Project Mind Essays

PMF Essay Contest

by: David S. Devor
Project Mind Foundation
Email: pmf@projectmind.org

Expounding on Kabbalah would have to be considered presumptuous, which is at least partly why genuine kabbalists, as a rule, are discreet. To attempt to apply Kabbalah, paradoxically, is less so since, for application, one need have little more than a working knowledge of principles. A building contractor, for instance, needs to have a general command of what the building code requires of him, which isn't a fraction of what a lawyer in the same field would be expected to know. If the contractor runs into a tricky situation, he can always consult with a legal expert. Likewise, those who wish to apply the principles of Kabbalah will do well to seek out an authentic teacher. But more than knowledge, application calls for faith, courage and commitment.

Also, in passing, it should be noted that the word, "Kabbalah," has many usages and spellings [1] but the traditional, Jewish spelling is retained here. Kabbalah, the esoteric, Torah-inspired study of cosmology and metaphysics, in Hebrew, means "reception" or "receipt" and points to the credo that all things created (i.e., all created "essences") have some capacity for receiving the infinite light of Creation (Or Ein Sof) that is responsible for their coming into existence as well as for maintaining and animating their existence.

Potential
This points to the fundamental distinction between Creator and created. Created essences such as ourselves are, in the substance of their essence, empty vessels capable only of receiving. The Creator, in contradistinction, lacks nothing and thus only gives. That man is capable of creating and giving is because his essence is cast in the form known as "the image of G-d." All creatures are distinguished by the particular form that the Creator lends to their essence. That form defines their unique function in Creation just as the form of any tool defines its function.

Since man is created in the divine "image" of the Creator, he is defined as having an unlimited potential for creating and giving - compassionate creativity. By implication, the substance of our essence has an equally unlimited capacity for receiving since, as empty vessels, we cannot give what we cannot receive. Thus the ideal orientation for man is "receiving-in-order-to-give" in which with "head in the heavens and feet on the earth," he can act as a channel bridging the very highest in Creation with the very lowest[2]. To orient our Being in this way to the fullest extent possible would allow us to reveal, as actualities in this restricted world of matter, the unrestricted abundance that exists in higher worlds only as potentialities.

To fully master matter and thus reveal divine abundance in this world implies the total elimination of lack, illusion, conflict, illness, suffering and, ultimately, death. While holy men of various faiths have been reported to materialize precious stones and the like from thin air, no one, including their own impoverished followers, ever seems to materially benefit from such feats. The practical benefits, even from biblical materializations, were also restricted in the sense that they were historically localized in time and place. It cannot be sufficiently emphasized that the Creator does not give paltry gifts. A gift worthy of the Creator would, logically, have to be both infinite and eternal. So it is safe to assume that we have yet to reveal any significant part of His gift to us and that the channeling of unlimited, higher abundance into our restricted world of lack and suffering is yet to be demonstrated.

Since the study of Kabbalah includes the cosmology and secrets of Creation, one could say that to reveal divine abundance physically in this world would be the full, practical application of Kabbalah and the ultimate act of "receiving-in-order-to-give "[3]. (After all, where is the Creator more hidden than in the coarsest aspect of existence, the physical.) As there is little question that the serious study of Kabbalah can reveal secrets both cognitively and experientially, it remains to be explained why, specifically, no material benefits seem to result from this study. For Kabbalah to become "applied Kabbalah," there has to be a transformative interface between the metaphysical and the physical, between the divine energy that comes from above and the form that it is to subsume in materiality.

Vision
As mentioned, there do exist biblical and legendary accounts of direct, miraculous, "ex nihilo" type physical materializations, healings and even resuscitation from death without the intermediary of what we would call "technology." The prophet Elisha is probably the best example of this. Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, open miracles and revealed prophecy ceased. Accordingly, for modern man, the process of materializing new physical realities is less direct (if no less miraculous) and has to come through the intermediate stage of vision ("Olamcha Tireh B'Chayecha "[4]) and, more specifically, creative vision. When, with the help of the transcendent, we come to see clearly what is to come, we can then fashion the matter of this world accordingly. This presupposes, of course, that appropriate materials and tools for the job already exist. If not, these materials and tools will, themselves, have to be "envisioned" and formed.

