A Kabbalistic Business Model: The Model That Connected Me to My Vision & Transformed How I Think About Business

I will keep an introduction about myself relatively brief -as best I am able to do “brief”... This is not an article about me. But it is a synthesis of my experience in the great rhizome and landscape of today’s business world & is -in part, a commentary on the state of contemporary occulture, spirituality, Wellness & New Age politics, and why so many companies, communities or startups in this niche inevitably fail and end up forgotten or simply used as another example of what not to do.

Nowadays, movements are spread through social media, word of mouth trends and hashtags. Whether your media of choice is YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn (shameless self plug...) or whatever else, a good movement has the potential to become a good business, in fact, I would argue they are one in the same. Once I understood that business was actually not at all about making money, but more about making an impact through value deliverance, it became an opportunity for me to beautify the world and create meaningful change that could last for generations.

Business became my route to a dynasty, one that could lift up and help the world, support my loved ones & give me a sense of direction, purpose & responsibility. The financial element is Malkuthian -we’ll get to that, don't worry. All you need to know right now is that your actual physical business, finances etc are the final stage manifestation of the 10 other Sephiroth. However, most businesses (and so called “serial entrepreneurs”) approach things from a finance-first perspective, completely oblivious to the dynamics, forces, forms and compulsions that generate it long before the physical cheque or exchange arrive.

You deserve to be free and live your greatest vision. Free to live with joy, abundance, fulfilment, and creative adventure. But most of all, on a collective scale, we deserve to be free to raise the next generation in a better, more harmonious world. On a grounded and practical level, what do I mean by that exactly? What does a “harmonious” world look like?

I'm About to Throw Some Plato at You, Ready?

Put simply, harmony and resonance can be defined as the process of aligning the Images (that is, physical versions or examples of things) to the Ideal Forms (the paradigms or spiritual/mental archetypes behind them). Since the Ideal Forms come from the Divine Nous (Mind), which is in effect, synonyms with the Good (the universal concept of inherent Goodness that benefits both object and subject), the Ideas/Archetypes are also inherently Good.

Through striving to perfect the images and appearances we see, thereby aligning them more fully to their Ideals, we naturally produce more Goodness and beauty in them, and the world. In this case, an idea’s harmony or resonance can be defined as how well the Image/example reflects the Form.

Now let’s take this concept deeper. Imagine that the world, nature & material reality is the Image of a Form. What Form would it be? Well, put simply… God. Call it what you will; the Divine, Universe, Great Spirit, [insert other generic term for a unified and monotheistic concept of God without saying “god” because you don’t want to acknowledge religious trauma here].

Nature and the Material World can be considered the “body” of God, and everything within it -including each of us, are its cells.

Okay, I'm a Panentheist, sue me... The cells are no less the body, and the body is made up of the cells, all of which are unified by the awareness, which is shared among all humans. In the words of Schrödinger (the famous cat guy from Quantum Mechanics), “the number of minds in the universe is one”.

Nature -and by extent us, is a natural consequence of divinity perceiving itself. It is therefore our duty as its residents to perfect it and strive to not only take care of it, but make it as perfect as we can so that the body can more fully in-body the Intellect & conscious awareness. This can be considered our prime directive as humans. Everyone has something unique and special to give back to the world, something only they can give.

We have been given a great amount of gifts through our unique experience of life, all of which manifest as a will to serve. When that will and desire to serve is hindered in any capacity, and we are not living in the truth of our experience, it manifests as feelings of jealousy, comparison and envy of other’s who appear to be.In short, this is the most authentic essence of a business to me:

A business is the act of paying back the goodness and value that we have personally received in our life, to the world.

When you aim to serve and to love as the core of your presence in the world, you open the door to inspired ideas, creative solutions, and unlimited possibilities. It gives you the courage to do hard things in the short-term so you can have long-term success. And not just in business, but in all areas of life.

A Brief History of Kabbalah: The Nuts & Bolts

“קַבָּלָה (Kabbalah) literally means "tradition", "correspondence" or "that which is received”. It is the dominant school of Jewish Esoteric thought. It finds its origins in the Jewish communities of 12th & 13th century France & Spain. It’s a common misconception that Kabbalah has always existed in the form we have it today, complete with the Etz Hayim (Tree of Life), the 10/11 Sephiroth (Emanations) in the configuration you may know, the various pathways & the transcendent Ein Sof (Infinite). Many people even associate the entirety of Jewish Mysticism with Kabbalah, which could not be further from the truth.

