Kabbalah Secrets: Life’s #1 Rule: God is Bigger Than Your Brain, Stop Trying to Replace GOD

The creation of God is different from any type of other works that we can look at in the world in that God created the world from absolute nothingness into the existence that we know it. Um this includes both the physical world that we perceive right now and the spiritual realms that exist which though we don't physically see we know they exist through the teachings of Kabala. One of the best examples, proof so to speak, that the spiritual realms are real and exist in addition to this physical one is the soul that enliven our body, the soul is something that we can't physically see or detect. However, everyone could recognize the difference between a dead body and a living body. Except sometimes those living bodies are somewhat like they're dead as well because the question is, are they really living? But that's a discussion for another time. So there is the idea of the body and soul which is in the human being and then there is the concept of the physical world that we see including all of the galaxies, the heavens, the stars and spiritual realms that God created in addition to to that to those realms that we just can physically perceive. Now when it says God created both heaven and earth, it means he created everything we've just mentioned from nothing into being it's called uh in Hebrew yes me and the fancy I guess Latin term is exhil and then it become comes into being. Now the interesting result which is what we have to understand is meaning what's the difference if the world existed and there's a god that controls the world versus that there was no world that existed and god created it and brought it into existence and also controls it. What is essentially the difference? Meaning who cares? So we can get fancy. We can make a whole course about this. Let let the the rabbis just talk the cabalist talk all day long about how God created the world and brought it from absolute nothingness. Right? So but what's the difference? So what if it already existed? As long as God's in total control really it's all can it can be insignificant. Right? So the the added idea that we take away basically the takeaway of this point is this and this analogy is brought by one of the great Jewish scholars and mystics. uh he is was the rabbi that founded the kabad labavish movement. His name is Rabbi Schneo Zalman from Liyadi and he explains beautifully this mashal and of course this idea is shared by other great scholars but you know it's a very popular place that is brought is his book the safer hata so we'll use that as the quoting source but of course he's not the only person that has explained and discussed this concept if you take a carpenter for example someone who builds a table so what does he do this table builder takes wood that already exists and he influences he puts his influence on that that wood. He takes the wood and he has to use his his brains his his creative ability to take that wood and cut it up in a way and design it in a way that it becomes a table. Included in that is of course making sure that it's a workable table. Once that carpenter is finished with his work with with his influence on this table, he leaves. He leaves the table on its own and goes and does his next job. The table now has an independent existence. It's not dependent anymore on the carpenter to exist. Now certainly the elements that this carpenter used to build this table were never dependent on the carpenter. They existed independent of the carpenter. the nails, this the the wood, everything else used to make this table a functioning table. The elements were already there. He didn't bring them into existence. What he did was his influence and his his intellect created a new table by putting these elements together in a way that they function as a table. Now that's compared to the creation of the world by God. Since the world had no existence until God brought it into existence. So obviously every aspect of this world is dependent on God in order for it to exist. It doesn't have that independent existence before God gets involved. So it's very existence is absolutely dependent on God. Let's take the second idea. Once this carpenter is done with working on this table, he moves away to his next project and the table has it an independent continued existence without the carpenters's involvement. If it breaks, he might be brought in to fix it. But without the breaking he we don't need him anymore. So now let's take the God and the world in this same scenario. One of the false ideologies of how God created the world and how God runs the world is that God made it. He even if you exist except that he made the world. One of the false ideologies would be that God though creator of the world he doesn't really care about what happens in the world. He created it and then left it in the hands of the intermediaries, the different ministering angels and the different forces sort of nature so to speak. So essentially God made a world and it's not in his hands anymore. That is a false ideology of what we call idol worship. We believe that not only did God make the world but he is constantly involved in the world. He constantly is is paying attention to what happens in the world. And that makes a very big difference between a world that was created and abandoned versus a world that was created and is maintained and cared for and observed by God. Now if we speak about God creating the world from nothingness. So the question is at what point does this world really exist? So the answer to that is it doesn't really exist. This world is defined as a temporary or optional existence. It's not a real existence. It's not it doesn't exist in essence. Why? Because if we go back to the source of the world, how did it start? It started because God willed it to be. And it was the divine will, this infinite will of Hashem that brought the world into existence from nothingness. So the