The Light of Judaism

When we consider the nature of physical 'reality' we generally think of it as something of relative stability and permanence in which we are immersed. Normally, we don't perceive it as something in process of creative unfoldment. Our normal mode of interpreting mundane life is by using the 'lower mind'. (We call it 'rational thinking'.) The rational mind provides us with our most immediate experience of 'reality' and therefore necessarily conveys a very limited 'close up' view of our environment. It's like looking at a large oil-painting with your nose pressed against it. The 'lower mind' is an interface that allows the consciousness principle to experience the physical world (up close and in 'real time').

What the rational mind naturally fails to see is the latent 'future reality' that's in process of emerging—that's pushing through from behind the veil of appearances and gradually assuming form in the world around us. This is often referred to as the 'Derech HaShem'.

The lower mind usually perceives our unfolding personal psycho-physical circumstances as the result of the application of our personal will periodically interfered with (and influenced) by other people and by the principle of 'chaos'—a principle that also appears to be actively present in our world. But this is an illusion that's based on the very limited perception and understanding of the rational mind.

Mundane human consciousness is specifically designed (i.e. has evolved according to divine design specifications) to deal with the minutiae of personal life. But it was not designed to perceive the holistic 'collective Reality' blueprint that exists behind the veil of physical appearances.

The Derech HaShem is an expression of the higher Reality of the human soul. It's a long-term project because it tends to be resisted by incarnate Humanity. The Plan is resisted because it usually conflicts with the reality picture that the collective Human ego is seeking to manifest. But it's slowly and progressively being realized through the conscious and unconscious participation of every member of the Human family.
Those of us who are unconscious of the process of the emergence of the Plan (i.e. the majority of human-beings) are those who are strongly influenced by the perception of their lower animalistic self. In contrast, the other (less numerous) individuals who are aware of the gradual appearance and unfoldment of the 'Derech HaShem' on Earth have experienced a shift in consciousness and have become focused in their higher 'intuitive' mind. They've become aware of a force that flows beneath the surface of physical reality, and that's beyond the perceptual limitations of the rational mind.

This spiritual force is an expression and function of a collective 'organism' that's comprised of all the individual souls of Humanity. In other words, above the World of Ruach (Yetzirah) we all exist as part of a 'gestalt consciousness of human souls'. This gestalt exists in a realm above and beyond the world of physical appearances and mental perception. And its influence flows down from the Neshama (World of Beriya)—that is, from the plane of the 'spiritual intuition' (located directly above the mental plane). In this super-conscious realm there is no sense of separation between individual souls because they all form part of an organic holistically aware Entity. At this level every human soul is conscious of its place and function in the larger Organism and is consciously linked with all the other member souls of the Gestalt.

But unfortunately, that collective awareness is lost when human consciousness descends into the dense physical realm and becomes a human ego. This descent into physicality and ego-consciousness is the cause of the illusion of separation that plagues each and every one of us for a time. In the physical world our rational mind presents us with the appearance of separation from our fellow human-beings and from every other physical form outside of our own physical bodies.

In the Kabbalah the 'emerging divine Reality' principle is represented by the Hebrew letter Mem (מ)—transliterated as the English letter 'M'. The force of the principle of Mem naturally pushes through the existing reality structure we have created on our planet by finding pathways in consciousness that are open to its flow—like water gravitating towards and flowing into channels dug in the earth.

By 'pathways in consciousness' I mean pathways of entry into human consciousness. A pathway is created when we raise our consciousness beyond the lower mind. We then become potentially receptive to the flow of Mem, and therefore, potentially able to participate 'consciously' in the unfolding manifestation of the higher Reality blueprint.

The force of Mem is essentially a 'collective' influence—that is, it's working to manifest a 'design' that's been formulated within the collective consciousness of the great human soul Gestalt that exists on levels above the Yetziratic plane. Mem is like a reservoir of creative energy that's waiting to be accessed by incarnate human-beings, but in order to tap into it requires the raising of human consciousness. And to translate its energy into material forms (that express the higher Reality blueprint) requires the evolution of the human mind and the development of the intuitive faculty.

Therefore, until the majority of incarnate human-beings have evolved in consciousness to the requisite degree, the higher Reality blueprint will remain unrealized on our planet except in a small measure—that is, as a result of the minority who have contacted the Mem reservoir, and who have successfully translated the creative energy they've received.

When Mem flows along a pathway in human consciousness and becomes manifested in the physical world the force of its influence is powerful and inevitable. Its impact and momentum eventually changes the world in which we live (in some way). Thereby a small part of the Derech HaShem becomes realized.