“Historically speaking, it refers to the current of mystical thought that emerged from the 12th century onwards in Jewish communities, but while Kabbalah absorbed many of the older traditions, it was not the first. It grew out of earlier Merkabah & Hekhelot Literature centred around the mystical visions of Ezekiel and the ascent of Enoch.

The entire system of Historical Kabbalah is predicated on one simple truth:

God -in its truest and most abstract form, is unknown to us, and is in principle unknowable.

The Kabbalists called this god Eyn Sof, meaning "without limit", or sometimes just Ayin ("nothingness"). At the dawn of creation, the Eyn Sof began a process known as the Azilut (emanation), which created a series of 10 “spheres” of being known as Sephiroth (emanations). Taken as a whole, these Sephiroth represent the totality of creation & embody every archetype, energy, idea, emotion & aspect in the universe.

They are most commonly structured in the form of a tree known as the Etz Hayim (Tree of Life), which forms a diagrammatic map of the universe & the self (since ALL things in the universe are structured in this way, so are we).

In theory, if you can understand the Tree of Life and how the energy flows through it, you will understand the nature of the universe & the mind itself, as well as understanding exactly how manifestation and generation occurs in the universe. Taken as a whole, the ten Sephiroth represent the Divine as it is experienced by humans.

It deals with the fundamental laws of existence and while it may be most commonly associated with the Judaeo-Christian tradition I have found its teachings have common ground with the esoteric philosophies in other religions.

The Sephiroth Explained

I encourage you to read this next section with a copy of the tree on hand so you can follow along and see the movement and connections as we go.

The first Sephirah to be emanated was Kether (the crown), and marked the transition point between the Eyn Sof (Infinite) and the Sephirotic system. The next two were Hokhmah (wisdom) & Binah (understanding) which represent the male and female principles respectively. Through their union, Hokhmah & Binah produced the other 7 Sephiroth. Chesed/Gedulah (love/greatness), Gevurah (might), Tifereth (glory), Netzach (triumph), Hod (splendour), Yesod (foundation) & Malkuth (kingdom).

The three upper Sephiroth (Kether, Hokhmah & Binah) were considered relatively less accessible to the human mind than the lower seven, due to their transcendence. We see the Principle of Polarity at play within Kabbalah here. Each Sephirah diametrically opposes (yet balances) the other.

God the Merciful is embodied within Chesed, whereas God the Just in embodied in Gevurah. Tifereth is therefore the synthesis between Mercy & Justice. While ALL the Sephiroth were important and interrelated (as it is one whole system), the early Kabbalists focused most of their attention on the relationship between Tifereth and Malkuth.

Tifereth is seen as the central Sephiroth in Historical Kabbalah, and is fundamentally a Masculine Principle. In an ideal world, Tifereth enters into sacred union with Malkuth (which is Feminine). Now, bare in mind here, Malkuth is not just our physical world. It is the transition point between the Sephirotic Realm and the created universe. There are various interpretations of whether our physical world IS Malkuth, WITHIN Malkuth, or whether Malkuth is actually a kind of overtone or idealistic form of our physical world, which exists “below” it. However, these interpretations are not the purpose of this article.

Through the union of Tifereth & Malkuth flows the divine energy that creates and sustains the universe in harmonious order. When their union is consummated, the energy of the Eyn Sof flows unhindered. If the union of these two Sephira is interrupted however, the flow of divine energy is severed and ultimately ceases. As the universe can no longer be sustained in an ordered sense, the energy instead flows into Sitri A’ara (the “Other Side”) and serves to strengthen chaos & cosmic evil.

In theory then, if you can understand the diagrammatic map and what composes the Tree of Life, then you can understand the nature of the universe itself. If you begin to include paths between the Sephiroth, you will see how energy flows between each archetype in the universe. The Sephiroth therefore represent EVERYTHING. Each aspect of existence and experience will fit somewhere into one of the Sephirah.

The Business Stuff

What I want to propose next may seem radical

Truly, it has been my experience that the psychological & spiritual model of Kabbalah can be just as -if not more, effective of a tool to map the psyche (and spiritual health) of a business and the people in it than systems such as McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs or behavioural models such as those formulated by Myers-Briggs.

