Chokmah Qlifa | חכמה קליפה
While the commandment of Binah was a plea for the sacredness of all form (as an expression of the Name of God), the commandment of Chokmah transcends all illusion of form, even divine form. It says: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth....". What this commandment is asking us is to distinguish the symbol from the symbolized, not to confuse the representation with the superior state of things. To worship any power in the area of the existent is the fruit of a semantic confusion: to take the representation for the essence, the vessel for its content. But where there is "something" one cannot manifest the true wisdom that does not resemble "nothing". And sculpture or image must not refer only to material confection. A philosophical system is an image. So is a belief system. The very scheme of the Tree of Life is one.
In mystical annihilation (which is what fear really means), when no trace of ego or nothingness remains, that nothingness becomes full and becomes the mirror of divine truth: a luminous state of omni-consciousness, in which all things exist in eternity as living archetypes in the Divine Consciousness that shows itself directly to the mystic.
On this transcendent level (Chokmah and then Kether) there are neither virtues nor vices, for these are supposed to be bound to a certain form and both sefirot are strictly supraformal.
Precisely, the transcendence of Chokmah can project the illusion of independence. The ignorant believes that since there is an essential level above all form, everything is arbitrary, nothing is ultimately determined. As a consequence, he can act as he wishes (there is no law). But although Wisdom is prior to the Law (Binah), this does not mean that it is independent of it or alien to it. That would be absurd, for the Law is the expression of Wisdom. Chokmah and Binah are united in an embrace. Chokmah is not above the Law: she is "one" with the Law.
Any outward demonstration of her wisdom must be natural and unforced. His wisdom must not be in the service of the dark side by turning his Mida into a Qlifa, but his wisdom must help his fellow man.
That is to say, the true wisdom, the positive energy that we must achieve in Chokmah, is to understand our capacity to give to the other. In Chokmah the line of giving is founded. In Chokmah we have everything to give. In Chokmah all wisdom should be considered a treasure to give, not a treasure to hoard. If wisdom is not given, or not attempted to be given, the true level of wisdom is never reached.
The wise never stop learning, that is the true virtue of wisdom. The sage attains the virtue of wisdom when he recognizes his limits and thus prepares to leap into the dimension of Kether. If the sage does not recognize his limits, then he is trying to replace the image of God. A sage must be very humble in order to enter Kether.
The proud sage is not wise, he appears to be wise, but in reality, his pride does not allow him to reach the true inner balance of Chokmah. The sage gives all the wisdom he can give, and the more he gives, the wiser he is.
He is not wise because he accumulates wisdom, he is wise because he gives it away. Therefore, the negative aspect of Chokmah (his Qlifa) is the sage who gives nothing or only limitedly to others.
While society in general considers one type of person as wise, he is not necessarily, in qabalistic terms, a recognized sage. The sage who is aware of his wisdom does not need the social milieu to inform him that he is wise. Moreover, Qabalistic mysticism says that if a person tells you that you are very wise, you should think about your transgressions, so as not to believe what they are telling you.
If I had been so wise I would not have transgressed, but if I now control my transgressions, and it seems that I have reached Chokmah, I should not think that I have reached it. On the contrary. At all times I must be rectifying, making a permanent repentance. The sage who does not wish to have disciples and who closes himself and, consequently, closes his wisdom, becomes the prototype of the Qlifa of Chokmah.
The wisdom of this bad sage dies with him. This kind of negative aspect of wisdom is very difficult to detect because the sage can hide this transgression as a skill of his own knowledge. In reality, it is a trap for himself, because the environment will never be able to enjoy his wisdom and, therefore, he exercises this dimensional aspect negatively. If no one receives what the sage can give, then the tradition is not received and there is no Kabbalah (which is receiving the hidden tradition). So the sage who keeps his wisdom to himself never attains the status of Mequbal because the essence of the Kabbalist is to know how to give what he has received