Kabbalistic thinking and its practical meaning

Kabbalah is one of the most complex spiritual esoteric systems known to humanity. Contrary to the common opinion among those who have only barely touched upon this knowledge, Kabbalah speaks not only of the Tree of Sefirot (although this is, perhaps, its most fundamental and well-known part). Kabbalah operates with complex models describing entire worlds, lights and vessels, direct and reflected light, inner and surrounding light, reflecting veils and their density or refinement, the collision of lights, falling sparks, etc. Part of these models are the complex interactions of Partzufim (faces or hypostases), male and female, elder and younger. Separately, it is worth noting the sections of Knowledge dealing with language — letters and names, their gematriot (numerical values), their sound, and their numerous correspondences.

This system is laid out in a multitude of thick books, spanning thousands of pages. And these are not banal repetitions of the same simple theses or life advice for a person—they are a gradually complicating description of the aforementioned models, reaching down to the smallest details. It is no wonder that most consider Kabbalah an extremely abstract teaching. However, it remains so only as long as the student misses the main subject to which it is dedicated.

Consequently, it is important to understand: what is this subject? And along with this, we will also find an explanation of what the true meaning of studying Kabbalah is.

Kabbalah proceeds from the premise that all living things strive for the good, and the highest Good is God. More precisely, He is the only good, and all other particular types of good are merely individual manifestations of divine light in different circumstances. We call this striving for the good "Will." Sometimes this same word is replaced by the word "Desire." Although a subtle distinction can be made between desire and will, in practice it is often a matter of translation from language to language and the adoption of one terminology or another. Any "I want" that can arise in a human (or in any other living being) is nothing more than a manifestation of Will.

Will constitutes the primary subject of study in Kabbalah. And, as already stated, since every Will strives for the Good, they become a pair of interconnected concepts that lose their meaning without each other, which is why they are studied together. These are the very light (Good) and vessel (Will) that one can constantly hear about in Kabbalah.

The Kabbalist's Mindset

The real world in which we live is often striking in its complexity and intricacy. And it is not only the external world that is tangled, but the human being as well. The ancient motto "Know thyself!" never grows old, as people truly understand themselves poorly, continuing to learn this throughout their entire lives.

Accordingly, the Will, which in itself must be something extremely simple, takes on very complex forms as it encounters various situations. It is inherent for it to meet internal and external conflicts, limitations, and conditions to which it adapts. The good to which it aspires sometimes seems extremely inaccessible and distant.

In the real world, Will turns into the pursuit of specific goals, the realization of which is perceived by a person as obtaining the desired good. However, any Will moving toward its goal inevitably goes through certain stages in its realization. The existence of a goal implies the existence of certain means leading to it. Different means can serve the same goal, and the same means can serve different goals. Moreover, the same means can be applied in different ways, resulting in different outcomes. All these features make the realization of will a complex process, sometimes preparing surprises for a person. It is also obvious that there is room for many unfortunate mistakes in it: for example, one can choose the wrong means for one's goal or apply them incorrectly. Or a person may strive for a certain goal, thinking that it will lead them to a more important goal, and then forget why it was necessary, continuing to pursue it without any sense, wondering why it brings them no satisfaction.

A Kabbalist, studying the laws of Will and Good, becomes accustomed to seeing their manifestations in reality. The world and the beings inhabiting it become transparent to their gaze, as they understand their Will. One must always remember that pleasure and suffering are reactions of the Will in its interaction with the Good. Simply put, receiving the Good causes pleasure, and its loss causes suffering. And since this is, ultimately, the only thing that interests anyone (how to enjoy and not suffer), it turns out that the Kabbalist constantly keeps the most important thing in the focus of their attention.

Does this mean that one should imagine a Kabbalist as some kind of hedonist, constantly immersed in pleasures? In a more subtle sense, this is true; however, their pleasure is conditioned not by indulging their desires, but by a better understanding and control of them. This is due to the fact that one of the fundamental laws of Kabbalah states: receiving light directly depends on the ability to renounce it (a more detailed explanation can be read in a separate article).