By overlaying each silo, department or aspect of your business onto the tree, you can create a business model using the most idealistic & powerful diagram in mystical philosophy. Following its principles and advice, you will be able to manage the energy of your business, preempt challenges, take products from inspiration to completion seamlessly & create a team culture rooted in healthy equal exchange, openness and transparency. Your business will effectively heal itself and in extension, revenue will flow as a natural consequence of every other aspect being allotted its proper place.

By looking at how the Tree of Life operates in the context of a business, we are better able to keep the business in balance and to make it beautiful in its operations. In doing this we are therefore able to raise the level of the world through whatever mission, purpose or impact our business is bringing to the table.

By focusing on the consciousness of the company and keeping its true purpose in mind - the perfecting of the world - there lie opportunities of great fulfilment for those in management, employees, customers and shareholders alike and financial abundance will flow as a natural consequence. There is equally a hidden truth in this however.

The financial capital that results from aligned action in business will be of a far more lasting and stable nature than the money amassed from actions taken for short term gain or accomplished through means out of alignment with our True Will.We will examine each Sephiroth in turn soon, but the essential idea here to embody is that when too much emphasis is placed on one pillar, then Necessity will swing the whole model back to balance again. If the early warning signs are ignored, this swing will be a hard push and inevitably painful.

The Middle Pillar in this model represents the ascent, which is our task as human beings either as individuals or as part of a company or business. By ascent of this pillar, by paying attention to (and taking responsibility for) our own consciousness, the Tree - of the individual or the company - remains in balance without the self correcting mechanism which is bound to occur when too much emphasis is paid to either forceful or passive action.

Now to Each Sephirah

Kether

Kether is the the Crown, of yourself & your business. It is the contact and emanation point with the Divine Intellect that begins the creative flow down through which the energy of the Ideal Form flows. Within Kether, the creative energy that was present in the founder of the company as the Idea that lead to its formation (usually your North Star/Vivid Vision/Purpose Statement) occurred and continues to exist as an independent Thoughtform that allows the possibility of extensions and growth in the business.

You might be tempted to identify Kether with “inspiration”, however it is not really the “invention” of a particular product which is embodied by Kether, it is more than that. Kether is the energy flowing into an individual which enables wisdom or insight of the Ideal Form of the business to be received. You must be in state of grace and flow within yourself, in alignment with the core values and ideals of the company before such insight can be gained.

As such, in a harmonious environment & healthy business, it is not just the CEO or leader that has access to Kether. Every employee, supplier or customer can tap into the archetypal form provided by this Sephira, connect to the Vision & embody an aspect, reflection or image of it. In fact, in companies that rely on community, membership or platform based systems, I have found it to be vital that the target market have an avenue to connect to the Ketheretic Aspect of the business. This is the energy that inspires movements and connection to the Vision of the business. It IS the creative & divine inspiration behind it.

Hokhmah

Hokhmah is the preeminent wisdom of the company. It is the first emanation of Kether, and therefore characterised as the inspiration or active intellect. This is the inspiration for a new idea or new generic product e.g. a new course, product or membership plan. The new idea is often seen in a flash of clarity or one of those “moments” where everything seems to align. Maybe you have that perfect conversation, maybe you get inspired in just the right way, maybe you see another idea from another industry and it hits just the right spot to create confluence with your own.

Either way, the inspiration is made possible by connection to the Creative or Divine energy of Kether, and is its flow given first form. Put another way, this is the 1% of that whole "99% perspiration, 1% inspiration” phrase. Being a Masculine principle, it is inherently unbound and unbalanced at first, coming only in flashes or temporary moments of heightened awareness. Your idea will remain in this state unless tempered with the next Sephira.

Binah

Comparatively, Binah is the Understanding or Passive Intellect of the business. The flash of inspiration which conceives of the idea of a course, retreat or product may occur in a moment but it then has to be translated into the blueprints, strategy or membership diagrams and structure so that it is workable and safe.

To use the same analogy, Binah is the “99% perspiration” in our phrase. Being the Feminine counterpart to Hokhmah, it can be considered the womb of creation for your idea. It is the place it gestates, grows and expands into methodologies, maps, modules or frameworks.In traditional astrology, Binah is the domain of Saturn, the Celestial Taskmaster who brings us to account. It instills in us the value of patience, labour & time and demands the same of us.