Glimmers of the higher state of consciousness defined as "receiving-in-order-to-give" (revealing new realities in the physical world) is what we conventionally call "inventiveness" or "creativity" or "creative vision." The principal institution for manifesting this kind of vision is known as "science." But the laboratory, including instruments, methodologies and hypotheses that we normally associate with science, constitutes only its body. The spirit of science is the creative inspiration and vision from which hypotheses are formed and then tested. The problem with science, as we know it, is that its creative component is usually so meager as to almost always manifest as what could be best characterized as "sparks" (Nitzotzot) of vision, commonly called "Eureka." Yet what is needed is a more enduring state of creative vision wherein the whole body, made in the Creator's image, becomes an instrument of creativity - a higher-order mind (Mochin). The soul of science must be enhanced.

A spark is a discharge of energy that is highly restricted in time and space. Imagine trying to run your household appliances on sparks of static electricity generated from rubbing the carpet. Yet this is a faithful analogy for how science now functions. This, incidentally, helps to explain why science has become so bureaucratic and why, on the average, each tiny increment of significant knowledge gained costs millions of dollars. Is it any wonder that scientific breakthroughs are so rare?

In Kabbalah, "sparks" are defined as divine light trapped in fragments of the broken vessels of Creation called "husks" ("Klippot") that make up the worlds of impurity. Impurity, in man, derives from the fragmenting, self-centered short-circuiting of cosmic energy that comes from mistaking the part for the whole. For example, to forget, through chauvinism for instance, that we are all fragments of one, larger, universal soul is a spiritual short-circuit and thus a manifestation of impurity. In this case, the captive spark is our own spiritually impoverished state. While the sparks derived from Eureka, discharge-style, creative efforts are the brightest, most giving and least unclean variety of husks ("Klippat Noga" - "husk of Venus"), the evils we commonly associate with science and technology can be safely traced back to them and to the restricted relationship to existence that the "spark" mode of vision imposes.

Yes, science constantly discovers new possibilities that one would think should be a basis for optimism. Yet while each discovery provides us with new options, solutions, and possibilities, unfortunately, these same options are also available for destructive purposes and we should never forget that it is immeasurably easier to destroy than it is to create. As we move, relentlessly, towards sophistication and complexity, this cosmic law is only enhanced so that while it is thousands of times easier to destroy a skyscraper than to build one, it is millions of times easier to destroy an advanced computer chip than to create one. Life boils down to a "tortoise and hare" race with the destructive hare dashing to oblivion while the creative tortoise has barely left the starting line. (Any scientist will affirm that we have barely scratched the surface of the unknown.) With dangers, on many fronts, growing exponentially, our prospects would be bleak, indeed, if it weren't for our latent, G-d-given ability to access vision from the transcendent, incommensurably, beyond the spark level and, in principle, render the creative tortoise "supersonic."

The level of effort necessary to generate coherent, encompassing, "holistic," creative vision is of an order incommensurate with our present spiritual level. Such effort would correspond to the famous, biblical exhortation to "love your G-d with all your heart and with all your being and with all your might." This happens to be the core credo and prayer of Judaism. We learn from Lurianic-Ashlagian Kabbalah that love means "equivalence," or "similarity of form" or "emulation." (We tend to love those with whom we share values, purposes and methods. Hatred is reserved for those whose values, purposes and methods we revile.) To love the Creator is to align ourselves with Him and to identify with and consecrate ourselves to His cosmic plan the purpose of which is to bring infinite and eternal fulfillment to His creatures. This love can be defined, concisely, as the divine, compassionate creativity that, as His partners in Creation, we are called upon to emulate. So what does this supreme, creative effort imply and what, specifically, is the nature of our covenant with the Creator? What is the biblically defined role and sacred mission that constitutes our destiny and that is etched upon essence, in general, and Jewish essence, in particular?

