LECTURE THREE SUMMARY

LECTURE THREE SUMMARY

The Big Bang Tzimtzum

The essence behind all creation in The Endless was the existence of the Intelligence of Sharing and the Intelligence of Receiving.

Light fulfilling Vessel. The metaphor “He and His Name are One!”

The Light referred to in The Endless world is G-d which the religious community calls HaShem.

G-d is also referred to as Light and/or Energy.

The Vessel from The Endless world is the Soul. Our universe and all mankind are part of that original Soul.

If we (The Vessel) had it all in The Endless, why are we here now?

Why is our universe in existence?

Where is The Endless realm of oneness and wholeness?

Imagine an empty coffee cup as being the Vessel. Think of hot coffee in a thermos as being the Light. Imagine pouring the hot coffee into the cup.

This is how it was in The Endless. Sharing and receiving. The hot coffee is the Light or the Intelligence of Sharing and the cup is the Vessel or the Intelligence of Receiving.

When the coffee is fulfilling the cup, something happens to the cup; the cup starts to absorb certain attributes of the hot coffee.

The cup itself starts to become hot just like the coffee. Attributes of the coffee are actually become part of the cup!

This is similar to what occurred in The Endless.

When the Light filled the Vessel, the Light became part of the intelligence of the Vessel.

When we eat a piece of fruit, the fruit becomes part of us. It breaks down chemically inside our body seeping into our bloodstream.

The Light is the Energy-Intelligence of Sharing.

This desire to share suddenly became part of the Vessel.

When the Light filled the Vessel, a desire to share was now activated inside the Vessel.

If a man and a women have a child, certain attributes of the parents are passed on to the child.

This is similar to what happened to the Vessel. The Vessel took on the same attributes as his "father" and creator. The Vessel wanted to behave like its creator. The Vessel wanted to share all of its fulfillment.

Can the Vessel manifest its desire to share!

No.

With whom can it share?

Not the Light. The Light is all. The Light contains everything. Therefore, The Light possesses no lack. The Light has no desire to receive.

There is no one for the Vessel to share with.

No other entity exists in The Endless except Infinite Light and Infinite Vessel as one. There is nothing else. Consequently, the Vessel cannot share.

The Vessel wanted to be creator because the energy of its own Creator was within the Vessel.

The Vessel wanted to be in control. The Vessel wanted to be the cause behind its receiving.

Why?

Because the energy-intelligence of control and cause was within the Vessel; the Light filled it infinitely.

Light is the cause of everything.

The Vessel inherited this attribute and wanted to be the cause as well.

However, the Vessel was simply an effect.

First came the Light (the cause) with its infinite desire to share and then the infinite desire to receive was created (the effect) to manifest sharing.

BACK TO OUR WORLD

In our present world, we have been structured to think in totally opposite terms.

We believe that if we have a desire to receive something in our lives, we will then get it. We think that our desire for something is the cause and when we receive that something, that is the effect and result.

Kabbalistically, this view is totally opposite to reality.

Everything in the physical and metaphysical world is here to share with us.

The Infinite Intelligence of Sharing is the original Cause.

In order to share with us, we must have a desire to receive it. Therefore, the Light created the Energy-Intelligence of Receiving.

The Infinite Intelligence of Receiving is the original Effect.

Sharing is the cause and a desire to receive is the effect.

Our desire to receive anything in our life does not come first. The thought and intelligence of sharing comes first. Then our desire to receive is activated in our consciousness.

The secret to this cause and effect relationship can be found in The Endless.

The seed and cause behind our own personal desiresto receive can also be traced back to The Endless realm.

Our axiom of Light (cause) and Vessel (effect) in order to manifest sharing is the secret to this relationship.

However, this relationship is concealed in our world.

Because this cause and effect relationship is concealed, we therefore see the world differently.

We perceive the opposite relationship.

For example, let's assume we have desire to purchase a brand new car.

