he sees nothing ahead of him.

Desires in a person change all the time, and this is because his spiritual root, directing him towards

the goal, is constantly renewed.

Man's growth is the growth of his screen: our ability to advance in spite of, above common sense.

The spiritual growth is the desire to move, to progress on your own, and not because of a pressing

need.

We can look back only for the purposes of investigating our previous state so that we know how to

progress further: not to justify our laziness or non-action, but to acquire knowledge and later carry

on in defiance of it.

A human being encompasses everything created by the Creator: the worlds, Sefirot, angels and our

entire world exist inside of a human being. However it seems to us that we sense everything from

outside.

In reality, nothing exists outside of us but the Creator, Whom we do not feel. We sense only His

various influences upon us, thanks to which we attain ever deeper layers of ourselves.

These stages of attainment of ourselves are called Sefirot, Patzufim, worlds, and they exist inside ofus. That which exists outside is the illusion. This illusion is so great that it is impossible to picture

something opposite, reverse.

Our senses give us an inverted picture: that which in reality exists inside of us seems as if existing

on the outside, while outside there is only the Creator.

Internal is Felt as External

How does the sensation that there is a surrounding world occur in us? We, so to speak, exist inside

of the Sefira of our sensations. The Creator "pressures" us from the outside, while we, existinginside of ourSefira and balancing the external pressures, perceive and react to Him in our senses.




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As the internal pressure collides with the pressure from outside, the image, the picture called "the

world" emerges. We conceive this picture as existing outside, while in reality it exists inside of us.

All the measuring instruments are built according to this principle: they measure not the influence

itself, but their response to this influence.

We will not be able to attain the external world because it does not exist. Our entire science grasps

only the way in which we perceive the Creator. But although we attain just ourselves,comprehending the entire picture only inside of ourselves, this gives us a sufficient account in order

to exist in this very picture. This is because the Creator, building this picture inside of us, acts on us

according to this picture.

Whatever we sense is the most suitable and necessary sensation for our development. The question

"How can a person in this world evolve spiritually?" is irrelevant.

The fragment of the Creator that a person senses and calls his world is exactly what he has to sense

at a given moment, and so he should act specifically in "his own world".

That which we sense every moment is the best possible sensation for our spiritual development!

Our subjective perception ensures that we comprehend all the surroundings in a way necessary forour existence. We sense the others and understand their intentions, and this makes it possible for us

to exist in the company of the alike.

However, the level of sensation and understanding depends on our level of development. We can

draw an analogy with a radio: the wider the range of frequency, the more waves can a radio catch.

We can understand the other people only from within our self-awareness. Only after we find the

characteristics of the rest of the world inside of ourselves will we be able to apprehend the

surrounding reality.

And if one never experienced a certain sensation (for example, a headache), one has no way of

imagining what it is. This is why we differ from the inanimate, vegetative and animated levels of

nature in our degree of inner development.

To Find the Creator Within

In order to apprehend the surrounding reality, up to the Creator, we have to investigate our

properties, as it is said: "I will find my Creator Within". Man is deliberately built this way, so that

he could attain outside of himself. Otherwise, he would not be able to correct "the entire world"

through himself.

Yet what we cannot comprehend is our own origins, all that happened before we became aware of

ourselves, before this thought occurred: how did it occur; from where did this desire descended

down to us?

We do not have an accessible language to express the reason of receiving the particular properties ofour "I".

The words descended from above downwards, drawing further away from the Creator's light, and

the light weakened in order to create a human being, who would start to exist in a complete

alienation from the Creator and would reach the full adhesion with Him.

The entire preparation for the emergence of a human being is called "Back side". We have no

sensation of it whatsoever, because these are the highest degrees of the Light descending from the

Creator down to our world the lowest degree.

Only Kabbalists attain these levels of the precipitation of Light as they climb them from down




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upwards and describe them in their books. Those who ascend attain their own conception, and

therefore become more and more aware of their Origin and themselves and attain their own future.

The Secret of Conception

What does it mean to comprehend the secret of conception (Ibur) of the entire universe from theoriginal thought of creation and up to its final goal?

The entire creation, from the beginning to the end, all of its properties and path is contained in theLight, emanating from the Creator. Receiving this light in the process of our development; we

comprehend the secret of the universe.

As we climb the steps of the light's precipitation, evolving spiritually, we attain our past, our Origin

at each step.

The higher we rise, the more we attain from our "past". This is because everything happens

following the same path: from above downwards descend Sefirot, Partzufim, and the worlds, and

later, from down upward ascends a human being, until he reaches the adhesion with the Creator.

The Creator reveals all the "steps of the descent from above downwards"; however, development

from down upwards, attainment of all the degrees from the lowest (our world) to the highest ("TheFinal Correction") is not revealed, because only correction of the souls can make it possible.

At the time of the final correction of all of our desires, our true egoistic desire Malchut will

reveal itself to us. We do no feel this tremendous desire "Lev haEven" (stony heart) until we correctall the other, initial 288 desires. We are not able to endure the suffering that accompanies it, nor are

we able to correct the desire itself.

