If we looked at ourselves from the outside, from beyond our world, we would see that the “life” in it isn’t really life. We are completely detached from the true understanding of life. Spiritually, we are dead, and our reality is an illusion in an unconscious condition, a short lived spark that sustains this entire world.

A person truly lives when he receives the Light and holds it above himself, not allowing this enjoyment to expire and, at the same time, not letting it enter his will to receive directly. The Light and desire don’t cancel each other out; moreover, they don’t lose the connection either. They are like a candle, oil, and flame, bonded by the wick.

The oil is our matter, the will to receive; the wick is the screen (Masach); and the candle’s flame is the Light. I hold the flame above me and draw a line between the flame and the desire so that I don’t push the Light away completely, but rather keep it in order to bestow.

I constantly calculate how much oil and desire to add in order to make the flame burn in the optimal manner. Then, my candle doesn’t die out.

If we succeed in this, we experience life, eternal and complete. An opportunity to do so is laid before us.
[30715]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/10, “Perfection in Life”

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Desire gives taste to fulfillment. Every sip of water is agonizingly sweet when I am dying of thirst. The fulfillment may be only partial, but the desire is great, and the discrepancy between them creates a sensation of life.

Hence, life can be measured not by desire or the pleasure as such, but by the struggle between them. The higher the tension or the interval between them, the more life and energy I possess.

The trouble begins when my vessel is empty or when it’s filled, either way. The key is to bring the empty vessel to being filled and catch the moment of their contact.

How do I hold on to this moment? After all, even the greatest pleasures from food, sex, and recognition, having reached their peak, diminish and die. I live from instant to instant. My life barely twinkles, breaking away from the void and sinking back into it.

As the song says, “Only an instant separates the past and the future,” an instant between the Light that flashed before my eyes and the dark void that is about to consume it. Before the current pleasure expires, I must seek the next one already so that I don’t lose the feeling of being alive.

However, desires constantly grow, and desperation overtakes the world. The promise of future pleasures is no longer there, “transient” rewards do not dissipate the pressuring darkness, and life becomes pointless.

Our life diminishes because we cannot hold on to the brief experience of pleasure. This needs to be learned. That is, we have to learn to live above our egoism, to work against it. Then, a person undergoes ten “Egyptian plagues,” leaves his desires below, and steps out to “Mount Sinai,” the Light that can give him a screen.

Spiritual attainment is built in a special vessel (Kli) that allows you to hold yourself above desire, in bestowal. Having arranged a Kli of bestowal, a person acquires an opportunity to constantly be in contact with pleasure, and, at the same time, to not put the desire out since it isn’t the desire which is being filled, but the intention for bestowal that rises above it.

A person obtains perfection when he bestows, when he steps out of himself and lives in the pleasure that he returns to the others. His life, eternal life, lies not in his personal desire, but in the Reflected Light that fills their desires and delights the Creator.
[30718]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/10, “Perfection in Life”

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What constitutes the work of our organization? On one hand, we do inner work aimed at self-transformation performed by everyone in his heart (desire). This work is hidden from outsiders and the world, and although we talk about it a lot, it is done in the heart, invisible in matter or physical acts. The rest of our work refers to producing materials and media to circulate the wisdom of Kabbalah since we are an educational organization that mentors children and adults.

To accomplish this, we take materials from our daily lessons where we study articles written by Baal HaSulam and Rabash. What we produce becomes the basis of what is going to be used in the future as well. In fact, besides it, there is nothing else in the world that would relate to authentic spiritual work: the Creator’s revelation.

No one in our generation is working on creating a practical method of the transformation of man and the world except us. If we don’t structure this method correctly, according to its inner content and the form of communication, then we will not complete the task placed on us, our responsibility before humanity. We shouldn’t be scared away by these exalted words. Rather, this is how we must feel about our designation.

However, we can’t wait until after the lesson to draw messages from the daily lessons and send them to the world. It will not happen unless we thoroughly work on each lesson, writing notes down, analyzing them, and classifying them by topics, the degrees of exaltedness and perception. The evaluation criteria may vary, but the key is to organize the material and release it into the world.

At any rate, nothing will replace a book. It may have a different form, but it will still have text. We won’t escape that. If a person wishes to immerse himself in the content having heard the lecture on the television (or internet), then he must see letters before his eyes. After all, letters are spiritual forms to be read by the mind and soul.

Therefore, we should take working on creating texts very seriously and view it as top priority. A lesson must be written down, followed up by highlighting the key definitions, their classifications, and by using various types of text analyses. It is essential to have a well-written text to which people can refer. The more they can work with it, the more intensive their advancement will be.