From our limited viewpoint our desire for a new car is the cause and when we receive the car we see it as the effect of our desire.

Kabbalistically, the car, along with everything else in this universe, is here to share with us first. This energy-intelligence of sharing activates our desire to receive it.

Why?

Because back in The Endless world, we, the Vessel, had it all!

Remember, every conceivable desire, every fulfillment imaginable was contained in the Light. And infinitely more.

We had everything.

The Light filled the Vessel with infinite pleasures. Remember, infinite means infinity, everything possible and more, forever!

Therefore, our present desires are simply a reaction, an effect, to the actual objects we are desiring.

If our desires are the effect, then the objects we desire are really the cause!

No.

The only way to develop a taste and enjoyment for a piece of music is to first hear it being played. Only after experiencing the music can we develop a taste and desire for it.

Kabbalah asks us, "how did we develop our taste and desire for the enjoyment of fulfillment, money, power, wealth, success, sex, happiness and other pleasures before we ever had a chance to experience them?"

Why are these desires built into our nature?

The reason, according to Kabbalah, is that we had it all once before in The Endless. Therefore:

NO DESIRE IS NEW

Remember, we learned earlier that the energy-intelligence of sharing was the original cause behind the creation of a desire to receive. The same laws the govern The Endless also govern our world. Just as the energy of an atom is still contained within the jacket, the original energy of sharing that existed in The Endless is also still within the jacket. Therefore the energy of cause is within the jacket. This concept is very important to understand.

Why then do we feel the opposite?

Why do we believe that our desire for the jacket causes us to receive the jacket and not the other way around?

We will answer that question further on.

Imagine a father and son. The father runs a very successful business. The father built the business from scratch over the course of 25 years. Now it's a thriving and profitable company.

When his son reaches adulthood, the father decides to retire. He lovingly hands over the entire business to his son.

The business now belongs to the son but the young man feels shame at not having built the business for himself. He realizes that he has not really earned the business except for the fact that he is the son of his father.

Where does this feeling of shame come from? We will return to this question later.

This intelligence of shame can be traced back to The Endless.

Let's now travel back to through time, back to The Endless, before time and our universe came into existence. We will now answer some of our previous questions.

TZIMTZUM & THE BIG BANG

Why couldn't the Vessel simply enjoy all the infinite pleasures it was receiving?

It had everything!

Why did the Vessel have this need to be in control?

Why should the Vessel worry about being the cause when it had everything it could ever need and desire?

Where did this feeling of earning come from? Simple.

As stated above, the Light fulfilled the Vessel and therefore the Light became part of the intelligence of the Vessel. They became one. The Vessel now wanted to behave like the Light because it was now one with the intelligence of the Light. This concept leads to the next phase.

Now, the Vessel couldn't stand having the Light within it. The reason being that the Vessel was not able to manifest it's new desire to share.

Secondly, the Vessel was receiving infinite pleasures but it could not be the cause of it. The Vessel could only behave like a robot and receive endlessly. This caused a severe paradox within the Vessel because the energy-intelligence of cause was now part of the Vessel. The more the Vessel received infinite fulfillment the more it couldn't stand receiving the fulfillment.

The Vessel began feeling what the Kabbalists refer to as:

BREAD OF SHAME

Bread of Shame refers to the feeling of shame when we receive something for nothing. If we receive a piece of bread without earning it, we feel shame.

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Bread of Shame is another term in the Language of Branches.

This is the evolutionary point in creation where the concept and intelligence of shame came into existence.

(Remember, we are using the word shame but in reality, 'shame' as we understand it is simply a 1% reflection of an infinitely greater energy force of intelligence that became manifest in The Endless.}

This is also the point where the intelligence of free will came into existence.

In order for real sharing to occur, there must be a willing recipient. The Light gave the Vessel free will so that the Vessel could decide to receive its fulfillment willingly.

There can be no coercion or forcing of receiving ~ otherwise it cannot be considered real sharing.

