Similarly, [this process of spiritual growth continues] in this
way, until the person has thus rectified all five partzufim of Asiya,
giving him NRNCh”Y, which is called a whole Nefesh of Asiya.Gate of Reincarnations
“GATE OF REINCARNATIONS”
from
the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria
translated by
Yitzchak Bar Chaim
edited by Shabtai Teicher
CHAPTER ONE, Section Five: Stages Traversed on Each Level of Soul
Similarly, [this process of spiritual growth continues] in this
way, until the person has thus rectified all five partzufim of Asiya,
giving him NRNCh”Y, which is called a whole Nefesh of Asiya.
Each aspect of the five levels is complete in its three sections, Ibur, Yenika, and Mochin, alluded to in the verse, “His mother would make him a small robe, etc.” (I Samuel 2:19).
Literally, these
words mean: ‘embryo’, ‘suckling’, and ‘brains’. The first term refers to a stage where the sefirot netzach,
hod and yesod are “pulled up” on top of chesed, gevura and
tiferet, and in this posture of “three within three” they are curled up
within the womb of bina. In this way she provides a direct transference
of light to them, as a mother does to a fetus when the fetus is inside her
womb.
The second term
refers to the stage when these sefirot have since left the womb of bina-Imma,
but like a new-born child they still require direct “nourishment” (of light)
from their “mother,” i.e. bina. This stage corresponds to the sefirot of
chesed, gevura and tiferet because the size of the partzuf
is now equal to all six sefirot from yesod to chesed.
The last term, mochin-brains,
is another way of referring to the sefirot of chochma, bina,
and daat, which function as the “brains” of a partzuf. This stage
is also called “adulthood” or “maturity”, and the size of the partzuf is
correspondingly enlarged. The partzuf has now grown to its full size of
ten sefirot; it is now complete and whole
(see I-Y-M chart).
All partzufim
develop towards completion through these three stages; and we are being taught
here that all the levels attained in the growth of the soul also go through the
same three-stage process of spiritual development.
Then he merits the Ruach, which comes from Yetzira. On this level there are also five parts, and they make up the complete Ruach of Yetzira. It is the same with respect to Neshama from Beria, Chaya [from the world of Atzilut], and Yechida [which corresponds to the level called “Adam Kadmon”—“First Man”]. However, this is not the place to elucidate.
Yitzchak Bar-Chaim is the pseudonym of an American-born Jerusalem scholar who has studied and taught Kabbala for many years. He may be contacted through: kabbala@KabbalaOnline.com.