Advancing, we sometimes feel a black abyss opening in front of us, which is called "the shining of

Malchut". This is a reverse shining of the real Malchut.

This desire will not manifest in us until the final correction. It is concealed from us so much that we

cannot even imagine it. Only when it is completely corrected and filled with the light, do Kabbalists

become worthy of attaining the face of the Creator: the full revelation of the light in the entireMalchut.

Prophesy and the Highest Wisdom

There are two types of attainment: prophesy and the highest wisdom.

It is said: "A wise man is preferred over a prophet". This is because a wise man receives with the

help of the screen, and this becomes his individual, deserved attainment, which he can control. To

the extent of his degree of attainment, he is "a partner" of the Creator: he himself gives birth, builds

the degree to which he ascends and inhibits.

Meanwhile, prophesy is revelation from "above", a gift. The Creator opens the eyes of a Kabbalist,

who then sees and comprehends: but only owing to the Creator, and not on his account.

Conception and Growth

From the moment a seed falls into the ground, it starts discharging its previous form, properties.

Full seed is called a parent to a disintegrated seed, which decomposed in the ground and lost its

former properties.

What is left out of a previous form is only energy, potential of a future newly-born. A full seed had

plenty of properties, an entire world, minerals, proteins, etc., but the program of development is the

only thing that remains of it and gets transformed into a new form.

The only thing that remains of a preceding stage is its energy not clothed in any form: the seed used9/31 Spirit and Body




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to have both properties and form, but what is left is its essence that we cannot grasp. Previous form

is completely destroyed.

Until there is something of the past, it is called an embryo, descending from above downwards.

When it reaches its final point, discards its previous form, and begins to grow and evolve, this

already represents gradual development from down upwards, up until the attainment of the very

degree from which it descended: the degree of its parents.Being born into our world, a person is still an embryo spiritually. He is considered as existing inside

of his spiritual parents; spiritually he is not born yet.

His physical development does not imply his spiritual development. None of the physical actions,

rituals or customs corrects a person, elevating him spiritually. Hence, he who does not correct

himself through the Kabbalah studies is called "Domem": "not evolving spiritually" (lit. spiritually

inanimate).

As the desire for the spiritual ascent is instilled into a person from above (if this happens), a person

develops an urge to study authentic books, starts looking for guidance, the real Teacher; he becomes

more aware of himself and the wickedness of his nature.

In our sensations, we perceive the process of realization of our own pettiness as negative: like

rotting of a seed. But if we gradually curb our egoistical properties and plead for correction, we

break away from our "I".

Until this state, a person is said to be an embryo inside of a mother. But the moment he receives the

power from above that frees him from being a slave of his egoistic nature, he is considered to be

born.

The moment of birth is the moment of receiving from above the power to rule over one's desires

and subdue them for the sake of spiritual progress. From this moment one starts to ascend from

down upwards, climbing the same degrees that his soul passed, descending from above downwards.

Attainment of this lowest condition is the first step of our advancement towards the spiritual, andalthough our development is directed upwards, towards the Creator, at first, in our sensations, we

seemingly draw away from Him.

We feel this way because we reveal, sense inside of ourselves increasingly lower egoistic qualities.

In parallel to it, we are shown meagerness of our own power, our complete absence of desire to turn

to the Creator for help. The revelation of all these factors gives us a possibility to be born

spiritually.

General is Identical to Particular

The person who feels that he has knowledge, that he himself knows and understands how to lead his

life, to study, is yet to undergo the development from above downwards. And only afterwards, canhe embark on the path from down upwards.

Until we reach the lowest point a complete realization of our egoistic nature we travel the path

of the realization of our own evil (being influenced by the forces that compel us to develop this

way), called the path of suffering.

Being affected by these forces, in every generation, each of us through his or her suffering gradually

(consciously or not) realizes and accepts the pettiness of our egoistical nature. By this we draw

closer to the goal of creation.

But how long this path is! For the final point of this path is the realization that egoism is so

destructive that the only way to avoid suffering is to renounce egoism completely. This part of the10/31 Spirit and Body




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path is called "realization of evil" (Akarat haRa).

We can speed up our development, to undergo this process, by correcting ourselves with the Upper

light (the path of Kabbalah), if we aim at correcting ourselves through the path of Kabbalah instead

of the path of suffering. The difference between these two paths is that Kabbalah greatly accelerates

our spiritual development.

The more one aspires upwards, the clearer he sees how low he exists and descends even lower, thequicker he "rots", like a seed, in his own eyes and, after being born, starts to "sprout".

At the beginning, we do not realize that our urge towards the spiritual comes from above - but how

else could this urge emerge in egoism! And so we desire the spiritual only because we don't know

what it is; for spirituality is death, a complete antipode to egoism, our current nature.

