Часть 4 · Внутреннее созерцание 4

Chapter FourTen kinds of vesselsThe root of all the vessels is phase fourThe first kind is phase four of the four phases of direct light, which is the root of all the vessels in the worlds. This is Malchut of Ein Sof where the first restriction was performed. Prior to the restriction, she clothed all four phases of direct light, which is the meaning of the upper light having filled the entire reality, and there was no other phase of reception but her.Once she was restricted and corrected with a screen, she makes a coupling with the upper light in coupling by striking that raises reflected light. This reflected light now became the vessel of reception instead of her, as the ARI says (Part 3, Chapter 1, items 1, 2, 3 and Chapter 12, item 4).

After the restriction, phase four was incorporated in the screen, and the reflected light became the vessel instead of herKnow that the above phase four is the essence of the vessel after the restriction as well, meaning the phase of coarseness in her. However, this coarseness is no longer fit for reception from the restriction onward, unless incorporated in the screen. In that state the reflected light that she raises is actually measured in the coarseness in her, and according to the measure of the coarseness in her, so is the measure of light that she raises. This reflected light became the vessel of reception for the measure of the height of the level of the upper light (see Inner Observation Part 2).

The expansion of the light and its departure caused the existence of the vesselsHere the ARI sets a great rule for us: “The expansion of the light and its latter departure, caused the making of the vessel” (see here, Chapter 1, item 9). However, we should understand his words, since the first expansion, too, requires a vessel, even before it departed, as there is no light without a vessel.We should explain his words according to what he wrote above (Chapter 6, item 2), that when the first expansion emerged from the Peh of AK, it emerged all mixed together. In other words, the light and the vessel were mixed in one another, and the vessel was indistinguishable before the departure, though it was necessarily there.

The expansion and the departure are equal factors in the making of the vesselThis explanation is a little far-fetched because the term “caused the making of the vessel” does not sit well, the words imply that before the departure, the vessel does not exist at all, but we must delve deeper into his words. Indeed, his words are prudent, for he did not say that the departure of the light caused the making of the vessel. Rather, he says that the expansion of the light and its departure caused the making of the vessel. It means that both of them, the expansion and the departure, are equal factors in the making of the vessel.

The first substance of the vessel is phase fourHis words become clear with the above explanation (items 56 and 57), that the first substance of the vessel is phase four, over which there was the first restriction, meaning the great will to receive incorporated in the light of Ein Sof, called Malchut of Ein Sof. She was completely indistinguishable in Ein Sof and the beginning of her manifestation was after she had been restricted and became a vacant space.In that state, the great will to receive became apparent as oppositeness of form from the upper light, which is all bestowal, and has nothing of the will to receive whatsoever. By this she was separated and descended, and became distanced from the upper light from end to end.It is so because disparity of form is the differentiation in the spiritual, and oppositeness of form is complete separation in the spiritual from one end to the other. Hence, from then on, this great will to receive in the restricted phase four is considered the great coarseness in the worlds compared to the upper light, which is regarded as the ultimate refinement in reality.This is only from the perspective of the cleanness from the will to receive, for all of it is to bestow. We have no further attainment in the upper light in and of itself, as we have already discussed at length in Part 1 (Inner Light and Inner Observation) and we need not elaborate further here.

After the restriction, phase four is incorporated in the screen, and the reflected light that rises through both of them becomes a vessel of receptionDespite all the distant separation in phase four from the upper light, there is no other vessel of reception but her, though she needs the correction of a screen. As she received prior to the restriction according to the measure of the drawing, to the same extent she now receives according to the measure of the rejection. Meaning she receives according to the measure of the light she could have received, had she not been limited in the restriction and the screen [see Part 2, Table of Questions, item 43 for a thorough understanding of the meaning of the words restriction and screen].

The departure of the light from phase four was the reason for the emergence of the screenIt has already been explained in Part 2 that Malchut of the circles, over which there was the restriction, is the root and the reason for Malchut of straightness and the screen in her. It is so because after the light from Malchut of the circles departed from all four phases in her, she drew the light once more to the three phases in her, over which there was no restriction.This desire is the meaning of the correction of the screen so that the light would not expand to phase four in her, but only to the three phases and not more. This happened to her because of the departure of the light from all four phases in her, and her remaining completely empty of light. Thus, you find that the departure of the light was the reason for the creation of the screen.

