Worlds, Souls and Divinity in the act of Love
In this short article, I would like to point out three levels in the practices of love, tantra, and sacred sexuality, according to the Baal Shem Tov’s method of "Worlds, Souls and Divinity". At the end of the article, I will add a short appendix comparing the Kabbalah of the Baal Shem Tov with the Kaballah of the Ari (Lurianic Kabbalah), with the help of some words from the philosopher Martin Buber who influenced my life greatly.
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov was a radical mystic, a man of Kabbalah and medicine, and a Jewish shaman, who lived in the eighteenth century in the mountains and forests that are now placed in the Ukraine. He is known as the one who often smoked a sacred pipe loaded with special herbs. The smoke which he treated as sacred incense offered at the altar.
The Baal Shem Tov was a man with an expanded mind and a huge heart, who stirred up a lot of controversy and got cancelled by the rabbinic establishment.
In the "Letter of Ascension of the Soul" that he wrote to his brother-in-law, he explains things he saw in the upper worlds. One of them is that in everything and in every word there are "Worlds, Souls, and Divine, and they rise and connect and unite with each other".
But what are "Worlds, Souls, and Divine"?
"Worlds" -- refers to the structures. Everything has a structure, whether it is physical or spiritual, whether it is a tree, a bird, or a psychological method – it has a structure. Everything has some kind of template, in which they are built and according to which they function. This dimension of the internal structure of everything is called "Worlds". When we relate to this layer, we ask questions of "how?" -- such as: "How is the thing built?" or, "How does it work?"
"Souls" -- everything in the universe has a soul, claims the Baal Shem Tov. That is, all things have consciousness. The universe we live in is not just an unconscious mechanical world. On the contrary, the whole world is full of consciousness, and there is someone to talk to in anything we perceive as an object. This is known as an animistic approach to life, which characterizes shamanic teachings from all over the world. With the general return of shamanism to the Western world that is happening today, Animism is also coming back to our awareness. More and more people feel that it is possible to make a personal connection with a plant, with the weather, or with spirit beings.
When we relate to this layer of things, we ask questions of "Who?" -- "Who are you?" Where did you come from, and where are you headed? What are your wishes? And above all -- How can I get in meaningful touch with you?"
"Divinity" – the Baal Shem Tov adds and says that there is also another layer – the layer of divinity. This is where the sacred dimension penetrates to our consciousness. We do not deal with lifeless patterns, nor are we satisfied with encounters between consciousnesses in the horizontal dimension only. Here the vertical dimension is added to reality. All things also have Divinity. Behind all phenomena, there is one great divine oneness. When our soul is exposed to this Great One we are filled with reverence, awe and love. Sometimes we literally disappear into the Great One, sink into the divine ocean, and disappear in it like a drop of rain that fell into the sea late at night.
The Baal Shem Tov claims in his letter that all these dimensions "rise and merge with each other". They are not separate dimensions. He likens the union of these dimensions to the sacred union of a male and a female. In his words:
"... and all the worlds unite as one and ascend, and become infinitely great joy and pleasure. As you can understand in the rejoicing of a bridegroom and a bride in smallness and physicality, so you can expand your perception to the ways it shows in such high degrees."
For this reason, I would like to refer to the sacred love encounter between lovers according to the approach of "Worlds, Souls, and Divinity":
Worlds in the act of love – in this plane we can learn various tantric or Daoist techniques that can improve the "how" of the act of love. It is worthwhile to learn how the female and male bodies are constructed, what are the stages of sexual arousal, how to work with the orgasmic waves to expand consciousness, and how to increase the pleasure and connection between loved ones. On the level of Worlds it is useful to learn not only about the physical, hormonal, and emotional body but about our energetic body as well. How the energy moves in the microcosmic orbit within us, how to increase the energy in the various chakras by breathing techniques, meditation, muscle contractions, etc. Many books have been written on these topics, and many workshops are held to teach those techniques. But all this is only within the scope of the level of "Worlds" in the act of lovemaking.
Souls in the act of love — this is the place beyond any technique. In the layer of Souls, we emphasize the intimate meeting between you and me. It is about our ability to release fears, take off shields, and shed masks. We seek to be as honest and authentic as possible with each other. At the Soul level, it is not important if we know some esoteric technique that makes our beloved's body vibrate or squirt. What matters is the level of our loving presence. Are we really present here? Are we authentic? To what extent is the meeting between us a meeting between naked hearts, or is it just a meeting between physical bodies and personality masks?