Purpose
There are many phrases giving expression to Jewish purpose and mission and to the characteristics of the Jewish people meant to accomplish it. Expressions defining this mission include, "Tikkun Olam B'Malchut Shaddai" (total world transformation), "Gilui Gadluto Yitbarach" (to reveal His greatness), "Makom Ladur BaTachtonim" (to make a place for Him in the lower realms), "Timcheh Et Zeicher Amalek" (eradicate Amalek)[5], "L'Or Goyim" (a light unto the nations), etc. The epithets affirming that the people of Israel are equal to this task include, "Am Segula" (the chosen people), "Goy Kadosh UMamlechet Kohanim" (a holy people and a nation of priests), "MeAl HaTeva" (above nature), "Ba'alei Nevuah" (masters of prophecy), "Ba'alei Hashpa'a Nissit" (exercisers of miraculous influence)[6], "Kol Yisrael Tzaddikim" (all Israel are righteous), etc. However, in order to concentrate on the key issue of effort and its transformational potential, these definitions and descriptions, with the exception of one, will be discussed elsewhere[7].

The exception is "L'Or Goyim"[8] better known as "Or LaGoyim" (a light unto the nations) since it signifies the most spectacular consequence of world transformation whereby physical abundance (the infinite revealed within restricted matter) brings about universal spiritual awakening. While mastering matter and totally eliminating lack will have far-reaching, restorative, physical, psychological and social ramifications, its primary impact will be spiritual. We learn from cosmology (ETZ HACHAYI M[9] and TALMUD ESSER SFIROT[10]) and from Hassidism that the Creator crystallized physical matter from pure light or spirit and that we, as His partners in Creation (based on our covenant with Him and made in His image), must spiritualize matter by making manifest the infinite within it.

Abundance and Or LaGoyim
Material possessions, of all kinds, having become universally and limitlessly available to all of humanity will be considered worthless since it is psychologically impossible to covet what anyone can attain, freely, indiscriminately and effortlessly. Thus the only possible remaining objects of our desires will be metaphysical. There will be no further need for cupboards, drawers or even pockets since whatever we desire will be synthesized on the spot, used and, then, recycled back into its subatomic constituents. Invulnerability and our resulting indifference to physical possessions, will spell the end to materialist values and our attachment to the thin, material crust of existence that renders us blind to the metaphysical. This will free our awareness from the waking sleep (Dormita) that has defined human existence until now and derives from our awareness being restricted to the crust of existence. Thus physical abundance, defined as "the elimination of physical restriction through the total mastery of matter," will allow us to awaken to the metaphysical and sacred nature of existence. This awakening is also the chief, hidden meaning of "Gal Einai" (unveil my eyes) and "Or LaGoyim." How else could the awakening of 5-6 billion people be achieved?

To awaken to the sacredness of existence is to enter a state of awe. It is also to become aware (Hakarat HaRa - recognition of evil) of our almost total ignorance of reality and of Torah. All men, without exception, will awaken to their spiritual poverty and seek Torah learning. The Mashiach (messiah), a genius in the Torah, will be universally recognized by an awakened humanity. Those knowledgeable in Torah will be sought out as teachers. Imagine how far from enlightenment and complete Torah knowledge we must all now be if the final emendation (Gmar HaTikkun) will take fully one thousand years (Elef HaShvi'i - the Sabbatical Millennium) of worldwide abundance, harmony and immortality (Kulam B'Chochma Assita[11]) under the tutelage and governance of Mashiach. This era will culminate in the mating of Creator and created (" Bayom Hahu Yihye HaShem Echad UShmo Echad.") implying the infinite and eternal ecstasy of divine unity that is the cosmic destiny for which we were created.

Effort
While it is important to point, occasionally, to the longed-for result of our efforts, the proper application of what Kabbalah has to teach us concerns, most particularly, the efforts themselves. In the final analysis, all effort boils down to the movement of energy - the energy of attention. Anyone who has studied the dynamics of attention (and be warned that few pursuits are more elusive) has come to realize that our attention consists of micro-connections between ourselves and the object of our attention - connections that endure for the tiniest fraction of a second. The illusion of continuous attention is analogous to that of steady illumination in light bulbs that flicker at 60 cycles per second and the continuity of action in moving pictures that flash on the cinema screen at about 16 frames per second.

The act of meditation, in its multivarient forms, is an effort of attention with which men have been struggling from the dawn of time. It is an attempt to bring more and better quality energy (e.g., intellectual, emotional, motor, sexual) to the point of observation in order to sustain attention and, thereby, prolong our participation in the eternal present and thus experience more of reality. The duration and quality of attention necessary to actually perceive the enormous number of subtle attributes inherent in any substance or phenomenon and integrate that data in our mind in order to extrapolate beyond direct perception requires a sustained level of effort hard to imagine. Is it any wonder that meditators of all ages have preferred to turn their inner gaze "upward,"[12] away from the world of manifestation to be embraced by a transcendent ocean of fine energy rather than, downward, toward matter that is coarser and immeasurably more resistant to relationship.