Let us now consider some important features of Kabbalistic thought. What is necessary to develop in oneself in order to master this knowledge?

Manifesting the internal through the external

First of all, one must learn to see in any object or phenomenon that which it is a manifestation of. One needs to get used to, and train oneself to look at everything as a manifestation of something else, something deeper. When something internal manifests through the external, Kabbalah calls this enclothement (hitlabshut). For example, meaning is enclothed in a word—by hearing or reading a word, we understand the meaning it carries within itself. However, the same word could also enclothe a different meaning—sometimes people put different meanings into the same words (not to mention that in another language, the same set of sounds might express something completely different). When we see an enclothement, it is important to ask ourselves: what exactly is being enclothed within it?

A smile can serve as a garment for joy. But could it not also serve as a garment for something else? For instance, cunning and deceit, embarrassment and shyness, playfulness and flirtation? In life, we learn to distinguish between different shades of smiles in order to understand what lies behind them. Try, while casting a glance at various objects, to ask yourself: what is manifested through them? It is worth starting with objects created by man. The answer to the posed question will ultimately be this or that Will, which prompted the person to create this object. Try to describe it. Why did people decide to realize this Will in this particular way, and not in some other?

Then you can move on to the same question regarding objects of nature that did not arise by human desire. Is it possible to understand the World Will that created them? What was it striving for? What purpose do these objects serve? This task will prove much more difficult than the previous one, yet it is precisely by training with such exercises that a Kabbalist learns to understand reality.

Similarity and Difference

The Law of Similarity is one of the most fundamental principles in the universe. According to it, like attracts like, while the different repel one another. Its manifestations can be observed everywhere: in physics, in psychology, and in society. However, the mutual attraction of opposites is also frequently encountered. In these cases, it is a matter of seeking wholeness between separated parts: having divided, they begin to perceive each other as different and opposite, yet they continue to strive to complete themselves with the missing part.

A Kabbalist learns to understand what explains the attractions and repulsions in the surrounding world. In inanimate nature, this is easier to understand, and physics has already explained this to a large extent. But can we understand the same thing in human behavior? For example, do two people who feel an attraction to each other feel it because of their similarity or their difference?

One should look more often for the similarities between different objects, phenomena, and concepts. Kabbalah constantly operates with analogies and correspondences, which are based on a certain similarity. The four letters of the name of God correspond to the four elements, the elements to the four temperaments, the four cardinal directions, the four seasons, etc. The seven lower sephirot correspond to the seven planets, the seven days of the week, the seven musical notes, the seven colors of the rainbow, etc. Can we understand what the correspondence is? Often, to do this, one needs to start with some common feature. However, the explanation may await us at different depths. Sometimes this is connected with a common origin of the first and the second, or with the fact that the second is a reflection of the first in another space, or the first, through its influence, orders the second, recreating an analogous structure within it.

The constant skill of discerning similarity, even that which is not immediately obvious at first glance, helps the Kabbalist find hidden connections in reality and understand what others overlook.

In many ways, it is precisely this complexity of the world that led many "spiritual" teachers to the conclusion that our world is an illusion that must be dispelled in order to reveal the truth. However, for a Kabbalist, the world is not an illusion, but a complex order that drives the fool to despair and brings joy to the wise. Like a book that hides the truth from those who do not know how to read, the world also hides God from those who cannot make sense of it. But it is important to remember that the same book can become a source of great discoveries... Our life is a constant path of growth and the attainment of wisdom, allowing us to reveal this world order more fully and deeply.

Will: conflicts and consensus

As a Kabbalist studies the Will, they always remember that there is no Will that is not directed toward something. Any Will strives toward a certain goal. Accordingly, Wills directed toward the same goal prove to be similar in this regard and can more easily reach an agreement. But what happens in the case where two Wills move toward different goals while counting on using the same means? They begin to compete for power over this means, and a conflict arises between them.

