Bahir Verse 75

Carefully we study verse 75. I say carefully because of it length and many allusions we have to separate the core meanings from their surrounding referents.

Bahir Verse 75. Why does the Torah say "righteousness, righteousness" twice? He said: Because the scripture continues (Psalm 18:13) , "At the glow opposite Him." The first "righteousness" is literal righteousness (Tzedek). This is the Divine Presence [i.e Shekinah] . It is thus written (Isaiah 1:21), "Righteousness dwells in it." What is the second "righteousness"? This is the righteousness that frightens the righteous. Is this righteousness charity (Tzadakah) or not? He said that it is not. Why? Because it is written (Isaiah 59:17), "He put on righteousness like a coat of mail, and [a helmet of salvation on His head]." His head is nothing other than Truth. It is thus written (Psalm 119L160), "The head of Your word is truth." Truth is nothing other than peace. It is thus written [that King Hezekiah said] (Isaiah 39:8), "There shall be peace and truth in my days." Is it possible for a man to say this? But this is what Hezekiah said: The attribute that You gave to David my ancestor is half of my days, and peace and truth are half of my days. It is for this reason that he mentioned "my days." He mentioned both "peace and truth" and "in my days," since it is all one. It is thus written (Genesis 1:5), "And it was evening, and it was morning, one day." [The day reconciles morning and evening, and is therefore peace.] Just as the day is peace, so he chose peace. It is therefore written (2 Kings 20:19), "Peace and truth shall be in my days." This shall be through the attribute that You gave to David. Regarding this, it is written (Psalm 89:37), "His throne shall be like the sun before Me."

Commentary: Take the two kinds of light and the two kinds of righteousness and pair them with one truth and another peace. These are the core elements of this verse. Then there is the phrase 'since it is all one.' Think for a moment about the light that every inspiration you have brings to you. Think how your mood and the actions you take are the resultant of your inspirations. You have an idea about something good to do and then you take action. All of your inspirations lead to openings within and without. Let go inside further to derive more light in our own way. The 'literal righteousness' is what you obtain from the truth that fills your mind. It is the truth of your own recognition of how your thoughts affect your experience. It is called literal because the meanings are straightforward, they are clear to the eyes of your awareness. The second type of righteousness is the kind referred to as that which frightens the righteous. Think not of fear but of awe, the awe of wonder that fills your mind that is overflowing with light. This second type of righteousness is not equated with charity in the sense that it is something that you give away to those in need. It is something that you wear as in putting on a coat of mail or a helmet of salvation. Now interestingly enough when the energy aroused by inspiration is gathered inside of our person it collects in your upper chakra or spiritual center and there radiates its influences all around you so that you are indeed protected in fact by these rays of vibration emanating from your good thoughts and their inspirational force. Taking this idea further in the verse above it says your head is nothing other than truth. That which sticks and inspires is the truth of your recognition of the processes taking place within you. It is awareness which is truth because it shows us our own reflections. There we see what and who we are without the coloration of the ego. Next we consider days, peace and truth and the relationships between all three. Days refers to the outpouring of mental substance into physical substance. It is time but it is yet a specialized type of time that is referred to here. When they say that the day reconciles the morning it simply means one is the outgrowth of the other. We see peace between there is the harmony between thought -word and form as in evening - morning and day. First there is the thought (evening), then there is the morning (the word which expresses the thought and is the continuation of the thought in its next phase of creation0 and then finally the day, where all is revealed. It is where the completion of a cycle has taken place. To say that 'peace and truth shall be in my days,' means that what I see before me shall be exactly as I have envisioned it. Only then will I recognize this truth and then my soul or the inmost part of my being shall resound with the harmony of peace. This peace makes you at one with the entire cycle. In this unity do you therefore learn the process and as a result come to know it in more ways as you go along. There is the sense that our purpose is to live each day in peace and truth by becoming that which we are seeking. It sounds simple but the ego has many ways of diverting us from this simple life. Still with reminders of the unlimited certainty of unity we can build each day in this fashion. Finally the attribute given to David is discussed, 'his throne shall be like the sun before Me.' What is the sun? It is a shining reflection of the light of God. It is the symbolic pouring forth from Keter of the brilliance of creation. It is the shining forth of your thoughts now self aware which make your experiences self aware. This self awareness means that your life is full of meaning and you see your pitfalls even before they are able to be of much depth. The danger passes without you having to go through it. This is as David experienced with Saul. Take note here and take heart. All is being revealed.