Tiferet Qlifa | תפארת קליפה
Tiferet is the Sephira of "being" and the illusion it projects is related, as one would expect, to the essence of oneself. It consists in identifying oneself, placing one's identity in something that is not oneself: a profession, character traits, a guru, believing that you are the reincarnation of X... Many people are identified with their image or a certain image. Identifying with complexes (of inferiority...), with a social role, with a type of personality, with ideas or feelings... But the "being" is, by definition, what it is by itself, that is to say that it is not linked to anything. All identification is illusory and must therefore be recognized and relativized.
Since Tiferet, several possibilities are open to the individual. In principle, his task is to develop the triads Man Alone and God in Man, but the subject is master of himself and could well turn his back on high and dedicate himself to empowering his lower nature, for example. Or simply seek his own salvation without any relation to the rest of his fellows. That is why the virtue of Tiferet is Devotion to the Great Work, the fulfillment or realization of the Divine Plan.
The word devotion has two main nuances: one implies assiduous dedication and constant care for a task, which is not really possible without a strong and deep love (as when we speak of the devotion of a mother for her children). The second nuance is religious. In this sense, devotion is synonymous with veneration, constant sense of the Presence, fervor and abnegation in the fulfillment of the Divine Will. In both cases there is a factor of voluntariness: devotion is assumed freely, if it does not become an obligation.
Devotion to the Great Work begins with oneself, with self-knowledge and self-realization, and this in all worlds, implying the knowledge and realization of one's own higher nature. This entails the redemption of one's own archetypes and demands a good dose of sacrifice.
But this personal "salvation" is but one facet of universal reparation, the actualization of the Divine Plan and the establishment of all worlds in the perfection of the infinite. It is both an individual and a collective task in which the individual works through the manifestation in himself of the divine purpose. It also involves sacrifice, and not only the sacrifice of self necessary to achieve goals of self-realization, but, more importantly, sacrifice for others based on a genuine concern for them, which is of a higher nature in bringing the individual out of self.
This should not be understood as a call to "messianism". In a high percentage this entails large doses of Yesod: inflation of the ego and intolerance towards those who disagree with one's own truth. But the path of Tiferet sooner or later undergoes an inflection that passes through personal annihilation (making oneself nothing) if one aspires to ever access the gate of Daat. The terms "personal realization" or "personal self-expression", which imply the unfolding of an essence (something that "is") should not be confused with a personal self-affirmation on the border with the aggrandizement of the ego and which opens the door to the loss of the tiferetic state.
Precisely the vice of Tiferet is pride, an important pitfall because when one is in Tiferet one cannot avoid shining. Tiferetic pride is not the vanity of Yesod (believing yourself to be what you are not), but the pride of believing yourself to be what you are, and it is an obstacle because you can be dazzled by your own brilliance and believe that you are the source of light, when you are only at its service, that is, you are the manifestation of a superior reality. It is important not to confuse pride with healthy self-esteem.
Tiferet has multiple dimensions and this is reflected in the spiritual experience. On the one hand it is the vision of harmony, the participatory perception of the profound balance that exists in Creation at all levels, both external and internal. Once in Tiferet the inner turbulence ceases: Once the "being" emerges (archetype of the child, second birth - everything has a place and all is well. When the "being" is consolidated it is king. One develops his own kingdom and is the center of his own solar system. But the king lives for the people and sacrifices himself for them (when you put all of the above at the service of others). The tiferetic sacrifice is always for others. It is the archetype of the sacrificed god that we all have to experience as part of the the dietetic experience.
In the end, one does not arrive at Tiferet (and does not remain there) without a dose of daring. That is why the mandate is to dare, because arriving at Tiferet and consolidating ourselves in it is a primordial obligation of every human being. One must dare to be oneself, to reflect one's own being with truth and integrity, to try to achieve what one really wants, to act for the sake of one's own "being", to make it grow and develop. This can only be achieved by acting with integrity, which implies a commitment to the totality of oneself and is the obligation of Tiferet.
The Commandment is "thou shalt not kill": to be always on the side of life. Tiferet is the center of the Tree of Life, it is the Sefira that best represents life. It is a commandment of positive action, of being essentially constructive: with people and living beings, with the environment, with relationships of all kinds, with other people's beliefs, etc. If something is to be destroyed, it is because there is a better alternative, and this better alternative does not respond to personal, partisan or sectorial interests, but must be based on an enlightened Tiferethic conscience. We cannot leave a person with nothing and, if he/she is wrong, we must help him/her constructively to overcome that mistake.
The dark side of Tiferet is pride in who we are. One who has a negative element in Tiferet is one who boasts of his beauty. Boasting is the central negative element of this dimension. We can overvalue our virtues, so much so, that we can become vain about our qualities. Tiferet's personal qualities are real, but we magnify them. We end up believing that we have more qualities than we actually possess. We must be aware that we are in permanent imbalance and, for that reason, we have been given the Torah, to try to balance ourselves. So, the problem of Tiferet is the boastfulness of being in balance, it is the boastfulness of the beautiful, that boastfulness that ends up transforming beauty into ugliness. Beauty is the consciousness of balance, ugliness is the boasting of balance. Of course, the beauty of Tiferet has nothing to do with physical aesthetics, it is the inner beauty achieved by a human being who is in balance.
In Tiferet we reach the balance (or harmony) between this love of Chesed and the necessary limits of Gevurah. What is the limit of self-love? And what is the limit of loving others? The love of self.
Ultimately, Tiferet is related to Daat (knowledge) and one can achieve harmony in love, when one knows one's situation and can balance it. In daat we know the situation, in Tiferet, we balance it. Without Tiferet we lose the balance of the whole Tree, not only the balance between the forces of right and left, but also the balance between above (Kether) and below (Malkuth).
In Tiferet virtue is the possibility of sharing with others. Whoever shares what he has attains beauty and true balance, and sharing is not simply giving (Chesed), but also receiving (Gevurah).