Adam & Atom
In addressing the physical world, it is natural that scientists seek answers as to how the world was created. With kabbalists the question asked is why? In this issue, physicist and kabbalist exchange notes. Physicists Dr. Michio Kaku and Fred Alan Wolf and Kabbalist Rav Berg discuss the differences and mostly the similarities between physics and Kabbalah.
Every morning, renowned theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku wakes up and asks himself, “How did God create the universe?” It may not be a morning ritual for most of us, but we have all asked the question at some point in our life.
For Kabbalist Rav Berg, discovering our purpose and unraveling nature’s mysteries is not a matter of figuring out how God created the universe, but rather, of asking the question why. “If we know why we are here, then we know the rules as to how to achieve that objective,” Rav Berg says. “But if there is no objective, then everybody makes up his own rules and nobody begins to question his own purpose.”
Dr. Kaku, who has written nine books on the subject of how God created the universe, including two international best sellers, believes that getting a step closer to an answer is his purpose in life. “By unraveling the mystery of creation,” he says, “a God-like power would be put into the hands of humans.”
What would it mean to have the power of God? It would mean having control over past, present, and future, over space and time for ourselves individually and the universe in its entirety.
From Dr. Kaku’s pursuit of mathematics to a kabbalist’s delving into the mystical truths of scripture to our attempts at finding a higher paying job to care for our family, we are all trying to figure out how to unlock the secrets of nature in order to live better and, hopefully, to help others do so as well
This quest, of course, is not one that is limited to the scientific community. Throughout history, all the religions of the world have attempted to answer the question of creation and provide a framework of guidelines for living a “good” or better life.
For physicists and the common man [non-scientists] alike, discovering meaning is a goal we all share. The only dividing line between us is the means by which we attempt this discovery and the language we use to reveal it. Physicists use mathematics to solve nature’s mysteries. Religionists use scripture to provide techniques for life within nature. The similarity between the two approaches is in the desire to explain how. Religion attempts to give us guidelines for how to live (faith), while science attempts to give us explanations for how things function and relate (physical proof).
We might imagine that by combining the information from both fields, we could have an all-encompassing framework that addresses the interrelated function and purpose of everything. But we don’t. Both science and religion stop short at providing us with the answers we seek. For the average person, neither science nor religion has been able to better our daily lives or provide us with a sense of purpose.
The reason for this, according to the kabbalist, is that both science and organized religion are restricted within the world of effects, because they are locked into the question of how. In other words, asking how something occurs overlooks completely the intent behind the action and forces us to take mere shots in the dark to unravel an effect, rather than considering the cause. By addressing the question of why, the kabbalist deals with the thought preceding the action.
Not only are the languages of mathematics and scripture beyond comprehension for most of us, but also neither approach seems to have much relevance in our modern world. We seek a more accessible wisdom to enable us to figure out this life-purpose thing. Neither science nor religion provide us with practical wisdom concerning matters of the heart and soul. Information is useless without that understanding. In other words, the effects mean nothing without understanding the cause; the rules can always come into question when there is no knowledge of the intent of the game; the how will never truly be realized without an attempt to figure out the why.
“Physicists are limited because studying relationships of physical matter is based on repetition of experiments in a laboratory,” Dr. Kaku points out. Therefore, an unexplainable occurrence, such as a miracle, cannot be proved or taken apart by scientists because the event cannot be contained in a lab or repeated. However, this does not mean miracles do not happen; it just means that physicists cannot provide an explanation for them because science has restricted itself to the physical realm, or the world of effects.
“You cannot criticize physicists for the fact that they are limited within the study of physical matter,” argues Fred Alan Wolf, a theoretical physicist and award-winning writer, who has worked to expand the findings of physics into a broader discussion of spirituality, philosophy, and application. “That would be like criticizing an artist for using oil paints. The strength of physics is that it gives us physical proof. Its weakness is that it does not provide us with any subjective insight. That’s a job for the mystic.”
