Torah Way to Enlightenment - 004 Seeing Ayin-Nothingness & Nullifying The Sense of Sight

Seeing Ayin-Nothingness דע את נשמתך פרק ד'

1. Transitioning From Physical Vision To “Ayin” – “Nothingness”

Until this point, we have explained how to use the sense of sight in relation to our material world, referred to as “Yeish” (physical substance), where we learned how to see things that are tangibly existing in front of our eyes. In this chapter, we will speak about a kind of sight which is used to see things that are “ayin”, “nothingness” - meaning that it will be a detachment from physical vision.

We will be going from the sight of our עין\ayin\eye (spelled with the letter ע which is transliterated as the word “ayin”), to the sight of our אין\ayin\nothingness (spelled with the letter א which is transliterated as “aleph”).

First, we will provide a brief introduction. The word “ayin” can either be spelled with the Hebrew letters ayin, yud and nun (עין), or it can be spelled with the letters aleph, yud and nun (אין). When the word ayin is spelled with the Hebrew letter ayin (ע), it means physical vision, referring to the two eyes of man. When ayin is spelled with the letter aleph (א), it refers to a power in the soul called “ayin”, “nothingness”, otherwise known as hedaer, “absence”. Nothingness, or the absence of something, seems to imply that the thing does not exist at all [but we will later see that this is not true, and that it is an existing reality].

In different terms which describe the same concept, we have physical vision and we have spiritual vision, and our physical vision is a “garment” of our spiritual vision. Until now, we have explained how we can view from our physical eye and reveal the inner light of the soul, and thereby penetrate through to the light of the soul so that it can be shined within the body [all of those methods were about ‘cracking’ an opening through the body’s physical hold, enabling the soul’s light to shine through the body and thereby be revealed].

Now we will speak of a different way that can bring us to the revelation of the soul, and it is by removing ourselves from physical vision, turning עין\eye\physical vision into אין\nothingness, and that by removing the physical vision of the eye, the “garment” that cloaks our spiritual vision, we can thereby gain access to spiritual vision.

Thus, there are two possible ways of how to reach spiritual vision. One way is by means of the “garment”, which is to use our physical sense of sight, but from a spiritual perspective. In this method, we look at something physical and reflect on it, and through this, we can awaken our spiritual vision, via the means of our physical vision. Another possibility is by doing certain actions that detach us from physical vision, which thereby awakens spiritual vision.

In the previous chapter, we explained the first way: using our physical vision to see something physical in front of us, in a way that awakens our spiritual vision. From this point onward, with the help of Hashem, we will explain how to detach from physical vision, to remove ourselves from עין (eye\physical vision) and to instead go to אין (nothingness\spiritual vision), of the neshamah. This topic will also subdivide into several other topics as well, but as our starting point, we have explained the difference between physical vision (עין) and spiritual vision (אין) and that we need to make the transition to the soul’s ability of ayin by learning how to detach and ‘remove’ physical vision.

2. Reflecting On Your Root – A Droplet In The Brain

We will begin, slowly, from the gruffer examples of the concept, and then continue slowly into the subtler examples.

Chazal state that when Yosef was tempted by the wife of Potiphar, an image of his father came to his mind, and through this, he was saved from sin. [1] The depth behind this is as follows.

Chazal state that there are three factors which lead to sin: “The eye sees, the heart desires, and the tools of the actions complete.” In this statement, Chazal are teaching us how the body’s physical lusts are strengthened.

If a person tries to prevent himself from sinning when he is already in the third stage, where the “tools of the actions” are beginning to do their work, he has already been pulled after his eyes’ vision and his heart’s desire, so he is not likely to succeed in overcoming the temptation to sin. When a person is at that point already, it is said, “What shall the son do, so that he should not sin?” (Of course, we cannot say that it is impossible for him at that stage to avoid sinning. He can still choose to retreat. But when he is at the final stage that leads directly towards sin – the “tools of the actions” – it is most difficult to stop).

The proper way of avodah in avoiding sin, then, is to begin avoiding it from the root, which is the first stage, “the eyes see.” When the eyes don’t lay sight on the object of sin in the first place, the heart will not desire it, and in turn, there will be no “tools of action” that complete the sin.

When Yosef HaTzaddik was saved from sin, then, he started from the first stage, “the eyes see.” As soon as his eyes were being tempted with an improper sight, an image of his father was conjured in front of his eyes, and in that way, he was saved from sin. He rectified the stage of “the eyes see” and that was how he was able to avoid sinning. The sefarim hakedoshim write that it is not only Yosef HaTzaddik who can be saved by reminding himself of his father’s image. Rather, any person who is in a situation where he is tempted to sin can use this advice of imagining the image of his father, and thereby be saved from sin.

From the above words of Chazal, we learn of an inner point about our vision, and let us explain what it is. Firstly, we need to understand: What is this ‘segulah’ of imagining the image of one’s father? How exactly does it save a person from sin?

It is understandable that it could work for Yosef HaTzaddik, whose father was Yaakov Avinu, a great tzaddik; for we know that viewing or imagining the face of tzaddik can save a person from sin. But if that was the reason, then Yosef could have imagined his grandfather Yitzchok, or any of his other brothers, who were all tzaddikim. Why did he imagine his father’s image specifically?

It must be that Chazal are teaching us that there is a specific gain in thinking of the image of one’s father. And since every matter of the Torah applies to all people and shows each person the way in which he must go in (for Torah is from the word horaah, “guide”), this is a lesson that can guide every single person. However, how will this advice work for someone whose father was not righteous? If the father was not a wicked individual, then it makes sense that imagining his image would save the son from sin, but how can this method work for a person whose father was not righteous?

Chazal taught in Avos, “Look at three things, and then you will not come to sin: “Know where you come – from a rotten droplet.”[2] A child first exists in potential form in his father’s brain, as a droplet [before physical formation]. Therefore, when a child contemplates his father’s image, there is a very deep point contained in this. It is not a superficial look at the physical image of his father; it is rather a means of looking at a very inner point.

If a person can only think of his father in physical terms, this is superficial, and it will not help him avoid sin at all. Sometimes, it can even do the opposite of helping him, leading him further to sin. It is actually spiritually risky to imagine the physical image of one’s father, when trying to avoid sin. The physical image of his father may awaken negative feelings towards his father, if he imagines and contemplates it.

But on the other hand, there is a deep, inner point in this: “Know where you come from.” A person comes from a droplet in the brain, which cannot be imagined in any physical form. Reminding yourself of your father’s image is therefore a way to view your original state, when you existed only in potential form, inside your father, before you received any material formation yet.

If we wish to detach from physical vision of our eyes, to rise from physical vision to spiritual vision (turning עין intoאין), Chazal are giving us advice on how to do this: “Know where (m’ayin) you come from.” You come from “ayin” – nothingness. When you first existed as a droplet in the brain, this was like being in a state of ayin\nothingness. Afterwards, you were born and you received physical form, but in your original state, you existed as ayin. And one of the tools that can assist you in knowing that you came from ayin is by imagining the image of your father.

In order for this to work, it must be done with deep kind reflection, from an inner perspective. When one imagines the image of his father, he should view the physical image of his father as nothing but an external “garment” of something deeper. He should mainly be viewing the inner point that is contained in this matter, which is: to remember his original state of nothingness as he existed in the potential form in his father.

There are thus two kinds of avodah [of uncovering spiritual vision]. One kind of avodah is what we spoke about in the previous chapter: to gain spiritual vision via the means of our physical vision, by looking at something physical which can remind us of the spiritual. There is also another kind of avodah, described in this chapter, in which a person detaches from physical vision, by seeing “nothingness”. The root method of how we can see “nothingness” is through imagining the image of one’s father, which reminds you of “Know where you come from”: We come from ayin, nothingness.

3. Reflecting On The Root of Souls, The Throne of Glory

One of the 613 mitzvos is to wear tzitzis, and the Torah writes concerning this mitzvah, “And it should be tzitzis to you, and you shall see them, and you will remember all of the commandments of Hashem and perform them.”[3] The Shulchan Aruch[4] rules that a person should wear his tzitzis on the outside of his clothing, meaning that it should be visible to the eyes.

(Although there is a big discussion in halachah and in kaballah if a person should wear tzitzis outside of his clothing or to keep it inside, according to the opinions that require tzitzis to be worn on the outside, it is so that the tzitzis should be seen, in fulfillment of the verse, “And you shall see them, and you will remember.” Even according to the opinions that the tzitzis not be worn outside of the clothing, the Poskim still require that the tzitzis be taken out every so often, to fulfill “And you shall see them.”)

What is behind looking at tzitzis? Chazal state, “How is techeiles (turquoise) different than all other colors? Because techeiles is like the sea, and the sea is like the heavens, and the heavens are like the Throne of Glory (kisei hakavod).”[5] Thus, the purpose of looking at tzitzis\techeiles is to be reminded of the Throne of Glory. One can become spiritually elevated from viewing tzitzis, which reminds him of the sea, which reminds him of the heavens, which reminds him of the Throne of Glory.

