“When two things are opposite, they become separated spiritually. Just like physical essences become separate when space comes between them, or unified when less space comes between them, two spiritual essences become separate or unified depending on difference or similarity of form. When they are different forms, different essences, they are separate. When they are the same essence, they are unified. Remember this, because it is the first key into the wisdom.” – Rav Ashlag
In his writings on the Ten Luminous Emanations, Rav Ashlag tells us that the first key into the wisdom of Kabbalah is to understand what it means to be unified with the Creator. He teaches us that when two things are opposite, they become separated spiritually, and when they are alike in form, they are unified. We know from the kabbalists that the purpose of our lives is to emulate the Creator, adopting His attributes. But how do we achieve this? How do we become like the Creator?
It starts, simply, by looking at what we know about the Creator, specifically what the Creator likes and does not like. Rav Ashlag writes, “When a person loves everything somebody else loves and hates everything that his friend hates, then you can say that they are unified.” In other words, to be like the Creator, we should strive to like what the Creator likes and dislike what the Creator dislikes.
Our minds are incredibly powerful. They are the gateway to unifying with the Creator, aligning our thoughts and desires with His.
So, what do we know about the Creator? We know the Creator is constantly thinking of others and sharing with them. When trying to be like the Creator, we tend to focus on our actions, asking ourselves if what we are doing is in alignment with the Creator. We ask questions like, “How much have I shared today? How much have I gone out of my way for others?” But we often forget that our thoughts are just as important, if not more so. It is critical to ask ourselves, “How much of my day was spent thinking of others?” The Creator does not think of Himself, and so, when we do the same, we align more than our actions, but our mind with His. Even without acting on these thoughts, just the fact that we are thinking like the Creator brings us closer together.
The simple beauty in this is that every time we think about someone else in a positive way, we grow closer to the Light of the Creator. Likewise, every time we think only of ourselves, we pull away from the Creator. This is such a powerful, straightforward concept that should permeate everything we do.
We also know that the Creator dislikes receiving anything for Himself. As humans, we innately have a Desire to Receive for the Self Alone. We think we know what will bring us fulfillment – money, success, fame. This is what makes us fundamentally different from the Creator – it is what separates us. The goal, then, is to get to a place where we awaken an active dislike for the Desire to Receive for the Self Alone. It’s not just about diminishing our desire, but transforming it into a Desire to Receive for the Sake of Sharing. That is to say, we should desire blessings from the Creator, not to serve our own purposes, but to share more with others.
Through transforming our thoughts and desires to only those of sharing, we can become like the Creator.
Our minds are incredibly powerful. They are the gateway to unifying with the Creator, aligning our thoughts and desires with His. This is the purpose of our lives and the reason we study the spiritual world. As Rav Ashlag explains, when a person tries to understand the thoughts of another person and truly understands them, the union of minds is tantamount to embracing an old friend in the street.
Through transforming our thoughts and desires to only those of sharing, we can become like the Creator.
