Essence of Pomegranates

In a similar manner, those who are called the "Masters of Character" original: Hachmei ha-Midot, referring to ethical philosophers or moralists—that is, the teachers of ethics and virtue—also found these concepts and understood them according to their own wisdom. They approached them with simple faith and the integrity of their hearts; nonetheless, they remain lost on the road, for they do not know their own judgment or the judgment of the Lord. They neither know nor understand; they walk in darkness, and all the foundations of the earth are shaken A reference to Psalm 82:5, suggesting that without divine insight, the world’s moral order is unstable. And behold, the Lord looks down from heaven to see if there is any who is wise, any who seeks God. But all have turned away, together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not even one. Regarding this it is said: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways... for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" original Hebrew: Isaiah 55:8-9. Behold, all those thoughts and ways that are based on the sight of flesh and blood are but vanity and a striving after wind.

For only the path that the Lord has chosen is the true and straight path which will elevate a person to the highest level and to true happiness. Behold, this path is the way of the Torah and the Commandment original: Mitzvah which the Lord commanded His servant Moses to teach the Children of Israel. This is the path of life and peace; it is the way in which a man shall walk and find rest for his soul. This is the path of faith and trust in the Lord, and it is the way through which a person finds success in this world and in the World to Come. This is the path of the love and fear of the Lord, the way through which a person finds his attachment Dveikut: a state of meditative "cleaving" or spiritual attachment to God to the Creator, blessed be He. This is the path of service and prayer to the Lord, the way to find the Lord's mercy and kindness. This is the path of repentance and forgiveness, the way to find atonement for one's sins. This is the path of charity and kindness toward fellow creatures, the way to find the Lord’s grace. This is the path of humility and lowliness before the Lord, the way to find true spiritual height. This is the path of abstinence and holiness, the way to find purity. This is the path of wisdom and understanding in the Torah of the Lord, the way to find the light of the Lord and His salvation. This is the path of truth and integrity in all one’s actions, the way to find the Lord’s peace and blessing. All these ways are actually one single path: the Way of the Lord which He commanded us to follow. This is the path of life and good, which a person should choose so that he and his descendants may live. This is the path of blessing and success, the way to find all the heart’s good desires. This is the path of joy and rejoicing in the Lord, the way to find the Lord’s delight and sweetness. This is the path of rest and the inheritance of the Lord, the way to find eternal rest.

But the specific path that the Lord has chosen is the Path of Thought and the Intention of the heart and soul; this is the way through which a person finds the "secret of the Lord for those who fear Him, and His covenant to make them know it" original Hebrew: Psalm 25:14. This is the path of attachment and contemplation of the greatness of the Lord and His wonders, the way to find the knowledge and perception of God. This is the path of self-nullification Bitul: the mystical process of negating the ego to become a vessel for divine light and inclusion within the light and radiance of the Lord; it is the way a person finds the life of the World to Come while still alive in this world. This is the path of prophecy and the Holy Spirit, the way to find the word of the Lord and His counsel. This is the path of wonders and miracles, the way to find the Lord’s might and salvation. This is the path of perfection and integrity, the way to find the Lord’s will and what He seeks. This is the path of unity and oneness original: Yichud, referring to the declaration of God’s absolute unity, the way to find that "the Lord is one and His name is one." This is the path of light and life, the way to find the "light of the King's countenance." This is the path of the holy and the Sanctuary, the way to find the indwelling of the Divine Presence Shekhinah: the feminine, immanent aspect of God that dwells within the world inside oneself. This is the path of redemption and ransom, the way to find the redemption of one's soul and the redemption of Israel. This is the path of the Messiah and the Kingdom, the way to find the Lord's kingship over all the earth. This is the path of resurrection and eternity, the way to find the resurrection of the dead and eternal life.

All these ways are one single path: the path of Pure and Lucid Thought, which is the beginning of all and the end of all. Thought is the spiritual power within man, the force by which a person connects to his Creator. Thought is the vessel through which a person receives the divine flow original: Shefa, the emanation of divine energy and blessing. Thought is the key that opens the gates of heaven. Thought is the Chariot original: Merkavah, a reference to Ezekiel’s vision of the divine throne-chariot upon which a person rides to ascend to the Lord. Thought is the altar upon which a person offers his soul to the Lord. Thought is the sacrifice that the Lord desires from us. Thought is the true prayer that ascends before the Throne of Glory. Thought is the "service of the heart," which is the essence of all worship. Thought is the greatest commandment of all the commandments. Thought is the entire Torah "on one foot" A reference to the famous story of the sage Hillel, who summarized the Torah while standing on one leg. Thought is everything, and there is nothing outside of it. Thought is the Lord, and the Lord is Thought.