Friday, September 22, 2006

Bahir 162

We receive further clarification on the preceding verse 161 here just in case we've missed the point the first time around.

Verse 162. What is this like? A king had a beautiful daughter, and others desired her. The king knew about it, but could not fight those who wanted to bring his daughter to evil ways. He came to his house and warned her, saying, "My daughter, do not pay attention to the words of these enemies and they will not be able to overcome you. Do not leave the house, but do all your work at home. Do not sit idle, even for a single moment. Then they will not be able to see you and harm you." They have one Attribute which causes them to leave aside every good way and choose every evil way. When they see a person directing himself along a good way, they hate him. What is [this Attribute]? It is the Satan. This teaches us that the Blessed Holy One has an Attribute whose name is Evil. It is to the north of the Blessed Holy One, as it is written (Jeremiah 1:14), "From the north will Evil come forth, upon all the inhabitants of the earth." Any evil that comes to all the inhabitants of the earth comes from the north.

Commentary: The King represents the above and the daughter the body. The King is Hashem or his angels of awareness that reside in you in order to provide your connection to the most holy within you. What are these enemies of the daughter? They are the thoughts that come from the north, from Satan, from chaos. These thoughts cause a person to stray from the King who resides over all things most notably Torah. Blessings will be given you in accordance with your capacity to receive. This capacity to receive is linked irrevocably with your capacity to restrict the flow of the Yetzer Hara in terms of taking your attention in this case away from the King. The wants to speak with and shower affection upon his daughter but he realizes that there are 'evil' influences that are vying for the King's attention. Satan represents the outer world of reaction. Our eyes and ears take in the sights and sounds of this outer world and because of this we are led astray into thinking that this outer world is all there is. The King says stay at home and do all your work at home. Home is your inner palace of holiness where you are constantly in touch with the King. Torah is the King in terms of providing every avenue for your well being through its study and through your interaction with it surrounding your providing as we have said previously a background for thoughts to make their connection to. There is only one way to improve upon the lot of your existence and that is to expand your mind from within, to expand upon the pathways that are already present in Torah while receiving the inspiration that improves your daily experiences.

The terms can become confusing such as Satan or the evil inclination or the Tree of Knowledge which are tied together as the concept of chaos. Think of it as the force of entropy The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.Basically what this is saying is that our world around us is constantly subjected to chaos. It is only when we introduce the inner dimension of Torah along with its outward written form that we achieve a coherent state of existence. The King tells his daughter, 'do not sit idle even for a single moment.' The adjuration is to constantly seek connection within based upon the truth of Torah. Torah then becomes a constant for self reflection for continuing self discovery.

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