Just as with all other sights, looking at tzitzis contains two aspects: yeish\material, and ayin\nothingness. Although most Poskim ruled that there is no requirement of techeiles in our tzitzis nowadays, there is still a concept of looking at tzitzis. Viewing techeiles is an aspect of “yeish”, for the turquoise color is closer to the physical realm. Viewing the tzitzis, however, which is white, is close to colorless, which is a representation of ayin (as explained in the previous chapter).

Looking at the turquoise wool of techeiles is to view something tangible. But when techeiles reminds a person of the sea, he is reminded of something that is unbounded and endless (at least to the human eye). The sea also reminds a person of the heavens, which is also endlessly expansive. In the previous chapter, we mentioned the methods of looking at the sea and sky, which are both examples of viewing something endless. But, taking this further, when looking at the sky reminds a person of the Throne of Glory, this is a deeper kind of vision.

What is the concept of being reminded of the Throne of Glory? Chazal state, “Teshuvah is great, for it reaches until the Throne of Glory.”[6] The word teshuvah means to return to the root, to the source – and the source of all souls is (in one sense) in the Throne of Glory. Thus, the depth of looking at tzitzis is to reach one’s root. The root of each thing is in its aspect of ayin\nothingness, as it is written in the verse, “And wisdom, from where (ayin) is it found?”[7] Looking at tzitzis, on a deeper level, is therefore to see and remember “Where you come from”, which is ayin (nothingness); to remember the root of one’s neshamah.

(There are thus two levels of how to understand the concept of “Know where you come from.” One understanding of this is in the physical sense: man first exists as a “rotten droplet” in the brain. The other way of understanding this is in the spiritual sense: man comes from his soul’s root, which is the Throne of Glory).

There are two aspects in viewing techeiles. From a superficial perspective, it is to view a tangible sight, the color of turquoise. This is a vision within “Yeish”, the material realm. But when a person removes the physical layer of this sight and instead he contemplates the depth contained in the techeiles, he is reminded of the sea, then the heavens, and finally, the Throne of Glory. Thus, through inner contemplation in his mind, one needs to reach the point of “ayin” that is in the sight of techeiles, instead of focusing on the “yeish” (material) aspect of the sight of techeiles. That is how he can reach the root of the entire Jewish people, who are all one neshamah at their root, where there are no differentiated parts to view.

To illustrate this concept, on Rosh HaShanah, there are two views which Hashem sees His creations in. In one view, He sees each creation individually, where each creature passes before Hashem and is scrutinized by his Master.[8] There is also another way Hashem views the world on Rosh HaShanah: “in one full glance.”[9] In the second view, where Hashem views all of Creation at once, it is like a view which negates all [differentiated] vision. This is the reason behind the concept of looking at the sky and sea.

The physical eyes see differentiated parts, and they cannot see a unified structure. Even when the eyes see something that is whole, it is only seeing a detail, and it cannot see the larger picture of things. In this sense, it is said, “For no man shall see Me and live.”[10] Since the creations are all differentiated parts, in contrast to the Infinite (the EinSof) which is undifferentiated unity, Hashem cannot be seen, so to speak, because the eyes can only see differentiated parts. The physical eyes cannot be used to see the spiritual because they can only see differentiated parts, so its vision is limited. The eyes cannot see the all-inclusive; they can only see details and parts.

The depth of viewing tzitzis is to rise from a differentiated view to a more all-inclusive view, where there is nothing to be “seen”. It is a concept of nullifying the sense of sight, and it essentially mean to rise from a differentiated kind of view to an inner view that comes from the soul, reminiscent of how Hashem views the world on Rosh HaShanah “in one full glance” [where there is no place for differentiation and individual parts, and there is just a unified, all-inclusive view]. It is a way to view the world with the eyes open, yet the eyes are not focusing on the various details in front of it, and instead, the eyes are seeing everything “in one full glance”.

The Gemara discusses how a person may fulfill the mitzvah of gladdening a bride and groom, and in what case it may be permitted to carry the bride on one’s shoulders. The Gemara there concludes that if one thinks of the bride as if she is a beam (or some other inanimate object), it is permitted. The depth to this matter is that he understands that the bride is part of an undifferentiated unity and he does not view her in the individuated sense.

Let us explain this further. The physical appearance of something, and its beauty [or lack thereof], its particular color and formation, its picture, is entirely an individuated, differentiated view. Once we focus on how it looks, we set it apart for its differences. When we focus on the details of something, we do not see it as part of an undifferentiated unity, but as something with an individuality to it. But when access the view of ayin, all that we will see is one. There, we nullify our physical vision; we turn עין (eye) into אין (nothingness).

As we continue, we will explain how we can reach this kind of view, but first we must understand the very concept, of nullifying the vision: it mean to leave an individuated kind of view that sees details, and to instead enter into an all-inclusive view that sees totality.

On a deeper note, anytime we divest ourselves of one world\dimension in order to rise to another, we are moving from differentiated parts into undifferentiated unity. Compare this to a father with ten children. When we look at his children, we see ten parts. When we look at the level above the children – the father – we see one part. In the same vein, whenever we rise from a lower realm of existence to a higher realm of existence, we are really unifying together the many parts and revealing a oneness to them.

Thus, looking at techeiles, and being reminded of the sea, the heavens, and the Throne of Glory, are not about viewing where “I” am found in the Throne of Glory. It is rather a perspective of viewing all of the souls in the Jewish people at once, who are all sourced in the Throne of Glory. If a person is reminded of the Throne of Glory but he is focused on how his own “I” is rooted in the Throne of Glory, he is not connecting to the Throne of Glory. For the Throne of Glory is depicted as “All who call out in My Name, and in My honor I created, fashioned, and also made”, and if one is focused on his own “I” he is not integrating himself into “All who call out in My Name.”

Let us continue the path here, which will gain a sharper understanding of as we continue to explain some more details, with the help of Hashem.

4. Looking At The Sunrise and Sunset: Seeing A Beginning and End

Let’s explain another way of how to divest ourselves from physical vision of the eyes, and to reveal the spiritual vision of ayin\nothingness (which, on a deep note, is actually above vision).

There are several sights which people love to view, such as: to look at tall mountains, a scenic landscape, the sunrise, and the sunset. From a superficial perspective, people love to view these things because they are simply beautiful views. But here we will analyze a deeper reason.

Anyone with a little bit of feeling, when watching the sunrise and sunset, will feel a deep experience in his soul. What is the root of this deep feeling that comes from watching the sunrise or sunset? The superficial reason is because it is a beautiful sight to watch. But for some reason, when a person looks at a picture of the sunrise, this does not cause him to have the same deep experience as actually watching it. It is because when one views the sunrise or sunset, he is really turning his vision into “nothing” – the concept we mentioned before.

The beginning of each thing in Creation has its source in ayin, nothingness. As Chazal state, “Know from where you come”, and the Hebrew term “from where” is m’ayin, which means “from ayin” – nothingness. It is also written, “Wisdom, from where can it be found?” The verse is saying that the source of all wisdom is in ayin, nothingness. All of Creation is built upon the cycle of yeish (the material and tangible physical realm) going to ayin\nothingness [and then the cycle repeats]. This is the general way to view the entire Creation. It also applies individually to each person, and it is also true about each individual day.

Each day, when the sun begins to rise, this is really a beginning. The day begins from its source, which is ayin\nothingness. The sun is called “chammah” in Hebrew, related to the word “chochmah” (wisdom), thus the sun parallels the concept of chochmah\wisdom; and the source of all chochmah\wisdom is in ayin\nothingness. Thus, the beginning of the revelation of something comes from its aspect of ayin\nothingness.

That is why if a person has deep feeling, he will look at the sunrise with a very deep and inner perspective. He doesn’t just see the sun’s rays beginning to light up the surface of the earth. The sunrise is really a revelation of a beginning of the source of light. The light that we have on this physical world has its main source in the sun, the luminary in the heavens which provides light for the earth. Light begins to become revealed on this world every day through the sunrise. Therefore, viewing the sunrise is to view a beginning, as it emerges from its source of nothingness. So on a deeper level, looking at the sunrise is a way to view a beginning point.

Of course, we cannot actually see the beginning point itself. Of the actual beginning point, it is said, “For no man can see Me and live.” But the sunrise is the closest point we can see to the actual beginning point. Therefore, the beginning is shining through in it, and that why is the soul can feel powerfully connected to it when it sees it.

There is a general rule that each thing in Creation wishes to return to its source. For example, children want to return to their parents’ home. The Gemara says that a newlywed woman will still want to go to her father’s home.[11] Naomi told her daughters-in-law, Rus and Orpah, after their husbands departed, that they should remarry and find serenity with a husband. Every creation yearns to return to its source and root. (This is also the secret of teshuvah (repentance): to return to one’s Source.) It is natural to a person to wish to return to his source, but if a person blocks this natural desire through all kinds of dirt, garbage, and impurity, he will not feel this natural desire. Whenever a person sees the revelation of the beginning point, there is a yearning to return to there.