As we are unable to put our hand into fire, so we are unable to make ourselves receive altruistic

properties they are so adverse to us. But egoism itself pushes us towards the spiritual (also

because it feels pleasure only from the Light).

Egoism Kills Itself

How can egoism bring itself to its own demise? Why does a person pass from "Lo Lishma" (for hisown sake) to "Lishma" (for the sake of the Creator)?

At first, it is impossible to assume "Lishma" voluntarily. Thus, "Lo Lishma" is created on purpose,

and we can lie to ourselves that we act not for sake of our egoism, although in reality egoism is

what helps us to realize our pettiness and weakness and "gently" brings us to "Lishma".

Hence it is said that the Creator begot two angels good and evil inclination and both of them

bring a person to the Creator.

But until the very moment of discarding our egoism, we believe that this is impossible much like

a seed: until it disintegrates completely, it cannot acquire a new from. Until there is something of

the past state left in a person, he is considered as descending from above downwards.

And only when nothing is left out of previous desires, does the ascent from down upwards begin.

The last, lowest state is instantly replaced by the ascent upwards.

Our impure desires, calledKlipot(shells) awaken in us desire for the spiritual. They are a necessary

part of creation without which we cannot progress.

Impure forces in particular are telling us: "It is worth acquiring the spiritual! What do you have in

this world? Small pleasures. In the spiritual world, delight is billion times greater, real, and eternal!"

This is what ourKlipotare telling us! This way, they help us embark on a spiritual journey, andafterwards change its goal and reach spiritual purity.

Two Angels

When we start to comprehend the general picture of creation, we sense immense perfection. Sensing

this perfection is the greatest pleasure of all.

Pure and impure forces, the angels of the Creator, two opposite systems of pure and impureABYAconstantly "polish" a person, as hands polish a pea.

In our world, our egoistic desires crave for pleasures of our world, but when a person enters the

spiritual world, instead of craving for earthly pleasures, he develops a desire to receive the Light

itself, the pure delight for his own sake, for self-gratification.

Correcting this urge, a person ascends even higher, but here again the impure forces,Klipotsupply

him with an even greater egoistical desire to receive the Light for his own sake. And again, he11/31 Spirit and Body




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melds this desire into altruistic one.

And so he grows, moving "on two legs". Impure forces help us to ascend. The Creator begot

nothing that would harm a person: everything is created for his benefit. However, there is no

Commandment to love the impure forces.

We can either love or hate something only by virtue of its benefit. At the moment we loveKlipotas

they give us pleasure. When we will see that they drive us away from a huge reward, we willperceive them as our enemies.

The desire pure or not is evaluated by a person himself. And only a person himself measures his

own desire. Today we still don't regard the desires for earthly pleasures as impure.

This is our entire life! We love these desires and delight in them; thanks to these desires we feel

pleasure from micro-dose of the light, the spark of light "Ner Dakik", which we call "life".

We can speed up our downward path, our prenatal development, only by aspiring upwards. This is

the only means for speedy "realization of one's own evil".

One can receive strength and desire, the correct direction, search for the true goal only from

authentic Kabbalistic sources and under the guidance of the real Teacher.Committing each act in life, we should think "Why I am doing this?" That is, we become aware

how coarse, egoistic, weak-willed we are, and crave only petty pleasures. Precisely these unpleasant

sensations accumulate in us and induce "deterioration of seed", from which eventually sprouts a

new creature and grows from down upwards.

This lowest point of our development is called in Kabbalah "the point of our world". And only when

a person reaches in his sensations the lowest condition, can he sense this point.

This is called that he exists in "Our world". When he reaches it, he immediately receives the

Creator's response, ensuing his growth while sensing of the Upper world.

The Law of DevelopmentIf an alien came to our planet, then looking at a newly born calf and a human being, he would

conclude wrongly that a calf is a more evolved creature than a human being. The same goes for

everything: we cannot comprehend anything without knowing all possible states of the subject of

our investigation: from the minute it comes into the world till the time when it completes its

development.

We perceive everything only through our sensations, representing a "black box" that is filled

exclusively with that which enters it through our five senses. Thus, in order to investigate

something we first have to know ourselves completely; we have to realize the limited nature of our

senses and distortions that they bring into environment.

Most importantly, since we are not able to comprehend our previous states initially, we lack theability to know ourselves.

Since we do not understand the reasons behind the events, we are unable to comprehend our present

or future states. Yet a Kabbalist, climbing the spiritual ladder, becomes an active part of collective

Malchut, Shechinah, or creation and therefore attains his previous (preceding birth) states, and goes

beyond the limitations of time.

However, even when a person attains the spiritual degrees, he remains partially limited in his ability

to comprehend. And this happens regardless of the fact that each part of creation contains properties

of all other parts. One is unable to attain all phenomena through his own part: he does not see the

consequences of numerous phenomena, for he hasn't yet attained the reasons behind them.12/31 Spirit and Body




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Many causes remain invisible because these previous states, yet not encountered in one's ascent-

return upwards, are still in the state of conception; one hasn't reached the degrees that gave birth to

the laws and properties that remain concealed from him.

