Page 40 – 4 lines from the end of the page (line starts “vehu...”).
Essence is not found in the world. Uses and function in the world is seen as contrived. Not an essential quality. Essence means that the entire unit is one truth. An etzem/essence t has a infinite quality.
If the sun, as it is to itself, reached us, we would be eliminated. Our world consists of darkness, and the element of touch (in contrast to sight). And the sun knows, not darkness. We live in the world and worldly knowledge consists of a process and of coming into contact with things. Existence begins at the moment of touch, and that is our reality, even if we logically assume existence before our contact with the object.
Sight is totally different from touch. Sight tells us something is really there, independent of my knowledge and experience of it. Sight tells us that it existed before I saw it. In darkness you know things, 'hence forth'. In light you know where things are coming from – there's a Creator and they come from Him.
In a human being, in a simple man, common folk, they all think in terms of posterity. This is a relating to infinity, since he knows the human being is for real. A reality that is eternal.
In light you become aware of reality and it's eternity.
Essence by definition has an ohr/light. Why? Since light is the manifestation of the universality of this essence. “Its not just limited to me – its the truth. I'm telling you its true.”
A human being knows without it being recorded in a data base. Chochmah has the bitul to access purity of the nefesh. Truth itself is a reality. In the world touch not truth is convincing.
Essence is such a permeating truth, that it does not relate to anything that is not this way. If this light that represents this truth comes and represents fully then the darkness of the world and the world would disappear.
If light was too intense. We wouldn't see anything.
We are pointing out that the light that reaches us is just a reflection of the essence.
If the light didn't go through a tzimzum/contraction we would just have the essence itself.
The reason for tzimzum? An essential truth, an additional level of truth is brought about through ohr chozer, and ohr chozer is facilitated by tzimzum. He wanted to give Him, Himself and this is best achieved through this process, which is deeper than the gilui of ohr.
The fact that it comes through a tzimzum means that the light comes to be limited. The light of the sun dissipates as the distance from the source increases. This is an oddity. If sun is really a mashal for infinity, then it's rays should never dissipate.
At the top of the next page – 41 - the whole principle of tzimzum/contraction is only applicable regarding the light, but not the essence.
In the essence itself there is no possibility of tzimzum/contraction. In our example there is not chance of the sun becoming less than light 'through and through'.
Thus we see that sechel has a limit. The sechel the mentor gives is a ha-arah/reflection of the essence and is thus limited.
Rebi said, my wisdom is sharper than my fellows since I saw our teacher reb meir from the back. And his fellows didn't see him. So what is the effect of seeing the teacher? Sight means you relate not just to the words, but to the source, the essence. By seeing physically or in one's mind the teacher, the teaching gets additional traction/potency.
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