Why the Will to Receive Defines Matter and Equating of Form Unites

Petichah LeChokhmat HaKabbalah, Baal HaSulam's twentieth-century introduction to the wisdom of Kabbalah, holds two passages on how the spiritual and material realms are structurally distinguished and how spiritual entities merge with each other. One passage explains that the degree of will-to-receive determines whether something is corporeal or spiritual, with the fully-formed fourth-level will-to-receive defining the material world and the worlds of Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya defined as spiritual by their transcendence of this measure. The other passage explains equating of form, the structural principle by which spiritual entities with similar nature merge into one, with the partition of the body rising to the mouth of the head through purification of opacity to produce a fusion through collision yielding the Ab partzuf of Adam Kadmon.

Both passages share one structural claim. The cosmic system distinguishes and unifies through specific operational mechanisms based on will-to-receive and equating of form rather than through arbitrary categories.

What it means for the fourth-level will-to-receive to define matter

Petichah's account of will-to-receive opens with the structural distinction. Kabbalah hinges on the concept of the will to receive. We take in information, experience pleasure, crave connection. The degree of this desire to receive determines whether something is spiritual or corporeal.

Anything that has a fully-formed will-to-receive in all its facets, reaching what is described as the fourth level, is considered corporeal. The Kabbalistic tradition records that this is the level existing in everything visible to us in this world. It is the deep-seated instinctual drive to acquire and possess. Everything that transcends this ultimate measure of the will-to-receive is considered spirituality. This includes the worlds of Atzilut (Emanation), Beria (Creation), Yetzira (Formation), and Asiya (Actualization).

Why the four spiritual worlds transcend the fourth-level measure

Our world is saturated with the will-to-receive. It is the driving force behind much of what we do. Beyond it lie realms where the desire to receive is diminished, replaced by something else, a desire to give, to connect, to simply be. The structural transition from material to spiritual is operational. It is not a metaphysical preference. It is the actual change in the degree of will-to-receive that defines the entity's location in the cosmic hierarchy.

The line between physical and spiritual is not a solid wall. It is a permeable membrane. By understanding the nature of one's own will-to-receive, the reader can begin to glimpse what lies beyond. The structural fact is that the spiritual worlds are not far away. They are accessible through the transformation of will-to-receive that the structural design permits.

What it means for equating of form to merge spiritual entities

Petichah's account of equating of form takes up the parallel structural mechanism. When two things share a similar nature, a similar essence, they naturally gravitate toward each other. The Petichah records that equating of form is what allows spiritual entities to merge, to unify into a single whole. Like two drops of water merging into one larger drop, on the spiritual plane.

The mechanism operates through specific Kabbalistic concepts. The partition of the body and the partition of the mouth of the head are aspects of spiritual structure. Once the partition of the body has been purified of its opacity, its limitations and imperfections, it can achieve a form equal to the partition of the head. The structural condition for merger is the equating of form.

How the partition of the body rises to the mouth of the head

When equating of form is achieved, the partition of the body becomes incorporated within the partition of the head, literally becoming one with it. Nothing is left to divide them, no separation. This is referred to as the partition of the body rising to the mouth of the head. The structural process is operational.

The story does not end there. Because the partition of the body is now part of the partition of the head, it is included in fusion through collision. This is a process of dynamic interaction and renewal. Through fusion through collision, a new structure emerges, a new configuration of the ten sefirot. This new structure is called Ab of Adam Kadmon, or the partzuf of Chokhma of Adam Kadmon. This new partzuf is considered a son, an offspring of the first partzuf of Adam Kadmon. The structural continuity and evolution of the divine plan operate through these specific mergers.

How will-to-receive and equating of form share one structural principle

The two passages converge on the same kind of structural mechanism. The cosmic system distinguishes through will-to-receive and unifies through equating of form. Both operations are specific and operational. The fourth-level will-to-receive defines matter. The equating of form merges spiritual entities. The structural design uses these specific operational principles rather than arbitrary categories.

The Petichah tradition teaches the reader that the same principles operate in their own spiritual development. Through purification and striving for higher understanding, they too can rise above their limitations and become incorporated into something greater than themselves. New structures of wisdom and understanding can emerge within them, making them, in a sense, offspring of the Divine. The two passages close with a composite image. A fourth-level will-to-receive defining the material world below the spiritual worlds of Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya. A partition of the body purified of opacity rising to the partition of the head through equating of form and producing the Ab partzuf of Adam Kadmon through fusion through collision. A reader, situated within both structural mechanisms, recognizing that their own transformation can follow the operational paths the Petichah documents.