Say, a person attained a certain degree. It follows that from this degree and lower he can understand

the beginning and end of actions. This is called the level of his achievement. A person in this world

does not see anything from the past specifically because he hasn't attained the future yet: has not

attained his spiritual states.

"Objectivity" of our sensations in this world amounts to our consent to call a certain perceivable

light as, say, red, or a certain flavor as bitter. Our language, derived from our sensations, is not

objective for it does not allow us to compare our subjective sensations.

In order to compare two sensations, the sensations of two individuals, these sensations have to exist

in one person who is comparing them. Only then will he be able to contrast them (but again

subjectively!).

Since we attain everything inside of ourselves, we must know ourselves from the beginning to an

end. We can comprehend the surrounding reality only through ourselves.

Any given event evokes no reaction in us unless we experienced something similar to it. Withouttasting the grief, we will not understand the grief of the other. Our perception is conditioned by our

previous feelings, experience that which we sensed inside of ourselves.

This is why without attaining our previous ("pre-natal") states, we cannot attain ourselves. And we

must attain ourselves, for otherwise we would not attain the entire creation.

Only by starting to ascend the same degrees through which our soul descended do we comprehend

our properties.

We attain not because we ascend; rather, ascending, we attain our previous "descending" degrees,

go into our past. This way, we see our origins.

No Man Knows Himself

In order to know any object completely, we need, in essence, to know its negative, evil properties

and manifestations. This is because the only thing that was created is the will to receive pleasure,

egoism, or evil.

To fully know an object, we must discern the greatest manifestation of the egoistic desire in it. Then

we will be convinced that we reached the depths of nature, the primary essence of this object.

Thus, to discern the essence of something means to behold its negative properties. And since a

human being is not capable of seeing the negative in himself, he is unable to know himself.

Why are we not able to see evil in ourselves? This is because our egoism does not allow us to be

aware of it. Our essence is the will to receive pleasure. Absence of pleasure makes us suffer.

We are unable to suffer by our own volition this is above our nature. If we agree to obvious

suffering, this is because we expect a reward greater than suffering we are ready to endure.

In other words, ultimately, we receive pleasure as a reward for suffering.

Moreover, if we see pleasure in something, we are unable to simultaneously see negative and

harmful for us. And since all pleasures are brought to us by our egoism, egoism does not allow us to

see it as evil.

But if we perceived egoism as evil, we would develop a desire to get rid of it. However, we, on the

contrary, say: "This person wants to be a great scientist, a great actor; or she works a lot; he takes a13/31 Spirit and Body




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good care of his family, loves his children!" We praise manifestations of egoism and try to find

positive aspects in it. While negative aspects we attempt to hide from ourselves somehow.

This is why people buy such theories like communism, charity: this impresses egoism: "I will be

content"; "People will care about me"; "I will feel good and safe". This is an excellent cover for

egoism! We dont want to hear negative things about egoism: it is unpleasant and makes us suffer.

Pleasure Conceals EvilEverything that we see as negative in the others, we try seeing as positive in ourselves. We see only

good in people whom we like. In people we disgust, we see only evil.

Children-and-parents is an excellent example: each parent sees only positive in his or her child. Try

pointing to something negative and you will earn yourself an enemy. You pointed to something that

is true, objective. However, egoism apprehends that what is pleasant, not what is objective!

Every bit of evil that we sense is perceived as pain. Thus, even if we know in advance that this is

evil, we disconnect our senses, trying not to hear; we disconnect from evil that is shown to us. And

this happens automatically.

We are unable to bear the truth about ourselves. Psychologists call this "defensive mechanism ofbody", while Kabbalist "defensive mechanism of egoism".

Hence, the law: "the source of pleasure is not perceived as evil". And only as a result of prolonged

experience does a person begin to realize that the seeming good is actually evil. It takes months,

years for a person to realize this. As well this realization requires memory and special qualities of

consciousness, in-depth exploration of self. And not everyone is capable of this.

Our body is built on pure egoism so that it understands that pleasure is followed by payback, that it

is necessary to experience punishment, which creates a conditional reflex on pleasure: the sensation

of subsequent suffering, up to the point when any available pleasure is perceived as evil beforehand.

Kabbalists, attaining the highest degrees in their full scope, become worthy of complete attainment

of these levels inside of themselves, which is called "the soul".

"The soul" is the spiritual vessel (Kli) filled with the Light. We can comprehendKli through theLight that fills it, as it is said: "In thy light I will behold light". When the Light comes, we see both

our positive and negative properties in regard to the properties of the light.

This is because we can attain an object only by comparing it to its opposite. And only the Light, if it

appears, can illuminate our negative properties for us.

The Soul Attainment of Adam

We already mentioned that the worlds are first attained from above downwards: at the beginning,

we attain so-called "descent of the souls". Afterwards we attain from down upwards the degrees of

drawing closer to the Creator, the attainment itself.