ENTER THE KABBALIST
“A kabbalist takes science’s evidence of physical proof and religion’s doctrines of structure for living and gives meaning to it all. The insights of Kabbalah can transform mere information into wisdom and purpose. Kabbalah can explain the mathematics of physics as well as providing a deeper, spiritual comprehension of religion’s literal teachings”, says Rav Berg. In other words, Kabbalah gives us the tools to understand the languages of both science and religion.
Think of it in terms of music. Physics gives us the sheet music — the “mathematics” of the melody. Kabbalah provides us not only with the sheet music, but also with the melodies, harmonies, and proficiency in musical technique — an entire symphony that we can not only comprehend technically, but that moves us spiritually and emotionally. The spiritual intent of the composer is transferred musically to the listener.
LINKING MATHEMATICS & METAPHOR
Looking at the distinction between the outward appearance of physical matter and its essence is the core difference in approach between science and Kabbalah. Science asks how something exists within the dimensions of time, space, motion, and causality; Kabbalah asks why things exist at all. The two modes of thought, although coming from different starting points, often augment each other. “The ‘how’ will never prove the ‘why,'” Dr. Wolf says, “because the ‘how’ deals with a system of mapping, while the ‘why’ deals with actual experience. However, they can work to complement each other.”
Kabbalah uses metaphor and story, while physics uses mathematics — together, they work to draw a picture of the mysteries of such phenomena as the big bang, parallel universes, relativity theory, and the superstring theory.
If we look at scientific discoveries throughout history, we can see that although the investigation of the world of effects has deepened, it still lacks a framework of causation.”It was Newtonian physics that then became Einstein’s,” Rav Berg explains. “Both realms are really the same. One just took it into a deeper realm, pushing us to discover something we didn’t see before. Everything is the same, just more scientifically advanced.”
Twentieth century findings in physics can basically be summarized by two theories: Einstein’s theory of gravity and the quantum theory. The former helped to usher in a cosmic description of the very large (black holes and the big bang), while the latter gives a microscopic description of the very small (the microcosm of sub-atomic particles). They have given us the physical proof and mathematical equations behind Kabbalah’s metaphors and for the story of the universe.
THE BIG BANG THEORY
We can draw some intriguing parallels between the scientific explanation and Kabbalah’s metaphorical interpretation of the big bang. The difference between the two is that where physics remains stuck dealing with the three seconds after the moment of creation, Kabbalah, on the other hand, deals with the thought preceding the action. Kabbalah addresses the nanosecond before creation, thus identifying a purpose and intention. From the big bang theory, science postulates what happened and how it happened. Then from the teachings of Kabbalah, we receive an explanation for why it happened — an explanation that gives meaning not just to the creation of the universe but to everything we do today. There is a link between the events that occur in our daily life and that singular event that occurred some fifteen billion years ago.
According to Kabbalah, before creation there was the Light. The Light’s nature was to share and to expand infinitely. (Sharing is not used here as a verb, but as a noun. The Light is sharing). The essence of this Light was infinite intelligence and endless fulfillment. In order for the Light to manifest its sharing nature, however, it needed a receiver — so it created a vessel. The receiving nature of the vessel is the polar opposite of the Light’s sharing nature. According to early twentieth century kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, this presented a problem. In his book Entrance to the Zohar, the kabbalist explains that this disparity in nature created a spiritual separation between the Light and the vessel. The concepts of distance and nearness are based upon similarity of form and sameness of nature in the realm of spirit. In other words, the more two entities resemble one another, the closer they are to one another; the greater their dissimilarity, the greater the degree of separation.
There is a method according to Kabbalah whereby the vessel can remove the separation. Consider a pot of boiling water to be the Light and an empty cup to be the vessel. When the boiling water is poured into the cup, the cup slowly becomes hot or takes on the attributes of the boiling water. Similarly, the vessel, once created, absorbed certain attributes of the Light. In other words, the vessel “owned” the DNA of the Light, which is a desire to share. This sharing “gene” is the secret to eliminating the separation between the Light and the vessel.
