By: Rabbi Yitzchak Schwartz
Dear friends,
The Master Kabbalist--R. Yitzchak Luria--The Holy Arizal whose Yahrtzeit is tonight—may his merit stand by us now when we so deeply need it, brings at the beginning of his master Kabbalistc work--'The Eitz Chaim' [The Tree of Life], the following description of the Creation Process;;
''Before all things were created...the Supernal light was simple. It filled all existence. There was no empty space which would be space , emptiness or void. Everything was filled with the simple OR AIN SOF [transcendent light of Infinity]. There was no category of beginning and no category of end. All was one simple undifferentiated light of Infinty. When it arose in His simple Will to create all universes, He constricted His Infinite light, distancing it to the sides around a center point, leaving a vacated [spherical] space in the middle of the light of AIN SOF... After this constriction [Tzimtzum] took place...there was a place into which all things could be brought into existence [Atzilut], created [Briah] , formed [Yetzirah] and completed [Asiyah]. He then drew a simple concentrated ray from the light of Infinity that surrounded the space......The upper extremity of this ray touched the light of Infinity that surrounded the space and extended towards it's center. It was through this ray, serving as a conduit, that the [immanent] light of Infinity was brought down and spread into the entire vacated space.''
Let us extract from the Arizal's words, the essential components---there are three;
1. THE ENDLESS LIGHT-------This Divine presence was all there was in the beginning
2. THE VACANT SPACE-------The Infinite One-G-d, removed or hid Himself
3. THE KAV------- [the conduit or ray]---A graduated drawing down of the Infinite light into the Vacant space, in order to slowly , but surely reinfinitize this space
***HOW TO APPROACH THIS 3-STEP PROCESS
It's crucial to understand at this point, that Kabbalistic wisdom, in general and specifically--it's depiction of the creation process, is not meant to be looked at as something that happened once upon a time in history--and then it's over and done with. Quite to the contrary, all that Kabbalah teaches, especially regarding the creation Process, is something that transcends time and space-----a revelation of holy universal physics processes that are meant to be studied carefully and seen as the templates and paradigms of all that happens in our lives. Therefore, when we analyze this 3-step Creation process called the Tzimtzum or Constriction process, we are meant to extract from the entire process or from its component arts, as much as possible ---as many life applications and ramifications as we can come up with. This 3-step process is the foundation for all subsequent processes---everything that comes after it in Kabbalah and in reality, is rooted in this primordial process.
***UNIVERSAL EXTRAPOLATIONS OF THIS PROCESS;
A CONTEMPLATION
Let us begin to open up a different part of our minds---different than the meditative side that we keep bringing---Let's open up the contemplative side. Before I bring a number of universal life applications or extrapolations of this process, first do the following contemplation; Focus on the 3-step Creation process--as a whole and each of its parts.....Try to come up with as many life-applications as you can [here's an example, to lead you in the right direction----The overall process teaches that hiding oneself...ie... paralleling G-d's hiding... allows for the manifestation of 'the other' ---something other than oneself ]_____________________________
***A LIST OF TZIMTZUM EXTRAPOLATIONS
1. birth process 2. making room for others 3. revealing Hashem's Presence everywhere [despite the illusion that He's not there] 4. revealing that which is hidden 5. nothing stands in the way of desire 6. constriction is the key to expansion 7. emulating this process in our own creative expression 8. being able to carry both sides of paradox 9. single-minded hyper-focus 10. the spiritual growth process of yearning for that which is beyond us
*** A TZIMTZUM EXTRAPOLATION MEDITATION
The 2nd step of the Tzimtzum process ---the Vacant Space--represents an absence and a void [of the infinite Divine presence].... As the saying goes, ''Nature abhors a void'', therefore the Void automatically 'gives birth'. In the Creation process, the birth is a grand birth of all created beings. So we see that a void elicits a birth process---the greater the void, the greater the birth [as we see from the magnanimous of the Creator's Void and the resulting birth process.... The Birth Process Meditation---------Identify in your life a birth process that you are presently going through.....
Know that everyone is usually being born in one way or another sometimes more; in an intense and meaningful way--- sometimes less.....Know that this birth process usually comes as a combination of Higher Divine influences [ie...Hashem determines that you are ready to be slowly and surely eased into a new reality] , as well as your own expression of willingness and readiness [whether you have done this in a conscious or unconscious way] ......
