The Three Components Of Our Spiritual Development

threeparts

  1. The teacher or instructor directs me toward the goal and explains the stages leading to its attainment.
  2. The books (authentic sources) are the source of the Surrounding Light that corrects me, and to a lesser extent, a source of knowledge and examples.
  3. The group or environment exploits my feeling of envy (Kinat Sofrim) and jealousy in order to awaken my aspiration to attain the quality of bestowal despite the egoistic desire to receive that dominates me.

Concealment Is The Eternal Engine of Attainment

How to Keep Effective Virtual Connections A question I received: Who gives names to spiritual objects like Mocha Stima (concealed mind), Mocha De-Ovira (membrane in the brain), the head of Arich Anpin, Atik, and the unknown head of Infinity? How do we come to know these names?

My Answer: When Kabbalists attain these objects, they naturally (instinctively) give them these names. Anyone who discovers a new spiritual object or phenomenon also discovers its name within himself. It’s a bit like being able to look at a person you’ve never met before and correctly guessing his name.

Question cont’d: So why do they write that the Partzuf is concealed or unknown?

My Answer: Because only when we attain something can we actually assert that it is unknown to us. It’s the same as how a scientist in our world investigating an unknown phenomenon can assert that at some point, there is a particular boundary where something unknown to him begins.

Question cont’d: Then how do we attain the Upper System that controls us if we don’t understand it?

My Answer: It is precisely the sensation of lack of knowledge that pushes us to advance and develop, compelling us to build a special connection to the Upper Level. That is why the Upper System, called Aba ve Ima, Arich Anpin and Atik, is not fully revealed to us. Lacking precise knowledge of this system, we discern certain parts of it and keep being drawn to progress onwards, toward complete understanding.

It is like a flirtation between the Upper One and the lower one, according to the principle, “By revealing one part, two parts are concealed.” This happens in order for the lower one to develop a greater desire for the next revelation.

Self-Install The Program of Life Into Your Lifeless Computer

programoflife We will never perform the right action unless we bring the Creator into the connections between us. We have to get the strength and the intelligence to execute the action from Him. In addition, throughout this whole process, from the beginning to the very end, we should always pursue His revelation to us. This is the subject of the science of Kabbalah.

Baal HaSulam writes the following in the article, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: “The wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.” The Creator is a force that acts, gives us intelligence, feelings, and desires, and stirs our matter to move. He forces us to understand who we are and pushes us to develop, performing actions inside us and leading us toward the final goal.

Matter itself is merely a desire to enjoy; it is inanimate matter. It is like computer hardware that remains lifeless until provided the electrical power, programs, and data that it needs to produce an end result. We are the same: the “equipment” itself is invariable; what changes is its inner filling – the Creator’s force which clothes into the person. We are lifeless “equipment,” where everything besides the “hardware” – our mind, thoughts, desires, and feelings, as well as all their changes until the final result is achieved – all of this is the Creator that fills us.

Therefore, it is definitely not enough for us to unite with each other as elements of one mechanism, but it is important to know right from the start: by what program and for what sake we will act! The Creator is not just our companion who gets to have a part in our path and the outcome. He is, in fact, our entire fulfillment. All we can do is express our request for Him to reveal Himself, His program, actions, and qualities inside us.

The Creator Is The End, The Beginning, The Means, And The Purpose

How Can Singularity Be Transformed Without Changing All our efforts to unite our desires in a Kabbalistic group should be directed at our desires toward the Creator. All the efforts should be made only for the sake of revealing the Creator and uniting with Him. Then we will not repeat the mistakes made by the Soviet communists and Israeli Kibbutzniks, who considered the unification of “proletarians of all countries” a worthy goal, and it was to this end that they changed the society and viewed this as the necessary condition for perfection.

People don’t understand that the world, as well as ourselves, was created for the sole purpose of revealing the Creator’s qualities inside us, in order to reach His level of existence. This goal should be pursued in every action we make, both in the heart and the mind. For example, what is wrong with me simply doing something for the benefit of my friend, the environment, or the world? Although these actions seem good, the problem with it is that any action that does not initially include the final goal, the Creator, does not merit His forces. It is therefore not an action of correction, but on the contrary, it brings about our general crisis – the result of our “development.”

In order for any action to be successful, it must be done for the right purpose; it has to include the Creator as the initial cause, and the One that causes me to perceive myself, the world, and the situation at hand. It has to take into account the fact that He determines the action’s beginning, the need for the action, and its outcome, as it is written, “I am the first and I am the last!” A person is just the matter over which the actions are performed. However, he is not the master or the executor of the action.

Therefore, our only task is to clarify how to relate to what happens. Yet, by so doing, we do actually determine the extent of our desires’ correction, and hence the perception of this world and the spiritual worlds.