Rising to the next spiritual degree, a person first attains the descent of his or her soul from above

downwards, his previous state, in which he exists till his spiritual birth. This state is called "Iburfetus" (Ubar the spiritual fetus,Ibur the process of birth).

In other words, rising to each new spiritual degree commences with the state of "Ibur" in it,

although it happens differently than when the soul descends unconsciously, by the Creator's will and

force. Rising, a person consciously with all his might and prayers ushers himself into the state of

"Ibur": the state of complete submission to the spiritual rules of that degree, complete subordination

to the laws that are revealed to him at that degree.




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If, despite the obstacles of his egoism, a person agrees to follow the rules of that spiritual degree, he

turns into a fetus within the Creator at that degree. And later he is born and evolves, until he

outgrows that degree and enters the state of "Ibur" at the higher degree.

And this way, at each degree he gradually starts assimilating it from the state of "fetus" complete

submission to its laws.

After a person becomes "a fetus", he continues to evolve: instead of being forced to submit to thespiritual laws, he voluntarily accepts them as his properties instead of egoistic ones. Meaning,

instead of earlier organs of his spiritual body, egoistic desires, he acquires new organs altruistic

desires. In them, he receives the soul, the Upper Light for the Creator's sake. This is already called

attainment from down upwards, the true attainment!

Until a person is capable of only accepting the laws of a given degree, but does not acquire its

desires, properties, his state on a given degree is called "fetus", Ubar. This happens at each degree.

But the moment he starts fulfilling the laws of that degree independently and acquires its desires, he

is considered to have been born on that degree.

Fetus is "dissolution" in the desires, properties, and laws of a given degree, which in this case is

called "Father and Mother" (Abba ve Ima). And when a person acquires the properties of thisdegree, he becomes as big as this degree, and immediately starts sensing a new Upper degree.

The same path repeats again: a person starts building from himself an embryo of the Upper degree,

which becomes his "Father and Mother".

The Degrees of Soul's Descent is its Birth

All the degrees through which man's soul descends from up downwards are called birth of man's

soul. But only by acquiring an independent desire of the Upper degree is a person considered to be

born spiritually.

Embarking on Kabbalah studies, a person enters the period of realization of his own evil. We start

this journey from "Lo Lishma", egoistic aspirations.

We desire to attain the Creator, to receive spiritual pleasure aspiring to the spiritual egoistically.

Each of us starts their spiritual elevation from being dissatisfied with this life; otherwise, how could

we engage our egoism in anything?

That's why by extracting a little part of the light from objects of our world and shining with it from

afar, without being clothed into any specific object, the Creator instills in a person an egoistic urge

to achieve pleasure from the spiritual.

Thus, a person aspires to the spiritual egoistically. However, ultimately egoism is what helps us to

exit it; egoism works against itself.

A person tries to substitute one egoistic goal for the other. This is a preliminary stage of developinga true desire.

Naturally, spiritual development is carried out from above, by the Upper objects, called "Abba ve

Ima" (Father and Mother). This stage of our unconscious development is called "Ibur". This is an

unconscious "Ibur" of our world. In the spiritual world, a person enters the state of "Ibur"

consciously.

Reward that is 620 Times Bigger

A person who exists in his physical body, gradually receiving all additional desires ofMalchutofthe world of Infinity, correcting them, has to attain the same utmost degree from which his soul




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descended into this world; he has to attain this degree while being in the body.

This way, a human being reaches the 620 times bigger adhesion with the Creator than his soul used

to have before descending down and clothing the body.

This gain in particular is the reason for creation of all the worlds. Thanks to correction of egoism, in

particular, we attain the spiritual 620 times more than when we were born into this world.

Nothing disappears in the spiritual: if we rise to a certain degree, our soul, traveling the path fromup downwards, exists in the state where it was at prior to descending and being born into this world.

This is why now past (before birth) and present spiritual states exist on the same degree

simultaneously.

Both of these sates exist in a person. But now a person has a screen on all his once egoistic

properties. With the help of the screen, in particular, a person can become aware of his previous

states and thus fully sense, taste the light filling him.

A person can become aware of his own conception that he previously was unaware of. This is the

essence of independent attainment.

Because now a person possesses new properties, he senses the Creator 620 times more. Prior to this,a person existed at this very degree in the state ofIbur, had noKelim to be aware of his own state.

In contrast, now thanks to egoism (working with it on the path of ascent, fulfilling the 620

commandments of this level) a person acquires a possibility to see, discern 620 times more.

But we should not think that our world's function is completed with a spiritual birth of a person, his

ascent to the first spiritual degree, that after this our world loses its value and meaning.

On the contrary, the spiritual degrees reveal themselves through the objects, garbs of this world.

Though them a person starts sensing the spiritual categories that exist in them. This is why our

world appears transparent to him.

He starts seeing the rest of the worlds in the same "perspective", uniting and blending them in hisperception, in his activity, and in his attitude. The level of attainment of this unity indicates the level

of his correction.

