Cosmology and Kabbalah: (This is ch 11 of “The Retroactive
Universe”)
Broken
Symmetry and Shvirat Hakelim,
Tzimtzum
and Free Will
Cosmology, Biology, and Symmetry
Recent developments in theoretical
physics and cosmology show that the laws of physics are quite possibly
manifestations of one unified law. This one Law appears as many due to the fragmentation of the initial
universe, its loss of unity and symmetry.
In the words of Heinz Pagels[1]:
"Here, for the first time, we see a remarkable feature of the
modern theory of the origin of the universe: the further back in time we go,
the hotter the universe becomes, and broken symmetries are restored. The
universe and all its particle interactions are becoming more and more
symmetrical as we descend deeper into the big bang. This feature holds out the
hope that the universe becomes simpler, more symmetrical and more manageable in
its very early history, a hope to which physicists cling in their model
building.
Conversely, were we to
progress forward in time, we would see that as the temperature falls, those
perfect symmetries are broken. Now the physical differences between the various
interactions - strong, weak, and eletromagnetic - become apparent.
The universe today, with its
relatively low temperature, is the frozen remnant of the big bang. Like an ice
crystal that has frozen out of a uniform water vapor, it has lots of structure
- the galaxies, stars, and life itself. But according to the modern view, even the
protons and neutrons - the very substance of matter - are the frozen fossils of
the big bang. They too were created as the temperature fell[2] ".
A beautiful painting is actually a
collection of paint drops spread on a canvas. If one were to remove the paint
drops and mix them all together one would achieve maximal unity and uniformity,
but the beauty and uniqueness would be destroyed. A human is composed of cells
which are composed of atoms which are composed of elementary particles. Take
apart the human and mix all the constitutent particles together, and one
obtains unity, but the unique properties of a living being, of a working brain,
are lost. Arrange all similar particles together in individual clumps, and one
obtains great order compared to the chaotic distribution of particles in the
body, but the complexity of the living body is destroyed. Physical life is
organized matter and energy, and is based on differentiation. If all is the
same, perfectly symmetric and uniform, totally ordered, then all complexity is
absent, and there can be no structure, no life, no consciousness.
If one considers the patterns formed by
matter at various stages in the development of the universe, it can be seen
that initially the universe was a point and contained only a relatively uniform
jumble of energy. This uniformity was destroyed when the universe began
expanding and the energy was transformed into a jumble of various elementary
particles, and then as the universe expanded yet more, into hydrogen atoms. In
the ever expanding universe these began to clump together to form galaxies of
stars, with planets forming, and so on. The more that there was
differentiation, the more the initial order was destroyed, the more structure
and complexity there was. Eventually, there was sufficient differentiation to
produce living beings, brains, consciousness.
Life consumes matter, organic and
otherwise, as fuel in order to suvive, in order to build new body cells and to
provide energy for blood transport, for motion, for brain function. Humans eat
complex entities such as plants and animals, and besides using them to build
cells, converts them mostly into less
complex forms - energy and waste matter. Thus although life increases the order
and complexity in its immediate vicinity, on the whole the net result is an
increase in disorder, in entropy.
In sum, one can say that life can only
come into being in a universe in which symmetry is not total, and can continue
only by transforming pre-existent order into chaos.
Broken Symmetry in Kabbalah: Shvirat
Hakelim
In Genesis, the operation of the
universe in a complete and self-consistent manner begins after the creation of
humanity and the onset of consciousness. In this sense, Genesis implies that
the true existence of the universe begins with the existence of consciousness.
According to the Kabbalah, the emergence
of the universe into existence, and its development leading to the emergence of
an autonomously willed being, was a process involving increasing
differentiation, fragmentation of the initial unity, and loss of the original
harmony and symmetry of the cosmos.
When the universe does not exist, there was only Gd. When the universe
exists, there exists other than Gd - the universe. Thus, in order to create a
universe, Gd must seemingly fragment somewhat the Divine unity and unique
existentiality - a fragmentation which is however real only from the
perspective of the beings inhabiting this physical universe rather from the
perspective of the divine unity.
However, when consciousness does not
exist, the existence of otherness is not manifest as there is no awareness of
the fragmentation, and therefore the fragmentation does not yet exist. On the
other hand due to its awareness of its own existence, and therefore of its
otherness from the divine unity, the existence of consciousness adds an element
of fragmentation to that caused by the existence of the physical universe by
itself, making this fragmentation a reality.