However, the vessel did not know how to share because its dominant intelligence is receiving. The gene lies dormant. Therefore, in order to put an end to the separation between the Light and the vessel, the vessel had to take an initial first step. The vessel stopped receiving.
In response, the Light restricted itself and contracted, creating a single point within itself. “The infinite gave birth to the finite,” says Rav Berg. It was the first vacuum or void from which all matter formed.
According to the writings of sixteenth century kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the universe was created out of nothingness from a single point of Light. The nothingness is called the Endless World. The Endless World was filled with infinite Light. The Light then restricted itself to a single point, creating primordial space. There is no information beyond this point. Therefore, the point is called “the beginning.” After the contraction, the Endless World issued forth a ray of Light (energy). This ray of Light then expanded rapidly. All matter emanated from that point.
This point (our universe) became the arena where the vessel could have the opportunity to transform its nature of receiving into one of sharing. This eventual transformation will generate a similarity of nature between Light and vessel, producing a reunification of the two. However, in this new union, the vessel possesses the ability to receive all the Light — but this time, for the purpose of sharing with Light — nothing gives the Creator happiness than bestowing pleasure on the vessel.
The vessel is known in the Bible by the code word “Adam.” The vessel had two opposing aspects: a positive electrical charge and a negative electrical charge; a male principle and a female principle; Adam and Eve. After the moment when the Light restricted itself and contracted, kabbalists tell us that the vessel broke into two pieces and the male principle separated from the female principle. These two pieces then shattered into an infinite number of pieces and became the protons, electrons, and other particles that make up the entire universe. Creation, according to Rabbi Luria, was the process by which energy transformed into physical form — or where “Adam” became “atom.”
This is, to be sure, a greatly simplified explanation of Kabbalah and its cosmology. Even so, this is science’s big bang theory explained by way of kabbalistic metaphor, which takes into account the thought preceding the event, or the moment before creation. “This is a case where scientists may be proving what mystics have revealed [albeit] through different means,” Dr. Wolf says.
The parallels between the kabbalistic explanation for nature’s mysteries and science’s mathematical explanations do not end here.
THE SUPERSTRING THEORY
The problem facing physicists today is how to integrate quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity into a theory that could finally unify all physical laws into one framework. Einstein, who spent his last thirty years working toward creating this picture, called it the Unified Field Theory — the ultimate goal of all physics, the theory to end all theories.
Meet the superstring. The superstring theory is the current attempt to unify these two theories into one coherent picture. However, because each theory uses different mathematics and different physical principles to describe the universe, unifying the theories poses the greatest challenge facing physicists today. The parallels between the superstring theory and Kabbalah’s explanation for a multi-dimensional construction of the universe are astounding. Or as Dr. Kaku, a leading proponent of the superstring theory, says, “The similarities are eerie.”The superstring theory postulates that all matter and energy can be reduced to tiny strings of energy vibrating in a ten-dimensional universe. Dr. Kaku, who wrote the international best-selling book, Hyperspace, speaks of the superstring theory as strings on a violin. He says that by studying the vibrations or harmonics that can exist on a violin string, one can calculate the infinite number of possible frequencies that can exist. Just as a note corresponds to the vibrations of a violin string, a sub-atomic particle or “quanta” corresponds to different frequencies on the superstring. In other words, the “notes” of the superstring are the subatomic particles, the “harmonies” of the superstring are the laws of physics, and the “universe” can be compared to a symphony of vibrating superstrings.
The curious feature of superstrings is that they can only vibrate in ten dimensions, not four, because “more room” is needed to accommodate both Einstein’s theory of gravity as well as sub-atomic physics. “To its supporters, this prediction that the universe originally began in ten dimensions introduces a startling new realm of breath-taking mathematics into the world of physics,” Dr. Kaku says. “To its critics, it borders on science fiction.”