Spiritually, a person becomes higher than this world yet he acts through it. There emerges an

opportunity to make use of our world. For this is exactly the purpose of creation: being in this world

and from within it, man has to attain the Creator.

Our world is not a level that has to be forgotten once you pass it. All the work is done specifically

though garbs of this world: through family, society, all the environment. This is why a Kabbalist is

not some sort of a person who renounces the entire reality. On the contrary, a Kabbalist is a person

who is most connected with it.

The Development of the Soul

From the moment of birth and beginning of the spiritual movement from down upwards, gradually

evolving spiritually a human being passes the same processes, ascends the same levels as did his

soul descending down, although it happens in a reverse order: from down upwards.

By studying the descent of the levels from up downwards in Kabbalah, a person arouses as if in

himself an urge to repeat these processes, albeit from down upwards. The surrounding Light is

awakened in either case, for it relates to the degrees regardless of the fact that a person himself has

not attained these degrees yet.

A person does not move: in his internal sensations he passes, traveling in an opposite direction, all16/31 Spirit and Body




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stages of his creation -- but now by himself -- creating himself.

He creates himself and a screen for his desires, yielding all degrees inside of himself. As a result, he

gradually attains the Creator 620 time more than did his soul before clothing the body.

So, what a great possibility is given by the Creator to us! A human being becomes more of the

creator as if of his own condition, than the Creator himself!

Attaining each degree, a human being apprehends the original cause of his condition and discoversthat the Creator prepared everything in advance. And the apparent sensation that he attained this

degree himself was instilled in its properties when it descended from up downwards.

Such is the perfection of attainment: on one side - a human being, on the other the Creator! Action

is interchanging and inseparable: a human being does everything; the Creator does everything. And

later, they merge at each spiritual degree to which a person ascends.

Kabbalah calls this two-fold perception of a human being -- that everything depends on the Creator

and simultaneously everything depends on a human being -- "governance ofHaVaYaH ELOKIM",double governance.

On the spiritual degrees, double governance merges in man's perception, as do the notions of time:the states of sensing past, present, and future. However, self-awareness, being aware of one's "I"

remains.

Our language has no words to describe this spiritual sensation, which has no analogs in our world.

This is because in our world there are strictly defined cause and its effect.

Thus either a human being or in the Creator can act as the cause, but it can never be that everything

depends only on a human being and at the same time everything depends only on the Creator. This

contradicts our reasoning: "Everything depends on me and at the same time everything is pre-

determined". Only after freeing oneself from the "earth" can a human being understand that there is

no contradiction in this.

Development Explains Conception

As these two paths from up downwards and from down upwards are absolutely identical, by

realizing on ourselves the path from down upwards, the spiritual development from down upwards,

we can understand the path of descent, the creation of worlds and souls from up downwards. This is

why Kabbalists, realizing on themselves the spiritual degrees from down upwards, describe to us

the descent from up downwards.

Kabbalists do not describe to us their own path because they wish to describe the acts of the Creator

in relation to entire creation. And throughout his or her spiritual development, the one who attains,

draws from these descriptions the methods and assistance for their spiritual elevation.

Exiting his egoism, his world, the human being finds himself in the spiritual world ofAssiya,; later,raises to the world ofYetzira; later, the world ofBeria; until finally it reaches the world ofAtzilut.

This resembles the four stages of the appearance of fruit, from sowing to full ripening:

1. until the moment it is considered a fruit the world ofAssiya

2. edible, but has no taste and brings no pleasure the world ofYetzira3. taste appears the world ofBeria4. taste and all properties manifest completely the world ofAtzilut.

Two Paths of Development

Everything that exists in creation in general, also exists in each of its tiny parts. Thus, all the

properties and laws that apply ascending or descending the levels ofABYA worlds have a place and17/31 Spirit and Body




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manifest in each of their small parts.

The utmost degree is called Father, reason, the Creator. The lower degree that he yields is called his

son, branch, effect, or creation.

Descending from up downwards results in the birth of the lower from the higher on each degree, to

manifestation of creation that is independently aware of itself, to separation of creation from the

Creator.The meaning of the descent of the worlds is as follows: gradually distancing from the Creator, the

worlds facilitate gradual emergence of creation which senses itself as completely independent.

Climbing the spiritual levels leads to the opposite result: developing spiritually (which implies an

increasing similarity with the Creator) creation attains its root, Father, becomes like Him. Each part

of creation (human being) individually and the entire creation in general undergo this process.

Studies Imitation of Nature

Looking at everything that was created in existence, we -- in accordance to what is written:

"Created for us to correct" -- discover that everything was created for our deeds. In other worlds,

the surrounding reality is created only so that we would mold creation; add to that which is alreadycreated.

Our action in existence is called correction of creation. Our goal is to bring creation to the complete

correction.

And specifically because it is written: "Created for us to correct", we have to believe that all that

was created, was created for us, for our deeds; that everything depends only on us, on building a

screen. Our role in creation is to complete our development by imitating nature.

