Question:
I am here to ask about certainty! When do you know that you've reached certainty, as I read about in the article, "Doubt and Fear as a Spring Board"? I keep asking God if I have earned it and he keeps replying “yes” in our conversations, but I don't feel it. I am practicing total certainty, by changing my conscious and talking about it, and speaking of what I know, I just want to know if there is a short cut. Can you help? ~MC
Answer:
In every pursuit in life you have a goal and the process. Having total certainty is the goal, but there is always a process to get there. There are always stages.
As explained in the article, part of reaching the next stage of certainty is having a moment where we don’t feel it and keep pushing through that moment. The kabbalists explain that doing the spiritual work when the Light is concealed actually reveals more Light than even the angels in the upper world! So, yes, we may have earned it, but that doesn’t mean we will always feel it.
The good news is there is a ‘short cut.’ Part of our free will is to speed up the process and arrive ahead of time both personally and globally. A few things that can help us take the ‘short cut ‘ are:
1) True desire
2) A positive environment of certainty
3) The tools of Kabbalah (especially the Zohar)
The Zohar itself states in portion Naso v.90, "But the wise shall understand" (Daniel 12:10), since they are from the side of Binah, which is the Tree of Life. For them, it was said, "And they who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament" (Ibid. 3) with your composition, OF RAV SHIMON BAR YOCHAI, which is the book of the Zohar, from the Light of the supernal Ima CALLED repentance. They do not require a test, and because Yisrael in the future will taste from the Tree of Life, which is this book of the Zohar, they will leave the exile with mercy.
This means, in a nutshell, that a connection to the Zohar is the ultimate ‘short cut’!
