Evening Zohar Lesson – 01.27.10
Posted on January 27th, 2010
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 136
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 136
Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio
Every person should imagine that he is the whole world, the entirety of reality, and that everyone else are individual parts within it. If we begin to think this way, we will be returning to that system which is currently concealed from us. We are actually situated in it presently but we don’t feel this connection. And it is precisely this connection of ours that is hidden from us – we need to reveal it between our souls, our points in the heart.
The measures of this connection are called spiritual worlds. My degree in the spiritual worlds is determined by the extent that I feel connected with everyone else: 1/125, 2/125, and so on. When I am able to unite with the others to my fullest extent, it means that I have risen to my final, 125th degree. In order to achieve this I really require our corporeal mutual guarantee through which we all strive to achieve one picture, one state, one goal. For the time being, this is not clear to everyone and we constantly lose sight of this state.
However, precisely by advancing forward amidst the conditions of this confusion, we go through all the obstacles, thereby conquering them. These obstacles are given to us as help. This is how we ascend.
Therefore, when revealing a bad mood, lack of strength and desire, and confusion of thoughts and feelings, we need to understand that this is a burdening of the heart. It is given to us from Above according to our state and degree. We are to try to imagine ourselves in a new, higher state, while at the same time we are also searching for our connection with others, and our own strength and inspiration.
This connection actually already exists and only depends on how much I attach myself to this source and how much importance I give to the goal. It depends upon how much I can feel the support of my friend’s shoulder and the help from everything that is included in the concept of “a mutual guarantee.”
We need to come to this state if not by quantity, then by quality, since the intensity is measured by the production of quantity from the base of the qualitative state. If we lose out according to strength, we win in the fact that we spread out onto a greater distance. This is like examples from simple physical laws, where the power of the current multiplied by the voltage gives the power, or the way a force multiplied by a distance operates.
The entire heaviness and all the “sinners” that are revealed within us are presented against the unification, inspiration, and elevation; but they are given to us for our benefit. They are the desire which we are to rise beyond now.
Let’s not lose this chance; we should be happy about this opportunity and exert effort. Its hard work rising onto the mountain above our doubts (the word “Har,” mountain, comes from the word “Irurim,” doubts).
The Zohar, Chapter Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh), Item 63: There is a great and peaceful river. And because its Bina, Tifferet, and Malchut fell into Keter and Hochma of the small rivers during the small state (Katnut), when the big state (Gadlut) comes and the peaceful river once more elevates its Bina, Tifferet and Malchut to itself, Keter and Hochma of the small rivers ascend with them and receive GAR from it.
There is a great and peaceful river, which is connected to all the small rivers through their Galgalta ve Eynaim. This great river cancels its AHP (which is why it is called peaceful) in order to give the smaller ones the opportunity to connect to it. It waits for them to connect to it, and as soon as they do, it begins to elevate them together with itself. That is how they ascend from their degree onto the next. And at the higher degree there is another “peaceful river,” and they connect to it and ascend further still. That is how the “spiritual elevator” operates.
Everything that appears as darkness to us is in fact Light in the state of concealment. There is no darkness; the only reason we see darkness is because we relate to Light egoistically. This is why it hides from us, and shines upon us from the reverse side. That is why the word Ohr in Hebrew means “Light,” while in Aramaic a similar word, Ohrta, means “night.” These two languages are opposite to one another like two sides of a coin.
In fact, there is no darkness. It exists only with respect to our uncorrected desires, but darkness is entirely absent when one’s desires are corrected. Therefore, whenever we feel a lack of inspiration or a bad mood, it means we are being given the opportunity to awaken to a greater degree of connection with the Upper One. This connection can be attained precisely through the darkness that we presently feel.
It is written that the soul of a human is part of the Creator in the same way that a rock that breaks off a mountain remains part of the mountain. The Creator made one common desire through which all souls are connected together into one soul called “Adam” which is filled with the Light of Infinity. The state of this one soul is called the “World of Infinity,” and it is given to us as an example of perfection.
