Shamati, Article 129: Divinity in the Dust

Lesson by Rav Michael Laitman, Bnei Baruch, Israel

December 24, 2006

Bold and indented: Original text of Baal HaSulam
Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
lowercase italics: emphasized words
Capitalized Italics: transliteration from Hebrew

We are reading in the book Shamati, Article #129, Divinity in the Dust.

I heard

“You are fond of suffering. Then he said, ‘neither they nor their reward,’ about this beauty, which wears off in the dust.” Suffering is primarily in a place that is above reason. And the measure of the suffering depends on the extent to which it contradicts the reason. This is considered faith above reason, and this work gives contentment to the Creator. It follows that the reward is that by this work there is contentment to one’s Maker.

However, in between, before one can prevail and justify His guidance, Divinity is in the dust. This means that the work by way of faith, called the Holy Divinity, is in exile, canceled in the dust. And he said about that: “neither they nor their reward.” This means that he cannot tolerate the period in between. And this is the meaning of his reply to him, “I am crying for this and for that.”

We learn that the Creator created a Kli (vessel) called the soul of Adam ha Rishon (the First Man). That Kli was in Dvekut (adhesion), in equivalence of form with Him, meaning in complete bestowal, but without differentiation from Him, without its own desire. When its own desire was added to the Kli, then according to its independent desire it wanted to draw much greater Light than filled it at first.

Since in this new will to receive there was a differentiation of form from the Creator, the Light, meaning the sensation of the Creator left it, and the Kli itself was splintered into numerous pieces. Afterwards, what remained in each piece is only a very small Light called livelihood. On the one hand, it gives the Kli the sensation of existence, and on the other hand, it doesn’t allow the Kli to feel pleasure and the sensation that it can fill itself, until the Kli evolves and each and every soul goes through many periods of incarnations.

The Kli evolves and comes to a state where it asks “What is the meaning of my life, of such an existence?” And then it begins to look for a way to return to the perfect state. This means that the soul or the Kli asks this, but it seems to its superficial envelope that it is a corporeal person asking. In fact, the corporeal person is only the wrapping over the soul.

And then each piece of that big soul corrects itself through work and labor in order to resemble the Creator. This work is expressed in everyone returning to the unity. It’s called, resembling the Creator, relinquishing the self and bonding with others—bestowing to others.

And then it turns out that the souls come together into a single big Kli, as prior to the sin, and then they are filled by that big Light, which the soul wanted to draw upon itself at that time. Now it draws it as reciprocal bestowal between all its parts and the Creator. In this work, each and every one of us should live in this world, and suffer and incarnate, until he completes his part of the soul in bringing it back to the corrected state.

If a person is aimed correctly toward correction, he doesn’t need any suffering even if he is at the lowest degree. If a person corrects himself according to the degree given to him from Above, and according to his temporary situation that gives him the opportunity to correct himself, then he’s happy. Otherwise, if he is not happy with his share to correct himself, it’s not considered that he is attracted to bestowal.

Ideally, what should give him pain and suffering? He should only suffer from the state that doesn’t give him the possibility to correct himself, due to some detainments in the world—if we might say that there are detainments in the world, that such thing exists—where he can not aim himself toward correction.

Therefore, Baal HaSulam says here that the true pains should be pains about going above reason, meaning that I can’t go above reason for all kinds of excuses. This state should be intolerable to a person. But if, somehow, even while being in the dark and in the greatest distance form the Creator, a person can direct himself like a little baby who is drawn to its mother, then by this he gives Him great pleasure and great joy. Accordingly, Baal HaSulam writes that precisely by being in a double and single concealment, by trying to reach the revelation, wanting to reveal Him, so that a person won’t be able to say anything bad about Providence, but still working in the dark—by that he gives the Creator the greatest contentment.

That’s why the pains should be measured not by a person’s sensation, because he may be in the dark and then, accordingly, he feels pain. They should be measured when a person transcends above these pains that he feels within himself, to the pains of love, asking himself why he is lacking love, and why his thoughts and sensations remain within his Kli.

About the corporeal pains Baal HaSulam says “neither they nor their reward,” meaning, that they come without any benefit. But a person should want to rise to the spiritual pains, the pains of love, “For I’m love sick.” These are the pains that he should long for. It means that everything is measured not by self benefit and inner sensation of a person evaluating the results in his mind and heart, but to the extent that he can picture what the Creator has from his every state—either he causes Him pain or gladness.

There is a question of measurement here. How can a person be certain that his measurement is correct and without any self participation, that he isn’t lying to himself? In this world this test can only be possible through the environment. If the environment gives a person values, then only on condition that he uses them objectively, independently, free of using them for himself—independently means aimed towards the friends—then in this way he can measure situation he’s in. And after he adjusts himself towards society, then he can think that he’s also making the right calculation about the suffering; that the suffering are not what he senses within himself, but what he feel with respect to the Creator. And even when he discovers that it’s still for his own sake, nevertheless this test is a true one and it places a person in the right direction.

Question: Does a person who has reached his personal Gmar Tikkun have to return to this world at the general end of correction?

The general Gmar Tikkun (end of correction)—that’s all they are worried about.

With regard to this it is written in the article of Rabash, and also in the beginning of the Histaklut Pnimi (Inner Reflection), part one, Talmud Eser Sefirot (Study of the Ten Sefirot), and in the Ari’s Gate of Reincarnations, that a person should continue reincarnating until he corrects his part of the soul—the part that was separated from the collective soul called Adam ha Rishon. This part corrects itself by serving all the other parts, because a person wants to resemble the Creator. Meaning, he has to be as a giver to the general soul, just like the Creator gives to everyone.

To repent, to reach Gmar Tikkun, to correct himself means to be completely similar to the Creator’s governance toward the creatures to the measure of a person’s share, with regard to the maximum that he can give, being an active, benefiting part in the body of Adam ha Rishon in everyway. This is why we learn that we need to go through four phases: double concealment, single concealment, reward and punishment, and love.

In the phase of love, the last phase of the correction, we have two phases. First, a private soul has to be integrated with all the other souls, and accept them as an integral, inseparable part of itself. And second, after that particular soul has reached Gmar Tikkun, it must be like Rosh, the head of other souls, like the Creator toward them, filling them and bestowing upon them. And after the integration with all their desires called sharing the affliction of the society, of the public, this person is awarded the comfort of the public, meaning that they are filled through him. Then he is granted with seeing them in a correct, complete form.

Awarded public comfort means reaching one's own personal Gmar Tikkun. When that’s completed, he is integrated in the soul of Adam ha Rishon that exists in its eternal, corrected form, at Gmar Tikkun, in the first or third state.

The first state is for creation, meaning in the beginning of the creation; the third state is at the end creation, the end of correction. He sees that in fact, nothing changed, nothing happened. There was only a sort of misleading of the souls, gradual concealment from that perfect state, so as to allow the souls to overcome the concealment and gradually, in their own sensation to discover the perfect state that they are in. Therefore, when a person completes his private way to the end of correction, he doesn’t have to incarnate any more, because he discovers the perfect state and is incorporated in it.

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