famous question or if it's not so famous to us a question that we may ask if God wanted to destroy this world how would he choose to destroy it is really a pointless question. It's not a real question though although we see that God chose to bring a flood to destroy the generation in in the in the you know of right around Noah's time and he did bring plagues on the Egyptians to hurt them and kill them because they were doing things that were not appropriate in Hashem's eyes. God doesn't have to destroy the world if he doesn't want it to exist. It's a simp much simpler process for him since it's the divine will that brings the world into existence. So all what we would would require so to speak is a shift in God's will if God no longer willed the world to exist. He would stop willing it to come into existence and it would stop existing instantaneously. And that's the big difference between a world that existed on its own versus a world that exists only because it's the divine will that causes it to exist constantly. Now once we accept and understand that it's the divine will that brings this world into existence and that's a constant process meaning at any moment if God would so so to speak change his mind the world would just stop being so now we can take a deeper appreciation for how he's involved in the world because the fact that we still exist right this second I mean right this second I mean this second I got to somehow speed this up so I could get the right second. But anyway, the fact that God is bringing this world into existence right now is a clear proof that he is involved in the world. Why? Because if it's his act of creation that's making us exist, that means he's by definition involved in the existence of the world every second. This approach to creation negates the possibility for a world that's not involved with that God is not involved in. meaning of a world void of God's presence or God's uh awareness cannot cannot exist if we entertain or I'm if we accept this idea that that God is actually making the world right now. And so the mistake by earlier people that went into the direction of idol worship was really a result of a lack of full understanding of exactly what this world is and how it came to be and how God is making it exist and how God is involved in the world he he created. And so it's through the knowledge of Cabala and of course the Jewish philosophers that are using the Kawak the the the abilities of their mind the faculties of their mind and the knowledge that's revealed through Torah and again Torah is written oral and hidden and revealed. So when we speak about Jewish philosophy for example the Ramban Nakmanadities even the Rambam mymanities although in his writings in some way negates a lot of this mystical talk it's taught that later on in his life he actually received the tradition of Kabala from a true cababalist and accepted and embraced these concepts. So even the Rambam ultimately accepts the these ideas and so through philosophy or mysticism once you have the whole package then you can avoid some of the mistakes that these secular philosophers make because what's philosophy after all? What is the idea of all of this study that we have in in the schools in the university that we go to? It's the man's attempt to figure out what's happening in this world. What's going on in this world? It's man's attempt from a position of darkness, from a position of of a lack of awareness to try to come to a position of clarity and awareness and to come to the light, so to speak. And so, as admirable of an attempt that is, meaning no one is here to say that they're wasting their time, it's amazing that people spend their time and energy and efforts to try to figure out more and more about this world, more about the human body, more about the universe, and more about the spiritual realms. It's great that they that they want to do this, but there's a difference between man between man's attempt to figure this out and God's giving us the the basic fundamental principles that this is all based on. The point of this this part of our discussion is really to appreciate the beginning of the Torah and its message. The Torah is telling us from its start that the world was created by God. And that means that we are constantly dependent on the will of God that brings this world into being. And there is no way to divorce God from his world. Unlike a convenient approach that that a person that wants to do whatever he wants and wants to live a life with no accountability wants to say, "Okay, great. God made a world, but God's not here anymore, so I can do what I want." No. When you understand that God made a world, then he's here. And therefore we have to first and foremost accept him as our king and as as our god and and follow his ways. So that brings us a life of an account of accountability and that's the easy way out. If I don't want to have responsibility I can just say oh the world exists by itself. What do I lose when I say the world exists because God created it? I have to now become attached to that God. I have to be loyal to that God. I understand that there's a greater power and there's a a divine plan that I have to try to become, you know, in sync with rather than making my own path. And that's the interesting difference again ultimately between and the the other a natural or or secular approach is that I'm God. Really, what is what are these people saying at the end of the day? Let's get right to the point. Let's really get to the bottom. This is what I'm saying. A person that wants to say that this world exists on its own is really wants to say is I exist by myself. I am the master of my life and I am my god and whatever I decide will be my truth and whatever I decide will be the right moral path for me to choose to live a life. That's what he's essentially saying and that's the difference. There's something bigger than you. Rule number one in Jewish philosophy, God is bigger than your brain.