A simultaneity of upper (Yirah - awe) and downward (Ahavah - love) directedness is the ideal. In everyday life, the closest we are likely to come to a single, extended experience combining awe and love is the experience of "falling in love." In our "worship" of the object of our love, we find ourselves transfixed and passive, blissfully carried along by events and "open" in what we experience as a higher state of consciousness. This effortless, unearned state of grace and the extravagant expenditure of fine energy associated with it is sanctioned by nature, as a bribe, in order to favor fruitful couplings for the continuation of the species. G-d, the third partner in this union, contributes the soul that will inhabit the resulting receptacle.

Love of G-d, in contradistinction, emphasizes active self-mobilization and calls for supreme effort and initiative. In the loving act of "receiving-in-order-to-give," giving is the whole purpose while the receiving state of awe is only the means to that end. The ability to channel visions of sufficient coherence and elaboration, so as to enable us to envision and later realize significant material transformations, presupposes a love of the Creator and of His Creation. This will enable us to bridge highest and lowest and thereby reveal His infinite compassion to all. In the process of filling this cosmic, essence-obligation, we ourselves, as a by-product of our effort, become a mind worthy of communion with the Creator.

Mind
Mind (Mochin) is the integration of outer and inner, what we perceive and what we are. This state of "ardent fusion"[13] is also called "knowledge" (Da'at) as in "And Adam knew his wife Eve" (Gen. 4:1). When we "make up our mind" about something, we decide what the significance of that something "out there" has to me "in here." Such determinations are usually temporary since, with time, more aspects of the object of our interest are discovered at which time we may "change our mind" about it. The chief limiting factor concerns our ability to learn about the phenomenon that interests us and that boils down to the effort of observation and the motivation needed to fuel it.

The fuel of observation is the essence-desire that creates a link of attention between ourselves and the phenomenon studied. The quality of that link depends on its strength and derives from the strength of the intention that sustains it. Thus it is "desire" or "will" (same word in Hebrew - "Ratzon") or, more specifically, the "desire-to-receive -in-order-to-give" that determines how deeply we are able to penetrate the obscurity ("Hester") that hides the secrets of matter from us and hence the infinite blessings that the Creator has stored up for us within the, apparently, restricted world of matter.

The body, in its entirety, was meant to become a coherent instrument of vision, an integrated, higher-order mind (Mochin) - some call it a "bodymind" or "mindbody" - integrating outer and inner, higher and lower. Our bodies are not opaque slabs of meat even if we sometimes do feel that way. When we turn our gaze inward, as in most brands of meditation, and deploy and modulate our energy appropriately, we are able to observe that the space we normally associate with our body is alive with feelings, sensations and thoughts. Above all, it is a space for visualization. But for creative vision of some material reality to manifest within us, our inner "cyberspace" or "mindspace" has to become patterned and programmed with the intricacies of the phenomenon being contemplated and mimic it in all its characteristics and properties. In a virtual sense, through its projection of the observed phenomenon within ourselves, we must "become" the phenomenon if we are to reveal the inner secrets of its makeup and be able to use it optimally for the benefit of man.

Extrapolation
The power of this higher form of mind to make use of visions representing natural phenomena is found, most particularly, in its capacity to extrapolate and correlate. If the mind grasps, in sufficient detail and with sufficient accuracy, the revealed aspects of a phenomenon, it can, in principle, hypothesize and project estimations concerning aspects that are hidden by virtue of being beyond the range of normal human perception. Some qualities of a phenomenon will suggest possibilities and constraints in one direction while others will suggest possibilities and constraints in others. Numerous features are normally accessible to perception and each such feature, in combination with others, points to the possibility of still more features. In fact, so many hypothetical possibilities exist, that ordinary mind boggles at all the imaginable combinations and permutations. It would take endless lifetimes to program a computer with all of them in order to perform the factor analysis needed to collate all this data and zero in on the one constellation of qualities that existence allows for any given phenomenon.