Many are afraid of intimacy, and go looking for technical knowledge to bypass the scariest place of true intimacy. It is easier for us to hide behind techniques and remain on the level of Worlds than to expose our Souls naked, and defenseless. But no technique will cover up a lack of intimacy. Our heart wants to be seen and met, exposed and authentic in the act of love. The deeper we go into the "Souls" level, the more we will meet not only the personality of the other human but the vibrating soul behind all personality patterns. Only a meeting of souls makes life meaningful. A true encounter of naked souls reveals and invites a space of sacredness, which we sometimes did not know existed before. When intimacy is achieved and we manage to meet at the level of Souls, it is indeed nice to add some technical knowledge from the level of Worlds, so that when our hearts expand and we spread our wings, we can actually fly.
Divinity in the act of love – through the meeting of bare souls a sacred space is revealed. There, one can glimpse an even deeper layer of true reality. When you reach these levels, the feeling is that the Great One looks at herself, loves herself and knows herself through us. The me and you are dwarfed, and all the dramas of our lives are given true proportion, the dimension of time is silenced, and what remains is only a great wonder of eternity, awe of exaltation and love that has no measure. Heartbreaking love. This is not the love of one person for another -- it is Love itself, the love that does not depend on any object. It is the divinity itself that appears as Love, as it is written in the Book of Zohar that the word 'AHAVA’ (love) is the supreme root of the holy name 'YHWH'. This Love vibrates with the sacred vibration of deep Freedom and is infinitely powerful, but these things are hard to put into words.
I wish for myself and all of us that we will be able to make love in the three levels of Worlds, Souls, and Divinity and to know Love that is Freedom, Love that is Empowerment.
A short appendix about the Kabbalah of the Baal Shem Tov and the Kabbalah of the Ari (Lurianic Kabbalah) :
I really like the twist that the Baal Shem Tov made to the Kabbalah of the Ari. Through the writings of Rabbi Haim Vital the Kabbalah of the Ari sometimes seems to be a kind of technical specification of the structure of the upper worlds. In my youth, when I studied ecology, I felt this way about the botanists who analyzed every plant with us in detail, until we forgot that you can just sit next to the flower, smell it, and be filled with gratitude.
The Ari was probably a kind of botanist of the Tree of Life. The Shekinah is sometimes called "Shoshana" (Rose) in the book of Zohar. But the Baal Shem Tov came to remind us that in order to be in touch with the sacred rose, it is not necessary to analyze it. You might just stay with her, bask in her fragrance, and fall in love.
In his book "Essay on the Two Lights" the Hasidic Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac of Homil (a student of the Baal HaTanya, his son and grandson) explains that "Worlds, Souls and Divinity" in the Baal Shem Tov's Kabbalah, is parallel to what the Ari called "Lights, Sparks, and Vessels of Adam Kadmon". The Baal Shem Tov gave it a twist that invites us from the technical space to more intimacy. In this sense, it can be said that the Kabbalah of the Ari speaks on the level of "Worlds", because it deals with the structure of the sefirot in the divine realms, but the Kabbalah of the Baal Shem Tov invites us to an approach of "Souls", an approach that has a heart. A Kabbalistic approach that invites an authentic deep encounter.
The Hasidic movement was created following the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov after his time. From an analysis of Hasidic writings and stories, the philosopher Martin Buber formulated his "Dialogical Philosophy". In his main book "I – Thou" Buber develops a unique approach to the mystery that opens up in the dialogical space, a space that is revealed when a true encounter is created between us.
In direct continuation of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, Buber claims in his dialogic philosophy that the pic of "dialogue" is the ability to meet the "Eternal Thou" through any real relationship with the Other. The third part of the book "I – Thou" opens with the sentence: "The elongated lines of encounters meet each other in the eternal I." That is a person who is used to meeting the other with "I - Thou" will learn that in fact the "Eternal Thou" – the Divine – speaks to them through each concrete "thou" with whom they have created a bond of truth. As the Baal Shem Tov taught, life is full of signals from the "Eternal Thou" that speaks to us constantly. One only has to incline one's ear and listen.
The innovation of the Baal Shem Tov is that from a meeting of Souls when it takes place with deep defenseless exposure, the sacred space in which the Divine is revealed is opening up.
~ Pele. Colorado. Feb 2024.