As an example, we can see that when a child is born, usually, everyone who hears of the newborn is overjoyed. But the Sages state that instead of rejoicing for the child, we should actually feel some sadness for this child who has had to leave his Heavenly source and come down onto this world. Even if a person says that he is truly happy that now another Jewish soul has come down onto the world to serve the Creator, he is not being truthful, because if that was his reason, then why isn’t he overjoyed every time a person does a mitzvah and serves the Creator? We can see as well that even people who do not observe Torah and mitzvos, and gentiles as well, are happy when a child is born. This joyous feeling at a child’s birth is coming from above the plane of consciousness; it cannot be rationally explained by any human reasoning and understanding. It is really because the birth of a child is a revelation of a beginning point.

Every beginning point, every start of a new revelation, speaks powerfully to a person. Why? It is because a person has a natural desire to return to his root, a beginning is a revelation of the root, of the source. That is why whenever something begins, people have a yearning for it.

People love to swim by a spring of water. Besides for the external and superficial reasons for this, there is an inner reason for it. It is because it is a source where all the water flows from. Therefore, people feel a pull towards it, because it is a beginning, a source of something. It is the same with watching the sunrise. People feel a pull towards it because it is the beginning of light. There is a certain deep feeling in watching the sunrise, because it is watching the revelation of a beginning from which all the earth’s light comes from.

If a person has this perspective as he watches the sunrise, he deepens his vision from it, and it will be a more inner and spiritual kind of vision. He will be receiving a sight that comes directly from the source of all sight (the sunrise). In this way, he integrates his natural physical vision of his eye, with its root, ayin.

Similarly, people enjoy watching the sunset. There is a rule that “the end is wrapped in the beginning”; whatever exists in the beginning point is also in the end point. Naturally, we cannot see this, because we see a disparate Creation in front of us, so we do not see the beginning in the end. When a child is born, we rejoice, and when a person dies, we are saddened, because it is the end of his life. But if we view Creation as a circle, the end point meets the beginning point. The inner view towards Creation is that the end and beginning are really one unit. Therefore, just as there is there a revelation of ayin in a beginning, so is there a revelation of ayin in an end.

Chazal stated, “Know where you come from…and to where you are going.” The deeper meaning of this, in relation to the above, is that we come from ayin (nothingness) and we also end at ayin (nothingness).

Whenever there is an end, there is a revelation of ayin\nothingness. For this reason, at death, a person’s body returns to the earth, to nothingness. In the physical world, returning to a state of nothingness has a negative connotation; death makes a person lose his body, whereupon the body returns to the earth, and now there is no more body [which is saddening to us, because all we see is the loss]. When it comes to the sunset, however, we are watching it disappear, but this does not make us sad, because we know it will return the next day. The sunset is therefore an example of an “end” which we can view as part of a cycle, where we are aware that it will lead to another beginning, and the cycle repeats. This is the deep reason of why people are drawn towards viewing the sunset – it gives a similar deep feeling of watching the sunrise.

In the physical world we live in, where something material goes lost and disappears, it is hard for us to view an end point, because we do not see an end as part of a beginning. We only see the end by itself. We see a plant that has begun to sprout, and when it rots, the plant has ended. Therefore, we identify with a beginning, but not with an end. To try to identify with an end is like trying to grapple with the fear of death. But the Torah says that when Avraham was elderly, “his days were complete.”[12] He had lived his life fully, and his entire life became like one completed circle. But this is only for a person who has an inner perspective of the neshamah. Such a person will see the end and beginning as parts of a circle, which are each needed to complete the circle.

Thus, looking at the sunrise and sunset is a way to access the revelation of our root, our source, our beginning point [which, as we explained, is ayin].

Shlomo HaMelech said, “There is no control on the day of death.”[13] What is the revelation provided by a person’s day of death? Death reveals the actual essence of a person. During a person’s lifetime, he may have had “control”, in the sense of his relation to others, but at death, there is no more of this control. At death, the person will regard his relation to others as nothing but external and superficial, and only the person’s essence remains; this is why there is no more “control” at death. The only exception to this was Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the same in his lifetime as at death, because his essence was already complete in his lifetime. But for everyone else, it is death that reveals the essence of the person. At death, there is a view that comes from ayin. It is where the end (death) meets the beginning point (ayin) – an intrinsic essence which never ceases.

That is the inner way to view death, but since we live in this material world, we cannot normally have this perspective towards death, and therefore we view death as a loss, as an absence of life. It is therefore difficult for us to see how the end is part of the beginning point.

Viewing a beginning point, however, is something which we are interested in looking at. However, we are normally not aware of this deep reason when we are drawn towards a beginning point (such as the sunrise), and instead, we are fond of beginnings simply because they symbolize hope for the future, implying that there will be growth. But if we take the example of the joy upon the birth of a child, and we think deeply into why this makes us joyous, it is not because we have a hope that this child will grow up in the future. Rather, it is because there is a joy in the very beginning of this new child.

If one’s joy at the birth of a child is because he has a hope that this child will grow, his view comes from the lower perspective, עין, “eye” [for he is looking at the physical outcome of the situation]. In contrast, if one is joyous about the child’s birth because he is experiencing a beginning point, he has the higher view towards this situation, which comes from אין, “nothingness”. Such a person, who has the view of ayin (אין), will also be able to rejoice as well when he contemplates an end [i.e. death], because he is aware that everything returns to the source,אין, ayin\nothingness.

In Summary and In Conclusion

Thus, looking at the sunrise and sunset, with a deep perspective, from the inner awareness that they are a beginning and end that are really one - is a kind of vision that nullifies our sense of sight and turns it spiritual. In order to gain from this kind of vision, one needs the ability of deep perspective and inner understanding. It will not suffice if one has a deep feeling in it. Rather, it needs to also come from inner perspective and understanding; from wisdom.

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Nullifying The Sense of Sight פרק ו' דע את נשמתך

1. Expanded Vision: Looking At A Scenic View

We mentioned in the earlier chapters that there is a spiritual gain in seeing a wide, expansive view.

People will spend a large part of their life, investing much time and money and effort, into traveling to places where they can go see a scenic view or landscape. Superficially speaking, a scenic view is simply pleasurable to look at. It is enchanting to view a scenic landscape of mountains, trees, or any of the other beautiful parts of nature. That is true, but it is only the physical aspect of vision (yeish\material). There is also an inner perspective one can have when viewing a scenic landscape. The wide expanse of space offers a person an unlimited, unbounded kind of view.

Contrast this with seeing a wall. When you look at a wall, you are seeing something very limited and contained. It is very unlike a scenic view. A wall has both a very limited shape and appearance. Looking at a wall limits your vision. But when you look at a scenic view, wide expanse of space, it is not just about the beautiful sight you are seeing. It is rather because your vision is becoming opened much further. You are taking leave of limited vision and entering into an unbounded kind of vision. That is the depth of why people enjoy looking at a scenic view [though they are not necessarily aware of this reason].

A person with a superficial perspective will look at a scenic view and focus on details: How a certain tree appears, how beautiful the mountain is, how wondrous the view is. Such a person, even if he would come to realize “Who created these”, would only be recognizing the details involved. In contrast to this, a more inner perspective to this is that viewing a wide expanse of space is a kind of view where you do not see the end. Although we can indeed see where the view ends, it is breaking the limitations of normal vision, because it is a much wider kind of view than the norm, and thus greatly expansive to our vision. That is the depth of looking at a scenic view.

We are normally found within a contained system. Our eyes can see all around us, but there are walls and separations all over the place which prevent our eyes from seeing so much all at once, thereby limiting its vision. Therefore, when looking at a scenic view, if you want to spiritually gain from this, you should be aware that you are giving freedom to your vision and that you are letting it free from its normal constraints. This is a whole different way of viewing things, and it is difficult to express in the word. You can either see something because you want to see what you are seeing - or you can see something because you want to let your vision free from its normal limitations.

This is in contrast with an entirely different kind of avodah associated with our physical vision: to restrain the view of our eyes. It is brought in sefer Shaarei Teshuvah of the Geonim that one of the Sages, Rav, would not look to any of his sides, and not even in front of him. There is a spiritual gain of limiting the vision. But here we are explaining an altogether different kind of avodah with regards to our vision: to remove the limitations of our vision.

Understandably, this avodah is only to be done with permissible sights, and in places where it is possible. The point of this avodah is not to simply stare at something we see. Rather, the purpose is to let the vision free without restraining it. If a person has an inner feeling for this and he is somewhat connected to it, and he views a wide expanse with this perspective, he will slowly feel a calmness come upon his soul. As is well-known, lack of calmness comes from limitations. The more we lessen those limitations, the more freedom and calmness the soul will receive, when one sees a wide, expansive view.

