There are four "worlds" or dimensions of reality. We speak of one as "higher" or "lower" than the other, understand that all of these levels exist simultaneously. Ironically, when it comes to the bigger issues in life, people often follow their emotions, rather than their mind - even though feelings do have a tendency to cloud our perception of reality.
So what do we do about it? In karate, different colored belts denote graduating levels of skill. In Judaism, there are also five belts - representing the five levels of intellectual refinement.
Kabbalah calls for an expansion of consciousness that includes all levels of existence "entering into the "PaRDeS" (orchard). The "P," "R," "D" and "S" of PaRDeS each represent one level of understanding to each of the four worlds of Creation.
1. Peshat, the literal meaning, is related to the World of Assiah, the World of Actions, in which we live.
2. Remez, the allegorical meaning, is related to the World of Yetzirah,the World of Formation, the angelic realm.
3. Derash, the moral or homiletic meaning, is related to the World of Briah, the World of Creation, the archangelic realm.
4. Sod, the mystical meaning, is related to the World of Atzilut, the World of Archetypes or Emanations, the realm of the Divine Names.
Since there s understanding within understanding and worlds within worlds, there are also many levels of PaRDeS. Nothing is one dimensional, or easily contained within a single paradigm; in particular anything that has to do with the Bible.
The Jewish mystical path teaches us in subtle and metaphorical ways about the four worlds of self: the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical universes. The advanced teachings concerning the soul speaks of five levels or energy bodies. It is within these energy bodies that healing happens. We will make our own journey into Pardes, or unity consciousness, to experience the healing that is available there. This will aid us in the development of kavannah (clear intention) and "loving presence."
ACTION- Assiyah
the lowest world is dominated by the partzuf of Malchut- the subjective world, where we live with our physical bodies in the physical world of action, including action for spiritual purpose. This is the world of sensible,
concrete facts and their data. Here we are conscious of the physical realm and the laws of
nature as we observe them. Here we are aware of being a creation of God. This is a world
of duality, in which everything is seen as separate, and subject to cause and effect. This
is also a world of life force, the senses, the breath, experiencing freedom and love of
life, being the God-wrestler.
The world in which we ordinarily live, with both our sensual and non-sensual apprehension. This world of action itself is not all or the same essence or same quality itself. The lower part of this world is known as the "physical nature," and of a more or less mechanical nature. While above this world of physical nature is another part of the same world, which we call the "world of spiritual action. This spiritual world contains a rather large number of spiritual worlds. These worlds and their various mansions vary greatly, so greatly that it is extremely difficult to see any unity in their spiritual significance. The domains of spirit that issue from wisdom and creativity, such as philosophy, mathematics, art, poetry, and the like, which are morally or qualitatively neutral in their ideas of truth or beauty and are readily recognizable.
On the other hand, there are domains of the spirit that have a certain gnostic significance, with a different value system, and that thus lend themselves to either a positive or a negative spirituality. For just as there is room for both physical and spiritual functioning of all kinds that raise the world and man to higher levels of holiness in the world of action, so there is also that which makes contact between the world of human beings and those worlds lower than our. These worlds are called the "realms of evil," the worlds of the kelipat , the outer shells.
The domains of Kelipat constitute mansions, and in them, there are hierarchical systems, one beneath the other, with the evil becoming more emphatic and more obvious with each distinct level. As one may surmise, there is a strong interrelation with the world of action. Although in itself the world of action is neutral, in terms of its gnostic implication it belongs to the world of evil, to one of the levels of the outer shell called Kelipat Noga . This is a level of being containing all that is not in its essence directed either toward or against holiness. In terms of holiness, then it holds a neutral position. Nevertheless, when man sinks into this neutral position entirely, without disentangling himself at all from it, he fails to realize his specific human destiny and is found wanting in the very core of his being. Guf (body).
FORMATION- Yetzirah
is dominated by the six middot(the six Sefirot from Chesed through Yesod), which together constitute the partzuf Ze'er Anpin - water, the subjective world of vital feelings; the world of affect, of nuance, of aura, of sensitivity; the world of bodily, instinctual, deeply or crudely emotional feelings. Things are seen as synchronistic in this world. This is the world of interdependence and relationship issues. Here is where our emotional being is attuned, where negative feelings of resentment, frustration, vindictivenss, and paranoia can be replaced by an attitude of gratefulness, appreciation, and joy. Here we can learn empathy,
humility, and awareness of our own mortality.
