A question I received: You said that when we study The Book of Zohar, it is necessary to follow two conditions:

1. I have to think about wishing to unite with other souls,
2. I should desire to see myself participating in all the actions described in this book.

How does Malchut of the World of Atzilut establish a connection with Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut? Do these two conditions also apply to it?

My Answer: Malchut does not exist unless we tune into it under the above conditions. Nothing exists except Infinity; there are no degrees and no worlds. But as soon as I perform an action that has equivalence of form with the Creator, or stated differently, as soon as I become similar to the Creator in the slightest measure, matching Him with the smallest ten Sefirot, this action immediately builds a ladder of degrees. This ladder is a relationship between me – the point comprised of ten Sefirot, and the Creator – the World of Infinity.

It is explain in the example where I am situated opposite the Host, but He is completely concealed from me because I desire everything for my own sake, which makes me completely opposite to Him. As soon as I can carry out the condition of the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Alef), where I stop receiving for myself, I reveal the presence of the Host. That is when I begin to meet Him. The Host says, “Accept the food I have prepared for you!” But I have to reject it because otherwise, the Host would hide again due to me violating the law of equivalence of form.

I must first carry out the condition of the First Restriction – not to receive anything for myself except what is essential. Then, if I receive something from the Host, it will be only in order to reveal my love for Him – to receive for the sake of bestowal. I first have to desire to be similar to Him, to be in the Light of Hassadim, in the right line, where I wish to do good to Him because I love Him and wish to be closer to Him. At this point I don’t receive anything from Him yet; all of this work takes place in the right line.

The Host is in front of me, but I reject the treats he offers because I don’t want to receive anything for my own sake, and I don’t have the strength to receive for the sake of bestowal yet. In this manner, I reveal increasingly greater desires and I push them away in order to be next to the Host, to have equivalence of form with Him. This means that I am working in the right line.

The Host is persuading me to accept the food, but I reject it time after time. However, there exists a connection between us regardless. In other words, I study the science of Kabbalah, I am connected to the Creator, He influences me, and I work on myself.

Finally, under the influence of the Upper Light, I come to a state where I can receive for the sake of bestowal. I begin to work in the left line, to connect to it, and to draw it to the right line to the extent that I can “eat” a piece of it, to “taste” the pleasure in order to please the Host. This work is more advanced and takes place in the middle line.

In this case, I establish a connection with the Host. As soon as I begin to acquire at least some connection with Him – even the minimal level of “Hafetz Chesed” (desiring nothing for myself), the state of an embryo, where I begin to adhere to the bottom of the womb with the point in the heart, then I am already connected to the Creator, and there is a ladder of degrees between us.

I am the one who builds this ladder of degrees. As long as I made one of my desires similar to the Creator, or even one percent of one desire, then there is already a ladder of degrees between us. I have risen one percent higher on this ladder, and the distance, the concealment between me and the Creator is now 99%. However, I already have a connection with Him.

However, if I still have no equivalence with Him – either on the level of restriction (Tzimtzum Alef), the degree of “Hafetz Chesed” (the return from fear), or on the level of “reception for the sake of bestowal” (return from love), this means there is no ladder of the worlds in me yet. It is because all the worlds are in me, in my soul. There are no worlds or anything at all outside of me. For the time being, my soul is only the point in the heart, the desire for the root of life which has been revealed in me.

All the worlds and all the degrees are inside the person, but they are revealed when one’s point in the heart acquires the first spiritual quality, the quality of bestowal. This spiritual quality immediately reveals the connection between me and infinity – the corrected state, since it is a part of this corrected state.

Therefore, right now we have to focus entirely on our point in the heart – how to reveal it and how to reveal at least some measure of equivalence of form with the Creator inside it. When we do reveal it, then we gain a connection with the Creator. And until that happens, this connection exists only from His side, not ours.

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