For those of us not familiar with physics, all of this may mean very little. However, according to Kabbalah, when the Light contracted and created primordial space, it was created in ten dimensions.
TEN DEGREES OF SEPARATION
“The fact that these physicists can even speak of ten dimensions means that they are getting closer to the truth,” Rav Berg explains. “Not to say that we are waiting for science to affirm what we already know from Kabbalah. However, it seems that people are more convinced when it comes from the mouth of a physicist than when it comes from the mouth of a kabbalist.”
The functioning of these ten dimensions entails a very complex system we will not elaborate on here. At a basic level, though, think of each dimension as a curtain lined up one after another in the space between the Light and the physical world we live in. Each successive curtain gradually dims the radiance of the Light so that the furthest curtain away hardly lets through any Light at all. The only remnant of Light remaining in this darkened universe is a “pilot light” that sustains our existence. This pilot light is both the life force of a human being and the force that gives birth to stars, sustains suns, and sets everything in motion.
This is the structure and system Kabbalah uses to describe the process by which the unified energy of Ein-Sof (or the Endless, Infinite World) is diversified and transmitted from the upper world to the lower levels — how energy “densifies” into matter.
The purpose of this system of filtration, according to Kabbalah, was to build an arena where there was no Light and no order. Here we could — through our own efforts of sharing and choosing “good” over “evil” — create our own spiritual Light and achieve fulfillment. By doing so, we could evolve and work our way back to the Light. By learning how to change our nature thus taking on a similar attribute to the Creator, we awaken the Creator “gene” within us and come close to attaining our true purpose in life.
This structure of a ten-dimensional universe is Kabbalah’s Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is made up of ten Sefirot, emanations, or contextually, vessels. Everything that manifests in the universe contains the ten Sefirot. Ten fingers, ten toes, mathematics in base ten — all are reflections of this structure.
Parallels between Kabbalah’s Tree of Life structure and the superstring theory continue from here. According to the superstring theory, the universe originally started as a perfect ten-dimensional universe with nothing in it. However, this ten-dimensional universe was not stable. The original ten dimensions “cracked” into two pieces (think of Adam separating from Eve): a four- and a six-dimensional universe. Only after the instant of creation did six of the ten dimensions “curl up” into a ball too tiny to observe. The remaining four-dimensional universe inflated at an enormous rate, eventually becoming the big bang. In principle, this also explains why we cannot measure the six-dimensional universe; it has shrunk down to a size smaller than an atom.
According to Kabbalah, the six days of creation described in the Bible is a code. Twelfth century kabbalist Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman explained that the six days of creation actually refers to six of the ten dimensions of the Tree of Life that contracted and unified into one dimension. The remaining four dimensions became our physical world, known as Malchut, which is made up of the three spatial dimensions plus the fourth dimension of time.
The six dimensions are the upper realms of the Tree of Life. These six Sefirot, namely, Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod form a group of cosmic energies referred to collectively as Zeir Anpin. Zeir Anpin and Malchut are the channels of energy by which the universe became physically expressed. The other three Sefirot are the means by which Light was brought into this world. They are called Keter, Chochmah, and Binah. They do not affect our physical world other than conducting the Light into it. These upper three are the source of our thoughts, intellect, imagination, fulfillment, and pleasure. When a physicist yells “Eureka,” the sudden flash of insight that prompted the response originated from these upper three Sefirot.
Similar to the superstring theory’s explanation that the six dimensions curled themselves into a ball too tiny for humans to observe, so Kabbalah explains that our existence in Malchut, or the physical realm, prevents us from accessing the other dimensions with our five senses. It is only through a spiritual evolution — the process of receiving for the sake of sharing, whereby our nature takes on a greater degree of similarity with the Light — that Malchut rises to move closer to the next upper dimensions.
Dr. Kaku admits that the similarities between Kabbalah and the superstring theory are intriguing. “It’s eerie how the ‘magic numbers’ of physics are found in the Kabbalah.”
