It has thus been explained that in the world of Atzilut ten sefirot emerge at three times, which are called gestation, infancy, and brains. The meaning of this will be explained below.
Gestation, Infancy, and Brains of the Back and Gestation, Infancy, and Brains of the Face 73. It has already been explained that the height of returning light that emerges from a fusion through collision upon the partition that contains only the opacity of the root is called the “height of gestation,” which is the height of the light of nefesh in the vessel of Keter.208Since the returning light only reaches the height resulting from opacity of the root level, it can only reach as “high” as the light of nefesh, which is the lowest of the five lights. Since this is the only light that can be contained in such a situation, the vessel containing it is the highest vessel, the vessel of Keter. The reason why the vessel is the highest although the light is the lowest is because of the inverse relationship between vessels and lights discussed in earlier sections, in which the vessels appear from highest to lowest, while the lights manifest from lowest to highest. From the perspective of the three lines contained within it, it is called the height of Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod.209The author of the Sulam is explaining here that the height of Malkhut is often referred to as Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod. However, it also contains the height of ruaḥ,210This is the next light above nefesh. This higher level is contained within the lower level here, which is the reason this stage is called “gestation,” as the author of the Sulam proceeds to explain. which is called the height of Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet, only it is without vessels,211This is explained in the next section. and therefore the Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet must be enclothed in the vessels of Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod. Accordingly, the height of gestation is called “three within three,” meaning, Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet within Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod.