Moses Cordovero on the oneness of God, humanity and nature

In the following passages from the works of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, one can see strong sense of Advaita Vedanta monism and an eastern sense of non-duality, and this outlook is applied to his ethical view of interpendence of humanity. According to Matthew Gindin: 

' (The Ramak, 1522-1570) was a Sefardic Kabbalist from Spain who led a group of mekubalim (students of Kabbalah) in Tsfat. He is known for organizing Zoharic and Medieval Kabbalah into an encyclopaedic system, teaching many famous students, and being a saint (tzaddik) and mystic himself. He was also known for his stress on the teaching of panentheism- that all is God, and God is the only reality. His writings on how God could be found everywhere and in everything would later influence the Hasidic masters.

Tomer Devorah ("The Palm Tree of Deborah") is a guide to the practice- common to several faith traditions- of imitatio dei, or "the imitation of the behaviour of the divine." It is a wise, humble, and often very challenging and countercultural text (probably then as well as now). The Ramak is unique in the strength of his emphasis on radical forgiveness, universal love and compassion, and reverence for all the creatures of nature, even those people often treat with contempt.

The Tomer Devorah is also marked by its emphasis on the Kabbalistic teaching that humans partner with God in the bringing of blessing and healing into the world. When humans practice the virtues and intentions outlined in the Tomer Devorah, their behaviour is mirrored above in the Sefirot (divine energies) and they provoke tikkunim (repairs) which bring shefa (bounty, blessing) into the world. The study of the Tomer Devorah became very important in the Mussar (ethical self-discipline) movement and among Hasidim, and is believed to bring teshuvah (return to the divine) and protection. It is a custom among some to study the entire text in the month of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashanah.'

And so it is fitting that a person desire the good of their fellow and their eye be good towards the good of their fellow, and that their honour should be as beloved as their own - as they are literally oneself!

And from this reason were we commanded (Leviticus 19:18), "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." And it is fitting that they desire what is good for each other and not speak about each other's disgrace at all. And they should not wish ill on each other, in the way that the Holy One of Being does not want our disgrace nor our pain in relation. So too they should not want the disgrace of their fellow nor their pain, nor their corruption. And one should know that we are interdependent with each other and share each other's good and bad fortunes. (Tomer Devorah 1:5 2, Matthew Gindin, transl.)

“God is all reality, but not all reality is God . . . He is found in all things, and all things are found in Him, and there is nothing devoid of God’s divinity, God forbid. Everything is in God, and God is in everything and beyond everything, and there is nothing else beside God.” (Elimah Rabbati 24d-25a, Matthew Gindin, transl.)

The essence of divinity is found in every single thing — nothing but it exists. Since it causes every thing to be, no thing can live by anything else. It enlivens them; its existence exists in each existent. (Pardes Rimmonim,4:4, I7d-i8a (Jerusalem: Mordekhai Etyah, 1962) )

"And the Holy One—blessed be He!—shines in the ten sefirot of the world of emanation, in the ten sefirot of the world of creation, and in the ten heavenly spheres. In investigating this subject the reader will find: that we all proceed from Him, and are comprised in Him; that our life is interwoven with His; that He is the existence of all beings; that the inferior beings, such as vegetables and animals, which serve us as nourishment, are not outside of Him; in short, he will discover that all is one revolving wheel, which ascends and descends—all is one, and nothing is separated from Him." (Shi'ur Ḳomah, chapter xxii)

Before anything emanated, there was only Ein Sof. Ein Sof was all that existed. Similarly, after it brought into being that which exists, there is nothing but it. You cannot find anything that exists apart from it. There is nothing that is not pervaded by the power of divinity. If there were, Ein Sof would be limited, subject to duality, God forbid! Rather, God is everything that exists, though everything that exists is not God. It is present in everything, and everything comes into being from it. Nothing is devoid of its divinity. Everything is within it; it is within everything and outside of everything. There is nothing but it. (Elimah Rabbati, 24d-25a. (Jerusalem: Ahuzat Yisra'el, 1966))

There must be a contraction of God's presence. For if we believe that Ein Sof emanated the emanation and does not clothe itself within, then everything that emanated is outside of it, and it is outside of everything. Then there are two, God forbid. So we must conclude that nothing is outside of God. This applies not only to the sefirot but to everything that exists, large and small — they exist solely through the divine energy that flows to them and clothes itself in them. If God's gaze were withdrawn for even a moment, all existence would be nullified. This is the secret meaning of the verse: "You enliven everything." So divinity flows and inheres in each thing that exists. This is the secret meaning of the verse: "God's presence fills the entire world." Contemplating this, you are humbled, your thoughts purified. (Or Yaqar, 15:203a (Jerusalem: Ahuzat Yisra'el, 1987)

“The essence of God is in every thing, and nothing exists outside of God. Because God causes everything to be, it is impossible that any created thing exists except through Him. God is the existence, the life, and the reality of every existing thing. The central point is that you should never make a division within God . . . If you say to yourself, “The Ein Sof expands until a certain point, and from there on is outside of It,” God forbid, you are making a division. Rather you must say that God is found in every existing thing. One cannot say, “This is a rock and not God,” God forbid. Rather, all existence is God, and the rock is a thing filled with God . . . God is found in everything, and there is nothing besides God.” (Perek Helek, Modena ms. 206b, Matthew Gindin, transl.)

Do not attribute duality to God. Let God be solely God. If you suppose that Ein Sof emanates until a certain point, and that from that point on is outside of it, you have dualized. God forbid! Realize, rather, that Ein Sof exists in each exis- tent. Do not say, "This is a stone and not God." God forbid! Rather, all existence is God, and the stone is a thing pervaded by divinity. (Shi'ur Qomah, i6d-i7a. (Warsaw, 1883))

The Ramak's grave in Safed

‘God's knowledge is different from that of the creature, since in the case of the latter knowledge and the thing known are distinct, thus leading to subjects which are again separate from him. This is described by the three expressions—cogitation, the cogitator, and the subject of cogitation. Now, the Creator is Himself Knowledge, the Knower, and the object known. His knowledge does not consist in the fact that He directs His thoughts to things without Him, since in comprehending and knowing Himself He comprehends and knows everything that exists. There is nothing which is not united to Him, and which He does not find in His own Substance. He is the archetype of all existing things, and all things are in Him in their purest and most perfect form; so that the perfection of the creatures consists in the support whereby they are united to the primary source of His existence, and they sink down and fall from that perfect and lofty position in proportion to their separation from Him. (Pardes Rimmonim, 55a)