Everything that unfolds from up downwards, starting from the world of Infinity, from the Creator

Himself to Adam, breaking of his soul, emergence of our world, until manifestation of physical

bodies in this world, and the moment a person realizes that the meaning of his or her existence is a

certain goal of the Creator - all these stages of creation's development represent the preliminaryconception in the Upper degree from up downwards.

Later, our spiritual "prenatal" development commences -- until the moment when we become

spiritually independent in our acts to the extent of the screen that we acquire. It is not that we

become independent from the Creator; rather we become independent from ourselves, our small

initial egoism.

Receiving independence is called spiritual birth. Later, we start our development climbing the

spiritual ladder.

All our future states-properties exist inside of us, as do all the phases of its future development exist

in a seed being put into the ground.We just need to create necessary external conditions for successful development of a newborn.

These external conditions needed for development are what we must create for our soul. Only then

will it begin to evolve.

This is our work. We create nothing new; everything exists inside of us; and we only have to

unearth the spiritual degrees inside of ourselves, by learning to imitate the spiritual nature.

Moreover, as a human person grows, he starts seeing a true picture of the world: the world becomes

transparent, through it he sees all the worlds as concentric, dressed into each other; he sees how all

of them gradually hold back (each its own) portion of the Creator's Light, and thus through them the

Creator appears to us in images of our world. However, to the extent of his spiritual development,18/31 Spirit and Body




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behind the objects of this world a person sees the spiritual forces.

Attainment "from up downwards" teaches us how to ascend "from below upwards"

Development that we have to undergo after we start our spiritual birth is, in essence, repetition of

nature's acts which we see inside and outside of us.

To climb the spiritual rungs means to become similar to them in one's properties. The entire growth

of a person consists only in becoming increasingly similar to the nature of the upper degrees, up toreaching similarity with the Creator Himself.

For in everything that we do we only imitate nature: paint manufacturing, sounds, transportation

means, management, all our knowledge and sciences all is a sum total of our information on the

environment already revealed to us.

All technological advancements that seem to be totally disconnected from reality are but

camouflaged imitation of nature.

But that which we call nature is only a small fragment of the immense picture which exists in reality

and reveals itself to the one who ascends.

We do not see the full picture and therefore cannot reproduce it now. A comprehensible part ofnature is perceived inside of us, while an incomprehensible part of nature remains outside of us. But

this is exactly what we have to gradually reveal to ourselves. And this is called evolvement by

imitating nature.

As does development of mankind in a framework of this world, so does spiritual development of a

human being amount to imitating nature that is revealed in front of him.

Life and Pleasure Contradict Each Other

Looking at the structure and functioning of nature (both of an individual object and also in general),

treating all creation that we sense as a unified system, we see that everything is created with a

certain purpose: to ensure existence, functioning, and evolvement.And the structure of any object is so internally logical -- the connections in any biological creature

are so marvelously precise and intertwined -- that in investigating a living organism we basically

cannot find a single defect.

Moreover, if we see any loss, we understand from our previous experience that this is just a lack of

our present understanding of how perfect the functioning of this system-organism is.

And this is why, as a rule, all our interventions into nature are followed by bitter punishment in a

form of historic circumstances, distorted personalities, and disasters.

And it makes no difference whether we intervene into inanimate, vegetative, animated or human

levels of nature. It seems to us that we, at least, have a right to intervene into the human level ourselves. However, not knowing and naturally, not following the laws that define functioning of

human being, by intervening we also harm ourselves.

And this is why for centuries we take a punishment for this. This, basically, is the path of suffering

waiting for us if we do not proceed by the path of Kabbalah.

Hidden Perfection

If we were able to see the entire picture of existence, including ourselves, in full scope, we would

find no deficiency. We would realize that for our total well-being we just have to follow the laws of

existence instead of inventing the new ones that seemingly define the functioning of society.




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But since we do not observe the laws of existence in their full scope and do not find inner strength

to go by faith above reason (as a means for curing egoism), we continue to serve our egoistic mind

and constantly make mistakes both in our intervening into nature and in ourselves.

As far as the Creator goes, everything is created in complete perfection but only until we are born.

We can observe a striking difference between the way in which the Upper governance prepares,

meticulously and caringly, for the birth of each kind, its initial development, during the first stagesafter birth, and the struggle for life that each kind is forced to endure later on just in order to

survive.

It is as if nature that foresees everything suddenly cancels its plan, and subsequent development of

an individual is left up to him.

This change is so sharp that the reason for which nature created a human being with such a great

care is concealed even from him - the crown of creation.

As if this priceless bio-material, this prolonged path of development, is lost in vain just in order to

break the entire logic of laws and let our organism develop on its own.

We see that each system, organ or cell in our organism functions in a purposeful manner, and all thesystems operate in an optimal way.

We are able to see the precise purpose in the functioning of each organ, cell or molecule. If we do

not yet know this purpose, it is clear for us that we haven't revealed it yet. However, we are unable

to answer what the purpose is of this entire living organism this is concealed from us!

