lights we cannot see

R'Hayim Vital said that the Neviim could see the world of Atziluth, but it was slightly obscured by the lights of the world of Beriyah. After the destruction of the second beit hamikdash, the mekubalim could see only into the world of Beriyah which was greatly obscured by the lights of the world of Yetsirah. Nowadays, we can only see into the world of Asiyah because the lights of Asiyah obscure the other worlds. 

I thought of it like this in the middle of the night last shabbat: 
1. Atziluth is the absolute darkness of empty space. 
2. the lights of Beriyah are the appearance of the Galaxies. 
3. the lights of Yetsiarah are the lights of the stars. 
4. the lights of Asiyah are those of fire and electric&chemical man-made lights. 

If you think about this and you have read about the 4 worlds i think this is a really excellent way of understanding what's going on.. so much so that it is alluded to as well in R'Nachman's story of the 7 beggars.

Mon Jul 17, 2000 7:41 am