What Does A Kabbalist See?

Question: In the article, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Baal HaSulam writes that all of the worlds are identical in all of their details. What does this mean?

Answer: The whole world is like a copy of the higher world. The material is different, the intentions are different, the fulfillment and the essence are different, but it is a copy of the upper world with the characteristics of the lower.

Suppose there is a flower in our world and there is a “flower” in the upper world. A “flower” in the upper world is a collection of characteristics that have a connection between them resulting in a flower in our world.

A Kabbalist who opens the upper world, opens his eyes, and begins to see this connection. And in accord with the inner picture of our world that is found in him, he begins to attain the upper world and sees the roots of this worldview. He sees that a flower in the lower world is a result of a gathering of particular forces in the upper world, which he is now discovering. In such a manner he has the “branch” and “root,” the “root” above, the “branch” below, and the connection between them.

So the Kabbalist looks at the unique gathering of these forces in the upper world that results in a flower in our world. He calls them by the names of flowers, for example, a “rose” with its thorns and leaves. He understands what to call these things. Otherwise he would have no possibility of doing this.

The language of the branches comes from this. Without it, the Kabbalists couldn’t talk about the upper world, where there are only forces. In order to exchange insights between them, Kabbalists don’t require a language, for they are themselves included in these forces and activate them. But in order to transmit their attainments from generation to generation and to teach, they need the language of the branches. This language is very precise, for they know every root for every branch in this world, and since it has a name, it is clear to them what to call the root.

For us this is a problem. When we open books of Kabbalah, we see that everything is written in our materialistic language. This confuses us and we begin to think it is talking about our world. But the Kabbalists are not relating to this world in any way. Only the physical sciences are involved with this world.

Question: Are there roots in the upper world for all the branches in our world?

Answer: Yes. For everything that exists in our world there are roots in the upper world, but they are unknown to us. One could ask this differently: Are there many more roots in the upper world that have no branches in our world? No, for every root there is a branch in our world. There is no Light or phenomenon in Olam Ein Sof(the World of Infinity) that doesn’t reach the lowest point of this world.

In our world, the Kabbalist even sees the Light that is working within the material, whereas we only see the wrapping, the substance. Whereas he sees the Light, the energy that activates all of the components of the substance, he sees the intention of the creation, the goal of creation, the thought of creation. So behind all of the faces, all of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, he sees the realization of thegoal of creation in each and every moment, either a bit more in the way of suffering “in its time” (Beito), or a bit more in the way of Light “I will hasten it” (Achishena). He sees how this world is constantly progressing, as if it is swinging on the balance.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/14, Writing Baal HaSulam