We should be grateful that we have this kind of work, that we are concerned with things above this world and are not absorbed by the issues of animate existence. We disseminate knowledge about the Creator in the world, and it is good if we experience difficulties from time to time and feel uneasy and confused. Evidently, He wants us to be concerned.
[30884]
From the Talk about Renewal of the Morning Lessons 12/17/10

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Question: It is written that the first man, Adam, had several bodies and coverings. How do the “body,” “matter,” and “covering” differ?

Answer: “Matter” is the will to enjoy. “Covering” is the degree of bestowal that it can be in.

The entire “history” of matter starts with the breaking of the worlds followed by the birth of the collective soul (Adam), which also breaks and which we must reform since we are its parts. To do so, it is necessary to select desires (Kelim), after clarifying which of them can and cannot be reformed, and which don’t need to be corrected. Therefore, they are divided into three categories or three bodies.

The external body is the worst desires that you cannot reform at all. The internal body doesn’t need to be corrected because it is reformed from Above. In fact, if it hadn’t been corrected from Above, we wouldn’t be able to correct anything at all.

We are not expected to correct all the damage from the breaking since we are unable to accomplish it. We need to become part of the system that will help us to make corrections. Therefore, desires that are in bestowal are corrected from Above. And the authentic Kelim (vessels) of reception, the “stony heart ” (Lev ha Even), cannot be reformed by us.

Actually, we don’t correct anything whatsoever; we only discern the difference between the Creator and the created being! I don’t need to correct my desire to feel pleasure since it is given to me for the purpose of clarification so that through analyzing and synthesizing, I come up with a “derivative,” a synthesized new meaning.

It is not matter that is interesting (whether it is “corrupted” or “corrected”); rather, it is more interesting to use it to discern a more exalted concept: “Who is the Creator?” meaning to get to know Him through “His acts.” And therefore, I don’t need to work with desires that either cannot be reformed or do not need to be. What I need to do is examine the place where they are all mixed.

In the “stony heart,” there is nothing to study and examine. With the most exalted desires, GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), there is nothing to do either since they are the properties of the soul that don’t belong to me. I can only be in the middle, between one and the other. My entire correction amounts to discernment, sorting out the good from evil.

By doing so, I don’t correct anything since it isn’t my job. But thanks to my discernments and effort, turmoil and pain, I acquire something special, which is above the desires that don’t go beyond the animate level.

It is the entire matter of creation, the will to enjoy: the still, vegetative, and animate degrees. But I need to uncover the human level, the degree of the Creator in me! Presently, it doesn’t exist within me, but by figuring out the difference between receiving and bestowal, I start to comprehend the Creator. And this is the “benefit” of spiritual work.
[30641]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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Question: When raising a child, adults mostly use tenderness in an attempt to encourage and support the child in any way they can. Why do I get a feeling that the Creator educates us more with a stick than a carrot?

Answer: That is called: "Every person judges according to their own flaws." But when you reveal His attitude towards us, you will see with what infinite mercy He has acted. Looking with our egoistic eyes, we can’t see and understand it.

Even if you get a complete, one hundred percent fulfillment today, the next instant, when new informational genes (Reshimot) emerge, you will feel as though you have nothing and ask: "Well, where is He who created me? Why doesn’t He fill me?!"

From the ego’s point of view, it’s a fair claim. If He’s created the desire to enjoy, He probably should fill it with pleasure, shouldn’t He? We just don’t take into account that He wants to fill us with pleasure on another, much higher level, and to achieve that, we must first become like Him. Being on our level, it’s impossible to justify the actions of the Creator. Therefore, the stage of the righteous begins from Bina and above.

Because we constantly feel that our ego is being beaten, we have the ability to proceed by faith above reason. Only by being submerged in never ending problems and doubts are we able to break away from our ego. Had the Creator always filled me with pleasure, I would have been running like a thief in front of the crowd, screaming louder than the rest: "Stop the thief!"

Next, I would be singing praise from dawn to dusk: "Hail to the Creator, the Good, and Who Doeth good!" I would thank Him for His generosity to my egoism.

We, however, need to rise above these empty desires. They are not just empty, but have a huge "minus" sign of great suffering. If a person is able to rise above such sensation and start to bestow, that means he is making a restriction (Tzimtzum) and a screen over his ego.

Moreover, if in addition to that he is able to receive pleasure, but not for himself, agreeing to remain empty inside while being filled only in order to bestow to the Creator, then he is called a complete righteous.
[30617]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/10, “Peace in the World”

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Kabbalah derives all its definitions from the original creation, the will to receive pleasure, which stands against the Light and has to become identical to it. This is why we should evaluate our desire only in relation to the Light and not to our current experiences.

Man has arranged an entire system of criteria of good and evil, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant, which he employs. And now you are reading a Kabbalistic text which implies something totally different, but you don’t wish to penetrate its real meaning. You wish to twist it so that it serves your ego.