(This is why you will find no coercion in spirituality and Kabbalah. If you are forced or coerced into believing anything, it's not a true understanding and connection to the knowledge and wisdom).

The Vessel could not share any of the fulfillment it was receiving. The Vessel could not be the cause of its own fulfillment. This predicament led to the creation of Bread of Shame.

What then could the Vessel do in order to remove the Bread of Shame from its essence?

Maybe create some other intelligence with which to share?

Impossible. There is only Infinite Light and Infinite Vessel. There is no where to create any other intelligence. Not only that, the Vessel is not a Creator. Only a Creator can create.

The Vessel could do but one thing to remove the Bread of Shame.

THE VESSEL STOPPED RECEIVING

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The Tzimtzum is also referred to as:

RESTRICTION

RESISTANCE

The Restriction refers to the Vessel resisting the inflow of Light. The Vessel stopped receiving.

The words Restriction and Resistance are interchangeable. They will mean the same thing whenever they are used in the course.

When you see or hear either word, it simply means pushing back the Light and not receiving it directly.

No direct connection between sharing and receiving.

The following simple diagrams illustrate The Endless realm before and after the Tzimtzum/Restriction.

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SCIENCE AND JUDAISM

We have just described a chain of events revealing the cause behind the Big Bang.

In April of 1992, newspapers and television newscasts around the world were announcing a major breakthrough in science and cosmology. The NASA satellite COBE discovered microwave radiation that was nearly as old as time itself. This was compelling evidence for the confirmation of the Big Bang theory of creation. Scientists were beaming with delight around the globe.

Stephen Hawking, the world renowned phycisist said it was,

"the discovery of the century."

Upon studying the radiation, scientist George Smoot made front page headlines when he said,

"It was like looking at G-d!"

Unknown to scientists around the world, they had just confirmed what the ancient Jewish mystics knew to be true centuries earlier.

Here are two basic descriptions regarding the origins of our universe. One is the scientific version of the Big Bang the other is the Kabbalistic version of the Tzimtzum that we have just covered.

SCIENCE & THE BIG BANG (From ABC Television's Nightline)

Aproximately 15 billion years ago, before the universe came into existence there was nothing. No time. No space. The universe began in a single point. This point was surrounded by nothingness.lt had no width. No depth. No length. This spec contained the whole of space, time and matter. The point erupted into an explosion of unimaginable force, expanding at the speed of light like a bubble. This energy eventually cooled and coalesced into matter, stars, galaxies and planets.

KABBALAH & THE TZIMTZUM (From the Zohar and the writings of R. Isaac Luria)

The universe was created out of nothingness from a single point of light. This nothingness is called The Endless. The Endless was filled with infinite Light. The Light was then restricted to a single point creating primordial space. Beyond this point nothing is known. Therefore the point is called "the beginning" After the Restriction, The Endless issued forth a ray of Light (energy). This ray of

Light then expanded rapidly All matter then emanated from that point. The infinite giving birth to

the finite.

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THE DEAL

After the Tzimtzum (the Big Bang), the Vessel, made a "deal" with the Light. "No more Light unless I am the Cause for receiving the Light."

"I want to earn the Light."

"No Light unless I work for the Light."

"No more direct connections."

"No more I want — I get." "No more instant fulfillment." The Vessel made these rules. A deal was struck No more direct connections would be allowed.

Once again, remember that we are using simple metaphors and analogies to describe an extremely complex process of cause and effect that occurred in a realm without time, space and motion.

It takes many years of intense study to probe deeper into the actual evolutionary process that caused our universe to come into existence.

This is a Beginner's Course.

Therefore, we are using simple terms like "deal", "direct connections" and "behaving like the Light" to try and offer a microscopic glimpse into what was actually occurring. Keep this in mind as we continue onward.

Secondly, the series of phases that we have just described should not imply that each new phase rendered an earlier phase non-existent. Nor does it mean that the earlier phases simply changed into a new one.