Da'ath

Da’ath is a tricky Sephira. It is sometimes not included on Hayim Configurations. It is somewhat of a Ghost or Shadow Sephira, acting as the reflection of Kether. In Crowley’s Thelemic system, it represented the Abyss, the Great Chasm that stands between us and higher awareness that we must sacrifice to cross. This is a task few can accomplish.

It translates more literally as “knowledge” and can be thought to exist “behind” and “within” the tree -and by extent the business. It is the hidden, backend procedures of the company. The secret behind Da’ath though is that it is the Sephira through which access to other worlds may be obtained. Da'ath represents the collective knowledge and traditions of the company.

It is one of the hardest Sephira to cultivate, because it embodies the habits, values, behaviour & mindset that lies behind everything you do; those very same habits that you as the leader of an organisation aim to instil in your employees. Such values are also important to bring to the surface and alchemise into the Golden Shadow as they will be reflected in your ideal customer avatar.One of the lessons of Da’ath is customer screening.

You should have traditions and standards for operation, your bottom line of how you do things and what you expect of your business. If your only screening for a customer is:

Has a credit card and Breathes

You will inevitably fail. You cannot serve everyone. Not everyone will go through your products and get the value out of them that you wish they did. The trick is to pick your niche and choose your customers based on your own values and give them your all.In this context, Da'ath is also the point through which access is obtained to other corporate bodies. This is also the position of the shareholders or board (the “Shadow Business”) who have the power to remove the CEO (whose office is within Tifereth). However, they do not partake directly in the running of the company so their position in a space which is not actually a sephira is appropriate.

Chesed

Chesed is traditionally the Sephira of loving kindness or mercy. It most fully embodies joy.In the business context this is the Sephira of expansion and enthusiasm you and your employees feel and is the place where a genuine love for the work and for all associated with it is generated. It is the area of the business that lights you up, drives you and gives you strength when times are tough. It most fully embodies the maxim of “love what you do and what you do will love you”.

I have also experienced this Sphere to be the home of a company’s culture. Do your employees truly enjoy the work they do? Do they feel inspired, motivated and driven to perform at their best because they are connected to a deeper sense of purpose, mission and truth?

Chesed is the Sephira of Jupiter, so it equally rules the process of abundance and elevating material goods to God and doing your thing in true service of the Divine. There is a Mystery and lesson here for you to contemplate. Being Jovial in nature, Chesed is the Sephira that rules both abundance and finance AND enjoyment and fulfilment. In fact, as far as the energy is concerned, there is no distinction.

Geburah

Geburah is the Sephira that tempers the jovial excitement & passion for work with judgement and discipline. This is the harsher of the Sephiroth, but the most important in a company setting. It is the energy where decisions are made about the direction of the company, especially those of a strategic nature.

Although when each individual is making decisions within their own sphere of operation they will be using their own Geburic qualities. It’s a sad state of affairs to see that in the majority of “corporate” businesses today, their Geburic Centre is painfully overactive. Over reliance on Geburah produces a harsh kind of environment - Johnathon often used the example of the 19th century mills or Victorian Workhouses, which are extreme examples.

Unless Geburah is consciously tempered with the loving kindness of Chesed then the tree brings itself back into balance- hence the rise of the Trade Union movements to counteract the employment practices of the 19th century which worked too much to the advantage of the employer.

On a practical level, this is the sphere where contracts are drawn up, boundaries are established, disciplinary procedures are put in place & people are held accountable to show up and function in a professional context. As such, ironically, it is also one of the hardest Sephira to cultivate in “spiritual”/“wellness” based companies because they are often too soft, thinking of the entire organisation as a collective “family” or friendship group.

As fun and idealistic as it sounds, when running a business you are not a rag tag bunch of friends aligned with a shared mission or vision. You are business. This is the sphere that makes you act like one.

Tifereth

Tifereth is the figurative Seat of Solomon. It is the the throne of your business. It is beauty and splendour embodied and radiating. The most simple way to explain this sphere is that it is the place occupied by the CEO or Visionary. This is the person who makes the overall decisions necessary to ensure that the company remains balanced between the Active and Passive pillars and brings through the Divine Spirit of Kether into the everyday world of the company.

