Why Kabbalah Is Necessary to Continue to Research Reality
Our perception of ourselves and reality determines how we sense ourselves and reality. This is the basis for all our research. We need to understand what a human being is, and if we have any existence in and of ourselves. Quantum physicists may be right when they argue that man, like all of matter, is merely a “bundle of waves.” Perhaps the actual reality is very different from that which we presently see. However, if we can establish a fundamental, objective principle that will not depend upon our subjective sensation, a principle that defines “us” and defines “reality,” we will have a standard by which to assess our present perception.
Many researchers believe that the more we progress in our research, the dimmer and vaguer we find things to be. They feel that we are groping in the dark. Our misunderstanding of ourselves and the world is at the core of the present global crisis we are facing. Without doubt, the scientific approach of researching the depths of reality is a good one, but we find there is a boundary, an impasse that we cannot penetrate.
Human nature, human perception, and everything science has discovered will not facilitate a forward movement. We will feel that from a certain point on, everything becomes “intangible” and “evaporates.” This is what quantum physics is already beginning to discover–that matter is suddenly “lost,” leaving researchers in a kind of vacuum.
A sensation of that sort stems from having lost the sense of the present reality, before having perceived the “approaching” Upper reality. This happens when one does not possess the tools to perceive that “other” reality. Baal HaSulam states (in his article, The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah) that the only way to obtain that method is to learn from a Kabbalist who has already mastered it.
Do You Know that You Exist in a State of Perfection?
Our state in this world is far from our real state, from the standard called Ein Sof, where we are all connected as one desire filled with the Upper Light. The separation, or “exclusion,” occurred to allow us to rise from the degree of desire to a higher degree than that of the desire itself, meaning the degree of intention. This enabled us to make free choices and acquire discernments and revelations with which we could transcend the creature-receiving degree and reach the Creator-giving degree.
Descending from the state of Ein Sof to the state of this world unfolds by dividing the single Kli into many particles. In spirituality, “exclusion” means “difference in qualities.” By independently nearing the true state, we begin to understand the Thought of Creation, above the state of Ein Sof. Thus we are taught how to return to the state of Ein Sof by ourselves.
But for us to return to Ein Sof, we must first know the essence of that state. We are all in the state of Ein Sof, a state of love and mutual guarantee, forming a Kli to the Upper Light. To return from this world to Ein Sof, we must try to build a similar state in our interrelations. The Ein Sof is the truly existing state, though for the time being we are in an imaginary state with respect to our blurred senses. In other words, we are in the state of Ein Sof even now, but our senses are “veiled” with dust, which blurs our perception. We need to “clean up” our senses. Thus, the state of Ein Sof is the standard we are working to attain.
How Kabbalah Researches Reality
We can never clearly understand a state while still in it. The present state becomes clearer only as we ascend to a higher state. The method of Kabbalah provides a new picture and outlook that enable us to understand our prior reality. Interestingly enough, we do not encounter many obstacles when dealing with the still, vegetative, and animate. Yet, when attending to matter at our own degree—the speaking—we invariably fail. Our helplessness in resolving the social and familial problems of our time is only one of many testimonials to that state.
The method of Kabbalah elevates us to a higher state than our present state. From this new perspective, we can see our former state and analyze it. This is the fundamental difference between the Kabbalistic mode of research and the ordinary scientific method. In scientific research, the researcher attempts to penetrate the same reality he or she is in, like a child trying to study what it means to be a child. In Kabbalah, however, the Kabbalistic researcher rises above the present level and studies the former, lower level.
Kabbalists do not engage in studying reality in the ordinary scientific manner. They do not try to broaden their narrow perception into a wider perspective because they do not think it is possible. Only correctly researching reality can facilitate our progress toward achieving the next steps. Without proper research, we will simply remain at the level of studying matter.
Proper research elevates the researcher to the level of the Forces that operate behind matter. When we perceive these Forces, we perceive what happens in matter as well, since these Forces become our own. The researcher senses these Forces as conducting his or her own life, at his or her disposal, perceived tangibly, through the senses, rather than intellectually.
Why Changing Perception Requires Internal Changes
One cannot research reality at a higher degree than nature scientists perceive using only rational and sensual perception. To move to a higher reality, one must change one’s senses. Sophisticated research tools will not help here.
By studying nature, we can imagine a higher reality opposite to ours, where everything is aimed at giving instead of receiving. We can also assume that above our egoistic nature, everything operates with love and interconnectedness, that everything is actually a single Thought.
Scientists have found that all parts of reality are harmoniously connected, that each part helps the others and is vital in the collective system. The parts of reality are “considerate” with one another, as if cells of a single body. This finding brought researchers to hypothesize that the general law for every part of reality is the law of love. The only problem is that the researchers cannot raise themselves to that level and be that nature.