Therefore, when seeing a scenic view, one should let the vision become unbounded. Do not focus your vision on anything particular that you see in the view, and then you will come to a certain feeling of freedom, through this kind of seeing. The more one persists with this, he will slowly receive a subtler sense of vision.

2. Focused Vision: Concentrating On A Point

In this chapter, though, we will mainly explain the opposite kind of avodah than the above, which is: focused vision. These methods will involve focusing exactly on what you want to see.

In Kelm, there was a mode of conduct they would practice, that when walking in the street, one would avoid looking either right or left. This was not about avoiding improper sights, for it is well-known that in Kelm, the men would walk on one side and the women on the other. They were practicing focused vision, to keep their vision restrained from veering to the right or left. Although it was still possible to veer off tracking even when walking in a straight line, they wanted to make sure that at least their eyes don’t veer to the sides, as the eyes normally do.

Let’s explain the depth behind this practice. Earlier, we explained that rising from one realm to another realm is essentially to leave a disparate view and to enter into a unified view. The material world is called alma d’piruda, a “world of separation”. Seeing from the neshamah, however, is a unified mode of vision, and the deepest level of it is when “all are seen in one full glance.” When one wishes to leave physical vision, remove it, and reveal the spiritual realm, he needs to ‘unify’ his vision and avoid scattered vision. He needs to remove the disparate way of viewing things from within his sense of sight, and reveal a kind of vision that is more all-inclusive.

How can person do it? Firstly, a person must try not to look at that which he doesn’t need to see. This is not only true about avoiding improper sights, but even about anything that a person simply doesn’t need to see. Secondly, a person should then focus his vision on something.

This follows the basic design of Creation, in which there are actions we do, as well as actions we refrain from. Just as we need to fulfill the positive commandments and avoid the negative prohibitions, we also need to avoid looking at things we don’t need to see, which is like a ‘negation’ of our vision, and that is the basis, for we first need to avoid the negatives before doing the positives. Then, we can focus on our vision on something, which is the ‘positive’ use of our vision.

Let us explain more about the concept of focusing. When a person is learning a sefer, he should be focusing only on the words of the sefer in front of him. When a woman is baking a cake in her kitchen, she needs to focus only on making the cake. In anything we do, we must focus on what we are actually doing, and on nothing else outside of it. We should not be doing several things at once. In our generation, there is a destructive habit where people have lost the art of staying focused while looking at something. A person can be sitting behind an office desk and viewing three people in a zigzag, all at once. This makes a person lose the soul. The soul cannot be revealed when there is so much scattering taking place, when there is no focus on anything.

Part of the problem with technology is that all of the gadgets, from the smallest to the biggest of them, contain a flood of digital images, where everything changes so quickly and is replaced by new images, one after the other, in direct succession. This totally kills a person’s power of focused concentration, and especially if the digital advertisement keeps scrolling down the page quickly, overwhelming the vision by causing the eyes to speedily process all the words they are seeing.

The nation of Yisrael is known to the rest of the nations of the world as “am hasefer”, “people of the book”. The depth of this is because a sefer contains written letters that do not move anywhere. The letters of the Luchos were carved onto the tablets, because in the way that the Torah is given, the letters do not move to any of the sides. The depth of this is because we are supposed to keep our vision focused on an unmoving point. In light of this concept, we can now understand the detriment of all of the technological gadgets of today, which cause us to lose our subtlety of focus (besides for all of the physical damage that they do to the eyes, which we are not even discussing).

In the avodah of improving our visual focus, there are two ways – a deep approach, and a more superficial approach.

The superficial way to do it is by looking exactly at what you need to see. If you open a book\sefer, look exactly at what you are reading, and don’t let your eyes dart to the right or left of the page. This goes further than not looking outside of the sefer\book: Even when you are learning Gemara, try not to glance to the side where the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafos are, and instead, look precisely at the words of the Gemara in front of you which you need to see. When you finish looking at the words you needed to see, you can then look at the words of Rashi, and now focus solely on the words of Rashi [without looking at Tosafos. Then, when you are finished viewing Rashi, do the same with Tosafos].

The deeper way is to take one word and keep your eyes focused on that word. After a few minutes, try focusing on one letter, and after another few minutes, try focusing on one point, and let your vision stay focused there.

This practice is also written about by the Vilna Gaon, in different terminology. The Vilna Gaon said that the entire Torah is hinted to in the beginning of the Torah, which recounts the six days of Creation, and that the entire Torah is even hinted to in the first verse of the Torah. Taking this further, the entire Torah is also hinted to in the first word of the Torah, “Beraishis”, for it has six letters, parallel to the six days of Creation; and the dot inside the letter beis is parallel to the seventh day, Shabbos. Even more so, the Vilna Gaon says that the entire Torah is hinted to in that dot in the letter beis of the word Beraishis, and therefore, if a person focuses his vision on the word Beraishis, concentrating on it with absolute focus, he can attain an understanding of the entire Torah. Those are the words of the Vilna Gaon.

We have just learned from the above words of the Vilna Gaon that an understanding of the entire Torah is contained in the dot of the letter beis of the word “Beraishis”, which is just one point. The problem is, however, that we are usually not that involved with this little dot. What’s more, we don’t pay too much attention to the letter beis in the word Beraishis. In the best situations, a person pays attention to the word Beraishis, for the Tikkunei HaZohar is a collection of teachings that deals entirely with different combinations of letters of the word Beraishis. But even there, there are only a few teachings about the letter beis. As for the little dot in the letter beis, usually a person does not give it any significance when working with his soul. But this causes us to lose out on the root of inner vision.

The Vilna Gaon has written that the entire Torah is contained in the dot that is in the beis of Beraishis. It is the very beginning point of the Torah.  The Torah ends with, “I, which speaks of the giving of the Torah, of which it was said, “You see that it is from Heaven that I spoke with them”. Thus, the entire Torah is contained in the concept of “you see”, in vision, and vision must begin from a point.

The depth behind this practice is, as explained earlier, because there is an inner task to leave behind disparity and instead reach our unified beginning point, which is a kind of ayin\nothingness.

In the Zohar it is written, “The Torah comes out from chochmah (wisdom).” The Torah came from the chochmah – and, in light of what we have seen earlier, this chochmah is essentially the dot of the letter beis in the word Beraishis. That is the Torah’s root, and if that is the root, that is what we will need to focus our vision on, if we want to reach the spiritual dimension of ayin. The beginning of our vision is contained in ayin, and this ayin-nothingness is essentially contained in the dot of the beis in the word Beraishis.

If a person reflects into the first verse of the Torah, and then he focuses on the first word, Beraishis, and then on the first letter, beis, and then on the dot - focusing his vision there and concentrating with all his energies, on the letter beis and on the dot inside it, slowly he will divest himself of physical, disparate vision, and in its place, the root of vision will be revealed to him. His Torah learning after that will be with an inner understanding of the entire Torah. (This is only on the condition that he meets all the requirements for this. We are only describing here the source).

This is essentially an avodah to see one’s entire way of life, of which the main root is study of the holy Torah, as contained in the first point of the Torah (the dot of the beis). The word Beraishis means “beginning”, and the ‘beginning’ of this beginning is in the dot in the letter beis. So it is not something we should skip. If we want to have a spiritual intellect, we need to uncover its source. That source is the letter beis of Beraishis, and the dot in this beis is where the very root of all spiritual understanding is.

This avodah can also be done with any point as well; a person can focus on a point on the wall and concentrate his vision on it. But it is not as spiritually effective, because it is not the root of vision. However, since it is still a point, there is what to gain in focusing on it. But if a person wishes to reach ayin [through vision], the best place to reach this through any vision is through the dot in the letter beis of Beraishis.

If you do not have a Chumash on you, you can still imagine the word Beraishis and focus on it in your mind. If you can’t do this, you can still try focusing on any point in front of you for some time, though it is not ideally recommended. Ideally, we want to gain spiritual vision from the holy Torah, through the dot of the letter beis in the word Beraishis.

In summary, there are two stages of gaining focused vision: general, and specific. General focus is to avoid looking at things we don’t need to see, not to let your eyes dart to the sides, and not to look at something you aren’t involved with. Specific focus is to focus your vision on one point (preferably in the Torah). From there, a person can reach the inner point of vision.

3. Focused Vision: Closing The Eyes

Up until now, we generally learned about revealing the soul by way of the sense of sight. We explained that this divides into two types of sight: (1) Seeing something physical which can awaken our soul to the spiritual and thereby open our spiritual vision. (2) Seeing something which nullifies our physical vision [which, in turn, reveals spiritual vision]. But there is also a third kind of vision: non-sight.

In clearer terms, non-sight is the act of closing the eyes. This is a very general definition, however. It is possible for a person to keep his eyes opened and yet remained “closed” [he is very focused on something deep or spiritual] and it is also possible for a person to close his eyes and yet his eyes are opened [i.e. he is imagining something].