However it is the existence of free will in
the universe which produces the maximal fragmentation of the divine uniqueness,
since the existence of moral beings introduces not merely a consciousness of
fragmentation but also an element of independence of thought and action and the
existence of a will other than the Will of Gd - namely the will of man.
Free will is therefore the factor which
brings the shattering effect of existence to its maximal level of
fragmentation.
Prior to the existence of free willed
beings, nothing was contrary to the Will of God, no consciousness of
fragmentation existed, no thought or action had its source in fragmentation,
whereas after the creation of existence and of free will, all this changes.
From the mystical perspective in which
only God exists, the concept of creation is paradoxical since it involves the
creation of that which is 'not God'. One can address this paradox somewhat by
defining creation in terms of the bringing into existence of a will which is
not the divine will, but which nevertheless exists only as a result of the
divine will that it exist.
In this approach, only the existence of a
free-willed consciousness, which feels itself to be independent of God, can
define 'creation'. From the point of view of God however, all is one, and the
seemingly independent consciousness is actually an aspect of the One
consciousness. In this sense, the emergence of a free-willed consciousness is
not only necessarily simultaneous with the 'creation of the universe', but the
creation of the universe - as in the creation account - can take place, can be
defined, only at the point of maximal shattering, at the emergence into
existence of a free-willed consciousness - as in the Eden account.
Tzimtzum
Another fundamental idea of the kabbalah
in relation to creation is that of tzimtzum - a form of withdrawal of the
divine which was a necessary prerequisite for creation.
There are two basic forms of tzimtzum.
One is the necessity for the divine to 'withdraw itself' in order to allow the
existence of physicality, and the other is a withdrawal of the divine will in
order to allow human beings freedom of choice. Thus the creation of the
physical universe and the endowment of free will both required a 'withdrawal of
the divine': to achieve the goals of creation, God deliberately limited
Himself, to allow the existence of a physical universe where prior to this
there was only God, and the creation by God of a being who can choose to
disobey Him was a self-limitation no less radical.
Thus, in order to create a moral
universe, Gd must seemingly fragment
somewhat the Divine unity and unique existentiality, and must seemingly[3] 'sacrifice'
the exclusivity of the Divine Will [both
are types of 'Tzimtzum'[4]]. As in the teachings of modern physics and cosmology, so too in the
Kabbalah: in order for free-willed conscious life to exist, it was necessary
for the initial order, unity, and symmetry to be shattered. Without the
shattering of the symmetry, structure - including life - could not exist.
Due to its linking of creation and the
emergence of a free-willed consciousness, the idea of tzimtzum provides us with
further insight into the connection between the creation and
Tzimtzum in Natural Law
The creation of the universe and the
operation of free will have a commonality; both involve the withdrawal of the
fundamental principle of science, that of causality[5].
In the sense that the unity of natural
law, the very lawfulness of the universe, derives from the underlying unity of
God and from the divine will, the withdrawal of causality involved in the
creation of physical existence and of free will is parallel to the withdrawal
of the divine, tzimtzum, involved in these very actions.
Tzimtzum and Free Will
By some definitions of what is meant by
'God' in theology and kabbalah, it is meaningless to say that there is
something other than God. Nevertheless, as we stated above, if one states that
God created the universe, then this of course implies that God created
something other than God. Indeed, we are conscious and feel ourselves to have
an independent will, and we feel 'other than' God, and therefore we can say
that there is of necessity something other than God. This is a paradox.
Kabbalistically, creation can be defined as
the process whereby God undergoes the restriction or withdrawal of tzimtzum,
enabling some aspect of the divine to achieve an independent consciousness and
will, independent from its own perspective although paradoxically not
independent from the perspective of the divine.
Shvirat Hakelim
In Kabbalah, ............
Tzimtzum and Shvirat Hakelim
The two concepts of tzimtzum and shvirat
hakelim in kaballah are paralleled in science by the concepts of existence and
of free willed consciousness, and the connection between existence and free
willed consciousness provides a link between these two kabbalistic ideas.
From both the scientific and kaballistic
perspective, the physical universe and free willed conscious life can only
exist when the initial order and symmetry is shattered to allow diversity and
complexity. Similarly, from the scientific perspective, existence and free
willed consciousness are possible only due to a withdrawal of the basic law of
nature, the law of causality (see discussion elsewhere in this book), while
from the perspective of kaballah, they are possible only following the
withdrawal of the divine.