We are reading Kabbalists’ writings and think that we can understand them using our present perception, as it suits the current definitions of “good” and “evil,” “bestowal” and “reception”, “top” and “bottom,” “corruption” and “correction.” But in truth, we know absolutely nothing of their true meaning.

The book says “this world,” and I think that it means the world I presently live in. But wait, first you have to “clothe” into the author and read with his eyes! For instance, in the book Beit Shaar HaKavanot (The Gatehouse of Intentions), Baal HaSulam writes: “And the seven heavens that we see in this world…” Where have you seen seven heavens here?

In other words, we need to understand that it discusses spiritual meanings opposite to our current understanding. And until we enter the spiritual world, we won’t understand them; nonetheless, we must strive to become more familiar with them in some way.
[30634]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/10, “Peace in the World”

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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that in order to advance by way of the Light (“Achishena,” ahead of time) I have to take my evil properties and turn them into the properties of love. But you said that I will discover my evil qualities or the evil inclination only after I cross the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality).

So at the moment, it looks like I do not advance by way of the Light, but by way of suffering (“Beito,” in its time)?

Answer: In either case, to a certain extent you already recognize your evil since you are in the preparation phase. You can exist at four levels of development:

1. As all regular people in this world;
2. In the preparation stage;
3. In the property of “Hafetz Hesed” (wishing nothing for oneself);
4. In the property of love.

“Hafetz Hesed” and love are spiritual levels; “As all regular people” and “in the preparation stage” are corporeal ones. Corporeality means the intention “for oneself”; spirituality means “in order to bestow.” The spiritual world is separated from the material one by the Machsom.

When you are in spirituality, on one hand, you have an evil inclination, the matter of creation; on the other, you have a good inclination and the Light that Reforms. Below, in the material world, they don’t exist.

But even now, being in the preparation phase, you still have some reflection of spirituality, an approximate understanding of the left and right lines, ascents and descents. This is why it is call preparation. And that’s what you are working with.

Either way, you are advancing. You have some idea about what is written in the Kabbalistic texts, although for now, just in its projection on your egoistic substance. Yet, you do understand and feel something. It is a great achievement! Is preparation time worthless? It can last for decades. So what? But you pass it and enter eternity!

Therefore, do not demean the time of preparation. You are undergoing a very intense, great, and powerful process. And you should value it! If a person doesn’t appreciate it, he is deprived of all his power. We must constantly remain in this process and each time add to it a little more by organizing conventions, more powerful ones, accompanied by deeper discernment.

Even descents become clearer, sharper, and you are able to better comprehend their causes and recognize the inner properties. And that’s what matters.
[30647]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/10, “Peace in the World”

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Question: Will any person who dropped in at the Kabbalah convention feel joy?

Answer: We are inviting everybody. Anyone may come and join us. There are people who have been participating in this process for 15 years; they have reached higher levels already. However, there are those who will be new to this, and, perhaps, they don’t even realize why they came.

I am very happy for them and envy them. They can, so to speak, “find their world in the blink of an eye.” They can come and join the others, similar to how a child who was born in the 21st century receives everything that our civilization has prepared for him in the last twenty centuries, ready-made to enjoy. Why is this so? It’s because he was born just now and it is his right.

The same goes for people who find themselves at the convention for the first time. They don’t understand anything, but since we had prepared the entire infrastructure for them, laid all the necessary conditions, and established a connection between us, they connect to us like newborns, having no idea what is going on, but receiving all the benefits nonetheless.

This is why I am happy for them and envy them. I had to exert tremendous effort, sweat, and suffer until I achieved something, and I see how easy it is for a new person to enter this process and understand it. Where does such understanding come from? It comes out of thin air, just because he connects with the others.
[25632]
From Kabbalah for Beginners, “Happiness” 10/28/10

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In the News: (From WSJ.com): “Traders… are not the only people doing pointless jobs. Divorce lawyers, the makers of advertisements for cars and the manufacturers of very large handbags are among the many who are doing nothing to make the world a better place.

In the middle of last year the chairman of the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority upset many bankers by describing the jobs they did as “socially useless.” A year on, and Adair Turner is placing that judgment in a much broader context during a series of three lectures at the London School of Economics.

Turner’s goal during the first lecture was to establish whether economic growth made people happier. His broad conclusion was that it didn’t.” The richer a society the more people are engaged in performing useless and even destructive activities.

My Comment: Let’s hope that not only this gentleman is aware of the situation and there are others who can help change our society and the world as a whole. Kabbalah teaches us that we have to observe the law of nature and consume only as much as we need to carry on. Anything above this point will return back to us as like a boomerang.
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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “He Who Has Not Made An Effort On Shabbat Eve, What Will He Eat on Shabbat”
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “Yitro (Jethro),” Item 62, Lesson 3
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 43, Lesson 25
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy,” Lesson 6
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