Introduction to the Book of Zohar (PDF) - Kabbalah Media Archive

I N T RO D U C T I O N T O T H E B O O K O F Z O H A R
First Inquiry:
How can we see creation as something newly formed, something new,
something that did not exist in the Creator before it was formed. How
can anyone in his right mind understand that there is nothing that
was not in the Creator? Simple common sense makes us acknowledge
that. One cannot give if he does not have that which he is giving.
If the Creator creates something, it has to be within Him in some
form. How can it be that something suddenly appeared from nothing,
out of nowhere? What does it mean “out of nowhere”? Has He thought
of this? Has He made any plans? What has induced Him to this? From
where has he taken the material – thoughts, feelings, and actions to make
the creation? Was there a point in Him from which it all began? How
can it be if there was nothing within Him, no starting point? Should not
there be a beginning? If so, how is it possible to imagine that we appeared
not from Him, but from nothing?
I recommend that you stop and try to remember all I say. Do not
make an inner effort to adapt the material and put everything within you
on the right shelves. Please do not do this!
You should take it easy or it will not enter you. There is no need to
be tense; study it freely, with love. Do not attempt to memorize anything!
We cannot possibly remember anything of what we learn.
Suddenly we feel that we can only understand something new if it
penetrates us from within, becomes our nature. Do not imitate the philosophers
who have “spilled much ink” for thousands of years. Nothing
has come out of it!
We should reproduce all of these actions within ourselves. When
they become our inner properties, we will know, feel, and see it all. Otherwise,
our useless attempts to sort this data will fail.
While studying try to concentrate on what we wish to achieve,
where we want to be. The most important thing is not to know, but to at-
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