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At the Essence

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Do not be misled by those who claim there is no purpose.

They may know life, but not the bowels of its fountain.

They may know darkness, but not its meaning.

They may have wisdom, but they cannot reach higher, to a place beyond wisdom from which all wisdom began.

They may reach so high until the very source from which all rivers flow. To the place where all known things converge, where all knowledge is one. But they have not touched the Essence.

At the Essence there is nothing–-no light, no darkness, no knowledge, no convergence, no wisdom–-nothing but the burning purpose of this moment now.

Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. To order Rabbi Freeman’s book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
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Discussion (7)
June 26, 2008
To move with purpose
To move with purpose seems to be the point of life and all of creation.

Light or "AWR" in Paleo-Hebrew pictograph means- The first/to add/the head.

The first action with purpose? Sounds like it. SO, really if you do not have purpose you're chaos, you just move and move in repeating cycles, a raw material of creation trapped in endless movement towards nowhere. Light on the other hand has a path, a point of origin and a destination. It is when chaos thinks to move deliberately away from its senselessness, creating life.
cecilia
June 26, 2008
simplicity
The Essence IS Purpose....
Rachel
Beverly Hills, California
June 26, 2008
Pure presence is better said
That is by far the best way to say it, Shimon. Thank you. Pure presence fits much better. You have helped me a lot with this answer, because pure presence can also mean perfection, pure tranquility and lots of elements which energy does not describe properly. I am grateful to you for this.
Steven Fishman
Corona, CA
June 26, 2008
Pure energy?
It becomes pure Presence.

You experience your soul and your divine connection.

Is that what you mean by energy?

If not, how do you experience "pure energy"? (or is this just speculation?)
Shimon
June 26, 2008
At the Essence
The explanation is excellent. However, when there is no past or future, doesn't consecutive moments of "now" translate into pure energy?
Steven Fishman
Corona, CA
June 26, 2008
Steven Fishman, your question is natural.
It is difficult to grasp the difference, much less to convey it, but I will try.

Now is not a function of time.

Time includes an awareness of past and future, in which the passing moment scarcely exists, and what existence it has is to prepare for the future, which is always later, and so the person is never really living at all, only preparing to live.

This is very different from living only in NOW.

When NOW is all there is, there is no time.
Thomas
June 26, 2008
At the Essence
At the Essence, would there not be any time? And if there were no time, how could there be the "burning purpose of this moment now" when "now" ceases to exist since "now" is a function of time?
Steven Fishman
Corona, CA
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