The world directly above ours and may be said to be a world of feeling. It is a world whose main substance, or type of experience, is emotion of one kind or another. In which such emotions are the elements that determine its patterns. The living creatures of the world of formation, the beings that function in it as we function in the world of action, are called, in general, "angels." The essence of an angel is defined by the limits of a particular emotion. The nature of an angel is to be as its name in Hebrew signifies, a messenger, to constitute a permanent contact between our world of action and the higher worlds. The angel is the one who effects transfers between worlds. Angel's missions go in two directions: it may serve as an emissary of God downward; and it may also serve as the one who carries things upward from below. Ruach soul aspect.
CREATION - Beriah, Briyah(also called "The World of Thrones")Binah is the dominant partzuf - the souls and angels of Beriah are distinguished by superior intellect; air, the symbolic world of intellect, of contemplation, of pure thought. Immediately above the world of formation it the world call creation, which like others includes many different realms, levels, and mansions. Just as the world of formation is comprised of a multitude of spiritual beings whose essence is pure feeling and emotion, the "world of creation" is a world of pure mind.
It is not merely intellectual essence, but rather expresses itself as the power and capacity to grasp things with a genuine, inner understanding. It is, in other words, the mind as creator as well as that which registers and absorbs knowledge. We understand ourselves as being the result of intended, loved, and continuous creation. Here we are commanded to exert ourselves to know and to reach the very edge of what is thinkable and understandable. In this world, we can work with symbols and dreams.
One of the other names for the world of creation is the "world of thrones," taken from Ezekiel's vision of the divine "throne of glory." There are mansions, that is to say, places in the metaphysical sense. Spheres of being within which there is a certain measured rhythm of time, in one form or another, with a relation between past, present, and future, between cause and effect, in which there are souls and creatures who belong specifically to this world. These creatures, the living souls in it, are the higher angels called "seraphs." The seraphs are angels who manifest the higher levels of mind. They also reflect the differences among various planes of consciousness and comprehension, in its particular aspect of mind. Every such creature of the world of creation also serves as an angel-messenger, receiving from angelic beings and the souls of the world of formation. Neshama soul aspect.
EMANATION - Atzilut
Hokhmah is the dominant influence in that world - fire, the holistic world of deep divine intuition and of beingness with
God. Reality is merged; all is one. This is the world were we recognize ourselves as being
a spark of God's fire. It is not we who pray; rather, God prays in us. With God's own eye
we see ourselves.
This is the highest of all worlds, which is in a sense no longer really a world. The difference between the world of emanation and the world of creation is greater than that between any other two levels. It is the edge of the whole system of independent existences, each one divided from the other by "screens." Beyond this screen is the source of all being, where there are no such screens any more. This screen acts as a barrier to the free flow of the Divine in all its purity; it is that which brings about a certain obscuring and modification of its light. This idea of a screen is only an image to explain the essence of the differences among all things.
In the world of emanation, in the Godhead, there are no such barriers and the unity is complete. In order for a world to exist separate from the Godhead, there has to be a contraction of the highest essence. This contraction of infinite wisdom, or withdrawal of the divine, is therefore the basis for the creation of the universe; and the screen the representing hidden-ness of the Divine - is the basis for making the worlds manifest as separate worlds. This is the central imagery of Genesis; -"darkness on the face of the deep." And out of this darkness, which follows from the existence of the screen, the mold of a world, which will be the world itself, can be imprinted. Chaya and Yechidah soul aspects.
Although we speak of four worlds, there is in fact a fifth. This fifth
world is beyond world of Emanation (Atzilut) and is Primordial Humanity or "Adam
Kadmon." This world cannot be explained or understood fully. It is the remote
state in which God and the human soul are identical.
Each of us lives each day within these five universes, and our search for wholeness takes place within the context of these worlds.
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Where Do We Go From Here? ... My Other Angel Links ... |
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Alicia's Web site is my personal interpretation as redacted, cited, compiled, and edited by myself. They are not to be misconstrued as representative of any particular religious organizations, denomination, doctrine, or dogma ... other than my own. I have cited various sources: Adin Steinsaltz book - The Thirteen Petalled Rose, The Zohar - translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon, The Bahir translation and commentary by Aryeh Kaplan, B.S. Ashlag (1906-1991)also known as The Rabash, The Ari- Rabbi Isaac Luria; and Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi; The Master Plan - The Baal Shem Tov's Unique Conception of Divine Providence. |
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