Bahir Verse 11

We face a difficult passage here. Usually the meaning pops right up. This time the meaning lays deep under the surface.
Here is verse 11.

11. What is the meaning of the verse (Ecclesiastes 7:14), "Also one opposite the other was made by God." He created Desolation (Bohu) and placed it in Peace, and He created Chaos (Tohu) and placed it in Evil. Desolation is in Peace, as it is written (Job 25:2), "He makes peace in His high places." This teaches us that Michael, the prince to God's right, is water and hail, while Gabriel, the prince to God's left, is fire. The two are reconciled by the Prince of Peace. This is the meaning of the verse, "He makes peace in His high places."

   We are looking duality and considering God's nature in terms of the aspects of peace and evil. The comparisons continue into the next verse 12. I said this is difficult and here is why. God or the Eternal is. The unity is what we unite with and nothing else. When we look for opposites we will find them and even make excuses for them. This however does not reveal immediately the nature of One. Even the comparison of Bohu (Desolation) and Peace turns out to be a false thread of meaning as well as the subsequent comparison of Tohu (Chaos) with evil. These comparisons are after all false leads. In this case the surface meanings are meant to confuse. This is a practice you will find in much of the literature which lays at the core of Kabbalistic thought. You have to take into account the times and their wish not to be persecuted by the powers that were at the time of their own religion and the world religion they were surrounded by. That is why you will read seemingly obscure references which frustrate meanings. I tell you this in advance because the key to getting deeper inside of Kabbalah as in the Bahir here or the Zohar is to know that all roads lead to the one.

   A side note here. Since the Bahir predates the Zohar it is less obscure. The times in which the people who wrote the Zohar lived were just prior to their expulsion from their homes in Spain and Portugal. They were careful with their writings less they lose their lives as a result of their discovery. This is why everything is covered once and then again and then one more time to hide the meanings to all but those who know. Luckily in these times there isn't any persecution and knowledge may be freely sharfed.
"   Back to this verse. Let's find the way inside of this verse and unite it with the One. We're going in deeper now.
He makes peace in his high places," this is where our thoughts achieve stasis and harmony. They do so because they are united with our heart's desire. This heart's desire represents the core of our thinking. It is what we remain true to. It can be anything that you want that you are willing to let the One produce for you. Each time you let go into this One it moves forward your heart's desire into manifestation. This peace on high can only arise when thought and form are one. At this time there is completion as one returns unto one. The water and the hail mentioned are obviously two aspects of the same thing, in this case the flowing of one into the other as water becomes hail by the action of the wind and the forces of pressure in the clouds on high. The peace that unites the two is the action of transformation. Only in transformation is there no calling from one state to another. There then occurs the peace of union. This peace of union, however fragile still persists as a goal in our exercizing of the one will. The angel Michael is the bearer of these attributes which transform our thoughts along the way. The angel Gabriel serves two purposes. One is that because of the reference to fire,it alludes to the flaming sword in the garden of eden. This is the sword of discrimination which serves to help us choose the thoughts we want to return to and build upon the turn way as in the Garden, those thoughts which do not serve their master's purpose. Example. You want to travel North to reach New York City while passing through New Jersey and you see a sign leading away from your destination. The flaming sword would then rise up and remind you of your goal and you then keep on course. This also works from the other side as in when you have forgotten your way and are returning and must make a choice to get back on your path. The flaming sword may perhaps discourage you from passing through the fires of purification that you need to resume your journey. These fires of purification are things like letting go of the past, forgiveness, and not giving in to fears or illusions.
   The exercise here has been to circumvent the obvious outer references and to unify with our own sense of what it is we need to find out here. The one has been unified in the one is communion with the Perpetual One in eternal connection. This connection has thereby been strengthened and given even more certainty the deeper we pass from the surface into the hidden meanings. Once you make up your mind that you are able to see past these illusions the path once again becomes familiar. Things make sense once more because we are talking about the same basic idea of empowering our thoughts with the presence of the holy one blessed be the name. It is the purpose of this Modern Kabbalah to unravel the mysteries for students so that they won't have to spend lifetimes trying to figure out these surface meanings. It is much better then to contemplate the core ideas which are being expressed. Then the value becomes immediately apparent and can be used in our every day life. Philosophy just for the sake of argument has no place in Modern Kabbalah because this is a philosophy that is meant to be uitilized on the spot. You can take these and subsequent meanings with you quite literally to bank.