Phase four is a consequence of the expansion of the upper light. Thus, the expansion and the departure caused together the making of the vessel, since phase four and the screen emerged from themPhase four, in and of herself, is a consequence of the expansion of the light, as she is phase four of the direct light, which is the meaning of Malchut of Ein Sof. However, the light departed from her afterwards because of the above restriction. thus, phase four is actually a consequence of the expansion of the light, and the screen is a consequence of the departure of the light.It is explained, in item 61, that from the restriction on, both of them, meaning phase four and the screen, join into the phase of the vessel of reception. Beside them there are no vessels of reception in the worlds.Therefore, you see how right were the words of the ARI when he said, “The expansion of the light and its latter departure, caused the making of the vessel.” It is so because phase four herself, meaning the coarseness in her, is extended from the expansion of the light, and the screen that is established in her, without which she is unfit for reception whatsoever, is extended from the departure of the light.

The beginning of the forming of the vessel comes from the expansion and departure. Hence, every vessel must first have these two forcesIt is known that all the forces in the upper ones must be present in their lower ones. Hence, since the beginning of the forming of the vessel in Malchut of straightness, which is the Peh of the Rosh of AK, comes because of the expansion of the light and its departure, from then on, every vessel must first have these two causes, meaning the expansion of the light and its departure. No vessel can be formed in the worlds without them.

The substance of the vessel is the coarseness, and the form is the screenNow we have thoroughly explained the fundamental substance and the form of the vessel, which are the coarseness of phase four—the substance—and the screen established in her is the form. From these two, all the kinds of vessels in general and in particular cascaded in all four worlds ABYA.

The second kind is the reflected light that rises from the Peh up and clothes the ten Sefirot of direct lightThe second kind of vessels is the reflected light that rises from below upward through the coupling by striking of the upper light with the screen established in the vessel of Malchut, called the first look. It is written above, in item 61, that from the restriction on, the measure of the upper light that the degree receives is dependent on and allotted by the measure of the reflected light that rises because of the coupling by striking in the screen. It is so because this reflected light connects and clothes the ten Sefirot of direct light.

The reflected light of the Rosh is not an actual vessel, but a root for the vesselsYou must remember all that is explained here in Inner Light regarding this matter of the clothing of reflected light on the ten Sefirot of the Rosh. Especially, that this is not considered actual clothing, as it ascends from below upward, meaning as resistance to clothing in the coarseness of the vessels. Nevertheless, this reflected light expands the vessel of Malchut of the Rosh into ten Sefirot from her and within her, and they became actual vessels of reception, as we have elaborated on it (Inner Light, Chapter 1, item 30).

The third kind of vessels is the reflected light that is inverted from the Peh downward and clothes the ten Sefirot of the Guf to the TaburThe third kind of vessels is the one brought above (item 65), that the reflected light of the Rosh, which is the above-mentioned second kind, though it is not at all clothing in and of itself, it is nonetheless inverted and becomes an actual vessel of reception. This third kind is always called the Guf of the Partzuf, and the above-mentioned second kind is always called the Rosh of the Partzuf.

The fourth kind is the vessels from the Tabur downThe fourth kind is the vessels below the Tabur, regarded as ten Sefirot of reflected light that have no direct light. The issue of the above-mentioned third kind applies only through the Tabur, the place of the first nine Sefirot of the Guf. However, from the Tabur down, which is the place of Malchut of the Guf, they are not regarded as vessels of reception.

The rejection and the clothing that the screen caused in the Rosh in potential manifested in practice in the Guf, the clothing from Peh to Tabur, and the rejection from the Tabur downThe reason is that the Rosh and the Guf are regarded as the relation of the “potential” to the “actual,” where everything that is included in the Rosh as potential manifests in practice in the Guf. Hence, these two operations that the screen causes in the ten Sefirot of Rosh, namely the detainment of the upper light so it does not expand into phase four, which is Malchut, and the clothing it performed by the force of the ascending reflected light, where both only in “potential” in the Rosh.However, the place of the manifestation of these two operations is in the Guf. The potential clothing that was in the Rosh manifests in practice above the Tabur of the Guf, and the phase of detainment into Malchut manifests in actuality below Tabur of the Guf.

