God has the ideal perspective on how to bridge the path from the physical to the spiritual. Being 100% spiritual, the Deity exists at the endpoint of this connection. As in many things, once you have experienced the goal, you know that it is attainable. Then you can set your sights backward to discern the steps to achieve that objective.
God is the teacher. Let’s briefly examine the roles of the instructor and of the student.
In seeking the truth, the student cannot dismiss or alter the facts or the history. The teacher knows those certainties and must guide the learner. The student cannot make an airplane fly without understanding and applying the necessary mathematics equations.
A physics novice would be ill-advised to make up arbitrary laws of gravity. Just because he cannot see force of attraction between two masses does not make it less real. Jumping from an airplane at 3500 feet without a parachute will not end well. We have learned that we must accommodate to the laws of nature. It will never happen the other way around.
The Torah gives hints and descriptions of how to access and activate spiritual powers. Like the physics and math students above, we cannot pretend to have the ability to create the bridge between the earthly and heavenly worlds. We may not like the prescription for this that God has given us. But if we want to seek wholeness in life, we will have to follow the path the Master has offered.
The starting point to engaging the spiritual is the statement from God: “You will be Holy, for I, the Lord your God, am Holy.” (see the blog with this title). An infinite God, having no physical component, is not limited by questions of good and evil. Thus, we must rid ourselves of the concept that our subjectivity is how we get closer to God. Our material tendencies are inherently evaluative. This emotional and biased approach leads away from the Truth that is God and spirituality.
Our senses make us strongly influenced by the physical world in which we dwell. Everything we encounter has a border. Accessing heavenly powers means eliminating these obstructions. By combining with the spiritual, it is possible to repair and complete our lives.
Korach was grounded in the earthly realm. Two feet planted firmly gave him the experience he imagined he needed. His perspective was that the earthly experience gave him full insight into the path to attaining spiritual unification. He assumed that this world reaches all there is to know. From that basis, he believed he could successfully activate the bridge to the heavenly realm. Hence, his argument that a multitude of Torah scrolls were more powerful than a single mezuzah.
Korach failed to internalize that his pursuits within the framework of the earthly plane are barriers to otherworldly accomplishments. Jealousy, hatred, anxiety, and self-aggrandizement are rooted in a material environment. When these and similar values and emotions dominate, it is an obstacle to being Holy like God is Holy. Such an impediment to marrying the spiritual and physical worlds becomes virtually impossible to overcome.
Pharaoh found this out during the “ten plagues.” The result is a hardening of the heart. Korach suffered from the same disability. Neither of these biblical figures were able to track their way to combining the ethereal with the tangible. They both failed and encountered the consequences.
Adding spirituality to life helps one to not be dominated by these world-bound values. These values are inherently material by their nature, which is natively limited. Connecting with the heavenly plane makes it easier to resist the attraction of the earthly temptations. Without the hindrance of a purely materialistic concentration, focusing on positive constructs in life is facilitated. By negating the sway of the false ego, the ultimate pathway to achievement is appreciated. Korach mislead himself by his strong attachment to the physical world. He neglected to build bridges to the spiritual realm that God promotes.
By flaunting an extensive understanding of the material world, Korach missed the opportunity to find wholeness in life. He imagined that such knowledge was the path that God envisioned. His mistake is commonly repeated. He was not trying to be Holy as God is Holy. But that is the path to recognizing his error.
We can all learn from Korach’s misconceptions. Life is not all about the material world. the spiritual powers add great dimensions to how we live. Greatness is not defined by greater quantity. Far-reaching significance springs from meaning as influenced by transcendence.
Health and Spirit by Dr. Jack Zoldan 