“The eyes see, the heart desires, and the actions complete.” A person may see something and then close his eyes, but he continues to “see” it [in his imagination]. A person may be sleeping in his bed at night with his eyes closed, but he is fantasizing in his dreams (which are a twisted form of prophecy). Even with closed eyes, a person can continue to see what he has just seen – not with his physical eyes, of course, but in his mind, for the image has been imprinted onto his mind.

We should understand that through closing the eyes, a person can negate the mode of vision altogether. We will begin to explain this concept using simpler examples, and then continue into deeper examples of the concept.

On a superficial level, closing the eyes is to simply close your physical eyes from looking at the physical world in front of you. The prophet says, “He closes his eyes, from seeing evil.” One is obligated according to the Torah to avoid seeing improper sights, and to close his eyes in order to avoid these sights. When a person closes his eyes and avoids looking at something improper, he draws holiness from Above upon him, for he has nullified his physical desire to stare at forbidden sights, and in turn, he gains spiritual vision. This concept is explained in the holy sefarim, such as in sefer Reishis Chochmah and in the sefarim of Reb Aharon Roth zt”l.[1]

It is well known that the Chozeh of Lublin was given the title of “Chozeh, “seer”, for his strong sense of spiritual vision. It is said that the main reason for this was because he placed a cloth on top of his eyes for seven years and didn’t see a thing during all that time. Truthfully, we can quite possibly say that this was a very extreme path, which most of the other Gedolim throughout the generations did not take; the other Gedolim had other ways of how they reached spiritual vision. But this extreme path that the Chozeh of Lublin took was actually the clearest path that leads towards spiritual vision.

So far, we have explained the simpler aspect of closing the eyes, which is to close the eyes in order to avoid seeing something which our eyes don’t need to see. [The source for this practice is in the following words of the Gemara.] The Gemara says on the verse, “He closes his eyes from seeing evil” – “Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said, this is referring to one who does not look at women when they are standing [by a waterfront] to do laundry. What is the case? If there is an alternate path to take, he is wicked. If there is no other path, he is innocent. Really it is referring to a case where there is no other path, and even so, he should be careful.”[2]

From these words of the Gemara we see that firstly one must be careful to keep the halachah of not walking into a place of inappropriate sights (and if one does goes there, even if he closes his eyes, the Gemara says that he is still called wicked). Secondly, even if there was no other path to get around the inappropriate place, although there is no obligation to close his eyes, closing his eyes will still be spiritually beneficial to his vision. So there are places where one is forbidden to look at, and there are places which are not forbidden to look at (meaning that they don’t cause a person to have lustful thoughts) yet one should still be pious and refrain from looking at.

All of this is but the lower, simpler aspect of closing the eyes, and when one employs it, he nullifies physical vision and reveals spiritual vision, for when physicality is weakened, spirituality is strengthened.

4. Focused Vision: Avoiding Dirty Sights

A deeper aspect in closing the eyes is contained in the concepts of “good eye” and “bad eye”, as Chazal taught: “[One who has] a ‘good eye’ is of the students of Avraham Avinu, and anyone who has a ‘bad eye’ is of the students of the wicked Bilaam.”[3] Although the ‘good eye’ and ‘bad eye’ are not physical vision but are rather a mental kind of vision, laying eyes on something that is very gruff, dirty, or disgusting can be detrimental the soul’s refinement, even if one the thing one is looking at is not forbidden to see.

If a person lives in a very dirty place, although this is not forbidden, it brings the soul down to the level of the body. The body is made of materialism and therefore it is gruff, whereas the soul is refined, subtle and pure. When a person regularly sees dirty things and enters into unclean places, he causing his own vision to become gruffer and more physical. In contrast, the more a person accustoms himself to looking at clean things – not only things which are spiritually clean from sin, but even things which are physically clean and neat looking, simply speaking – he refines his vision.

One of the stages of the spiritual ladder of growth laid out by the sage Rabbi Pinchos ben Yair is nekiyus, “cleanliness”, which the Mesillas Yesharim explains about at length. But we are not talking about that right now. Here we are talking about basic, physical cleanliness.

It is well-known that many tzaddikim were very careful about being physically clean and neat. This is because when there is cleanliness and no dirtiness, there can be purity. There is gruff dirt and messiness, and there are also subtler kinds of messiness. The soul, at its root (especially at its highest level, Atzilus), is a place where there is no evil. There is no place there for dirtiness – not in the spiritual sense, and surely not in the material sense. Thus, part of purifying the vision is to be careful not to look at things which awaken physicality, or which are dirty or messy.

The Baal Shem Tov said that a Jew should not stare at the face of a gentile. The Sages already said that one should not look at a wicked person, and the Baal Shem Tov added that this does not only include the wicked, but that one should even refrain from looking at a person whose thoughts are not connected to the Creator.

The depth of this is because although it is not forbidden to look at someone who isn’t a Torah scholar, and although the person may not be a sinner – as the sefer Tanya teaches, that there are three levels: a gentile, a wicked person, and the in-between level, a person who does not sin, who is called a “beinoni” – still, the beinoni is not attached to holiness, to Torah, to the Creator. The Baal Shem Tov therefore said that one shouldn’t even stare at the face of a beinoni. It is because looking at someone always affects the looker somewhat. Sometimes the looker will feel it less, and sometimes he will feel it more.

When a person looks at a materialistic being or thing, whether it is a gentile, or a wicked person, or a person who isn’t connected in his thoughts to the Creator, looking at such a person will dull his own vision and cause it to be more gruff and physical. Thus, closing the eyes is not only a concept of avoiding forbidden sights. There is also a concept of closing the eyes when it comes to avoiding seeing something that isn’t spiritually refined and pure. Just as looking at something holy can awaken the soul’s vision, so is the true in the opposite sense: looking at something forbidden or materialistic, or anything which isn’t connected to holiness, strengthens the physicality of vision and weakens spiritual vision.

5. Not Seeing Anything Even With The Eyes Open: Seeing Nothing

We will continue further along this path and explain subtler ways of turning the vision spiritual.

In the introduction to sefer Lev Eliyahu, there is a biography written about Reb Elya Lopian zt”l, told over in the name of Reb Shalom Shwadron zt”l, who heard a testimony from Reb Elya that even when he speaks in front of people and his eyes are opened, he does not even see even one person. Reb Shalom Shwadron asked him: “How is this possible?” Reb Elya answered: “You are already older. This is something you need to work on from a young age.” It is unclear how exactly Reb Elya reached this level, but there is definitely a concept here of opened eyes in which a person doesn’t see anything.

Generally speaking, there are two ways to accomplish this: an inner way, and an external way.

The inner way to do it is to think something else while you are talking to the other person. The Rambam said that thoughts of sin cannot enter the heart of a person unless he is empty from wisdom of Torah. That is why one of the methods of advice in guarding the sanctity of the eyes is to be heavily involved in a thought. When a person is busy with his mind about something, his eyes will not stare that much at something.

The depth behind this is because the eyes are known as the outer layer of the brain; they are also called the “malchus”, the kingdom, of the brain. Therefore, when the brain is empty from thought, it will turn outward and it will see everything that the eyes lay sight upon. But if the brain is involved in a thought, it will not also think of a lustful or sinful thought, for the brain cannot think two thoughts at once (except for some rare individuals who have “two brains”, or who have the ability to simultaneously stay connected to both their subconscious and conscious). The eyes simply cannot focus on something while the brain is heavily involved with a thought.

The more a person is heavily involved with an inner kind of thought, the more he will naturally avoid looking outward at things. This is not a spiritual power. Compare it to the following. If a person goes to the bank and they give him very unpleasant news about his account status, he is so preoccupied thinking about this when he leaves the bank that he won’t even notice his brother passing by him who says “Good morning” to him. He doesn’t even know his brother is there, because he is so self-absorbed. This phenomenon can happen either when it comes to the physical or the spiritual. Whenever a person is preoccupied and deeply involved in a thought, he doesn’t look around him.

This is the simpler method of how one can have his eyes open yet not see in front of him, and this level can be attained by anyone. A person can be deeply involved with an inner kind of thought, he can turn inward, and so he doesn’t turn outward. He won’t see anything around him, and even if he does, he will barely focus on it.

But in order to be able to do this, a person needs a strongly developed mind. With most people, this ability is only accessed when they are very busy preparing for a celebration or when they are wrapped up in a pressing issue, but on a daily basis, a person’s thoughts will not be that focused on something and they will wander, and a person’s eyes will then be turned outward. Only those who have developed an ability to listen to their heart, or a strongly developed mind, can live so much inside themselves that they don’t look at anything around them. If one does not have such a developed mind or heart, he will feel empty inside himself and naturally turn his attention outward, and then he will see and stare at things.