Conflict and consensus are basic categories that help describe the interaction of Wills. However, any conflict can in principle be resolved (although sometimes a solution is reached with great difficulty) if an implementation of the conflicting Wills is found in which both win, obtaining what they desire.

Will divides due to conflict and unites through its resolution. This simple principle explains how collective Wills (egregores) arise and why they can disintegrate. Completely identical Wills act as one and are effectively one, until some distinction manifests within it again.

Studying conflicting Wills and their behavior reveals the meaning of many processes and phenomena occurring within and around a person. When explaining someone's behavior to yourself, try asking: can it be linked not only to the goal they are pursuing, but also to an existing conflict with some other Will? Do not limit yourself to the actions of an individual—ask the same about a family, a group of people, an organization, or a state. Consider how conflicts and their resolutions manifest at various scales, on both individual and collective levels.

According to Kabbalah, conflict in a sense becomes the engine of the universe, triggering the processes of its formation. If the primordial Will, directed toward the Good, could simply possess this Good, nothing else in the entire universe would have arisen — reality would be extremely simple and monotonous. However, at the core of this Will, a conflict was embedded: on one hand, it wanted to receive the Good and enjoy it, and on the other, to be free and independent of it, becoming like the Good itself in this regard. The problem is that you cannot simultaneously be like God in everything, because God is absolutely free, but to be free, you must define yourself rather than take an example from God. This logical contradiction required a long process for its resolution, which led to the formation of entire worlds.

Voluntariness and Compulsion

The previous topic (conflicts and agreement) smoothly leads to another important understanding regarding Will. If I want something, clearly understanding that it is my own desire, I act completely freely. But what if, to achieve what I desire, I must agree to certain conditions that I did not choose myself? This introduces an element of compulsion into my realization. Here, the question often arises: where am I, and where am I not?

If I want to eat bread, but I have to buy it to do so, and to buy it I need money, can it be said that earning money is my will? Is this truly what I want myself, or is it a will imposed upon me? The truth is that in the attempt to earn money in this example, my will is still at work, but it is already deformed by other wills that have placed it in conditions of compulsion.

As is easy to verify even with a superficial analysis, our life is entirely woven from such compulsions. The very submission to the laws of the physical world, the possession of a body that exists according to the laws of physics, already generates a colossal compulsion that constantly influences what the Will will be. However, in each specific situation, it is important to learn to understand this ratio of the voluntary and the forced: often, to achieve A, one needs to do B, and for this, one has to do C, and so on. The connection of all these stages (A → B → C) forms a ladder of steps or a tree of tasks. Sometimes several parallel small tasks branch off from one large task, and sometimes several large ones intersect in one small one, which answers all requests at once. It is largely with such ladders and trees that Kabbalah operates, showing the connection of one will to another.

Kabbalistic thinking in everyday life

Knowledge of the Will, based on detailed models describing its striving and the attainment of the desired, goals and means, conflicts and agreement, etc.—all this helps to clearly understand oneself and plan one's actions. Often in real life, a person is dissatisfied, and sometimes completely unhappy, only because they did not understand their true goals. By substituting their real goals with false ones, or simply not understanding how intermediate goals are connected to the ultimate ones, they arrive at a result other than the one they expected.

In other cases, he knows his goals but does not understand the process of achieving them. He does not possess the criteria to help choose among possible means and applications, or these criteria turn out to be inconsistent with real circumstances. Faced with the fact that reality behaves differently than he expected, he does not understand the reason why or where a correction is required.

Knowledge of Kabbalah helps not only to better understand one's Will and goals, but also to clearly see the plan for their realization. Moreover, due to the fact that the laws of Will themselves are general and uniform for everyone, and only the circumstances in which it acts differ, the same model can equally serve to clarify a wide variety of situations and tasks.