The Flow of Divine Emanation

The emanation of divine light flows downwards through the ten levels of the sefirot, eventually reaching Malkhut, the lowest sefira, and from there to the worlds below, including our world. (For background, please refer to “The Sefirot – Part I,” posted on 30 July 2009, “The Four Worlds – Part I,” posted on 16 August 2009, and “The Sefirot – Part II,” posted on 7 October 2009.) Whereas in the upper world there are multiple channels through which the divine energy may flow (see the sefirot diagram posted on 10 July 2011), the final step – from Yesod to Malkhut – is the only path by which the blessings from above can reach the world below, and if that connection were severed or obstructed, the flow would cease, or slow to a trickle.

What determines the direction and rate of flow of the divine energy to our world? It is human actions and human speech. Divine blessings are poised to rain down upon us, but we must take the initiative. Thus, the Talmud states that the ministering angels in heaven above do not begin to sing until we humans do so first (Chullin 91b). Also, the Torah tells us that if we follow God’s commandments, He will give us rain in its season, but if we do evil, He will “stop up the heavens, and there will be no rain” (Deuteronomy 11:17). We determine our fate. Our world is like the Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil, and it is our words and our actions that decide whether the tree will be for good or for ill.

In the sefirot diagram, please note the lines connecting the sefirot: they represent the channels through which the divine energy flows. Now also imagine figurative valves to regulate the flow along each channel. Human actions produce a resonance in the upper world. A preponderance of good results in acceleration of the flow through the right side, the side of Mercy; conversely, a preponderance of evil in our world results in obstruction of the flow from the right, and an increase in flow from the left side, the side of strict justice.

How, you may ask, are we, who are of the physical world, able to affect the flow of emanation in the spiritual world? To this question there are two answers:

First, as mentioned in a previous post, the upper and lower worlds are built on the same pattern, and everything in one world has its counterpart in the other; the worlds are inextricably bound to each other, each affecting the other.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, we ourselves are a composite of the physical and the spiritual worlds, uniting both worlds within our being. Our bodies are of this world, but our Neshama – the highest of the three levels of our soul – is of the upper world; and even while it inhabits a physical body, the Neshama lives in both worlds simultaneously. Thus our subconscious and our animus are bound to the world above, both affecting and affected by the flow of emanation from the upper world, to Yesod, to Malkhut, and to the world below.


© Copyright 2011 by Ben Roshgolin. All rights reserved.


References:

For more about the Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil, see “The Other Side,” posted on 4 July 2011. See also Zohar I:35b and I:152b.

For more about the soul and its relation to the upper world, see “The Soul,” posted on 9 September 2009.