What are the growth conditions you must provide for your Abraham? You must put him in a cave.
It means to create in the earth, in your own ego, a special place in which Abraham (Bina, the part of the Creator in you, the intention to bestow) can develop.
In other words, in this egoistic, material world, filled with corrupt calculations and hatred, where people exploit one another for personal profit, you must dig a cave for yourself, meaning choose a special environment.
You must find like-minded friends who also aspire to the spiritual, books that describe the exalted, spiritual worlds, and a guide who will lead you toward the spiritual goal. If you do this, it will mean that you have dug a cave in the earth.
Abraham’s Growth in the Cave through Night and Day
While “in the cave,” your inner Abraham undergoes this period of nursing in his environment, reading the works of great sages, listening to the teacher’s guidance and striving to follow it.
The final state signifies understanding, the phase of Bina, the sensation of the spiritual, the realization that everything in this world is governed by the Upper Force, which leads the world toward its best possible state.
The phase of Abraham, the degree of Bina, operates inside you, and you are drawing closer and closer to the Creator.
“Perhaps I should worship the earth,” he reasoned, “for man is nourished by its fruits? Yet the earth is not all-powerful, but is dependent on the heavens, which bestow the rain. Should I therefore worship the firmament? It is clear that the firmament is governed by the sun, whose warmth and light sustains the world’s livelihood.”
Abraham prostrated himself before the sun. But when the night fell and the sun gave way to the moon, Abraham reasoned that the moon may be no less divine. But he relinquished that thought as well, judging that since the moon only shines at night, it cannot be more powerful than the sun, which only shines during the day.
You understand that growth can only happen thanks to changes in your inner states: from “day,” when everything is clear and the spiritual goal is of utmost importance in your life, to “night,” when doubts come and you must find within you the strength to give the ego a good punch in the teeth.
Darkness is essential to your growth. Out of Nimrod rises Terah, out of Terah rises Abraham, and so on.
Changing the Intention over the Unchangeable Desire
The most important insight that you’ve gained by your observations is that egoism in and of itself is not evil.
Using egoism for your own benefit, however, is evil.
But if you were to use it for the sake of others, you would cease to perceive it as evil. It is as if you shed your old skin, your ego becomes constructive, and you derive pleasure from its constructive nature.
So what’s changed? Your intention has changed. The ego has stopped being destructive, and has become constructive.
This is what a simple intention called “Abraham” does—it offers you a way to be happy. You now understand that the essences of desire and intention are completely different. The intention pertains to thought, whereas the desire pertains to its corporeal manifestation.
The moment you truly begin to recognize and categorize these two forces within you, you will feel very clearly that your spiritual vessel is forming. You will begin to identify yourself with intentions, rather than desires.
Your attitude toward the world, toward other people and everything that surrounds you will change drastically.
You will say to yourself, “I work only with the intention and do not take my desire into account.
I don’t care one bit what my desires are. I rise above this plane where people are judged by their desires. It’s not for me anymore. I deal exclusively with intentions.”
This gradual realization that only the intention, and not the desires, over which you have no control, is the foundation upon which you are built.
It allows you to see the world and the entire universe with new eyes.
You see how two intentions can exist over one desire. These two intentions are currently at war within you.
It’s also worth noting that your old intention “for yourself,” the root of egoism, is not being destroyed. On the contrary, everything is founded on it.
Your gigantic ego is preserved, but is fulfilled in a different way, with the method of Abraham. Thus, in observing these two intentions you arrive at the attainment of the Creator’s singularity.
“Seeing The Creator” by Using the Ego with the Right Intention
“I’ve not seen the Creator,” Abraham said, “but I know that only a mighty and merciful God could create this wonderful world around me, and that only His supernal intellect could sustain the existence of this world. It is He whom I will worship!”
You couldn’t see this wonderful world while in your egoistic state because you were always worrying about yourself and how to fulfill your ego.
But the wonderful world refers to the world that Abraham sees.
You can see this wonderful world as well, if you merge with your intention to bestow. If you use your egoism correctly you will rise above it, and you’ll begin to see the future and your life going forward.
Abraham is the degree of Bina inside you, which is absolute bestowal. That degree is saying, “I don’t need anything; I want only to bestow.”
But is this state really perfect?
You ask yourself, “Where is this ego that I rose above? What happened to it? I haven’t fulfilled it as a result of this action, but simply pushed it away from me and rose above it. But I was born an egoist and must learn how to use my egoism.”
With this, you ask how to connect your Abraham with your egoistic nature, ensuring that Abraham will then demand to be rewarded with the next degree.
What is the meaning of “I’ve not seen the Creator”?
It means that by connecting with Abraham you connect with the quality of Hassadim (mercy) inside you.
It’s as if you gain the ability to rise above this world and above your ego, without fulfilling it. You simply leave the ego by the wayside. This is why Abraham knew, but didn’t “see” the Creator.
So when will you be able to “see” the Creator? Only when the Light of Life (Ohr Hochma) enters you.
When will that happen?
When the Abraham inside you attains new degrees, when “his sons” appear, who won’t flee from the ego, but will find a way to fulfill it. In other words, they will do what is essentially the purpose of man: receiving all the pleasures the Creator has prepared for him.
“What Is the Meaning of Abraham’s Development in the Cave in the Bible?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.
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