PURIM is popularly known as a kabbalistic version of Halloween - masquerade, treats, and drinking. But there is more to it than that. The secret of Purim is found in the writings of Rav Isaac Luria, (The Ari), whose teachings profoundly influence the Kabbalah being taught today.
The Ari speaks of the idea of yuli. Before a physical thing becomes manifest, it goes through a spiritual level called yuli. The Ari explains that the only way to transform any negative thing in your life is by taking it back to this state. Think about this. How often do you put your 'issues' to rest, only to find them pop up again? The Ari explains that on Purim, you have the opportunity to transform your core negativity so that it ceases to plague you - forever.
During this 24 hour time period known as Purim, you can leave the world where you live 364 days of the year and go to the level of yuli. When you reach it, you can convert any darkness in your body, your mind, and in your soul.
A way to visualize this process is to consider an expensive but ugly silver necklace a friend gives you. The silver is valuable but it is an unpleasant form. You decide you want to make something nice out of it so what do you do? You melt it down - into an undifferentiated state - and then you create something beautiful out of it.
This is what you can do on Purim. Take any negativity that you have, take it all the way back to yuli, and transform your ugliness into something beautiful.
The 5 Connections of Purim
Its all about Desire!
As you learn in Power of Kabbalah - desire is everything. To reveal the most Light on Purim, you have to understand what you want to do and go for it.
Think about all the things you want to take back, the negative things you've done. All the petty arguments, the jealous thoughts, the self-doubting - whatever it is for you (and everyone's got something.) The more you focus on your 'garbage', the greater the likelihood it will be converted into 'gifts' on this amazing night.
The Zohar says that the biggest negativity, the thing that destroys lives the most, is doubt - the struggle to deal with the unknown and the uncertain. When you remove doubt, anything is achievable. Purim is your vaccination against doubt. Connection 1 - The Whole Megillah
Before the drinking and masquerading, you participate in a group reading of what is known as the Megillah (Book) of Esther.
Throughout the reading, you'll notice that the reader says the name Haman loudly, and then pauses. Haman is a code for any darkness you have caused in your life by acting on your negative thoughts - specifically doubt. Every time Haman is announced, you can meditate on Caf Hei Taf, the eighth Name of the 72 Names of God. This Name reveals Light into the dark corners of your life. Every time you hear Haman, meditate on these three letters and think about one core negativity that you want to eliminate from your life.
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Connection 2 - Masquerade Party
The Zohar says that a person needs to drink enough on Purim that he doesn't know the difference between good and bad. Yes, on this night alcohol is actually a spiritual tool used to elevate your consciousness to a point where you see everything upside down. It allows you to trick your Satan, allows you to go to the seed level of your garbage, so you can convert it into a gift.
So why not drink every night? The Zohar explains that different windows in time require various tools to connect. Simply put, this is the one night where alcohol is one of the main tools.
The masquerade is another tool to trick ourselves. Ironically, by covering ourselves up with a mask, we let our guard down, allowing our true selves to come out, which is the whole point of the evening.
The masks and alcohol remove the forms we normally pour ourselves into. We are free to be ourselves, without the polite conversation, the attitude, the fear of being honest, the compulsion to be liked. With a little alcohol, costume, and music, we get to drop the charade, to be real. And that's when things start to get interesting.
A meal is also held during the day of Purim, in which the following connection is also held.
Connection 3 - Gift Giving
Unity. The Light of Purim can't flow into our lives without unity. On the morning following the masquerade party, we gather together for a feast and afterwards to give gifts to one another. The purpose of this exercise is to generate feeling of love amongst us, so that we can activate the unique energy available during this window in time. Connection 4 - Charity to the Poor
The fourth connection also involves gift giving. However, this time, we are advise to give charity anonymously to the poor, or Matanot La’evyonim, which literally means “gifts to the poor”; and not charity. Again, we introduce the concept of sharing without ego to establish our vessel for unity for the year to come.
Connection 5 - Half a Shekel
On Purim, we also take part in machatzit hashkel, or raising up three silver coins. Our consciousness during this action should be to see more than “half” the picture, to see further than we usually see with our limited senses. When we really see, we understand cause and effect more clearly, we understand why things happen to us and we refrain from judging others because we can see the whole picture. While we can raise three coins on any old day, doing so with the proper consciousness on Purim activates our ability to see the big picture in a more permanent and effective way.