The more a person fills himself with inner content, whether in his mind or heart (or both), the less he will turn outward, and naturally, the less he will think of what others are saying or thinking about. Even on a purely physical level, he will end up seeing less things around him, unless he very much wants to see something. Of Avraham Avinu, it is written, “And he raised his eyes, and he saw” – he had to look at the mountain, because since he was so connected to Hashem in his mind and heart, he wouldn’t have noticed the mountain unless he concentrated on seeing it.

In summary, the ability to see with open eyes and yet not see anything in front of you is an ability that is acquired either through heavy involvement in a thought, or in deeply connecting to a heart matter. That was one way of how one can have his eyes open yet not see anything. Now we will explain a second way, which is the more inner approach.

6.  Not Seeing Anything Even With The Eyes Open: Seeing Above Yourself

Generally speaking, there is a way to see from within yourself, and a way to see from around yourself.

To illustrate the concept, one kind of person can be amongst his friends and he has shaped certain values and beliefs that are influenced by how his friends think, while another kind of person may be amongst his friends yet he thinks from the outside.

Most people, when they are found amongst certain sects or communities, only see a matter from within the view of their direct surroundings. They attribute these beliefs to be their own and they will see a matter based on how others around them are viewing the matter. But there is a way for a person to see something from the outside. His physical body may be present with everyone else, but he can view a matter from above.

When a person can only view a matter from the inside, he will most definitely be swayed by certain preconceived notions, and he won’t be able to see the matter accurately. Only when someone sees the matter from above can he have a clear view of it. Compare this to a person who is in a city he doesn’t recognize, and he wants to get to a certain place. He is confused about which direction he should go in. But if he is above the city and he sees the entire view of the city spread out before him, he can see the place where he wants to reach, and then he can guide himself there.

In the soul, there are two areas of viewing. In mystical language, these two viewpoints of the soul are known as ohr makif (enveloping light) and ohr pnimi (inner light). The view from the ohr pnimi (inner light) is how I see things from being in the inside of a matter, and the view from the ohr makif is how I see things from the outside of the matter. (Alternatively, ohr pnimi can be about something I can reach, while ohr makif is a level above me which is not within my current reach. This is a totally different approach in understanding the different views of ohr pnimi and ohr makif, and we are not dealing with it here.)

Thus, ohr pnimi is when a person sees something from his inside, whereas ohr makif is to see a matter from above. Let us explain these concepts further. In the view of ohr pnimi, a person has not risen above the matter, and therefore he sees it as a part of himself. In the view of ohr makif, a person goes above the matter, so he can view it from above. He can then enter the matter, leave it, and repeat the cycle.

[Ohr makif is described in the following Gemara.] “Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said, “I have seen those who ascend [spiritually], and they are few.”[4] The term for those who ascend spiritually, bnei aliyah, refers to those who regularly live above, but who occasionally descend, and then they immediately return to their place above. This is not in the physical sense, like a person who lives in the attic and sometimes comes downstairs and then goes back upstairs. Rather, it is referring to a power in the soul, in which a person can live above than the normal perspective, sometimes descending from his higher perspective into the lower perspective, but immediately returning to his base above. Since he generally lives above, he can see things from above, from outside of the matter.

To illustrate the concept, a mature adult is watching a bunch of children playing a game. He is observing how the children are involved in the game. Since he is an outside observer towards them, he is seeing what each of the children want, if they are being egoistic or selfish or kind; he notices qualities or weaknesses in their character. The child, however, has his own perspective in this matter. He is found inside the game, and that is where his viewpoint is.

As a general note, some people are closer in their soul root to the view of ohr pnimi, whereas others’ souls are rooted in the view of ohr makif. Most people’s souls are rooted in ohr pnimi – they see the flat surface of things, and therefore they do not “see” much. They won’t see where a matter is leading to. From the verse “The end of something is better than its beginning”[5] there is a hint that one can learn about the end of something by seeing its beginning, but most people cannot see the end from observing the beginning of a matter. This is because most people are only viewing a matter from within the matter. But when one is found above a matter – in the same vein of the concept of sof maaseh b’machshavah techilah (the end of action is first in thought) – he can see an all-inclusive view of a matter.

This ability, to see from above, is not necessarily a purely spiritual level. There are people who have various powers, which do not stem from kedushah (holiness). They can see the auras in Creation, because they have the ability to see things from above, so they are not limited to a view from the inside. They can live amongst people, yet they are essentially living on a plane of existence that is outside of their surroundings; they are not stuck within their surroundings; their physical bodies are found amongst society, but their souls are viewing everyone from above. This is not a view borne out of conceitedness, of an attitude that “I am higher and better than everyone else, and they are all worthless!” Rather, it is just a view that comes from a different place in the soul, where they can step outside of a matter and see it from above.

As long as a person can only see things from the inside, he has no hope [in seeing an accurate picture of things]. We can compare it to a person trapped in middle of a stormy ocean. When a wave is heading towards him, if he lifts his head above the height of the wave, or if he ducks so low that he is completely hidden from the wave, he can be saved, but if his head is parallel to the wave, he is in danger. In the same vein, if a person lives above, he is above the danger of the ‘waves’, for all the ‘waves’ are beneath him. He doesn’t flow along with the rest of this materialistic world, which is for the most part detrimental. (Although there are some good things that one may ‘flow’ along with on this world, most of them are spiritually harmful).

Thus, if a person has the ability to rise above the flat surface he is physically on, and he is faced with spiritually harmful influences which he is tempted to follow the crowd in, he has the ability to escape to outside of his surroundings, and when he sees something on this world that is worthwhile to pursue, he returns to below. He can keep repeating this cycle, of going above, then below, then above, etc. But if a person can only live below, he won’t be able to leave any spiritually harmful influences when he is tempted to flow after them, because he doesn’t have the ability to escape to somewhere outside. He can’t keep jumping away from the crowd around him. Only if he has a base above, can he go there when he needs to. But if he is regularly found above, that means he can quickly jump back to his base above whenever he wants to.

The ideal approach for a person to take is to be able to live both above and below. At times he should view a matter from within himself, and at other times, he should view a matter from the outside, and repeat the cycle.

All spiritual attainments are built upon this fundamental. If a person does not access this ability to view the world from outside himself, he is drowning in the “Greek cement” – where there is no hope for him, so to speak. The basis for anything is to be able to go outside of a matter. When Hashem told Avraham to leave his land and go outside of it, He was hinting to him that he did not belong to the surface level of the earth, and that he did not have to flow along with the rest of the world around him. As a result, he transcended the laws of nature. Naturally, he could not bear children, but after his name was changed from Avram to Avraham, he had children.[6]

The depth of this power, of seeing from the outside, means that one is not connected to what happens here on the surface level of the earth. A person may be here physically, but in his soul, he is viewing the world from above. One will need to descend back onto this world in order to love others and identify with them, but as soon as he feels a need to disconnect from this world, he disconnects, and goes back above.

In order to learn how to acquire this perspective of seeing things from the outside, of not flowing along with the rest of the surroundings when they are doing something which you feel is not appropriate, one has to reflect on the fact that he is essentially a stranger to this earth, like a person who has come to a foreign country he doesn’t recognize. When a person has revelation of the neshamah, he will feel “I am like a stranger in this land.”[7] As long as a person can only identify with the physical body, he will feel that his true place is to be here on this world, on this materialistic world which is a place for the physical body. But when a person has some inner revelation of the spiritual, he must know that this revelation is not enough, and that he must actually perceive life through a spiritual view, living outside of this material world.

Hashem took Avraham outside of his land and told him, “So shall it be for your children.” This meant that the Jewish people, the descendants of Avraham, must become aware that they do not exist solely on this earth. Chazal said that Yaakov and Esav divided between themselves who would inherit which world: Esav took This World as his portion, whereas Yaakov took the Next World.

This does not mean that Yaakov doesn’t have This World at all, for as we know, there were many wealthy Jews, such as Rabbeinu HaKadosh and others, who were rich both in the physical and in the spiritual. What, then, does it mean that Yaakov only received the Next World, and not This World? It meant that he could feel that he does not exist here, and that even when he is here, he is not really here. A person may be in a diamond bourse, or in some other materialistic place, yet he is not there [his physical body is there, but his mind and heart are elsewhere]. This doesn’t mean that he closes his ears and eyes and shuts out his senses. He can hear and see everything which is going on around him, but he can know that he is not found here. In his soul, he can view the matter from outside of himself, as opposed to from inside himself.

We should really say a lot more about this concept, for it is the basis for a deeper and inner kind of life. A person who can only see from inside of himself, and never from outside and above himself, will not be able to connect to a higher dimension. The basis for spiritual growth is to be able to live outside [of the surroundings]. One should practice this in the external sense, in order to conceptualize it. Therefore, one should have set times every day where he leaves society. Even when he returns to society, his soul must remain outside of society, and he should only return there in the physical sense.

