The Vegetable Man, the Animal Man, and the Natural Man: The Ancient Secret Wisdom of the Kabbalah

The Kabbalah was a school of thought – in Jewish mysticism – that wanted its members to achieve oneness with the Creator. As well, it encouraged members to discover their full potential and live a fulfilling life. However, it was hidden from the public, and only a few individuals understood its teachings.

For this reason, great authors, for example, Shimon Halevi, have tried to simplify the Kabbalah so that we understand its secret esoteric teachings. In his book, The Way to Kabbalah, Shimon explains the Kabbalah’s teachings in layman terms.

Although the book has several teachings, I loved the teachings about the vegetable man, the animal man, and the natural man, and something forced me to share them with you.

The vegetable man, as Shimon puts it, ‘is any individual that aims at living a secure and regular life with minimal disturbance from outer and inner worlds.’ He dwells at the vegetable level of existence since he is mainly concerned with excreting, reproducing, eating, resting, and breathing. This man chooses the safest path and avoids risky paths because he yearns for security. For this reason, he will die in the city he was born, and he will adhere to his parents’ life plan.

On the other hand, the animal man is an evolved being. He has strong willpower and loves shaking the world with amazing discoveries. Just like an animal, the animal man will ignore pain when pursuing his objectives. Moreover, he possesses high levels of perseverance and determination, and as Shimon writes, ‘he has an objective beyond comfort and pleasure.’  This man creates empires and changes the world.

Both the animal and vegetable man have big dreams. The main difference between them is that the animal man fights for his dreams, while the vegetable man chooses security over going through the risky and competitive path of dream chasing.

The natural man possesses the powers of the animal and the vegetable man. He is a powerful being, for he has power over both living and non-living things. Shimon refers to him as ‘The Spearhead of organic life.’ This man knows that he creates his own reality, and understands that the Spirit of God dwelleth in him.

Human beings are destined to be natural men. We were created to rule the earth and gain dominion over everything. Also, we were put here to unleash the full potential of our spiritual, physical, and mental powers so that we become gods on this planet.

However, most people act like vegetable men. Although they want to develop into animal and natural men, they are afraid of the narrow path that leads to these states of being. They thus prefer a normal and less risky life. Eventually, they die wishing that they worked on evolving into the animal and natural man because they realize that a normal life is a boring and an unfulfilling life.

PEACE BE WITH YOU

THE END