Hiskalelus Integrating with Hashem from Bilvavi Part One

HISKALELUS – INTEGRATING WITH HASHEM (FROM BILVAVI PART ONE)

Once a person has really attained the feeling that Hashem is right near him, his avodah is to attain hiskalelus in the Infinite, as it says, “I am His.” (A deeper form of this avodah is to cause all the creations to be miskalel in Him.) In a general sense, this avodah has three phases.

The first phase is the perception from deep in the soul that the created being is, so to speak, part of Hashem, as it says, “For Hashem’s portion is His nation.”

Chazal have also said, “Hashem and Yisrael are one” and, “The creation is like a snail whose shell is part of its body.”