The fifth kind is the vessels of the first expansion, called coarse lightThe fifth kind is vessels that were emptied of the upper light, called coarse light. After the ten Sefirot of the Guf expanded from the Peh of AK to the Tabur as the third kind (see item 68), the upper light departed from within them once again, and the vessels remained empty of light.There is a big difference here. Although in the above first expansion they are discerned as actual vessels of reception (item 68), they are nevertheless not regarded as real vessels yet because of the great importance that the vessels have there, as is written here in Inner Light (Chapter 6, item 5). This is why the ARI says there that the vessels and the light within them are mixed. However, after the light departs from there, their coarseness becomes apparent, and a difference is made between the light and the vessel. That is why these vessels are called coarse light.

The sixth kind is vessels that were emptied of their lights, and the records that remained sustain themThe sixth kind is vessels that were emptied after the departure, and records from the lights that departed remained in them. The records sustain and revive the vessels to make them suitable to acquire their lights as in the beginning. Also, they shine to the Partzuf after them, as the ARI says here (Chapter 2, item 1 and item 8, and Chapter 4, item 2).

The seventh kind is vessels that were emptied and no records were left in themThe seventh kind is vessels that were emptied after the departure and no records of the lights that departed were left in them. They are the last phases of every Partzuf and expansion, because the last phase does not leave a record, as the ARI says (Chapter 2, item 6). This is the same as has been explained above (item 43).

The eighth kind is vessels that were qualified for the purpose of the next Partzuf, which follows itThe eighth kind is the phase of vessels that were prepared and qualified in the Partzuf for the purpose of the next Partzuf, which follows it, brought in the ARI’s words (Chapter 4, item 6). Even the vessel of Keter, which the ARI says there that it was not made in the first Partzuf, but only in the following Partzuf, the phase of the vessel of Keter from the male phase was nevertheless prepared from the first Partzuf, as is explained in the Inner Light.

The above kind of vessels is the male vessels in the next PartzufThis above-mentioned eighth kind is the male vessels for the purpose of the next Partzuf. They come from the records that the lights left in the vessels after their departure. The male vessels were made from the coarse light contained in these records (see Inner Light, Chapter 2, item 3).

The ninth kind is vessels that were prepared in the Partzuf for the female vessels for the following PartzufThe ninth kind is the vessels for the females that were prepared in the first Partzuf for the purpose of the following Partzuf. They were made of the sparks that fall into the empty vessels after the light departed from them, which come from the illumination of the coupling in the upper phase of the empty vessel, as the ARI says (Chapter 4, item 3).In the next Partzuf, the lights change, and the light of Hochma comes in the vessel of Keter, the light of Bina in the vessel of Hochma, and the light of ZA in the vessel of Bina, etc. Hence, they needed vessels there that will be equal to their own phase. For this reason, these sparks had been prepared. The sparks that fell from the level of Bina into the empty vessel of the level of Hochma became the vessel for the light of Bina, which comes in the vessel of Hochma. Similarly, the sparks that fell from the level of ZA into the vessel of the level of Bina became a vessel for the light of ZA, which comes in the vessel of Bina, and so on similarly.

The tenth kind is the external vessels for the surrounding lightThe tenth kind is the external vessels for surrounding light. No surrounding light is received in a degree unless it is received from its upper phase, from its opposite phase in the Rosh.Hence, it needs a vessel suitable for this light, meaning the vessel should also be from the upper phase, from its opposite phase in the Rosh. If the degree is from phase four, it needs a vessel that will be from phase three; if it is from phase three, then it needs a vessel that will be from phase two, etc. Therefore, the vessels of surrounding light were called “external vessels” because from the perspective of the vessels, it is always considered that the more refined is more external (see Inner Light, Chapter 5, item 15).

The above vessels come into the degree during the refinementThese external vessels are attained in the degree only by ascending to the degree above it. This is done during the ascent of the lights to the emanator, as the ARI says here (Chapter 6, item 15), see there in Inner Light.