We see a paradox in a surrounding reality: everything is created according to the most perfect laws

which we do not know. Why did nature, so thoughtful of everything, make us unaware of these

laws? By not knowing them do we annul all of its efforts to create a perfect organism?

We only partially understand the laws of creation and their logical completeness. However, we do

not see any logic in the governing laws, the laws that bring a human being to the purpose for which

he apparently was created.

On a global scale, we also do not see the purpose of the existence of the universe; we do not know

causes and meanings of all that happens at the cosmic scale, in the countries, nations, and within

any of us personally. The most important things in the surrounding reality are simply concealed

from us.

A Newly-born mankind

General consists of merging of particular and thus resembles it. And because there is preliminary

development and subsequent birth of particular, an individual, the same happens when general is

born as well.

And as there are special conditions for prenatal development of a fetus and later, parents love anddedication (thoughtfully instilled in us by nature so as to guarantee the development of a newborn),

the same goes for the human society as a sum of individuals: society is born and develops according

to identical laws.

As far as a fetus is concerned -- he is inside of his mother -- it does not matter whether only nature

is responsible for its development or if the mother herself takes care of him. So strong are the

instincts that nature implanted in parents to ensure that its plans will continue to be implemented.

Beforehand, the Creator created all the worlds, made the soul descend through them up to our

world, created there living father and mother whom he gave a desire to bear children, love their

future child, and gave them a set of other egoistic desires, thanks to which they enjoy themselves20/31 Spirit and Body




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for the sake of a third person, a newborn egoism.

We see that a birth is continuation of internal development. This is not yet a beginning of mans

development. He is still under the influence of forces of nature, descending from up downwards.

When does a human being start to develop by himself; when does he begin his path from down

upwards; when is he born spiritually? Only from the first independent spiritual movement. In

general all of that applies to the society as well.If we imagine the entire humanity as a newly born baby, then what has the Creator prepared for him

in place of caring parents? The common law love thy neighbor as yourself which the Creator

established as the basis for societys spiritual development.

According to the thought of the Creator, this law has to perform the duties of Father and Mother.

If the society does not observe this altruistic law, the entire society, as orphan, suffers and advances

towards its own destruction, replacing societal formations and regimes. This is how the society gets

ready for receiving the spiritual fulfillment.

Where can a society find devoted parents? Each individual has to find parents in surrounding

people, telling himself that he is one out of a million, and the entire million in relation to him are his

loving parents.

If society functions as father and mother, giving birth to each member of the society and caring

about him or her as if he were its own child, members of the society -- and the society in general --

can progress spiritually up to the level of correcting itself with the Creators Light. Then they will

fully achieve their predestination.

But until members of a society build their environment in this manner, each member resembles a

newborn, who lost his father and mother and, naturally, dies spiritually.

And if the society consists only of those who perished spiritually, it is also spiritually dead and,

naturally, cannot provide spiritual guardianship to any of its members.

Society power of the Creator

The society is not merely a gathering of individuals; it is the Creators Power. In the society, the

Creator instilled an opportunity to bring its members to the ultimate spiritual development.

This does not have to be an actual state; it could be a small closed society. Everything depends on

what goals it sets for itself and what principals it follows.

If the group cannot act as a caring parent towards everybody for the sake of the adhesion with the

Creator, such a group dies spiritually, and later disintegrates physically.

Various communes that emerged at different times of history set a perfect example. The only reason

for their downfall is that even if they took upon themselves an obligation to care for each other, as

described above, the goal of their entire set-up was safe, egoistic co-existence and not adhesion withthe Creator.

A tireless spiritual force that we call nature or circumstances pushes us towards the purpose of

creation: drawing closer towards the Creator. If we correct ourselves, then to the extent of our

correction, we make independent steps, wishing for the same as the Creator.

Until a spiritual object matures and applies its own efforts in moving towards the purpose of

creation, the compelling force of nature makes him advance, and this force is very cruel. This path

is called the path of suffering.

This compelling force forces us to care about health, sleep, eat, get married, bear children, love and




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educate them. And there is nothing we can do with it the desires are born is us regardless of our

own will.

But not until a person, through Kabbalah studies, starts realizing the goal that is set in front of him,

and subsequently wants to attain it himself, can he consciously accept it and plead with the Creator

to give him strength to achieve it.

Instead of developing in a natural way, when a person starts consciously to fulfill part of that whichin the past nature forced upon him in such an implacably cruel way, he undergoes sweeping changes

himself. Such development is called the path of Kabbalah - towards the purpose of Creation.

By making first conscious steps towards the purpose of creation, a person frees nature from the

functions of supervision and work upon him; instead, he himself performs inner work. Materialistic-

egoistic suffering is replaced by the spiritual suffering an aspiration towards correction for ones

own sake, and later, for the sake of the Creator.

The longer a person works on himself independently, exert

spirit and body

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