You will notice that Tifereth is the only Sephira (save Da’ath) that has a direct connection to Kether. Although Tifereth is embodied most fully by a CEO, the Tifereth of a company is more of an essence that extends beyond the individuals that occupy that position. The Tifereth of a business is accessible to anyone who aligns themselves with the essential energy, values and vision of the company.

At the individual level, each person has the option of operating from the detached and radiant state of Tifereth or the ego centred state of Yesod. This is why the Founder & CEO may not always be the same person. To fully embody and translate the energy of the company through Tifereth, the CEO must cultivate the Virtues of Leadership (See my other articles for that!)

Your job as a leader is to continually show people that you are all on a shared mission, and you do this through becoming the channel and medium through which the Tiferetic energy flows. This energy will change you. It will elevate you and call you into the highest degree of integrity. But you already know if you’re up for the challenge. A weak Tiferetic centre will produce typical signs of failed leadership: a clear lack of trust, a fear of conflict or hard conversations, a lack of clarity (on purpose, vision and position), and non committed action.

Netzach

Netzach is somewhat similar to Chesed, in that it is the emotional centre of the business. It means "to make eternal" or to set cycles in motion. We can conceptualise this as the home of the sales and marketing departments who generate interest and desire in the company products and attract customers. Other activity cycles are also initiated here such as the production of services, goods and processes.

Netzach is the beating heart and emotional connection generator of the business.Notice how this Sephirah is connected directly to Chesed (the love of the company), Tifereth (the CEO energy that has a direct line to Kether) and to Yesod & Malkuth, which are how the physical company shows up externally.

Hod

Hod represents the continuation of the process and generation that was set in motion within Netzach. As the Mercurial Sephira, it represents the element of the company that measures cycles, keeps books and meticulous records. This is the home of your information systems - everything from time sheets to annual accounts, invoices and payslips. It is the Solomonic Seat of the CFO and financials.

The management of a company in trouble will often demand more and more information from the employees, something I’m sure we’ve all experienced. To conceptualise this process energetically in terms of the Tree, this is an intensification of the Sephira of Hod, which manifests as mind numbing amounts of meetings with little purpose, and innumerable reports.

If a conscious decision is not finally made on the basis of the information received (usually by the CEO in Tifereth) then paralysis by analysis occurs (remember this is the passive side of the Tree) and the tree’s self correction takes over with the relevant department manager deciding to "do" something - "anything" - to get the company out of the stuck feeling and another cycle is set in motion by the whole scheme swinging back to Netzach.

When a company is "run by accountants" or motivated solely by money, then there is too much emphasis on Hodian energy, which brings the danger of business opportunities being lost as the people in charge are not noted for their spontaneity, passion or emotional connection. At the other end of the scale when a company is "run by salesmen" there is the danger that the company flies like crazy and every sales opportunity - good or bad - is accepted.

Without due attention to good accounting the company tends to swing out of control by, for example, giving away too many discounts or free trials and becoming unprofitable. This is also an unstable situation with too much concentration on Netzach - the “courting" or “romancing” of customers and the instigation of too much corporate hospitality. The three pairs of Lower Sephiroth on the Tree (Tifereth, Netzach & Hod) must always work in harmony with each other for stability to exist within the business.

Yesod

Yesod is literally the “Foundation”. We can conceptualise it as the reflection or image of Tifereth. It is the core psyche of your business; the repository and vault of moods, awarenesses and mindsets of yourself, your employees and your customers.

As we outlined above, Yesod is the imaginary and visual Sephira, it is largely reflective of the Moon card in Tarot and contains the essence of the illusionary journey and image that is reflected in still waters.This “image” is in fact the reputation and “image” of the company and Yesod is therefore the Sephira to which most people relate to most of the time.

Actions are often carried out by reference to how the company (or its reputation) will be seen or reflected in the eyes of those outside it (i.e customers, your target market, investors etc). However, while the image of the company is important, remember, there is no direct connection between Yesod and Geburah or Yesod and Chesed. What this means is that decisions taken at a Yesodic level may often be incorrect. In terms of Jungian psychology Yesod equates to the ego while Tifereth is the Self”.

To put this in context, a company may make a donation to a local charity or undertake some philanthropic effort, but if this is done solely for the kudos and good image it will bring, then the donation actually does no good because the energy behind the gift is not truly aligned.