If we don’t accept the Creator as a partner, we will not succeed in any action. We will instead go into greater concealment and veer off the right path. When that happens, then it will take a great deal of effort and subsequent despair in order for us to begin to understand why this is happening to us. And then we will find the cause of the suffering inside the suffering.

The fact is that the Upper Force is everything! It determines every situation, creates it, participates in it, arranges everything about it, realizes it and provides the whole reward and fulfillment. Therefore, if we do not focus on the Creator, who is always present within our matter and all our actions, and if we don’t make Him the main purpose of all our efforts, then this will be a grave mistake that will prove very costly for us.

Prayer Is The Only Means To Change

onlymeans The Zohar: Raise your arms up in prayer, since we are about to reveal the order of the World of Atzilut: GAR de-Arich Anpin, called Keter, Mocha de-Avira (the membrane in the brain) and Mocha Stima (the hidden mind), as well as how they rise to the unknown head of Infinity, which is the most elevated and concealed.

Therefore, let us pray for the Creator to welcome our revelation of these secrets.

We exist inside Infinity. Regardless of our degree of attainment, the lower degree cannot perceive the Upper Degree; it cannot feel and grasp it with its mind. At any point of our spiritual ascent, the next state is always infinite and boundless in regard to the lower one.

I am limited by my range of perception. The Upper One is greater than me and does not fit into my Kli (vessel of perception). So how can I perceive Him? I can do it only by requesting for my soul to be expanded, so that I may acquire qualities similar to His. Then I will be able to reveal Him and acquire a connection with Him. The whole connection between us and the Upper Degrees is realized only through our request.

This is exactly how we advance in our regular lives: A child is always asking a grown-up for something, and the grown-up must in turn provide the child with what he considers beneficial to the child’s development. However, the little one doesn’t even know what is beneficial to his development. If he only acts using his own wit, using the mind of his degree, then he will advance by the path of suffering, by making mistakes. And only after many failed attempts will he reach an understanding that he only has to ask the Upper One, and He will know what to give him.

Therefore, everything is achieved through the power of prayer. However, prayer is not what we imagine it to be in our world! Prayer means that I desire to become more giving, to come out of my egoism. In addition, this has to be my sole desire; this is the only thing I have to ask the Upper One for.

However, this goes against my egoistic nature, and therefore, if the Upper One does not prepare me for achieving His degree, I will never be able to reach it on my own! Through my prayer and exercises, I become more and more similar to the Upper One. This continues through all 125 degrees of my spiritual ascent, until I attain my complete correction: equivalence to the Creator.

Now we can understand what is written in The Book of Zohar: If the soul does not receive knowledge about the world to come, then a person cannot enter it and exist in it. After all, without having this knowledge about the quality of bestowal and how to realize it, he will not be able to live there.

Overcome Your Fears By Connecting Everything To The Creator

Laitman_2009-11_8759Two questions I received on fear and how to overcome it:

Question: I am searching for a way to overcome fears and concerns. I found your response to overcoming fears only recently via surfing the web.

Here is your post from August 6, 2008 that responds to overcoming the fear that I am referring to. In this post you stated: “You should connect everything that is happening with the Creator, with yourself, and with the entire world, so that all of these will unite into one and there won’t be any difference between them. All of your doubts and fears should vanish within this union. And if they don’t – then it’s even better! Then you can ask the Creator to help you.”

Can you please provide details on how to make the connections (with the Creator, with yourself and with the entire world) you have mentioned in your response with respect to a fear? I would really appreciate learning how to do what you have outlined.

My Answer: You should imagine how everything was before the breaking of the common soul, and aspire to this state.

Question: As much as I want to love my neighbor, I keep finding myself under the influence of negative intentions. Is this kind of thing known in Kabbalah?

My Answer: This is happening because it seems to you that by moving away from your egoism, you are losing yourself, instead of acquiring an eternal, vigorous, and happy spiritual body. Think about it and you will start feeling joyous!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Alienation And Separation Are Nothing But Illusions!
Laitman.com Post: Living Within The Desires Of Others
Laitman.com Post: How Can We Overcome Fear?
Kabbalah Today Article: There’s A Grand World Outside Our Bitter Radish
Shamati #138: “About Fear That Sometimes Comes Upon A Person”
Video: Prayer, The Desire I Wish To Correct – 5 Minutes Of Light (5:27)

5 Minutes Of Light From The Daily Lesson: Using The Study To Build The Kli

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 11.26.09

Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson
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Baal HaSulam, Letter (Igeret) 48, 1927
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 42, Lesson 16
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Article “Body and Soul,” Lesson 4
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 11.25.09

Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson
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Baal HaSulam, Letter #47, 1927
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 42, Lesson 16
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Article “Body and Soul,”  Lesson 2
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The Book of Zohar selections, Chapter “Noah,” Item 482
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