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In our physical world we might say that a new phase appeared in place of the old one or that the old phase was removed or no longer in existence. This is not the case in the 99% realm.

To help the layperson understand this idea a little more clearly Kabbalist, Rabbi Philip Berg wrote:

Spiritual phases embrace each other. When we say a new phase appears, we mean that it envelopes the orginial one. It supplements the previous stage. It may be compared to a candle which lights another,

yet remains undiminished. Hence, every diverse phase is merely supplementary to the original phase.

- Ten Luminous Emanations

CREATING TIME, SPACE & MOTION

To prevent a direct connection between desire and fulfillment from occurring, time had to be created. In The Endless, there was no time. Consequently, the desire to share and the desire to receive occurred as one.

Under this timeless structure, there is no opportunity to earn the Light.

Therefore, the illusion of time was created in order to give the Vessel "time" to work for the Light.

Space was also created.

In The Endless, there was no space; everything was everywhere at once.

By creating the illusion of space, the Vessel would now be forced to move around and work at being in different places in order to reveal and earn trie Light.

Because of space, the world is now comprised of individual parts. Fragmentation is everywhere.

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Remember the deal?

We wanted to earn the Light.

We wanted to share like the Light.

There is no one to share with so the illusion of other individual beings and intelligences was created to give us the opportunity to share with them.

By splitting up the oneness of the desire to receive into parts, we would have an illusionary environment that would grant us the opportunity to earn the Light for the sake of sharing.

If the oneness of reality and the oneness of the Vessel existed in this realm, there would be no other people to share with.

All our energies, desires and fulfillments would be as one.

By splitting up the whole into separate parts, we automatically create different, individual desires to receive.

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All these different desires to receive make up the entire world around us. That is the true essence of our universe including ourselves.

This energy-intelligence of receiving is found in everything including people, plants, stones, fire, grains of sand, stars — even scientists now tell us that atoms have a desire to receive. Physics has taught us that atoms have little things called valences. Valences are like little arms attached to every atom. These little arms actually reach out looking for other atoms to grab onto.

Everything in this universe is made of atoms. Because of their desire to receive, atoms combine together to form molecules which form the basis of every object in our universe including ourselves! Different desires to receive create different clusters of molecules which in turn create the different living and non-living objects in our universe.

Over two thousand years ago, Kabbalah revealed that the essence of everything in this universe is really rooted in the desire to receive.

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The only characteristic that separates everything in the universe is the degree of its desire to receive. The level of a desire to receive is different in all cases.

The desire to receive of a human being is greater than that of an ant. An ant's desire to receive is greater than that of a rock.

The entire universe, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest object, is nothing more than just one of the infinite degrees of a desire to receive that existed as one unified whole back in The Endless.

The only difference now is that they are separated and fragmented.

The physical garments that separate these different desires to receive are human bodies, trees, apples, stones, plants etc.

The physical mass of these objects act as a cloth and garment creating a finite border around the energy of a desire to receive.

If we realized that we and all the people around us were really one , sharing with one another would become second nature. We would understand that sharing with someone else is really sharing with ourselves because we are one.

We could never remove Bread of Shame. There could be no free will.

By creating the illusion of individuality and injecting it with ego, we now have to work at sharing and "loving thy neighbor".

By putting physical borders around all the desires to receive, we then perceive individual parts and not the oneness and wholeness of reality.

We have a real opportunity to earn the Light because we are instinctively programmed to care about ourselves only and not the people around us.

Kabbalah teaches us that humans have the largest desire to receive. There are two energy-intelligences within us. The soul consciousness and the body consciousness.

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The soul consciousness is concealed within us. Its intelligence is to behave like the Light.

The intelligence of the body consciousness is:

DESIRE TO RECEIVE FOR ONESELF ALONE

Therein lies the greatest battle and conflict in the history of the cosmos.

