A Body of Light
What is the meaning of the body’s future, to be as purified as the soul?
When we speak of a body that will be as purified as the soul, the intention is a specific stage in the process of redemption and completion—what is known in Kabbalah as the resurrection of the dead.
In Mashiach consciousness, there is no longer a separation between matter and spirit.
The body, which in this world is coarse and limited, will become a vessel for the divine light, just as the soul already carries the light today.
Instead of the body imposing upon the person needs, weaknesses, fatigue, and death, it will operate in complete harmony with their soul.
The Ramchal, in “The Way of God” and “Adir BaMarom,” describes that the body was first created with materiality to allow for choice and rectification. But at the end of the process, after the completion of the rectification, the body will undergo an essential change. It will be refined, purified, and will become its “first form”—a pure vessel fit for the soul. He writes that this will be a state in which “matter will not conceal the form, but will shine with it.” The body will not hide the soul but will express it in its completeness.
The Baal HaTanya explains that this world was created in such a way that Godliness is concealed, and the body feels like “a reality unto itself.” But at the completion of the rectification, the truth that “there is nothing but Him” will be revealed, and then the body—matter itself—will also become a “chariot for holiness.” Not only will the soul shine, but the body too will feel and express the divine unity.
The Zohar describes the resurrection of the dead like this: The body, which until now was a “murky garment,” will be renewed with a different garment—pure and radiant. The Zohar speaks of a “gufa d’zihara ila’ah“—a body of supernal radiance. This is not merely a spiritual body, but the physical body itself which will be purified until it is like clear glass for the light of the soul.
Baal HaSulam explains that at the completion of the rectification, the will—which is the root of the body—will be entirely rectified. When the will is rectified in this way, the physical body will also no longer resist the light, but will express it. He describes this as a state in which the body and soul have equivalence of form—both are vessels for the infinite light.
The body you live in now is “under construction”—in a process of rectification.
But its destiny is not to disappear,
but to be eternal,
beautiful, and pure like your soul.
This is the vision of the redemption:
no more war between body and soul,
but an absolute unification.
Body and soul as one,
living in an infinite light.
When a person knows themself,
there is no gap between their “wants.”
There is no “I want.”
There is da’at (knowing).
And when there is da’at, the body does not rule.
The person becomes a chariot for the light,
instead of a slave to their desires.
Reflect:
Where do you experience the “war” between your body’s needs and your soul’s aspirations?
Can you imagine your body not as something that limits you, but as a vessel “in construction,” destined to become a perfect expression of your inner light?
What is one small way you can honor your body today, not as a source of desires to be conquered, but as a holy partner on your soul’s journey?
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