Parashat Naso 5782 — 06/11/2022
Beginning with Bereishit 5781 (17 October 2020) we embarked on a new format. We will be considering Rambam’s (Maimonides’) great philosophical work Moreh Nevukim (Guide for the Perplexed) in the light of the knowledge of Vedic Science as expounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The individual essays will therefore not necessarily have anything to do with the weekly Torah portion, although certainly there will be plenty of references to the Torah, the rest of the Bible, and to the Rabbinic literature. For Bereishit we described the project. The next four parshiyyot, Noach through Chayei Sarah, laid out a foundational understanding of Vedic Science, to the degree I am capable of doing so. Beginning with Toledot we started examining Moreh Nevukim.
Bamidbar 4:21-7:89
Rambam moves on to consider three roots that have to do with spatial separation (in their literal senses):
To approach [qarob], to touch [nago’a], to come near [nagosh]. Those three terms, I mean approaching, touching, and coming near, sometimes signify to draw near and approach in space. Elsewhere they signify the union of cognition with what is cognized, which is, as it were, similar to the proximity of one body to another.
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(Rambam gives examples of how these three roots are used in Tanach to describe physical movements.)
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The second signification of these three terms is union in knowledge and drawing near through apprehension, not in space. Thus Scripture, using the word touching in the sense of union in knowledge, says: For her judgment toucheth heaven. As for approaching, it is said: And the cause that is too hard for you, cause it to approach me. Scripture says, as it were, let me know it. The word is thus used to denote the act of letting somebody know a knowable thing. As for coming near, it is said: And Abraham came near and said, while he was in a state of inspiration and prophetic trance, as shall be explained, For as much as this people came near, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me.
Every mention of approaching and coming near that you find in the books of prophecy referring to a relation between Gd, may He be exalted, and a created being has this last meaning. For Gd, may He be exalted, is not a body, as shall be demonstrated to you in this Treatise. And accordingly, He, may He be exalted, does not draw near to or approach a thing, nor does anything draw near to or approach Him, may He be exalted, inasmuch as the abolition of corporeality entails that space be abolished, so that there is no nearness and proximity, and no remoteness, no union and no separation, no contact and no succession. I do not think that you shall grow doubtful or perplexed because Scripture says: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him; They take delight in approaching unto Gd; The nearness of Gd is my good. For in all these verses nearness through cognition, I mean cognitive apprehension, is intended, not nearness in space. The same applies to its dicta: Nigh unto it, Approach thou and hear, And Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord, but they shall not come near. The verse is to be interpreted in this way, unless you wish to consider that the expression shall come near, used with reference to Moses, means that the latter shall approach the place on the mountain upon which the light, I mean the glory of Gd, has descended.
There are some extremely interesting points in this short passage. He writes: “the abolition of corporeality entails that space be abolished, so that there is no nearness and proximity, and no remoteness, no union and no separation, no contact and no succession.” This is a beautiful description of the unbounded nature of Pure Consciousness. We understand that Pure Consciousness, being the totally abstract value of consciousness, has no object of consciousness (hence “Pure”). Since there are no objects, there can be no separation, or spatial relationship between objects. Pure Consciousness is therefore transcendental to space altogether. I might add that if there are no objects, there can be no change or movement, and therefore Pure Consciousness is also transcendental to time as well. Our sense of time comes from motion – the earth going around the sun is a year, the earth rotating on its axis is a day, etc. So Pure Consciousness is unbounded and eternal.
Since space is a concept that doesn’t apply to Pure Consciousness, we cannot approach it in a physical sense, as two people might approach one another on a street. But note that the idea of approaching implies an idea of distance; approaching meaning that the distance gets smaller. In mathematics, the concept of distance can be quite fluid. If one has a space, one can define a metric on the space which is basically a number that defines the concept of “distance” in that space. For a metric to be consistent there are some constraints on what functions are allowed, but there are still plenty of choices for metrics. Click on the link for some examples. The point is that there are many ways to define distance, even physically. If the metric between the positions of two things is decreasing, they are approaching one another.
When we turn to non-physical dimensions of experience, we have a sense of what distance might mean, even if we can’t quantify it. In a happy marriage the partners are “close,” while other couples may feel “distant” from one another. People negotiating a deal may be “close” to the deal, or still “far apart.” When we practice the TM technique we experience getting closer and closer to Pure Consciousness as the mind naturally settles down. In all these cases we have an intuitive “metric” that allows us to give meaning to the idea of “approaching.” Even in the case of “approaching” Pure Consciousness, which is not a definite point (like the final terms of a contract). In the case of approaching Pure Consciousness closeness is defined in terms of the expansion of the mind. As the mind becomes more and more unbounded, it approaches Pure Consciousness in the sense of becoming more and more like it. When one transcends the activity of the mind altogether, our individual consciousness becomes Pure Consciousness, which is the greatest level of closeness one can achieve. It is closeness with our very Self.
We have discussed the development of higher states of consciousness from the repeated experience of Pure Consciousness, culminating in Unity Conscious-ness, where the object of perception is evaluated in terms of the same infinite value that is our own Self. Now the Self that we have become close to is found in the objects of perception, drawing our Self and the object close. As Unity Consciousness matures, more and more of the objective environment gets included in until the unbounded Self is recognized as permeating all manifest creation, and the manifest creation is perceived as nothing other than vibrations of that Self.
This closeness is a closeness of knowledge and apprehension, rather than of direct perception. Whether this knowledge and apprehension are the same as the knowledge and apprehension of which Rambam speaks, I don’t know, but certainly knowledge and apprehension of Gd will be very weak and incomplete if our mind is cramped in a limited consciousness. Whatever level of apprehension of Gd a human being can reach can only be on the basis of unbounded consciousness, unbounded both within and without.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Naso “Lift Up”
In this parshah, Gd gives Aaron and his sons, through Moses, the Priestly Blessing, three blessings that raise us up when the priest in the Temple and the Priest in our hearts raises hands:
Numbers 6:24-26:
“May HaShem Bless you and Safeguard you”
“May HaShem Illuminate His Countenance for you and be Gracious to you.
May HaShem Lift His Countenance to you and Establish Peace for you.” (Art Scroll Stone Edition Chumash)
“Bless,” “Safeguard,” “Illuminate His Countenance for you,” “Be Gracious to you,” “Lift His Countenance to you,” “Establish Peace for you” — all these combine to bestow Gd’s Name on us, the result of which is that Gd Blesses us.
What does it mean to be Blessed, Safeguarded, have Gd’s Countenance Illuminated, Lifted, to enjoy Gd’s Graciousness and to have Gd’s Name (not “Names”) Bestowed on us?
It means that the complexities of life are simplified, the many ways we experience Gd are united into One and our life becomes one with Gd, not separate from Gd: “All Your names are One” we know from the Aleinu “It is our duty” prayer we recite daily.
What additional lifting up occurs when Gd Blesses us?
This means that within Unity, Oneness, Diversity exists: we are One with Gd and yet also continue to play our roles as individuals, roles in which we continue to behave devotedly to Gd, to “Love Gd with all our heart, and soul and all our might” and to “love our neighbor as ourself.”, which is all the Diversity.
Gd, from His Point of View, Blesses us, Raises our individualities higher and higher so that we experience no distance between Gd playing the role of One and Gd playing the role of Diversity, including us.
May today and every day we lift our selves to this experience while Gd is also lifting us, lifting us to experience the Fulfillment of the Priestly Blessing for us and all Diversity.
Baruch HaShem