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# Re: Re: Soul mirrors/desires

#### Message 02055 of 3835

- To: <BardonPraxis@yahoogroups.com>
- Subject: Re: [BardonPraxis] Re: Soul mirrors/desires
- From: "Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>
- Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 17:45:45 -0800
- References: <3FF888E0.000003.00368@PC>

    Dear Martin,

    >> Here are two passages from some material I have been reading lately
    concerning the Kabbalah and which prompted me to consider the
    selfishness of man and the nature of desires. Have I misinterpreted
    these thoughts or are they simply not compatible with the Western
    Hermetic tradition and Bardonism? Forgive me posting these fairly
    lengthy quotations, but I do not want to distort the intended meaning
    behind them any further by paraphrasing <<

    Don't worry about their length. :) Compared to the *really* long posts
    I've had to reject for being too long, your quotes are next to
    microscopic in length! ;-)

    These quotes actually agree with the intent of Bardon's character
    transformation and Hermetic initiation in general. However, their
    Kabbalistic, and therefore Jewish, phrasing makes this connection a bit
    hard to see unless you're already familiar with such texts and their
    translation into Hermetese. :) Plus, they are focused exclusively upon
    our desires and not the broader subject of *character* transformation
    which concerns more than just our manifest desires specifically.
    Although, an examination of our desires is a quintessential part of the
    character transformation and Soul Mirror process.

    To elucidate, I'll walk through these quotes [and generate a post even
    longer than your original quotes. ;-)]:

    >> "Selfishness, which separates our perception from true knowledge, can
    only be found in man. <<

    Here, R. Laitman has defined at least two forms of "selfishness" -- the
    kind that "separates our perception from true knowledge" and those kinds
    of selfishness which do not separate us. Note that he attributes only
    the form of selfishness that separates us, to "man". The other forms of
    selfishness which bring our perceptions *to* true knowledge, instead of
    separating us from it, are also attributed to "man", the Creator and to
    all else.

    It is only the 'selfishness-which-separates' that must be transformed.
    This type of selfishness separates us because it shifts our focus of
    awareness away from the immanence of the Creator that is expressed
    through each one of us. Our thoughts, words and deeds then express only
    our most mundane, superficial and self-centered desires instead of the
    Divine Immanence.

    >> This is not the case with the Creator because perfection and openness
    define his relation to man. The absence of the Creator is only felt by a
    man who dissimulates the worlds from himself, as if he were hiding
    behind the veils of his own selfishness. <<

    This is such a well put and wonderful statement! :) It is very subtle
    and really contains volumes of Kabbalistic philosophy!

    What he's just said is that the Creator and "man" are not separate. The
    *absence* of the Creator is only *felt* -- in other words, this feeling
    of absence and separation is something created wholly by the individual
    who turns away from the Divine Immanence and focuses upon their
    self-centered desires. It is a self-delusion or blindness caused simply
    by not putting the focus in the right place.

    >> The removal of selfishness does not occur all at once. <<

    The "selfishness" he refers to here as needing to be "removed" is *only*
    the 'selfishness-which-separates'.

    >> In the beginning, the Creator grants man periods of time
    corresponding to lives in this world as an opportunity to elevate
    himself spiritually. Man is master of the whole process. During each of
    his consecutive lives, man must remove a certain part of his selfish
    nature and draw himself closer to the Creator. Man will repeat a new
    life as long as he does not correct himself. <<

    Here, R. Laitman defines what he really means by "remove". What he
    describes is a process of *transformation* through reincarnation. This
    process naturally transforms the self-centered
    'selfishness-which-separates' and the Individual's attention is turned
    toward receiving and expressing the Divine Immanence.

    >> Correction means that his desires termed "body" in Kabbalah will no
    longer form a barrier between him and the Creator. <<

    Okay now, here we're shifting into some deeply complex Kabbalistic
    ground. By "desires", R. Laitman is no longer referring to the
    'selfishness-which-separates'. That category of base desire is not
    included in the "body" he refers to and which he speaks of further below
    in his discussion of the "613 desires of the soul". Instead, the "body"
    of desires he's speaking of here are of the category of selfishness
    shared by the Creator and which actually open us to receiving and
    expressing the Divine Immanence.

    >> When this occurs man's attributes will bond him with the Creator
    regardless of the world in which man finds himself." <<

    This refers directly to what he says below regarding the difference
    between the 248 positive desires and the 365 negative desires which, in
    "man", constitute (Kabbalistically speaking) the "body" of desires
    that fall into the category of selfishness which is shared by the
    Creator and which opens us to receiving and expressing the Divine
    Immanence. In other words, in what follows below, he splits some very
    fine hairs in true Kabbalistic fashion and speaks of those desires which
    are more potent in opening us to receiving and expressing the Divine
    Immanence. The other 365 are also good for this but not to the same,
    overwhelmingly positive degree to which the 248 are. The "correction"
    he spoke of earlier is the state in which the Individual, while
    incarnate, manifests *only* the 248 positive desires. This binds the
    Individual forevermore (i.e., "regardless of the worlds in which man
    finds himself") to the Creator.

