Cosmology and Kabbalah: Broken Symmetry and Shvirat Hakelim, Tzimtzum and Free Will
(This is ch 11 of “The Retroactive Universe”)
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 Eden accounts.
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 Eden Accounts
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 Eden accounts. In the creation account, the first stages of creation are not said to take place on "the first day" - the creation account does not refer at all to a 'first day'. Instead, the initial creation is said to end with 'day one' or 'one day', implying a uniqueness - rather than 'the first day', which would imply that it was the first day of a series. Only after this is there mention of a 'second' and 'third' day and so on. The initial creation though was unique, not part of a process, with the term 'one day' perhaps a hint reflecting the unity of the creator - the divine perspective - rather than the fragmentation of the unity - the perspective of the created.
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 Eden account one has the fragmentation and withdrawal of the divine will to allow the emergence of free will in man, and the fragmentation of man into man and woman.
Both the creation and Eden accounts deal therefore with tzimtzum and shvirat hakelim, causality violation and broken symmetry, with the shattering of unity to allow differentiation and complexity, and with the withdrawal of the divine to allow the existence of the physical universe and of free will.
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 Eden account in Genesis, and the thematic connection between the creation and Eden accounts.
[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.