Let me speak of the Academy on High, where we prepare for our next lesson here, relating to this earthly plain as if it is a laboratory, the practical aspect of what you have learned in your lessons at the Academy (of Shem and Uber). In the realm of the omnipotent all-seeing Creator, there is no school, no “plan”, except His Will, which is enfolding in Creation itself. It is the meta-energy that forms the foundational elements of the world we live in. It responds to the path that you take, and it is His response that determines your path – except for the meta-characteristics of your destiny, like ageing, etc. There is no (deterministic) “plan” that is set in place, for there are many possible paths you could take. It is all too immediate for that. For you and your life is unfolding in and with a universe that is alive, and reactive.
It is your most intimate love relationship.
Just as you might completely and utterly fallen in love with another, both carrying a whole history, a whole lifetime of experiences, into the relationship influencing the context and manner in which your story will unfold. In addition, there are all the meta-aspects—like culture, geography, family, language and the teachings you received—all of which mould the way in which your (plural) future will emerge. This could be referred to as the local frame of reference within which the event - your life - occurs. Whereas the previous paragraph referred to a more universal frame of reference.
In all of this, you are like a point, somewhere near, what you would believe, is the centre. Is that centre the true middle, or is it that the the place from which you experience and see everything—becoming like the earth around which your experiences orbit? Just as, for many centuries, the earth was perceived as the centre of the universe.
Like a child, who knows not of the greater world around him and, because he is loved and cared for and protected, believes himself to be the centre of his world.
The first step towards adulthood is the realisation that there is a greater world than just me, out there, with many elements and influences, that are important. It is not just about me. On the scale of human evolution, it is essential to realise that the world is not here just for us, that it is necessary to be able to maintain some dynamic balance within all these constantly moving and evolving influences and aspects of our world. On the scale of universal evolution, it is necessary to retain a sense of fear and awe at the immense scale and complexity of the world that we are experiencing, both the inner and the outer.
Even today, as we gaze up into the universe we assume that what we see is the reality of the cosmos. However, it is seen only from the perspective of the observer – the place from which the seer is looking - which forms the source of his perception. Just as our perspective of the solar system shifted from geocentric to solar centric, but we cannot shift our perspective of the universe similarly–it is still essentially geocentric.
This is what the science of Kabbalah can provide us. This is not the only path. There are others—though not many. But upon discovering one, and delving deeply into its practice, you will be able to discern the others, and thus absorb much learning from them too. However, you first have to commit to a practice, and then steep yourself in it.
It is said: “If you find love in your heart for a cat, you will then love all cats.” Trite as this might seem, it contains a truth. For if you can find love in your heart for a living thing, you will be able to love so much more than just that “thing”.
In the same way, if you love G-d with “all your heart and all your soul”, you will find Him everywhere. For what is love? It is seeing the (Divine) light in everything. It is seeing the Divine spark – sometimes expressed as their soul – in every person, : “When you see into someone’s soul”—which means that you “feel”, or “touch” the other’s essence—which is G-d in the world, the Shekhinah, that is with (and in) us all the time.
In fact, it is all that we are, for there is Nothing else.