    In Bardonian terms, this would be equivalent to the attainment of the
    astral *and* mental Equilibrium of the Elements.

    >> "The 613 desires of the soul are divided into 248 positive desires,
    through which man can acquire a "li chema" intention, and 365 negative
    desires man cannot use in order to gain a "li chema" intent. <<

    Okay, this sequence has to be examined very closely. The only
    difference between these desires is whether or not their expression is
    capable eliciting the "li chema" intention. 248 you can use to attain
    it and 365 are unsuitable. This however does not mean they have no
    value, it's just their relative degree of value that's under discussion
    here.

    >> The difference between the two desires has nothing to do with
    intention. In both cases the intention is naturally and exclusively
    "turned toward the Creator". <<

    As I said earlier, these "desires" are *not* what he was speaking of at
    the very beginning as the 'selfishness-which-separates'. These
    "desires" that we're speaking of here, fall into the category of those
    shared by the Creator and which open us to the receiving and expressing
    of the Divine Immanence.

    >> The difference lies in the power of the desire itself: if the desire
    is weak it will not awaken intense pleasure. <<

    In other words, the 365 "negative" desires are *weak* and do not elicit
    the intense pleasure of the "li Chema".

    >> However, this desire enables one to feel the bond with the Creator.
    <<

    Which means that expression of the 365 "negative" desires does have its
    value; namely that it opens one to "feel the bond with the Creator".
    This could easily be equated with the *astral* Equilibrium of the
    Elements. One has left behind the selfishness-which-separates and has
    focused upon the metaphorical 365 desires which are "turned toward the
    Creator".

    But this is a much lesser value than that attained through pursuit of
    the 248 "positive" desires and, in Bardonian equivalences, attainment of
    the *mental* Equilibrium of the Elements.

    >> The pleasure sensed is called the pleasure to give without
    restraint. That is to say the desire to please the Creator as it is only
    possible to please Him by receiving from him. But since this desire
    cannot be felt with sufficient intensity, it cannot truly give to the
    Creator. This desire exists only at the level of equivalence of form
    with the Creator. <<

    This is the meat of the mystical Beauty of Kabbalistic philosophy that I
    find so enchanting. :) Although this is couched in reference to the
    lesser power of the 365 desires, it's really a commentary upon what
    makes the 248 "positive" desires so powerful.

    At their root, all 613 desires are expressions of the desire to *give
    without restraint*. Expression of the 365 "negative" or weak desires
    allow one to only *feel from afar*, as it were, the *intense pleasure*
    of *giving* to the Creator in sufficient degree that the *giving* match
    one's capacity to *receive without restraint* in equal measure. In
    other words, our gift to the Creator in our reciprocal relationship, is
    our capacity to receive and express the Divine Immanence. The 365
    "negative" desires are too weak in their degree of acceptance to fully
    express the fullness of the Creator within the temporal moment.
    Nonetheless they do express the Divine Immanence to a pleasing degree.

    But only expression of the 248 can bring the Individual up to the level
    of *equality* with the Divine Immanence in which there is infinite
    receiving without restraint and infinite giving without restraint.

    >> All desires born in man are selfish desires. This is the desire to
    receive for one's own pleasure. Only the intention "turned toward the
    Creator" will transform it into an altruistic desire. Hence the
    difference solely lies in the intent. <<

    Here he concludes with a bit of instruction on how to *transform* the
    self-centered desires that typify the 'selfishness-which-separates'
    mentioned at the beginning (i.e., "desires born IN man"), into the 613
    *altruistic* desires mentioned just above which open us to the receiving
    and expressing of the Divine Immanence. Namely, by "turning them toward
    the Creator" or, in Bardonian terms, through the Soul Mirror process of
    character transformation.

    >> That's what makes Kabbalah so important. It helps us transform our
    intent. The intention "turned toward the Creator" is called "screen"
    because it prevents one from "receiving for oneself" and generates the
    intention "turned towards the Creator"." <<

    And here's a wonderful little Kabbalistic explanation of why character
    transformation is such a powerful discipline. :) When we're creating
    our Soul Mirror we are, by necessity, examining our intention behind
    every part of who we are. And then with the transformative work we are
    reshaping the intention and thus its ultimate expression. Once this new
    habit of examining, shaping and directing one's intention takes hold,
    then an internal resistance (or "screen") arises against fulfilling the
    old habit of "receiving for oneself". So one's attention is always
    directed "toward the Creator" and the desire to "receive for oneself" is
    diminished and disempowered -- it's former energy is transmuted into and
    diverted toward the new habit.

    PS: If you read up on the 613 desires which compose the "body", please
    understand that they are, from a Kabbalistic perspective, VERY deep
    statements that cannot be taken at their *surface* value. It's nearly
    impossible to really penetrate the layers of their meaning when they're
    read in translation.

    My best to you,
    :) Rawn Clark
    04 Jan 2004
    rawnclark@...
    rawn@...
    http://www.ABardonCompanion.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis
    http://E.webring.com/hub?ring=arionthebardonwe

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