Some people merit a close attachment to all four lofty spiritual levels of consciousness and understanding. Their actions affect and are caused by their נפש, רוח, נשמה, and חיה. Others only manage to cleave themselves to three of them, and yet others only two or one.
Someone who only manages to deal with his Nefesh in this world, and has not achieved the level of Ruach, has his actions stunted. This person only lives in the world of action and has not purified himself sufficiently with Torah and Mitzvos to reach the Ruach portion of his consciousness, which dwells in the world of formation. His actions are restricted to the world of action, and they cannot be directed towards the celestial regions. Our deeds in this terrestrial world impact higher celestial regions only by means of the רוח, the first higher level of spirituality.
The נפש itself is elevated to the level of רוח by means of man's intentional good deeds. When man achieves that level, the good deeds he performed previously become ‘his own,’ so that he is called in our literature בעל מעשים טובים – the owner of good deeds. The possuk (Mishlei 23:2) says אִם בַּעַּל נֶפֶשׁ אָתָה – lit. if you are the owner of a Nefesh. The Ohr Hachaim explains this to mean that he owns his Nefesh, by dint of his work in acquiring it, toiling with all of his might to reach its full level of consciousness and appreciating its position in the spiritual hierarchy of the world. Like a person who acquires a slave, who now eats at his master’s table and shares his life, so too will a person join with his Nefesh, and eat at its table; from a closer level to the עולם האצילות – the source of his sustenance. Once he has reached that level, he ‘owns’ his Nefesh, and can be associated with his Ruach. His Nefesh itself is elevated to the level of Ruach, and they ascend as one and imbibe from the holier spirit of the world of formation.
A person can arise to a higher level of consciousness by dint of one of two methods. When a child is conceived, the father’s thoughts can convey a spiritual power to the soul that is drawn down into this fetus. This soul can be a lofty, elevated one, and the child will be a lofty child. (See the words of the Ohr Hachaim on Bereishis 49:3).
Another way a person can elevate himself to a higher spiritual level is through toiling in Torah. Even if he was born at a lower level, his soul can be elevated and transformed through the hard work of learning and understanding Torah. The Zohar writes that a person's soul is elevated according to the work that he has invested. The key to his success is how much he is prepared to tire himself in the process of Torah study.
There is another important point to appreciate before understanding this possuk. A person’s sins also depend on his spiritual level. If a person is connected to his Ruach level, his sins have a greater import than those of someone who is only attached to his Nefesh. The terrible effects of a person’s sins on the cosmos are dependent on how attached he is to the cosmos.
The sins of someone who is only on the level of Nefesh cause a person’s death. As the possuk (Yechezkel 18:4) says הַנֶּפֶּש הַּחֹטֵאת הִיא תָמוּת – the soul who sins shall die. This refers to the Nefesh level of a person, and his sins cause physical death and destruction.
Blemishes on the level of Ruach are different. This causes tzara’as and other stains. The possuk (Koheles 12:7) says וְהָרוּחַ תָשוּב אֶּל הָאֱלוֹקים אֲשֶּר נְתָנָהּ - and the spirit returns to Hashem who gave it. Chazal (Shabbos 152b) explain that we are commanded to return this spirit to Hashem as He gave it to us. If we allow it to get stained, the legions of the forces of evil surround it and prevent it from returning to its source.
When a person has reached the level of Neshama, the blemishes he causes by misdeeds on his level do not stain his soul, but they dim its light and lessen its intensity. A person’s sense of embarrassment depends on the level of who it is that is doing the embarrassment and who is being embarrassed. Due to this person’s high spiritual level of Neshama, even the dimming of its light is a great calamity and disgrace.
The impact of any misdemeanor is in direct ratio to the esteem that such a person was held in by God before he became guilty of that misdemeanor. The result of a misdemeanor committed by someone who had attained the level of spirituality we defined as נשמה לנשמה is not the withdrawal of Hashem's light but the withdrawal of the automatic protection which Hashem grants such people against becoming guilty of any aveiros. The possuk (Mishlei 12:21) writes לֹּא יְאֻּנֶּה לַצַדִּיק כׇּל אָוֶּן - No mischief shall happen to the righteous, and the Zohar explains this to mean that someone who is attached to his חיה, or his נשמה לנשמה will never stumble and do an aveira. However, when a person connected to his חיה willingly does an aveira, he loses this protection. Although to simple people, this seems minor in comparison to the punishments meted out to people on lower spiritual levels, to the one who exists on the plane of the עולם האצילות, attached to his נשמה לנשמה, this is absolutely calamitous. This is akin to someone who had the king staying in his house as a guest, and he has willingly banished him from his presence.