Know also that a birth process will usually unfold on it's own, but you can turn up the intensity by increasing the urgency...ie.. the unbearable impact of not yet being born.....Therefore, do this---Once you identify and realize the nature of your birth process---what it is all about---how far along you are---how ready you are to be born------then decide if you want to turn up the intensity of your Void or your urgency---act accordingly---first in a meditative mode ---projecting in your mind where you are at in the birth process, and where you would like to be-----then make it or let it happen in real life....
blessings
yitzchak
Dear friends,
The Master Kabbalist--R. Yitzchak Luria--The Holy Arizal whose Yahrtzeit is tonight—may his merit stand by us now when we so deeply need it, brings at the beginning of his master Kabbalistc work--'The Eitz Chaim' [The Tree of Life], the following description of the Creation Process;;
''Before all things were created...the Supernal light was simple. It filled all existence. There was no empty space which would be space , emptiness or void. Everything was filled with the simple OR AIN SOF [transcendent light of Infinity]. There was no category of beginning and no category of end. All was one simple undifferentiated light of Infinty. When it arose in His simple Will to create all universes, He constricted His Infinite light, distancing it to the sides around a center point, leaving a vacated [spherical] space in the middle of the light of AIN SOF... After this constriction [Tzimtzum] took place...there was a place into which all things could be brought into existence [Atzilut], created [Briah] , formed [Yetzirah] and completed [Asiyah]. He then drew a simple concentrated ray from the light of Infinity that surrounded the space......The upper extremity of this ray touched the light of Infinity that surrounded the space and extended towards it's center. It was through this ray, serving as a conduit, that the [immanent] light of Infinity was brought down and spread into the entire vacated space.''
Let us extract from the Arizal's words, the essential components---there are three;
1. THE ENDLESS LIGHT-------This Divine presence was all there was in the beginning
2. THE VACANT SPACE-------The Infinite One-G-d, removed or hid Himself
3. THE KAV------- [the conduit or ray]---A graduated drawing down of the Infinite light into the Vacant space, in order to slowly , but surely reinfinitize this space
***HOW TO APPROACH THIS 3-STEP PROCESS
It's crucial to understand at this point, that Kabbalistic wisdom, in general and specifically--it's depiction of the creation process, is not meant to be looked at as something that happened once upon a time in history--and then it's over and done with. Quite to the contrary, all that Kabbalah teaches, especially regarding the creation Process, is something that transcends time and space-----a revelation of holy universal physics processes that are meant to be studied carefully and seen as the templates and paradigms of all that happens in our lives. Therefore, when we analyze this 3-step Creation process called the Tzimtzum or Constriction process, we are meant to extract from the entire process or from its component arts, as much as possible ---as many life applications and ramifications as we can come up with. This 3-step process is the foundation for all subsequent processes---everything that comes after it in Kabbalah and in reality, is rooted in this primordial process.
***UNIVERSAL EXTRAPOLATIONS OF THIS PROCESS;
A CONTEMPLATION
Let us begin to open up a different part of our minds---different than the meditative side that we keep bringing---Let's open up the contemplative side. Before I bring a number of universal life applications or extrapolations of this process, first do the following contemplation; Focus on the 3-step Creation process--as a whole and each of its parts.....Try to come up with as many life-applications as you can [here's an example, to lead you in the right direction----The overall process teaches that hiding oneself...ie... paralleling G-d's hiding... allows for the manifestation of 'the other' ---something other than oneself ]_____________________________
***A LIST OF TZIMTZUM EXTRAPOLATIONS
1. birth process 2. making room for others 3. revealing Hashem's Presence everywhere [despite the illusion that He's not there] 4. revealing that which is hidden 5. nothing stands in the way of desire 6. constriction is the key to expansion 7. emulating this process in our own creative expression 8. being able to carry both sides of paradox 9. single-minded hyper-focus 10. the spiritual growth process of yearning for that which is beyond us
*** A TZIMTZUM EXTRAPOLATION MEDITATION
The 2nd step of the Tzimtzum process ---the Vacant Space--represents an absence and a void [of the infinite Divine presence].... As the saying goes, ''Nature abhors a void'', therefore the Void automatically 'gives birth'. In the Creation process, the birth is a grand birth of all created beings. So we see that a void elicits a birth process---the greater the void, the greater the birth [as we see from the magnanimous of the Creator's Void and the resulting birth process.... The Birth Process Meditation---------Identify in your life a birth process that you are presently going through.....
Know that everyone is usually being born in one way or another sometimes more; in an intense and meaningful way--- sometimes less.....Know that this birth process usually comes as a combination of Higher Divine influences [ie...Hashem determines that you are ready to be slowly and surely eased into a new reality] , as well as your own expression of willingness and readiness [whether you have done this in a conscious or unconscious way] ......
Know also that a birth process will usually unfold on it's own, but you can turn up the intensity by increasing the urgency...ie.. the unbearable impact of not yet being born.....Therefore, do this---Once you identify and realize the nature of your birth process---what it is all about---how far along you are---how ready you are to be born------then decide if you want to turn up the intensity of your Void or your urgency---act accordingly---first in a meditative mode ---projecting in your mind where you are at in the birth process, and where you would like to be-----then make it or let it happen in real life....
blessings
yitzchak
Website: http://www.paradiseprinciple.com/
Email: yitzchakschwartz@msn.com