We will now return to discussing the soul’s sense of sight. When a person steps outside and he views into the inside of a matter, he can see all the details of the inside. Furthermore, because he is on the outside and looking in, he can see all of the details with one full glance, and he can see the interconnectedness of the details as one structure.

To illustrate, a non-religious Jew sees all Chareidi Jews in Israel as being one big infrastructure, and he doesn’t see that there are different sects of Jews who have radically different approaches, customs, and beliefs. From the perspective of an irreligious Jew, all Chareidim appear to be the same. But if a person enters into the inner circles of Chareidi Jewry, he will see that there are all kinds of different types of Chareidi Jews. He will enter into one sect of Jewry and discover 70 different factions there, with differences in the styles of peyos, dress, etc. Similarly, a person may see a certain family and think that all of the siblings are alike, but the parents know well that there are huge differences between each of their children.

When a person has the outsider view, everything in front of him will appear to him as one structure, because when one is found on the outside of a matter, he will see a bunch of details in front of him as all being the same. When a person has the insider view, though, he sees the differences in the details. There is certainly a disadvantage to the outsider’s view, who cannot see the differences of the details. But if a person can see a view both from the inside and outside of a matter, he will be able to see into the inside from the outside, and then he can see how all the similarities [and then he can reach a general view where he doesn’t focus on details], and then he won’t see anything [because there are no details to focus on].

The truth is that these words are brief about the topic, but these are very deep words about a power in the soul, which one needs to reveal. One must firstly reveal the ability to see from the outside of a matter [ohr makif] then the ability to see into the details of a matter [ohr pnimi] and then a general view which is all-inclusive and which sees the entire picture [an integration of ohr makif and ohr pnimi]. After reaching such a mode of vision, when a person wants to see the details, he will see them, and when he doesn’t want to see them, he will instead see the general view.

Just as we understand that a person can guide his hand in any direction he wishes, so can a person guide his soul in any mode of vision he wishes to see through. And just as a person can guide his eyes to see something or to steer away from seeing it, so can a person guide his own inner vision. A person can direct his thoughts to either be superficial or deep, and it is the same with vision – a person can guide it and direct what it will see.

Of course, if a person doesn’t feel a connection in his soul to any of these concepts, this will all seem like a closed riddle to him. But with the more inner of a life a person lives, slowly he will be able to reveal deeper and subtler modes of vision. He will be able to uncover a detailed view (ohr pnimi) as well as a general view [ohr makif.] When he goes to a place where there are improper sights and he doesn’t want to see these sights, he will be able to see it all as nothing but a beam in front of him. He can see it all as one structure, and he won’t focus on the details in front of him.

To summarize, there are two approaches in closing the eyes. One way is to simply close the eyes, and another way is to not see anything even when the eyes are open, and this is accomplished either though deep mental concentration on something (which prevents the eyes from staring at anything), or through gaining an all-inclusive perspective in which one can see all the details as one full structure, in one sweeping glance.

7. Focused Vision: Looking At The Dark

It is written, “Weep incessantly at night.”[8]

Why is the nighttime a more ideal time to cry, as opposed to the day? On a superficial level, it is because the nighttime is quieter (at least in previous generations) and more ideal for personal reflection. When a person is alone with himself and his thoughts are calm, he can be easily brought to tears. Even just being alone can easily bring a person to tears, for it is written, “How is it that I weep, alone” and soon after there is a verse, “Weep incessantly at nights”, which implies that being alone can bring a person to mourn and weep.

There is also a more inner reason why nighttime is the more ideal time to be brought to tears. The sun’s light accompanies the daytime, where nighttime is a time of darkness. The daytime is thus a time for sight, whereas the nighttime is a time for non-sight. By day, a person naturally can see, but at night, either a person does not see at all, or he can see unclearly. It would seem that if we cannot see at nighttime, there is nothing to see at night, and that there is nothing to gain from seeing the dark.

The eyes are the ‘tools’ of vision. Just as a person does not open his mouth while he is eating or when he is silent from talking, so it seems that our eyes do not opened at a time when we cannot see, like when it is dark. Why, then, do our eyes need to remain open at nighttime? Certainly it is uncomfortable to shut our eyes all the time whenever it is dark, but that cannot be the complete reason for why our eyes are meant to stay open at night when we are in the dark. If we are in the dark, does it make a difference if we close our eyes or if we look at the dark, when we anyways cannot see anything?

But, in truth, there are two kinds of vision. As explained earlier, there is a mode of our vision which sees physicality, and there is a mode of vision in which we detach from physical vision. We can see physical sights during daytime. But at night, there is a [level of] detachment from seeing the physical. There are two different ways of how there is detachment from vision at night. In the dark, a person may close his eyes because there is nothing for him to see, and in not seeing, the physical sense of vision is nullified. But there is also a deeper way to nullify the vision: by staring at the dark.

What is there to see when looking at the dark, if we cannot see anything in the dark? But there is an avodah precisely to look at the dark. A person can sit in the dark and stare at the darkness.

Let us explain this. When a person gets used to shutting his eyes, he learns how to nullify his vision. He gets himself used to the idea that the eyes are not always in a state of seeing. Indeed, Hashem has created the daytime for us to see and do action, and the nighttime is a time for sleep (at least for part of the night). By daytime, usually people do not close their eyes, unless they are going to sleep, but going to sleep by day is frowned upon by the Sages. Hashem created the nighttime for sleep. In deeper terms, Hashem created two modes for man – opened eyes, and closed eyes. The time to naturally open the eyes is by day, and the time to naturally close the eyes is by night, when going to sleep.

Thus, nullifying the natural vision is achieved through shutting the eyes, either through going to sleep, or through willfully shutting the eyes. Nullifying the vision is thus by closing off the source of the physical vision. The eyes are like a crack, a window, to the revelation of the neshamah; but the eyes are also capable of physical vision [the antithesis to the soul’s spiritual vision]. When a person closes his eyes, he removes the physicality of his vision, for he cannot see physicality with his eyes closed. This is one kind of nullifying the vision – through closing the eyes.

Another way of nullifying the vision is through staring at the dark. Let us explain the advantage of using the method of looking at the dark, versus the method of closing the eyes.

Normally, a person keeps cycling between vision and closing the eyes, which is nullifying the vision on some level, because when the eyes are closed, a person does not see the material world in front of him. However, as soon as he opens his eyes, he is back to seeing materialism again, and therefore, even when he closes his eyes later, there is an imprint left on his soul from what he has seen, even when his eyes are closed. Thus, any nullification of vision attained through closing the eyes is an incomplete nullification, for it does not remove the imprints left from the sights one has seen.

If a person would be seeing this world for all 24 hours of the day, he wouldn’t be able to disconnect from this material world, for “the eyes see, the heart desires, and the actions complete.” Therefore Hashem created man in a way where his vision will not be constant, where he only sees by daytime, and at night, his eyes are closed and his vision ceases. But, while this is true, it is not enough to nullify physical vision, because in the end, a person opens his eyes again and he continues to see this material world, and the cycle repeats.

The spiritual benefits of closing the eyes are therefore only during the time where the eyes are closed, and it can only have a minimal spiritual effect on a person’s vision when the eyes are open, which will not be enough to nullify one’s physical vision and turn it spiritual.

Here is where the avodah of looking at the dark comes in. Looking at the dark is an additional stage of progress in nullifying the physical vision. It is a deeper way for a person to open his eyes and look, yet he isn’t seeing a thing.

Let’s explain the gain of this method. Usually when a person is in the dark, although he can still open his eyes and see, his vision is weak, so he cannot see anything in the dark. This trains the eyes to a mode of vision where a person is looking and yet he is not actually seeing anything.

Contrast this with the following. When a person is waiting at the bus stop and he sees the bus coming, his curiosity gets the better of him and he wishes to see the number on the bus, so before the bus gets close, he scrutinizes his vision so that he can make out the number. This is a very focused kind of vision. Another example: a person is looking for a house with the address of 101, and he is passing by the houses, he concentrates carefully on the numbers of the houses, noticing that the numbers are descending, until he finds 101. This, too, is a very focused kind of vision.

But when a person is in the dark, there is no need for him to carefully scrutinize anything with his eyes. He just looks simply at what is in front of him, because there is nothing for him to see. Why, then, does he keep his eyes open in the dark? It is because it is uncomfortable to keep the eyes closed constantly. For example, when taking the public bus from Jerusalem to Tzfas, a person looks out the bus window and he keeps his eyes open, watching nothing but darkness go by (at least in previous times, when there wasn’t traffic on the highways and there was nothing to see). He is not looking at anything specific, and he is just keeping his eyes open because it’s uncomfortable otherwise. Since he is not consciously focusing on the darkness, he will not derive any spiritual gain from it.

The inner avodah of looking at the dark means that one concentrates on the dark with a focused kind of vision. As we explained earlier, there is an avodah to focus one’s vision on the dot in the letter beis of the word Beraishis. Similarly, when a person is in the dark, there is an avodah to concentrate with the eyes and to try to focus on a certain point in the dark. Of course, he does not actually see this point. But although he cannot actually see this point, because he is in the dark, he can still focus his vision [and concentrate on a point in the darkness in front of him].