The physical body desires direct connections and instant fulfillment --1 want --1 get.

Me, me, me!

By enclothing the soul with the body and all of its desires, we now have something tangible to overcome when we want to reveal Light — our ego and our desire to receive for oneself alone.

1. By earning Light we become the Cause behind our receiving and
thus, we remove Bread of Shame.

2. By sharing, we behave like the Light.

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Henceforth, here are the rules for revealing Light according to the deal:

Restriction/Resistance of the Light to avoid a direct connection.

We must earn it instead.

No More Direct Connections.

Receiving Light for the sake of sharing.

CONCEALING THE LIGHT

In reality, The Endless world never disappeared.

The Light never vanished.

The Light was simply concealed from the Vessel.

The Light is still here.

The Endless is still here.

Only from our perspective has it vanished.

The entire physical world acts as a curtain that conceals the Light.

Light is the true reality.

The curtain of physicality and darkness is simply an illusion.

Therefore this entire universe is simply an illusion.

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(What's fascinating about Kabbalah is that these teachings are thousands of years old. Only in this century, with Einstein's discovery of relativity and his contributions to quantum mechanics and physics, are scientists finally discovering that the physical world is indeed an illusion.)

Imagine standing outside on a bright sunny day. If we block out the sun by putting on a blindfold over our eyes, the sun vanishes from our view. However, the sun is still there.

If we put up a curtain to block out and conceal the sun's rays, we will have darkness. However, the darkness is an illusion caused by the curtain. The sun is still there.

In order to conceal the Light from us, a series of curtains were put up. One of these curtains is our physical universe.

In order to conceal the Light, blindfolds were put upon us. These blindfolds are the five senses.

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A baby must first be concealed inside the womb of the mother before it is revealed in our world.

Every man-made invention was first concealed inside the thought of the inventor before it was revealed in our physical world.

Electrical current must be concealed in the wires and cable in our homes before electricity can be revealed as the light in the bulbs throughout our house.

The seed of a tree must be concealed in the soil before it will be revealed as a tree.

Michelangelo once said that he

didn't create and carve out a sculpture

from a slab of marble. Instead, he

revealed the shape that was already within it.

Our limited five senses prevent us from seeing the cause or the concealed level of reality. We only tap the revealed. In the study of Kabbalah we come to learn the laws of concealment and how they affect our lives

As we progress into the wisdom of Kabbalah, we must remember this very important concept of concealment and revelation.

THE FATHER AND SON STORY

Remember the story of the young man whose father simply handed over the family business to him when the father retired? The young man felt shame at not having built and learned the business for himself.

Let's now continue on with the story.

The business now belongs to the son. He is the owner. However, he doesn't feel like a real "owner." So, he decides to take a job within his own company.

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The business is so large the employees of the company do not even know him. The son decides to start at the very bottom of the organization.

He starts to work in the warehouse. He decides that he wants to earn his way to the top of the company. He doesn't want his father to intervene at any time. He wants to earn each promotion on his own. Even though he is forced to work at the very bottom of the company, the son is still the owner. He has it all. The son is simply starting a process where he will learn and earn the right to really call himself an owner. This is the only way he can remove his feeling of shame. This is the only way he can really enjoy the pleasure and pride of owning the business. The son decides to spend as many years as necessary, learning and working in the business, gradually moving up within the company.

After many years he finally rises to the position of president. He earned and worked his way to the top. Now, he is the real owner of the business in the truest sense of the word.

Throughout the years of toil and hard labor, the son still had the entire business. He still had it all. However, he wasn't really an owner in the true sense of the word.

We too still have the infinite Light here with us right now! We have it all. The Light is within all of us. We are simply going through a process that will allow us to remove Bread of Shame. Consequently, the Light must be concealed.

Towards that end, certain laws now govern our universe. These laws will provide us with an enviroment that will allow us to remove Bread of Shame and thus, reveal lasting Light.

We will learn about these laws in the next class.

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