So, to discover, definitively, which combinations (and thus which features) are possible and how these possible ones combine to form the complete picture of a phenomenon, we ourselves have to become the computer. We must be able to see from above, as it were, the unique set of circumstances that constitute the being of the phenomenon under consideration and how it connects to other phenomena that are the adjacent components of the larger reality. The closest to this kind of seeing or "accelerated thought"[14] is called, in the world of computers, "massive parallel processing."

In the absence of this sacred effort of meditation/observation ("Hitbonenut") and the higher perspective it provides, we resemble rats in a maze, condemned to see tiny parts of the whole, painstakingly piecing together clues - the isolated parts of the "reality puzzle" that we stumble upon. To compensate for the poor quality of our attention, we develop extensions for our senses such as microscopes and telescopes, and for the poor quality of our thought, devices such as computers. These serve very much like crutches and, like any artificial support that helps us substitute for effort, they tend to reconcile us to our tendencies to self-indulgence and perpetuate them. Worse, they divert us away from considering the kinds of efforts for which we were created and the discoveries to which they would lead.

Extrapolative vision (accelerated thought[15]), possible once intense contemplation passes into the deepest possible meditation, can be far more penetrating and revealing than any microscope, telescope or particle accelerator, strange as that may sound to ordinary mind not to mention to hard-core scientists. This is also one way to explain the accuracy with which the cosmologies of certain ancient traditions, and Kabbalah in particular, tend to anticipate modern, scientific discoveries.

Accomplishment
If indeed we are cast in the image of the Creator (and this is a belief that not all men share), our creative capacity is not only of divine origin but also of divine (and thus infinite) capacity. Since, as microcosms, we reflect the cosmos in its entirety, it stands to reason that the fullest realization of this creative capacity can embrace the finest and the coarsest of substances in the cosmos provided our effort corresponds to the sacred formula, "with all your heart and with all your being and with all your might."

Kabbalah calls an expansion of consciousness that includes all levels of existence "entering into the "PaRDeS" (orchard)." The "P," "R," "D" and "S" of PaRDeS[16] each represent one level of understanding in Torah analogous to each of the four worlds of Creation ([Ak]ABYA)[17] and the four levels of being (NRNCh[Y])[18]. Since there is understanding within understanding and worlds within worlds, there are also many levels of PaRDeS. Total physical world transformation (Tikkun Olam B'Malchut Shaddai) that is the ultimate object of applied Kabbalah implies, also, the ultimate in accomplishment that is possible during this epoch of 6,000 years. As such, it defines human purpose for this epoch that has less than 250 years to run its course and bring us to the Sabbatical Millennium (Elef HaShvi'i) and the coming of Mashiach.

Physical transformation is also hinted at in the popular myth of the "white donkey" (Chamor Lavan) destined to convey the Mashiach. "Donkey" (Chamor) hints at matter (Chomer) while "white" (Lavan) indicates its purification and transmutation (Loven Elyon) whereby matter no longer limits or restricts us in any way. Thus it is the elimination of the restricting influence of matter that will bring the Mashiach and usher in the great Shabbat. The prime function of intelligence is to "whiten the donkey." It is our job.

According to Halacha, all creative labor must be complete by the arrival of Shabbat. By implication, all scientific discovery and technological elaboration must be complete by the great Shabbat, the Sabbatical Millennium. This might seem impossibly soon to those who cannot conceive of phase changes, paradigm shifts and transformations but Judaism recognizes redemption as a swift process once its time has come. Furthermore, we do not necessarily have to await for the year 6,000. Observant Jews, the world over, strive each Friday to wrap up their secular activities in order to embrace the Sabbath early. It is permissible to light Sabbath candles as much as one hour and fifteen minutes before sunset (Plag HaMincha) which, mapped against the 6th Millennium, comes out to the Hebrew year 5942 (secular date, 2181), fifty-eight years early.

In other words, one could speculate that this is the earliest date at which it is destined for us to have completely mastered matter and broken the cosmic bank. Some propose rationales for much earlier dates, even dates within the coming decade, but these are usually based on the idea that the messiah is not only anointed (Mashiach) but also a savior (Moshiah). The problem with this latter interpretation is that in proposing that a savior solve our problems for us, it substantially preempts human initiative, in general, and Jewish mission (Tikkun Olam, Or LaGoyim, etc.), in particular, making a mockery of millennia of human striving and suffering not to mention our sacred covenant.

