Day Six

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

DAY SIX
“And God said: ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature
after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the
earth after its kind.’ And it was so. And God made the beast
of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind,
and every thing that creeps upon the ground after its kind;
and God saw that it was good.”
The Creator created only one desire—to enjoy. However,
this desire is so all-encompassing that bringing us all to the
end goal right away is impossible. After all, we’re talking
about infinite bliss, which is precisely the goal of man’s
creation. So instead, it is done in phases because the desire
to enjoy within us divides into myriad smaller desires. By
correcting them one at a time, progressing from “easy” to
“difficult,” we will achieve infinite bliss, the absolute and
everlasting fulfillment prepared for us by the Creator.
For those in whom the point in the heart (the striving for
spiritual pleasure) has awakened, working with one’s desires
becomes a fascinating journey into the Upper World.
Genesis proceeds to describe how we overcome the
correction phase of “easy” desires, whereupon we must
correct the “difficult” ones, which were “brought forth from
the earth.”
“Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their
kind.” As you already know, the “human being” within you
is being vigorously prepared for birth. In this process, ever
newer desires constantly emerge, but for now they aren’t
used for your personal enjoyment.
“…and God saw that it was good.” The word “good”
means that the desires are truly pure.
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But who can make use of these desires? Only man. So
comes his turn, whereby a “human” is born within you.
“And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image
of God created He him; male and female created He them.”
In other words, inside of you, a “human” is born to rule
over all other desires: “And let them rule over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” All these desires were created exclusively for man.
The “human” inside you is destined to walk a difficult
path before he realizes that ruling over them doesn’t mean
using them for his benefit, for it only harms him and the
world. Quite the contrary, these desires must be used
exclusively to others’ delight, because with respect to the
desires of others, all of us are always free, able to clearly
separate ourselves from each other.
We will talk more about this later. But for now it is
essential to understand that when you begin to feel other
souls around you, you begin to feel like the Creator toward
them. Herein lies your opportunity to be free, that is, to be
like the Creator. Together we will certainly come to this, and
will understand what to do so as to delight the Giver.
Let us return to the situation depicted in Genesis. Before
“the birth of a human within you,” you were filled only with
the inanimate, vegetative, and animate desires. What does
this mean? An inanimate desire is when you want only one
thing—to be still and not think of anything, like a rock by the
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wayside, totally passive, with only a single thought: “Leave me
alone.” Think back to all the times you were in such a state!
A vegetative desire is when you react to external stimuli,
but are not yet able to move from your place, as if tied to the
ground (by egoism). You reach for the sun like a flower, that
is, you now have an impulse to move, ascend, and descend,
like a flower that opens during the day and wilts at night.
You begin to ask yourself questions like, “Why do I suffer?”
You aspire for the Light, wishing to be “watered.” You are
concerned only with your own growth, you consume, you
are no longer a rock—and that is progress.
An animate desire implies movement and searching
for subsistence. At this stage you may connect with others
like you, and band into a pack because together it will be
easier to acquire food. You are concerned with breeding and
raising your progeny.
And then, suddenly, inside of you emerges the most
complex and exalted desire that comprises all the others,
called the “Man within us.”
The word “man” in Hebrew is “Adam.”
“Adam” derives from the word Domeh—similar, alike.
Similar to whom?
To the Creator.
Similar in what way?
Similar to His qualities.
The Creator’s qualities are pure bestowal, absolute and
unconditional love. That is precisely what Adam, who
perceives the Creator, aspires to and must ultimately become.
(We will continue repeating this until these qualities become
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familiar to us, then understandable, and finally, felt through
and through.)
This is what you must become. Only then will you find
yourself in Paradise, meaning you’ll resemble Paradise and its
Master. Further on we will delve deeper into this captivating
topic, exploring where Paradise exists within you, and where
Adam exists within this Paradise.
It follows that only one who aspires to be like the Creator,
and to be born spiritually, can be called Adam (“man,” similar
to the Creator). This is the person referenced throughout
the book. Only those who aspire to this state will learn to
read it correctly. The others will look at the narrative and
see all kinds of morals and tips for making life comfortable
and successful.
Adam is the desire that has emerged within you, the
reason why you’re continuing to read this text. All the
preceding desires no longer satisfy you. Your couch potato
days are over; you are no longer drawn to wealth, and you
are no longer willing to work tirelessly to acquire veneration
or fame.
What does it all mean? A certain point named “Adam”
or “the point in the heart” has awakened within you. This
point is one with the Creator and wants to be like Him
because He is its root.
This is the meaning of the phrase, “Let us make man
in our image, according to our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). In
the original Hebrew, it is written Be Tzelem. Tzelem (image
of the Upper One) is the part of the Creator (the Upper
Degree), which descends into man’s soul and imports into
it the Creator’s qualities.