Potentially, another bridge between religion and science may have been established with the admission that there may be more than four dimensions. In addition, the idea that physicists are pondering dimensions that the human senses cannot perceive parallels the mystical notion that physical reality is illusionary in many ways.
“If you are accepting the principle that physicality is an illusion and just a blip on the screen of reality,” Rav Berg says, “then you are giving not only credence but also knowledge to something that does not exist.” “This trend in scientific thinking will not only continue to validate that which is already known from Kabbalah, but might also open people’s minds toward realizing higher states of consciousness. Indeed, the kabbalistic explanation of the ten-dimensional structure helps us to better understand the intent behind our world of effects and to know our goal in life”.
PARALLEL UNIVERSES AND THE MEANING OF LIFE
According to kabbalistic wisdom, there are two parallel universes: one highly ordered; the other, random and chaotic. The former is real — a circular universe that is revealed during the process of sharing and that creates continuity. The latter is illusionary — a linear universe that is ruled solely by the desire to receive and finality.
The task belonging to humanity is to achieve a balanced and harmonious integration of these two universes. We must be aware of that part of ourselves that was born into chaos, while remembering at the same time that the greater, the more significant part of ourselves belongs to the unified whole. In this way, the individual preserves hisindependence and capacity for exercising free will, while at the same time remaining connected with the single all-pervasive Force.
Existing simultaneously within these two parallel universes, we face the challenge of not falling victim to the illusions and the chaos inherent in the linear universe. This process becomes a matter of changing perspective and consciousness. In other words, we create our own reality by altering our consciousness. By doing so, the illusions of the linear universe disappear.
However, the linear universe is structured in such a way that for us to access the real universe, we have to be able to see through the illusion. Illusion can be anything that encourages us to receive for ourselves alone, that is, anything based in ego — recognition, physical beauty, monetary wealth, power, honor, and so on. None of these aspects of life and living are inherently bad or wrong. It is our desire to have them for the sake of our ego that allows the power of illusion to usher in chaos.
In order to be able to receive the Light, we have to restrict our natural impulse to receive by learning a process of sharing. In other words, we have to change our nature. To aid us in changing our nature, the Light created the angel Satan. (Not the red-clad, double-horned demon wielding a mighty pitchfork, but rather a force, an inclination rooted in the ego, greed, and animal-like impulses that manifest in our thoughts and feelings.) This opposing force encourages us to behave for ourselves alone and triggers our impulse to receive and not share. This type of behavior reveals itself when we are reactive, blind to opposing opinions, and intolerant to those who bother us. Moreover, this force attempts to create separation between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and family, physicists and religionists.
In a nutshell: The attributes of the Light are the ability to share, to be a cause and, therefore, in control; the attributes of the vessel are the desire to receive, to be the effect and, therefore, to be controlled by something or someone other than itself. The Light is the cause and proactive. The vessel is the effect and reactive.
In his book Taking the Quantum Leap, Fred Alan Wolf speculates on the meaning of parallel universes — the will of God versus the will of the individual. With regard to the limits of human power, he says, “We humans seem to have some control over our lives and yet we also seem to be powerless to another will, another order.” Kabbalists explain that this “powerlessness” emerges when the individual allows himself to be an effect, to be a reaction rather than the cause. We allow ourselves to be ruled by the angel called the Satan (our reactive inclination).
We came here to learn how to be proactive, sharing people and to learn how to shut down the reactive impulses in our nature. Through this transformation, we can unleash the energy locked inside our soul, achieving resonance with the Light and transcending the chaos of the linear world of illusion. Malchut thereby rises closer to the other dimensions, restoring the state of the Endless when we, the vessel, received total and complete fulfillment from the Light.
THE MOUNTAIN AND THE ROCK
If the questions arising from scientific discovery cannot be answered by the scientist, they are handed over to the religious or mystical systems for interpretation. We seek the essence and the truths hidden in the mathematics of physics. However, few systems have given context to the information that we have been granted by the scientific community. Until now.
