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Well if there is truly “None else besides Him,” then He is Sovereign and has absolute control over everything. I am utterly incapable of making myself feel, or think, or do anything, for He is the One who feels through me, thinks through me, and acts through me. I can only witness His power when it overtakes me; and if I feel He is absent, I must know that this is but delusion, for He is always present and it my part only to pray to Him to help me to feel His Divine Presence.
For the first I realized something that I hadn’t thought of before (and please tell me if I’ve got this wrong): The world of Assiyah is the world that is proper to the desires of Nefesh, which spends some time developing the soul in that world until its ready to graduate as a Ruakh enjoying pleasures appropriate to Yeztirah. Then Ruakh elevates to Beriyah as a Neshamah, and so on …
To a perception of SAT (unbounded existence), CHIT (complete perception), and ANANDA (unlimited pleasure) by converting the Will-to-Receive, or egoism, into the Will-to-Bestow, or altruism.
I just realized that the katabasis (descent) through the 125 steps is a process of concretization and incarnation, while the path back up through the reshimot are an anabasis (re-ascent) of abstraction and spiritualization.
As a spiritual practice, I try not to hold out expectations about anything, especially when it comes to something that may turn out to facilitate my personal transformation. Not only does this practice help me avoid pitfalls on the spiritual path – such as disappointment and overweening attachment to preconceived notions – but it makes it possible to approach each new activity with what is called “beginner’s mind.” In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that the essence of spirituality is “to release attachment to the outcome of your work.” This is some of the best advice for the journey of the soul that I have ever heard and practiced, and it has served me well throughout my life.