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In other words, it is the apparatus of the Upper
Governance, in charge of all the souls, their paths and order
of correction. This managing apparatus is directly connected
to man’s point in the heart, the Adam in you.
As was already mentioned, the heart represents all of
our earthly egoistic desires, while the point in the heart
represents the desires aimed at attaining the spiritual world.
This point has nothing to do with the heart. It is given to us
by the Creator and is present in all of us, only it takes time
to awaken.
Why is it only a point? Because the spiritual desires are
not yet developed in you. They are like a baby taking its first
steps. This is why they are considered a “point.”
The “Adam” in you takes his first steps. He is directly
connected to the “parents” (the Creator), and cannot survive
without this connection. He wants to grow up to be just like
his parents.
Through this point, the Creator connects to us and begins
to build His image in us, connecting us to His managing
apparatus.
What is the purpose of this apparatus? It will provide
you with the information about the program of Creation,
the path you must traverse. Without perceiving the spiritual
worlds, you cannot know what to do, what your next step
should be, or what is required of you. This is why you keep
making mistakes and suffer for it.
You are like a blind kitten in a vast world. In order
for you to acquire the qualities necessary to advance, the
Upper Degree must teach you exactly what you need to do
and how to do it. For this reason it issues this auxiliary
device called Tzelem.
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This device is implanted in the soul, where it activates all
the necessary corrections. This is why it is written that man
(Adam) is made in the Creator’s image. Man becomes the
predominant creature, the crown jewel of Creation.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WORLD
“…and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creeps upon
the earth.”
By correcting your egoistic desires (the still, vegetative and
animate), you also correct the entire universe. Remember
this statement for now. Soon we will clarify it, and you will
see that your work determines everything that happens
around you.
Man bears tremendous responsibility over what happens
in the world. Because he doesn’t yet understand it—living a
life driven by beastly desires—he is hardly to blame. When
this realization comes, however, the real work for which he
was created will begin.
“So what’s the deal?” you may ask, “If I start on the path of
correction (first of all, there are no ifs—everyone will have to
start on this path sooner or later), I will automatically correct
everything in my environment.” This is true. All the problems
we see in Nature simply mirror what’s happening within us.
The impending ecological catastrophe, contamination of
rivers and seas, extinction of species, and extreme weather
events are all reflections of us, the egoistic essence that has
enslaved us. The whole world is within us, waiting for us to
realize that we are responsible for everything that happens
in it, and complete our correction.
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For instance, let’s assume there is a rock, and let’s call it
“the Creator.” This rock comprises a certain percentage of
slate, a certain percentage of lime, a certain percentage of
gold, and some other minerals. If the rock were shattered,
what would be the percentage of the composing elements
in each piece? It would be the exact same percentage as
in the complete rock. Because each piece is part of the
whole, its composition is identical to the entire piece.
This is why geologists need only break off a piece of a
rock to learn its contents.
Every one of us is a shard from this “rock,” the Creator.
We are all comprised of the same qualities of love and
bestowal that exist in Him, except we have broken off from
Him. What was the cause of this rupture? Egoism—a quality
that’s completely opposite to the Creator.
How do we return to Him? The moment we understand
that we are opposite from Him, and wish to return to the
Creator, we will immediately embark on the path back to
Him. The main objective on the spiritual path is to build
the desire for it. However, we must experience this desire
thoroughly, to the very end, until it hurts, until we scream
with pain!
Desire is the basis for all things in the world, and
determines absolutely everything. Your objective is to adhere
to the Creator. If you have the desire to do so, you’ll begin
to escape the slavery of self-love and you’ll immediately feel
changes in your environment. There will no longer be a need
to hold conferences on ecology, or “Green Peace” rallies,
worry about endangered species, and so on. Humankind
will understand that the buck stops with us. We must rise
above the ego and begin the journey to the Creator.
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This is the message of all the books written by Kabbalists.
And the moment we rise above our egos, everything will
change. We will finally understand another universal truth:
The Creator created us in His image and likeness, and we
have never left this state.
What does “in His image and likeness” mean? It means
that the Creator (the quality of bestowal) created the world,
which operates under the law of bestowal. Having been
made in the Creator’s image and likeness, we live in this
world and the world exists in us. But it only exists in us to
the extent that we observe the law of that world, the law of
bestowal.
We existed and continue to exist in the “Garden of
Eden.” We didn’t see or feel any of this because our egos
were getting in the way, cutting us off from the true picture
while painting a false, egoistic one.
Man sees the world through his inner qualities. If we are
corrupt, the world appears to us as such. If we are pure, so
the world appears to us.
We’ve been living a lie, but now we wish to grasp the
Truth. If this thought is alive and kicking within us, then off
we go to escape the prison of our egos!