If scientists could change their nature in accordance with what they believe is present beyond the physical level, they would find that beyond the “hidden material” lies a very real, rock-solid reality, as real as the one they know now. They could perceive the Forces, their interconnections, and their systems. But for a researcher to discover all that, there must be congruence of form between the researcher and the level of these Forces.
We can compare this to walking into a completely dark room. First, we do not see the objects in the room, but if we switch on the light, we will be able to see them. Of course the objects were there to begin with, but our ability to perceive them was inadequate to the task. Thus, what we must do is match ourselves with the Forces that already exist in reality; and the way to match them is the method of Kabbalah.
Is Our Reality “Virtual?”
Numerous theories claim that there are endless realities existing simultaneously. Kabbalah states that there is only one. This reality is called Malchut deEin Sof, meaning Malchut of the world Ein Sof. Nothing else exists. The term, Malchut deEin Sof, designates the creature in its perfect and eternal state. Anything besides Malchut deEin Sof is called “virtual reality.”
The virtual reality consists of various images that appear before Malchut deEin Sof as it declines into various degrees of “consciousness.” In consequence, Malchut deEin Sof feels less and less of itself and its filling.
The process of losing consciousness intensifies until Malchut deEin Sof reaches its lowest, most turbid and detached state, called “this world.” In that state, Malchut deEin Sof takes the form of human souls that feel disconnected from one another. It is from this picture of reality that we must crave to return to the state of Malchut deEin Sof.
By saying that our reality is virtual, we refer to the discernment that we make when discovering that this is how things stand. Perceiving such reality as virtual does not prevent us from working with it; we need only understand that this is one of the phases we must experience.
This can be compared to a child with lots of fantasies. The fantasies do not annul the child’s world, and we know that these fantasies are appropriate for the child’s stage of growth. Similarly, when entering a higher reality, we relate to the previous reality as though it were fictitious, though it is very real to those still at that level.
What Happens After a Person Crosses the Barrier Between Corporeal Reality and Spiritual Reality?
There is a kind of barrier between the spiritual reality and the corporeal reality. We cannot see the Forces behind this world until we cross the barrier, but these Forces depict the picture of the world within us in much the same way electric vectors create images on the TV or computer screen. When we look at the screen, we see a colorful, three-dimensional picture, but it is really nothing but a combination of electrical forces that can be processed, transferred, and stored. The truth is that we, too, exist in a similar picture, except that the screen is within us.
Those who rise to the level of these Forces see how real they are, while the picture they create is imaginary. These Forces constantly create different pictures, although the Forces themselves remain the same.
All in all, there are 125 degrees of attainment. The higher we rise in them, the truer and more correctly will we perceive how these forces connect. At the end of the ladder, one perceives the total merging of these Forces, called Ein Sof.
The principle that arises from this is that it is only when we attain and perceive something that we can define it. For this reason, all Kabbalists adhere to an unshakeable law stated by Baal HaSulam: “What we do not attain, we do not define by name or word.”
What the Creator Really Is
The Creator is what one finds to be the Upper Degree. The Hebrew term, Boreh (Creator), indicates an invitation to “come and see” (Bo means “come,” Re’eh means “see”). One who attains the highest degree is in a state of adhesion with the Creator. Before reaching this highest degree, a flaw will always appear in this adhesion, although this is not really a flaw, but a new, uncorrected desire that has surfaced in the person.
These desires appear so that we will correct them, and through correction enhance our adhesion with the Creator. For every new desire that surfaces, the Creator seems higher than before. As one discovers the oppositeness of the Upper Degree and its level of altruism, one must muster the strength to elevate to it.
Hence, prior to the state of Ein Sof, where all the ends come together, there is no absolute Creator. The only definition we can give to the term, “Creator,” is (until we reach Ein Sof) “higher than I am.” The Upper Degree builds, creates, begets, corrects, and fills the lower degree.
The Creator appears as a blend of higher qualities than those one presently possesses. The Reshimot that awaken cause one to picture a higher degree every time. Nevertheless, the depiction of the Creator is always the projection of one’s present qualities on the Abstract Light. The Abstract Light’s pressure is constant; the changes and movements are only within. Although only the Reshimot change within us, it seems to us as if it is the Creator Who is changing.
There is always contact between the Upper Light and the individual, but one’s connection to this contact varies. The Upper Light shines upon the desires within us, evoking a sensation that we call “the picture of my world,” whether it is this world or the spiritual world. This sensation changes constantly under the influence of one’s own Reshimo, as well one’s integration in Reshimot of other souls. The sum of these changes creates one’s dynamic picture of life.
“Now You Can Exit Virtual Reality and Discover a Limitless Reality” is based on the book, Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life by Dr. Michael Laitman.
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