The Kabbalah, with its intricate maps of the spiritual realms, offers a fascinating parallel. Today, we're diving into a specific concept from the Sulam Commentary, exploring how something can simultaneously "descend" and yet remain in place. Sound paradoxical? Buckle up.
The passage we're looking at discusses Malkhut (Sovereignty) during a phase of maturity. Now, Malkhut, in Kabbalistic terms, often represents the realm of manifestation, the "kingdom," or even our physical world. The text states that even when Malkhut "descends" from the chest of Ze’er Anpin, it isn't truly lost from there. What does this mean?
Well, in the spiritual plane, the rules are different. There's no real loss in the way we understand it. The Sulam Commentary emphasizes that there's no "real change or loss in the spiritual space." So, while one aspect of Malkhut—its power of judgment and termination—might descend to influence our world, the essence of Malkhut remains connected to Ze’er Anpin.
Think of it like this: imagine a powerful radio tower. The signal it broadcasts reaches far and wide, influencing countless devices. But the tower itself remains firmly rooted in its location. Similarly, Malkhut's influence extends downwards, but its connection to the higher realms persists. This descent, we're told, allows vessels that had been previously ejected to lower levels to return to their proper place.
Now, things get even more interesting. The text goes on to explain that certain sefirot (the divine emanations)—Tiferet (Beauty), Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod (Foundation)—which were once under the domain of Malkhut during a phase of "immaturity," reconnect with Ze’er Anpin as its own vessels. But here’s the kicker: they ALSO remain connected to Malkhut! They become the nine lower sefirot of Malkhut.
It's like these sefirot are playing a dual role. They're part of Ze’er Anpin and, simultaneously, components of Malkhut. This is where the concept of interconnectedness in Kabbalah really shines.
To break it down further, each of the three vessels of Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Ze’er Anpin divides into three thirds. These thirds then become the sefirot of Ḥokhma, Ḥesed, and Netzaḥ for Malkhut (from Netzaḥ); Bina, Gevura, and Hod (from Hod); and Da’at, Tiferet, and Yesod (from Yesod). This means that Malkhut, at the chest, becomes Keter (the crown) for these lower nine sefirot.
So, what's the big takeaway? This passage highlights the dynamic and interconnected nature of the spiritual realms. Even as aspects of the divine influence and shape our world, there is no true separation or loss in the higher realms. The vessels of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod ascend to Ze’er Anpin, causing the emergence of its first three lights, and ALSO become attached to Malkhut, forming its nine lower sefirot.
Before this phase of maturity, the point of Malkhut at the chest was just one vessel and one light. With maturity, the remaining vessels appear, and the other nine lights enter.
Ultimately, this teaching reminds us that even when things seem to be changing or descending, the underlying connections and unity remain. It’s a comforting thought, isn’t it? Perhaps it encourages us to look for the connections even amidst the chaos and apparent separations of our own lives.
Since there is no such thing as loss in the spiritual plane, now too122During the phase of maturity, although the Malkhut “descends” from the chest, it is not truly lost from there, since there is no real change or loss in the spiritual space. the Malkhut remains in the place at the chest of Ze’er Anpin as before. It is only its power of judgment and termination123In other words, only this aspect of the power of Malkhut was lowered from the chest, allowing the vessels that had been ejected to lower levels by this terminating force to return to their proper place. that descended to the point of this world.124The “point of this world” refers to the low state of being of our world, the context in which the limiting, terminating force of Malkhut “blocks” the divine light from being perceived. Therefore, those vessels of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Ze’er Anpin, which were under the domain of Malkhut at the phase of immaturity and have now returned and become connected once again to Ze’er Anpin, are also still connected to Malkhut at the phase of maturity even after they already became reconnected to Ze’er Anpin as its vessels of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod and completed them. These sefirot of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod also become the nine lower sefirot of Malkhut.125In other words, these lower sefirot of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod seemingly play two roles here. When the terminating force of Malkhut descends from the chest, during the phase of maturity, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod can reascend to their proper place as the lower part of Ze'er Anpin. However, the sefira of Malkhut remains at the chest since there is no real loss in the spiritual context. Thus, the sefirot of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod now lie directly below the point of the chest, with Malkhut. As the section explains, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod now form nine lower sefirot, with the Tiferet and Malkhut of the chest serving as their Keter. This is because the point of the chest, which is the root of Malkhut that was present there from the phase of immaturity, becomes Keter. Each of the three vessels of Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Ze’er Anpin divides into three thirds. The three thirds of Netzaḥ of Ze’er Anpin become the sefirot of Ḥokhma, Ḥesed, and Netzaḥ for Malkhut; the three thirds of Hod of Ze’er Anpin become for Malkhut the sefirot of Bina, Gevura, and Netzaḥ; and the three thirds of Yesod of Ze’er Anpin become the sefirot of Da’at, Tiferet, and Yesod for Malkhut. Consequently, it turns out that these vessels of Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Ze’er Anpin, which ascended from Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya at the phase of maturity and became attached to the level of Ze’er Anpin causing the emergence of its first three lights, also become attached to Malkhut, and become for it nine lower sefirot of the vessels and the first nine of the lights.126Before this phase of maturity, the point of Malkhut that was at the chest was only one vessel (the vessel that would become Keter with the return of the Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Ze'er Anpin) and one light (the lowest light, and the highest vessel, following the pattern mentioned previously that the vessels “appear” from highest to lowest, while the lights enter the vessels lowest to highest). Once the phase of maturity is manifest, the remaining vessels appear (Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod form the lower nine sefirot below Malkhut of the chest, with Malkhut serving as the Keter for the structure) and the other nine lights enter accordingly.