“The wisdom of Kabbalah predates Einstein, Newton, Galileo, the giving of the Torah, even the big bang”, says Rav Berg. “Kabbalah was and is present as an energy, as the wisdom of nature, law, and metaphysics, and is, therefore, the seed of everything”.
For the skeptics among us, highlighting the parallels between the kabbalistic system and the discoveries of the scientific community may illustrate how science may, in fact, be proving that which we already know. According to the Kabbalists our purpose here is to change our nature. And though it sounds like a simple enough task, it is one that requires willpower to achieve. With each degree of change, say the Kabbalists, we awaken and generate more Light in our lives.
The metaphorical explanations revealed in Kabbalah break down into a system of physics. Achieving a higher level of consciousness or oneness with the Light is not about accelerating through hyperspace into the tenth dimension. It is not about praying to false idols, such as, money, power, fame, physical beauty, recognition, and so on. Rather, it is a system by which one learns to resist our reactive nature and by doing so, achieve an equal measure of fulfillment, happiness, and inner peace in return.
Kabbalistic wisdom provides us with the tools for bettering ourselves and our situations, individually and collectively. For instance, if you understand that you are here for the sole purpose of changing your nature, you can also understand that you have invited your particular set of circumstances in life so that you can transcend yourself past the power of impulse.
Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag explained it in terms of a relationship between a rock, which has been chipped away from a mountain by the swing of an axe, and the mountain itself. Once chipped away, the rock takes on its own identity, simply due to the separation. But at the core, the mountain and the rock are of the same substance. If the rock is returned to its original spot in the mountain, it again takes on the identity of the mountain.
Consider that the mountain is the Infinite Light, or God, and we are individual rocks presently separated from the Light. It is the dissimilarity of our nature from that of the Light (receiving versus sharing or reactive versus proactive) that is the axe separating us from everlasting fulfillment. The moment we take on the attributes of the mountain, or the Light, in our day-to-day life, we remove a degree of separation.
In other words, we become God in that one instance. As God, we can be the cause and in complete control of the situation. We can literally create miracles rather than remain imprisoned in the chaos of the world and the desire to receive for our ego’s sake.
…all as a result of asking why.
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Credits:
Kabbalist Rav Philip Berg received his ordination as a Rabbi at the renowned Torah, Va” Daat institution in Brooklyn New York in 1951. He was chosen to be an inaugural student at Beit Medrish Elyon, one of the few Yeshivas in the United States dedicated to post graduate studies and higher learning.
He studied under emanant Rabbi Reuvan Grazovsky. He furthered his studies in Lakewood, New Jersey, under the leadership of world-renowned Rabbi Aron Kotler. He received his instruction in Kabbalah from his beloved master and teacher, the emanant Kabbalist Rabbi Yehudah Brandwein, the disciple of esteemed Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag. Author of over 25 books on Kabbalah. The historic linage of this school of thought can be traced back to the 2nd Century
Dr. Michio Kaku is an internationally recognized authority in theoretical physics. He holds the Henry Semet Professorship in Theoretical Physics at the City Collage and the Graduate Center of the City University of New Your. His goal is to help complete Einstein’s dream of a “theory of everything.” which will unify all the fundamental forces in the universe. He has lectured around the world and his Ph.D. level textbooks are required reading at many of the top physics laboratories. He has written 9 books; his last two books, Hyperspace and Visions, became international best-sellers.
Fred Alan Wolf, a PhD. in theoretical physics, is a consulting physicist, writer and lecturer. Wolf won the American Book Award for Taking the Quantum Leap. His book, Star Wave: Mind, Consciousness and Quantum Physics, was critically acclaimed on the front page of the New York Times book Review as “a brilliant original leap into the future.” He travels throughout the U.S. ant the world lecturing on the new physics and consciousness.
Ajaenna E. Ziman
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