Faith
The question remains, what kind of people are equal to the creative effort necessary to accelerate scientific and technological development to the required degree? Since we would not expend the effort to even throw a light switch if we didn't believe there was a good chance that the light would come on, mobilizing the "will" or desire of intention for this ultimate effort of entering into the PaRDeS demands an unlimited faith in the possible - a conviction that the infinite is hidden within the apparently finite and that we are meant to reveal it. Who among us are capable of this level of faith? For it is most likely that upon them our future depends.

There does exist a class of people who do believe in unlimited possibilities. These people are small children who we indoctrinate with fairy tales - stories that always end with good prevailing over evil and the prince and princess living "happily ever after." Until they are able to reason and question, we protect children from the sordid "facts of life" known as, "life is not a bed of roses," "life is not a bowl of cherries," "life is hard and then you die," "by the sweat of your brow . . .," etc. Instinctively, we know that children must be instilled with the belief that life is good and must be sheltered from knowledge of what we believe to be the "real" world. Then, around the age of four - the age of reason - we crush them with the news that fairy tales must be put aside as irrelevant, that life and nature can be horribly cruel and unjust and that, in any event, all life ends in death.

The spirits of only a tiny remnant of children survive intact after this uncompromisingly brutal assault upon their most fundamental beliefs. In most, the resulting disillusionment amounts to the almost total destruction (Churban HaBayit - destruction of the Temple) of their world view and an assault upon their own link with essence and connection with the cosmos. Only an exceptional few, much like the patriarch Abraham, miraculously find the inner resources to resist parental authority and cling to their former, utopian ideal. Accordingly, they now belong to a separate reality. Having taken this autistic step backing away from conventional "truth" and thereby rejecting the standards by which society operates, these children throughout their lives will, for the most part, prove constitutionally unable to compromise themselves and play the games usually required for professional success.

Out of step and disappointed with society, these people tend to turn to the world of matter and the natural sciences for the realization of their childlike ambitions and ideals. Children tend to be seduced by the transformative implications of chemistry sets and magicians pulling (ex nihilo) rabbits out of hats. Usually, and only long after they have committed themselves to the pursuit of scientific vocations, do they come to realize how terribly resistant nature is to investigation and how unlikely it is that their utopian dreams of physical transformation could be realized within the framework of academic or industrial laboratories.

Realization
Yet what makes these rare individuals so unique goes well beyond their awkwardness and unconventionality. Whatever compromises life has demanded from them and whatever corruption they may have admitted into their lives, unlike the rest of us, their capacity for psychological and spiritual connection with the core of their essence remains largely intact. Essence is the whole of our potential. But it is the core of this essence that, potentially, is our prime connection with the cosmos and the seat of the most potent desires and impulses of which man is capable. More to the point, it is here that resides our capacity for idealism and faith in the unlimited possibilities inherent in the cosmos. Tradition affirms that this cosmos, against all appearances, is totally benign and was made for our benefit by an infinitely kind Creator. But it is only these rare individuals who really believe it and, in the absence of abundance, it is only conscience that can awaken the rest of us to a semblance of such faith.

Since these psychological prodigies have, within themselves, the key to the PaRDeS, to breaking the cosmic bank and revealing the infinite blessings that the Creator has stored up for us, it stands to reason that everything possible should be done to furnish them with conditions of existence that will enable them to realize their special potential. First and foremost, they should be given shelter from the cynical attitudes and mundane pressures of a world that crushes the spirits of its young. Beyond that, they must be provided with the psychological and spiritual support that will allow them to function in the PaRDeS in spite of the imperfections (affecting levels other than the core of essence) inevitably induced in them and, indeed, in anyone born into this world defined by Kabbalah as "the world that is all bad and the good in it is hardly recognizable" or "the world of illusion" (Olam HaSheker).

We are all potentially perfect thanks to the image of the Creator stamped upon our essence. Yet the vagaries of our development, derived from conditions of metaphysical blindness, ensure that we have imperfections on many if not most levels.