The avodah of looking at the dark, then, is essentially a way to use the power of vision and “not see” anything with it. If a person gets used to sitting in the dark and focuses his vision on some point in the darkness in front of him, with concentration, he will open a more inner faculty in his vision – he will reveal within himself an ability of being able to “see” how to “not see”.

Concerning idol worship, there is a verse, “They have eyes, and they do not see”.[9] As is well-known, there is a rule that for everything negative that exists in the side of evil, there is a parallel concept in the side of holiness. Just as in the side of evil there are idols, which have eyes that cannot see, so does this concept exist in the side of holiness, in which a person can have his eyes open and yet not see anything. A person has the inner ability to open his eyes and look at point in front of him, and yet not see anything in front of him.

As we are explaining here, this power is achieved through looking at the dark. If a person gets used to repeatedly sitting in the dark and focusing his vision on a point in front of him in the darkness, he trains his vision to be focused and yet not see anything.

This is an even higher kind of avodah than focusing on a dot [in the beis of Beraishis]. Why is the most superb kind of vision? It is because the deepest thing one can see is when one takes uses his power of vision to not “see” anything with it.

The eyes are the outer layer of the mind. The eyes are called einayim in Hebrew, similar to the term that described the mind’s power of thought, which is iyun. The sefarim hakedoshim say that the reason for this similar terminology is because the eyes [vision] are a revelation of the power of thought [the mind]. The eyes are called the “kingdom of the mind.” However, “the purpose of knowledge is to know that we do not know.” A person has a mind which contains the power of daas (logical understanding), but the purpose of all knowledge is to “not” know. It is the same with vision – the purpose of seeing is to see a kind of sight in which we do “not see”.

Therefore, there is an avodah to strongly focus the vision and concentrate as much as one can on the darkness in front of him, and this trains one’s vision to get used to the mode of “not” seeing.

The depth behind this is because there is a verse, “No man can see Me and live”[10], and this implies on a deeper level that if a person wants to reach d’veykus[11] with the Creator, he needs to go above the perspective of vision. Not only must he divest himself of physical vision (as we are now explaining) for this, but he must even divest himself of his [spiritual vision of] neshamah! Man has an inner avodah to reach a point where he does not see. If something can be seen, it is limited and it has an end to it, but the Endless (the EinSof) cannot be seen. Thus, the depth of concentrating on the dark is for a person to bring his vision to a point where it does not see.

The prophets, who are also called chozim (seers), saw visions and prophecies which pertain to the first 6,000 years of creation. [They saw their prophecies through a higher mode of vision.] In contrast, the prophecy of Mashiach will be on a level that is above vision. In our own personal avodah, this higher level of prophecy is expressed, to some degree and our own level, by taking our sense of sight and learning how to “not see” with it.

[Rectifying The Vision]

The concept of rectifying our sense of vision thus has two facets to it.

1) There is the concept of “He closes his eyes from seeing evil”, to avoid seeing any inappropriate sights (which belong in the category of the “three impure kelipos (husks)). Furthermore, one may close his eyes to avoid seeing the material world at all (which belongs in the category of “kelipas nogah”), for the Zohar says that even viewing this world causes a person to be drawn after physicality. There is also a level of rectification achieved just by simply closing the eyes.

2) There are also higher and subtler ways of closing the eyes, which we have elaborated upon here, in which a person learns how to see and “not” see: Either through seeing everything in front of you as one, undetailed structure; or, the higher level, by looking at the dark, training the eyes to see how to “not” see.

As we know, there are four colors contained in a person’s eye, but sight itself is viewed through the black pupil of the eye. Why is it this way? There is much depth to it. But with regards to our current topic, it is because seeing through the black part of the eye reveals the mode of vision in which a person sees from within darkness, as opposed to seeing amidst the light. (If we were meant to only see amidst light, we would see from the white part of the eye.)

It would seem that when “seeing amidst the darkness” means that a person is found in the dark and he can only see a little bit of light, and he tries to identify things in the dark, using the little light that he has. This World is compared to the nighttime. We are trying to find some illumination of light amidst all the darkness. When we consider the fact that we see through the black part of the eye, the superficial perspective towards this is because we are found in a world of darkness, and therefore we are looking for a light amidst all the darkness.

But there is a greater depth of why we see through the black part of the eye. It is because the root of our sight stems from seeing darkness, in which we “see” that we do “not see”. This does not mean to simply not see. It means that we are meant to bring our vision to a point where it does not see. This kind of “not seeing” is not the same thing as not being able to see something that is far away. Rather, it is a kind of sight in which a person sees that he does not see.

It is in the same vein of “The purpose of knowledge is to know that we do not know.” The level of “not” knowing does not simply mean an absence of knowledge. Rather, there is a deeper level of knowledge in which a person knows that he does not “know.” With vision as well, the deeper mode of vision is to see a kind of vision where we are not seeing anything. That is the concept behind looking at darkness. It is not simply an absence of sight – it is rather a kind of sight, of seeing darkness, where we see a kind of sight in which we do not see anything.

In the design of Creation, first there is evening, which is darkness, and then there is morning, the light. The Torah writes, “And it was evening, and it was morning, one day.” Why is this the order? We may answer to this that darkness represents the evil kelipos, the “husks” of the side of impurity, and there is a rule that “the shell precedes the fruit”, so perhaps darkness comes before the day because first there is impurity which precedes the holiness (of daytime). However, this cannot be reason – let us explain why.

Regarding the first day of Creation, the Torah does not say that it was “the first say”, but rather, “And it was evening, and it was morning, one day.” The Torah calls it “one day” rather than the “first” day. Rashi on this verse of the Torah cites the statement of Chazal that that it was the day in which Hashem ruled alone, where he was One, in His infiniteness (EinSof). Therefore, there could not have been any existence of kelipos on the first day of Creation. The kelipos were only created after the first day, for on the first day, there was only one reality – the Infinite Light (ohr EinSof) of Hashem, which illuminate the world from one end to the other, which did not allow for any kelipos.

Therefore, we return to our question: Why does night precede the day?

We are currently in the era of the first 6,000 years of Creation, in which our perspective is that night must precede day – in other words, concealment always precedes revelation – and therefore, we must remove the concealment. As the Sages said, “If someone says “I toiled and I found, believe him”,[12] meaning that only after a person puts in the effort of trying to remove the barriers, the darkness, he will then find light. This is all, however, only from our current perspective. But there is a higher perspective which we can access. On the very first day of Creation, when Hashem made evening and day, the evening was not an evil kind of darkness, chas v’shalom, but a morning intertwined with evening, a way of seeing through darkness.

We need to understand that when the Torah says that the day follows the night, this is not just for the purpose of knowledge, but to show us where the root of vision is. What difference does it make to us if the day comes after the night or not? From the fact that the Torah tells us that the evening preceded the night, we learn that this is not coincidental. It is to teach us that darkness must precede light, because the light is really found through darkness!

When the Torah says that evening preceded the day, this was not just to tell us the order of events. It was to show us that since darkness preceded light, all light is therefore contained in darkness. The meaning of this is that when you see, you are meant to see darkness. Just as a person sitting in a house sees a house, so is it with light: since light is found in darkness, a person sees darkness [even when he is looking at light].

Thus, there are two kinds of seeing. After Hashem made the separation between light and dark, we cannot see in the dark and we can only see in the light. But before Hashem made this separation between light and dark, Chazal teach that “the light and dark served together, in a mixture.” This refers to a deeper kind of vision, where a person can be in the light yet he sees darkness.

The avodah of looking at the dark is, on a deep level, a return to the first day of Creation. On the first day, there was only one thing alone – the “Individual” of the world. If a person looks at the light and all he sees is light, and if he cannot see anything in darkness, he cannot reach the Creator, because he has not yet handled the dark, and when he is in the light, all he can see is whatever he sees, but the Creator cannot be seen. But when a person gets used to looking at the dark, he can arrive at a state of being divested from physical vision, and then he can rise above the level of “No man shall see Me and live.”

Thus, the deep way of nullifying vision is to look at the dark.

8. Purifying The Vision Through Crying

Since we mentioned earlier the verse of “Weep incessantly at night”, we will touch a little upon the idea of reaching inner understanding through the power of crying.

Tears purify the vision. Tears are like a mikveh, which a person immerses in and he becomes purified from any spiritual contamination. Tears are essentially the “mikveh” of the eyes. Tears divest one of physical vision, and they are a part of spiritual vision. If a person cries incessantly, at some point he will not be able to see, because the moisture in his eyes becomes dry through crying, leaving him temporarily blind.

Therefore, on a deep level, crying is a way to nullify the vision. Through incessant crying, a person can reveal a more inner point in his vision.