However, now I feel like a small particle that is separated from the other parts, or like a point within a big system. When I desire to connect with others, by giving to them and receiving from them for the sake of becoming similar to the Creator, I obtain His form and come closer to Him. If I share my love with other souls (meaning, with the other parts of the system), then I will transform from a rock into a mountain.
By connecting with others, I acquire their desires because another person’s desire can be attained only if you love him. This is why it is written, “Love your neighbor as yourself is the great rule of the Torah,” where the word “Torah” means the Upper Light which fills the whole system of souls (the Creator).
When I connect my friend’s desires to my own, we become a single whole and both of us become me. Then, through my friend, I connect with a third person and he also becomes connected to me and close to me. This is how I gradually connect with all the souls.
The bigger my connection with others, the higher my spiritual elevation. Thus, as my connection grows, I ascend the stairs of the spiritual worlds and transform from a small rock to an entire mountain.
The 25th issue of Kabbalah Today has just been released:
A question I received: What conclusions for our inner work can we draw from the principle that all of reality is perfect in relation to the Creator?
My Answer: This indicates that all the flaws are inside us, not in the Creator, and we must only correct ourselves in order to feel perfection. In reality, we already exist in the perfect state.
I hope that by preparing for The Zohar Convention 2010 in February and gathering together, we will attain such a powerful unity that we will actually feel this. Spirituality becomes revealed only inside the unity of souls, not in the souls themselves. Inside the individual souls it is only possible to feel our world, whereas the spiritual world is felt inside the connection among the souls.
This connection can be attained by virtue of quality, in which case it’s enough to have a small amount of people – even ten people suffices if they are very powerful. Alternatively, if there are many people, their number can make up for what they lack in quality.
Quality times quantity equals power. So let’s hope that the upcoming unity will connect newcomers and old-time students into one whole, and then every person will receive the entire force of this unity which will give us a push upwards, toward the understanding and sensation of a new, spiritual reality. Then we will feel it in addition to the mundane reality that we feel today.
A question I received: We have just completed the virtual 2010 World Mega-Congress in which many countries took part, and in February 2010 there will be a large Zohar Convention 2010 in Israel which will be supported by the whole world Kli. What is the best way for us to combine the study of The Book of Zohar with our gatherings and Congresses?
My Answer: All of this combines together wonderfully. All of our gatherings, our regional and worldwide Congresses are intended to unite us together. By uniting with each other, we allow the Light to be revealed according to the law of equivalence of form. The Light is one, and it needs only one desire, one vessel. When we unite in practice, bringing our union to life and making it real, then to the degree we make efforts and desire to actualize this, the Light comes closer to us.
For now the Light shines upon us from afar. It is Surrounding Light rather than Inner Light because we still aren’t united even in the smallest degree in order to be able to perceive it as Inner Light. If I cancel myself completely, then I pose no obstacle to unity since I nullify myself before the others. This means that I enter the spiritual womb, composed of all the other souls. They are all corrected in relation to me; I am the only one who’s uncorrected. If I cancel myself and my egoism before them, desiring to unite with them, then I will be like a drop of semen in a womb.
If a person attains this minimal state, then he enters spirituality as an embryo. The Creator is revealed inside the union among us, as it is written, “I dwell among the people.” He dwells inside His people – in the unity among the souls. When I am alone, I am like a foreign body in relation to the others, while all the other souls are connected together.
Therefore, one must first and foremost cancel oneself relative to the other souls by connecting with them. This is what each of us is trying to achieve at all our gatherings and Congresses, including the upcoming Congress whose focal point will be Israel.
After the breaking of the one unified soul of Adam, a new system was made out of its parts called the system of “fallen souls.” Every one of us is a part of this uncorrected system, which is intended to correct us. Initially a system of worlds (or of potential connections between us) was created. It’s as if a puzzle is placed before us which we need to put together.
Although all we see is an empty square where we need to place all the separate pieces of different shapes, each piece was originally assigned its own space and shape. And this is our task: to understand the shape and place of each piece of the puzzle.