Existence in itself, and the existence
of free willed consciousness, point to the presence of a realm beyond that
dealt with in ordinary scientific endeavor. Furthermore, it is free will which
provides the possibility of meaning to the universe, and which according to
quantum metaphysics (see elsewhere in this book) is the catalyst which
initiates the universe into full physical reality.
Introduction:
Hitpashtut (to atzilut) = big bang
The Creation and
Tzimtzum is that which allows the
possibility of existence and free willed consciousness, while shvirat hakelim
is the process of the actualization of this potential, leading to the emergence
of existence and of free willed consciousness. Also, in quantum metaphysics,
these two fundamental acausal phenomena - existence and free willed
consciousness - are themselves linked by an acausal connection - free willed
consciousness emerges in the universe and then retroactively brings the
universe into true physical existence (see discussion elsewhere in this book).
The ideas of tzimtzum and of shvirat
hakelim are also reflected in the creation and
Another hint of these ideas can be
gleaned from the fact that the initial creation was of 'heaven and earth'
undifferentiated, also perhaps a reflection of the unity of the creator. Only
on later days was this successively fragmented to form the waters above and
below, the luminaries, and so on. Light was created and then there was a
division of light and darkness. Even the culmination of creation with the
creation of man involves levels of differentiation. First we are told of a
creation of Man in the singular, and then of mankind in the plural, and the
creation then concludes with the command to be fruitful and multiply.
The initial creation of heaven and earth
contains within it the potential for all the succesive creation. As Rambam
said:
INSERT
QUOTE "........."
After the initial stage, the emergence
of the universe involved the increasing differentiation associated with the
actualization of the potential inherent in the initial creation. According to
Rambam, the universe was created because existence is good, and this process of
differentiation was designed to bring about the existence of all that was
implied by the initially existent creations -
a maximal existence, and therefore a maximal good.
The creation account deals with the
fragmentation and withdrawal of the divine that is necessary to allow the
existence of the universe, and to allow it to differentiate to achieve its
maximal inherent potential for existence. In the
Both the creation and
In sum: From the singularity
that is Gd, there emanated a physical universe[6]. Beginning in a violent symmetry-shattering
explosion, the universe emerged, and took physical shape. However, all the
physical universe is in reality a shell - a frozen fossil of the shattered
initial unity. A shattering which was made possible only via the self-willed
withdrawal of the divine unity - a unity and symmetry which had to be shattered
in order to allow the existence of life, and of free will in man; this perhaps
is reflected in the physical universe by the requirement postulated by quantum
metaphysics (see discussion elsewhere) that a free-willed being be present
within the universe in order for it to emerge into physical reality.
This connection between free will and existence again underlines both
the motivation of presenting the
[1] "Perfect Symmetry": p252-253.
[2] "This event is called 'hadronization'". Hadran alakh.
[3] From the perspective of the divine, all life procedes from God, all existence is of God, and there is no independent existence or will - the fragmentation is apparent only from the perspective of physical beings. However the fact that there are consciousnesses which feel this illusion of separation is itself an indication of the reality of this separation - this itself is a paradox.
[4] In the Kabbalistic perspective, it is the purpose of man to return the cosmos to its former state: To restore the exclusivity of the Divine Will by developing one's own will to conform to the Divine Will - thus realizing fully one's status of a being 'in the image of Gd'; to restore the Divine unity by "cleaving unto Gd" "with all one's heart, with all one's soul, and with all one's might", by "walking in My ways"and by "being Holy as I [Gd] am Holy". [Note parallel between: "ve'dovak be'ishto': 've'atem ha'dvekim b'hashem..': 'vehayu lebasar ekhad', 'hashem echad']
[5] The emergence of the universe into existence from nonexistence involves a violation of causality, for if there is nothing, then there is nothing to cause the universe to exist; the existence of free will involves a similar violation of causality.
[6] It was
Gd's will that a universe be created. The universe emerged into existence. As
soon as the universe existed, there would probably not also exist the Divine
Will to create the universe. Similarly, as long as it was the Divine Will to
create a universe, it must have been that the universe was not existent. Thus,
the Divine Will to create the universe does not coexist with the universe
itself. One can then perhaps say that it was the Divine Will itself which was
transformed into the existence of the universe: thus, the universe is an
'emanation' of Gd.
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