Question: It is written that when you lose thought of spirituality, you should give thanks to the Creator. How can we possibly thank Him for that?

Answer: We know that all our work is solely on desire, and except for the right kind of desire, we need nothing else. In order to reveal the property of bestowal, the Creator, we only need to continue preparing ourselves for the next upcoming moment. All we have to do is just decode it correctly: From whom did I receive the sensation of living, and why did it come in the form that it did?

I know nothing about it. However, if I received it from the Light, from the upper force that is leading me toward the purpose of creation, then the only thing required of me is my awareness and the right response. That is, in each of the states I am going through, I have to be able to see Him and His kind attitude toward me, despite the fact that I feel the opposite.

Thus, a discrepancy arises between how I wish to view Him, as good and doing good unto me, and the world I am experiencing right now, which is not that nice and good. That’s where I am given room to work because the difference between what I desire and what is real, between the thought of how it is supposed to be and my present experience, is the foundation for prayer.

If I don’t feel perfection at any given moment, it means that I feel the gap separating me from it—my own inadequacy. Hence, I already know how to move forward since I sense my digression from the course, from the goal.

The right direction is where everything becomes unified: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator.” That is, the self, the internal meaning of the group and our unity, and the revelation of bestowal in it, all of this together is one whole. If I can’t tie it all together correctly, I view the Creator’s attitude toward me as bad.

In other words, I feel that I’m corrupted and living in a corrupted world. Judging from what the Creator gave me, I discover that He is not good who does good, and I am not living in the world of Infinity. Because of my flawed perception, I am unable to feel perfection.

Hence, I have precise information about how I am supposed to be (if I aim myself at the goal) and how it differs from what I really am. In each of the states, I have a complete set of data, and all I have to do is to use them correctly to assess what I really want. It will become clear that I am always deficient in bestowal, which would otherwise complete my perception and switch me from feeling bad to feeling the perfection that was given to me by the Creator.

The Creator offers me perfection, whereas I feel as though I am flawed and living in a flawed world. The difference between what He sent to me and what I feel is, in fact, my internal flaw. Right now, if I could add bestowal to all my desires, I would move from a bad state to a good one instantly. This deficiency I feel is the prayer with which I am turning to Him right now to ask for the property of bestowal, the force of Bina or correction.

As soon as the right plea is formed, I get an immediate response which actually can be an even worse state of being. That is, my feeling of how remote I am from authentic bestowal is going to become even more acute. I used to assess my remoteness with a rough measuring device, and now I am using a very accurate one, which is how I am able to see a greater deviation.

However, it doesn’t mean that my state has gotten worse in itself. I did change for the better, but at the same time, I have come to understand my state better. I have gained greater receptivity.
[43839]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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We shouldn’t criticize the states we experience every moment. After all, we don’t know what they are given for and where they come from.

All we need to do is try to understand how to use the state we received right now. We should acknowledge it with the understanding that there is no better state for our advancement, for the correction of our soul, than the one we are presently in. We should thank the Creator for the bad just as we would for the good.

After all, I measure my state according to my flaws. If I were reformed, I would feel infinity in each state. However, if I experience an opposite feeling somewhere, it means there is a certain flaw that I need to feel, work through, and to correct this sensation until I feel perfect.

Hence, it follows that it is the Creator who causes a person’s prayer. He is the very cause. However, between His calling and a person’s action, there lies free will of the person himself, which consists of the way he responds and clarifies the following:

• from whom he received this condition,
• what he is supposed to do with it,
• what will help him reform himself,
• what state he should come to next.

All of this is up to a person himself. He discerns the difference between the state he is going through and the one in which he would like to see himself. Indeed, the sensation of deficiency will determine his subsequent state.

As for us, we are not expected to provide anything else except the correct desire, until it is aimed directly at reaching the final goal: bestowal, the degree and might of which equals that of the upper force as in the root of our soul from where we all came.

Thus we work together: The Creator awakens us, while we, at each moment of our life, first have to understand that everything is supplied by Him. We must aim ourselves at the right work: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” Thereby, we develop a prayer that expresses our personal desire.

That is, both of us, the Creator and I, are working on desire. As for the Light, it’s not our concern. I worry solely about desire. He gives it to me, and I start working with it, having done so and exerted sufficient effort to bring the desire received from Him to another desire which is now called a prayer. To the degree of my desire being correct or corrupt, the Creator reforms me and provides me with a new desire. With its help I have to correct myself again, defining my desire more accurately and precisely, which will become my new prayer.

Thus, the Creator and I keep working on my desire together, until it acquires the right shape in value, power, character, and form, thereby reaching Malchut of Infinity which includes the desires of all souls. Then, to the extent of my attained caliber of bestowal and my own lowliness, I formulate my prayer, my authentic will to receive, in the proper manner, and, there, reveal the purpose of creation.
[43842]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Rabash, Shlavey HaSulam (Steps of the Ladder), Article “Who Causes the Prayer”: In that state of reflection, when he feels how remote he is from any reverence for the work of the Creator, he begins to awaken and think, “Something must be done. I cannot stay in that state of lowliness for the rest of my life.”

Certainly, this is the time when a person begins to pray to the Creator to bring him closer to Him and to help him from Above, as our sages said, “He who comes to be purified is aided.”

A person knows that he has to come to feel that the Creator is “good and does good” and to cleave to Him. This means that our goal is to reveal the Creator. Otherwise, we won’t achieve what we were destined for.

This task can be accomplished only if there is equivalence of form. Hence, a person suffers since he hasn’t yet come to faith, the property of bestowal, where he could find the Creator and thank Him. That is, he doesn’t seek this revelation selfishly, but only so that he truly may attain the greatness of the Creator.

Then, he sees the “nations of the world” within him argue with his “Israel” part which aspires toward the Creator. So far, one cannot win over the other; the will to bestow cannot defeat the will to receive.

However, man has no power over his thoughts and feelings whatsoever. He doesn’t choose what the mind and heart experience. Every state is formed from Above, meaning not by a person himself, but by the upper force that places him in a specific predicament and expects a certain action, some sort of response to what it has done. This is called: “I am the first.”
[43846]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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There is only one desire to receive, but it manifests in many different forms, including the present, final form that we feel today. All of our sensations are nothing but the desire to enjoy which has many different facets. I see a world full of people, myself in it, and many other things, actions, causes and consequences. It all amounts to the same desire to receive that exists in the spiritual world.

It’s only that in this case, it assumes a “material” form which we call a human body. The higher form is what we call a soul, but in any case, we’re speaking strictly about the desire to enjoy.

All the degrees are identical in their matter (desire) and fulfillment (Light). Only the last, lowest degree differs in that it imparts to man a feeling of separation from all other degrees or leaves him without this feeling altogether in the reality of this world. This degree has its own details of perception, but even they are perceived in relation to the desire to receive and the Light which exist at their lowest state.
[43883]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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