The Upper Worlds are built in exactly the same way, like puzzles that hide one within another with all their numerous shapes. We can’t tell them apart, but they exist! The place where our souls have to rise and connect is already there, but it is hidden from us. That is why it is called “the world” (Olam), a derivative of the word “concealment” (Alama).
I have to take my piece of the “puzzle” and use my qualities correctly in order to find the place where I fit. When I do so, I will see that the rest of its parts (except me) are already in place and the puzzle is already assembled! The system is ready to accept me in my corrected form; it is called “the system of words” and it is already built. My responsibility is to fill only my one part. I don’t have to worry about the rest of the system because it is already corrected; it is called the World of Atzilut.
Looking at this picture, I see that I have to establish a connection only with the pieces adjacent to me. But my neighboring parts have to stay connected with the other parts, and those parts must, in turn, connect with the next ones. That is how I will find the right connection with all souls.
The Zohar, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 57: And He planted that seed in one righteous man, which is Yesod de Zeir Anpin.
I have to imagine that I have this quality – Yesod of Zeir Anpin, which is called a righteous man, and this is where my seed is planted, being the point from which I grow.
He is the garden’s gardener. And the seed in the garden, which is Malchut, is the concealment and hiding of that Light. This means that the concealment is not absence, but on the contrary, it is a seed of blessing. The concealment itself will become Light once more, like a plant that buds from the seed.
In his article, “Freedom of Will,” Baal HaSulam gives this example: We have to try to plant ourselves in a Kabbalistic group like planting a seed in the soil, where we annul ourselves completely before the environment. Then we will become a seed that has to disintegrate completely and “rot” in the soil in order for a tree to grow out of it.
What is The Zohar teaching us? We know from the science of Kabbalah that the Creator created one desire, inside of which all further development takes place. This one desire includes numerous particular desires, which are interconnected into one system called “Adam” – the common soul.
Then, according to His program, the Creator began corrupting the connection between the parts of that desire. They began losing the connection between each other, similar to the organs in an ailing body that stop correctly interacting with each other. This causes an imbalance and we feel symptoms of the ailment, such as rising pressure or temperature, the wrong chemical composition of the blood, and so on. These are all signs that the organism is not balancing itself, and we call it a disease.
Why does the Creator do this to the souls? He does it in order for us to feel corruption and then to correct it. The disease is a corruption of the connections between us, who are parts of a single system. As this corruption permeates us, we begin to feel less and less connected with each other.
There are 125 degrees in this loss of connection between us. It is a descent from infinity, where we are infinitely connected with each other, to the state where this connection completely disappears.
Moreover, there is a level called “Parsa” along these 125 degrees where a greater corruption emerges; instead of a positive connection or absence of it, we form a negative connection. Now everyone wants to use the others for self-benefit. The organism is not simply dying, but is consuming itself completely.
This descent into the desire to use others goes on until it reaches the state where we completely lose all connection between each other – both a positive connection for bestowal and a negative connection for receiving. In this state, we exist in total nonconformance to spirituality, lacking all attainment and knowledge. This is a result of our separation from each other where we perceive this world, an imaginary reality. Why is it imaginary? Because it was purposefully set up by the Creator to give us an illusion of His absence.
What we are to do? We must understand that we have to correct the connection between us. The ascent of the soul from our world to the World of Infinity occurs to the degree that we strengthen the connection is between us. Recovery of connection between us creates the ascent.
Therefore, the more we imagine our state in connection with other souls, the more we will enjoy The Book of Zohar. After all, it was written from the elevation of the World of Infinity. The authors of The Book of Zohar wrote this masterpiece from the elevation of the 125th degree where they were connected together.
While studying The Zohar, we need to feel a desire to connect together. There is no need to be “smart.” It’s enough to simply remember that we attain everything inside the connection with each other.
Actually, The Zohar talks only about the connection between the souls. It explains our connection within the global system called “Adam” with all the other souls, and how we use them to connect together in a sound, healthy, and correctly functioning system.
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