The Jewish prayer quorum (Minyan), requiring the presence of at least 10 adult (over 13 years of age) men for certain ritual purposes, allows for the strengths of some to compensate for the weaknesses of others. These strengths and weaknesses are understood in terms of the Sefirot - the ten, complementary, cosmic aspects that make up any whole. By analogy, each individual who undertakes risking his sanity by entering the PaRDeS in order to creatively reveal blessings for the rest of us, will need to be surrounded by a support team of members whose strengths complement his weaknesses and who are especially knowledgeable concerning the difficulties he is likely to encounter on his journey into expanded consciousness. An important part of preparation will entail constructing, around the candidate, the team of experts who will have maximum rapport with him enabling him to accept, with the fullest possible confidence, the advice he will receive at critical junctures of his journey when he'll be most exposed, sensitive and vulnerable.

Redemption
As the temporal focus for the long delayed function of applied Kabbalah, a specialized building has been designed. This building, to serve as the center from which science will be brought under the purview of the sacred, will be situated in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives where, it is prophesized[19], the Creator will split the mountain, East and West, terminating the apocalyptic war of Gog and Magog in favor of the forces of light.

The holy Zohar refers to the place from which world transformation ("Zipor = Chochma SheB'Malchut") and thus general redemption will issue as "Kan Tzipor" (bird's nest)[20]. The architectural design of the building* reflects this image. It will draw from the world over, the hidden, righteous, lost souls upon whom our fates depend. These are the breakthrough-minded scientists who, as children, substantially relinquished their claim to conventional happiness in this world of illusion to remain faithful to the vision and truth of unlimited, imminent possibilities suspended over our heads in the next.

The necessary elements for the application of Kabbalah are now being assembled but in, parallel, the forces of negativity are also growing. Each day sees a global increase in deprivation, injustice, frustration, rage and despair. And with each new day, conventional science and technology invent ever more spectacularly lethal tools that become available to fanatics committed to kill and die for some narrow ideal. The media fan the flames of this burgeoning negativity by parading the opulent lifestyles of the insular few before the destitute many and by providing terrorism access to the global stage - access that is denied to the message of hope offered, for example, by applied Kabbalah. Yet it is becoming clearer that no political solution rooted in mundane duality will ever deal with the cosmic root of these issues that have been brewing for millennia but are only now coming to a head in a shrunken world.

From within the process known as "the fall of man" (Yiridat HaDorot)[21], we find ourselves on a collision course with the physical matter of this world. Having ignored the spiritual imperative of revealing the infinite within the restricted, we now find ourselves confronted by the full repertoire of possible pollutions - spiritual, moral, ethical, psychological and social all the way down to the physical that are among the ultimate consequences of unrelieved restriction.

The final default, for which we've been able to elude responsibility until now, manifests as the physical pollution in which we increasingly find our noses being rubbed. The age of temporal solutions is coming to a close. The conventional, technology-inventing mind cannot be throttled nor can we forever just burn and bury the burgeoning quantities of unwanted matter we currently consider to be "waste." The mind must be allowed to express its higher potential so that all matter can be transformed at will and all negativity melted.

There is a biblical parallel in the meeting between Jacob and Esau. Jacob had amassed great wealth during his sojourn with his father-in-law Lavan and used it to simulate abundance in order to neutralize the hatred of Esau who was intent upon murdering him. Wealth is the temporal ability to command goods and services that others, less privileged, must supply. Wealth thus validates materialism and its pursuit fixates us on the physical crust of existence. Abundance devaluates all things material and validates the spiritual by allowing us to awaken to the metaphysical bulk of existence. Jacob, in his customary shrewdness, arranged his wealth in waves of gifts aimed at Esau so as to subliminally suggest ocean waves that never end. (This could be what is meant by "Magen Avraham," a dynamic shield of "Chessed" - Abrahamic kindness.) Jacob wasn't certain that his wealth was sufficient to produce enough waves to make Esau succumb to the simulation and so he divided his camp in two so the other half could flee and he also prepared for war. As it turned out, the "shield of kindness" held and Esau's negativity melted. His murderous intentions were temporarily transformed, by this simulation of abundance, into affection and they embraced.