The decision about making the gift needs to be taken in the light of which charity is the most appropriate (conceptualised as Geburic decision making) and where the greatest love (Chesedic influence) can be created by the gift and expressed by those giving it. A gift made solely from the consciousness of Yesod (the ego) is able to access these qualities only remotely, if that. It may even be appropriate to say that Yesod can only access or perceive reflections or imitations of these higher qualities.

Yesod is still relevant and has a positive aspect though. It is the place where budgets are taken from their inception in Hod to be monitored and implemented. These budgets govern the life of the majority of employees who are usually unaware of their broader implications because they are not connected to the other Sephiroth.

For the managers who sit on the Middle Pillar between Yesod and Tifereth there is the danger that they will be driven downwards to Yesod by the demands of the budget even in cases where the longer term good of the company demands a revision of targets which can only be made from the detached position of Tifereth. It is the ego which insists "I will not give in" when the Self recognises the art of possibility, fluidity and change.”

Malkuth

At long last we reach Malkuth, at the base of the tree. Malkuth is the transition into the physical world of The Kingdom, so to speak. So far, we have been describing the psyche and spiritual dynamics of a business - the Yeziratic world - but the truth is, this is interlaced with the Assiatic physical world beneath it.

The central point, Tifereth, of the physical world is at the same place on Jacob's Ladder as the Malkhuth of the psychological world. As such the Malkhuth of a business deals with its physical nature - both the physical product and the workplace such as the office building, cubical, or in the case of home working, your home office or bedroom.

Bearing in mind that the Middle Pillar contains the energy of the business, it is clear that beautifying the workplace or the physical product will enable greater energy to flow up the tree. Similarly, the physical products will carry the energy or consciousness which has come down the tree in the individual psyches of those people making the products or courses.

The lesson to be learnt here is two fold. Taking note of your environment, the physical working conditions is paramount to company success. I wrote another article on this, especially on wellness in architecture and how to design your office for productivity.

If your environment is not conducive to a good work ethic or otherwise not comfortable or inspiring, your output will be effected and the connection between Malkuth & Tifereth hindered. This is why Google does so well when it invests in employee wellbeing and healthcare with its sleep pods, comfort rooms & other “bonuses”.

On a product level, Malkuth calls you to consider its physical delivery, experience & nature. Your product can be amazing, well researched, incredibly marketed, but if the Product Delivery is off, then the entire thing will fail. Product Delivery simply put, is the experience and quality of using the product.

What is the actual sensual, bodily and conscious experience people have as they use your product or service? If you are a content creator, this is embodied in things like your camera & audio quality, how you get your word out and communicate things to people, perhaps through email blasts or notifications, how people access your groups or courses etc.

The bottom line is people should love your product or service (or experience) so much that they will recommend it to a friend. Malkuthian consciousness is being mindful of the experience the customer is having. It is ALWAYS the delivery that matters; how you get your product to them or their screens. Equally, the lower element of this sphere lies in referrals and roots to keep growing. If a client is having a great experience, what processes or avenues can we create to keep them in our product suite and keep them re-engaging?

Conclusion

So, to bring your mind back to this.

If we were to sum up and put it all in a nice flow chart, we can say:

Kether: Divine Intellect & Source of the Company Mission

Hokhmah: Active Intellect - New Products and inventions

Binah: Passive Intellect -Understanding, Legal and Frameworks

Da’ath: Knowledge, Tradition & Culture of the Company

Chesed: Growth of the business, love of activity and desire to work

Geburah: Strategy & Development, Discipline & Contracts

Tifereth: CEO & the Essence of the Business

Netzach: Sales and Marketing, Lead Generation, Production, & Initiation of ground level processes

Hod: Accounting, Information Services, Payroll, continuation of processes

Yesod: Image and perception of the company (both public and internal), Ego, budgets and funds

Malkuth: Physical company, front end of products, physical workplace”

The diagram of the Tree of Life gives us a framework within which to carry out this task and by understanding the structure, we make the task of applying our knowledge all that much easier. People still have the choice of acting from Yesod or Tifereth (ego or true self) and attention still has to be paid to marketing and measuring (Netzach and Hod). The form may have changed but the essence is still the same - a fundamental principle of Kabbalah.