But this was only a simulation. Before dawn of that day, when Jacob struggled with the angel, the limitation of his possibilities, as Jacob, and the very essence of his potential and mission, as Israel, were defined by the injury he sustained to the Gid HaNashe (the sciatic nerve of his right thigh). The Gid HaNashe, represents the level of existence most difficult to transform - physical matter. In terms of food, it represents impurity and the corresponding part in animals is forbidden to Jews. In temporal terms, it corresponds to Tisha B'Av, the year's heaviest day - a day of mourning in which Jews abstain from food and initiatives. But in terms of divine potential, it is considered to be the birthday of the Mashiach reminding us that the highest is destined to be revealed from within the lowest. The name "Jacob" is used when shrewdness, cleverness and other mundane aspects of intelligence and influence are evoked; the name "Israel" is used when our supernatural potential is evoked.

The day he was renamed Israel, Jacob's temporary victory over the primordial negativity of Esau was secured by virtual means - by means of the simulation of abundance. As a precursor to the coming of Mashiach, the people of Israel will secure an enduring victory over negativity and over the illusion of materialism by actual means - by means of the revelation of abundance. Eliminating the restrictive, negative influence of matter will amount to whitening the donkey of the Mashiach and, thereby, providing the means for him to come into our presence.

Conclusion
Periodically, the Jewish people face the peril of annihilation. Rav Yehuda Lev Ashlag (z'l) suggests[22] that these crises are analogous to the process of drowning in a river. Pulled along by the current of history, we bob up and down in the manner of the drowning and, at any given time, can be rescued only by means of the part protruding from the proverbial water's surface. In the time of the Ba'al ShemTov, for example, Hassidism plucked us out of depths of misery and despair by the heart, our faculty of emotion. In the time of the Ari (z"l), Rav Ashlag says we were saved by the head - the intellect.

It is now becoming clear that, in this final stretch of mundane existence, conscience (Matzpun), our hidden faculty (Ma Tzaphun?) is the last remaining faculty by which we can be redeemed. Whatever our personal level of development, conscience is the key to recognizing our essence-obligation to the transformatory and redemptive endeavor that is the subject of this essay and the mission of the "mind tank"[23] that the Project Mind Foundation aspires to become. Everyone, regardless of religion, race or station, can find some way to participate or contribute.

1. kaballa, kaballah kabbala, kabballa, kabballah, kabala, kabalah, caballa, caballah cabbala, cabballa, cabballah, cabala, cabalah, qaballa, qaballah qabbala, qabballa, qabballah, qabala, qabalah, etc.

2. See essay: "FIVE LIGHTS - FIVE RECEPTACLES - The Order of Realization"*

3. See essay: "Condensed Summary of Essence Theory" *

4. TALMUD: Brachot, p. 17a
(Rashi interprets, "Kol Tsrachecha Timtsa" [you'll find all your needs])

5. See essay: "Amalek and The Natural Order" *

6. See essay: "Exercising Influence" *

7. See essay: "Declaration of Purpose" *

8. ISAIAH 49:6, 51:4 (L'Or Amim)

9. Major work of cosmology by Rav Yitschak Luria (z"l) called "HaAri" (the "Lion of Safed")

10. Re-edited version of ETZ HACHAYIM with a commentary
by Rav Yehuda Lev Ashlag (z"l)

11. PSALMS 104:24
(The Sefira, "Chochma," corresponds to the immortal soul-level of "Chaya")

12. See essay: "The Tower of Babel" *

13. Phrase coined by Francois Jaubert

14. "PROJECT MIND - The Conscious Conquest of Man & Matter Through Accelerated Thought"
by David S. Devor (T. Kun) (Indian Rocks Beach, FL: Unimedia, 1993) pp. 19, 34, 38, 53, 55, 60

15. See essay: "SCIENCE CAN BECOME HOLISTIC - A Possible Utopia" *

16. P=Pshat (literal); R=Remez (allusion); D=Drush (commentary);
S=Sod (secret)

17. A=Atzilut (emanation); B=Briah (creation); Y=Yetsirah (formation); A=Assiah (realization)

18. N=Nefesh (animus), R=Ruach (spirit); N=Neshama (soul);
Ch=Chaya (life force)

19. ZECHARIA 14:3, 4

20. ZOHAR: Parshat Shmot, #108

21. See essay: "Falling to Reality" *

22. "Hakdama LeSefer Panim Me'irot UMasbirot," SEFER HAHAKDAMOT,
by Y.L. Ashlag

23. Phrase coined by Dr. Rae H. B. Batushansky Fishman

* Project Mind Foundation
website: http://www.projectmind.org/
email: pmf@projectmind.org