When Concealment Ends

those-are-study-kabbalah-are-not-scared-of-anythingIf a person follows all the required conditions: he studies authentic Kabbalah books, has the right teacher and the right environment, and he makes efforts, then his soul starts to be connected to the spiritual world. This connection is evoked by the Surrounding Light, and it affects him so that he gradually begins to receive new impressions. These impressions become greater and greater with time, until his sensation of the vague, Surrounding Light turns into a clear revelation of the obvious Inner Light.

Although a person started out with a desire that was a mere point of aspiration to the Creator, he now begins to feel a whole new reality through this desire. In this new sense, he perceives the Light that is now obvious to him. But it is the same Surrounding Light that previously shone to him in an imperceptible, concealed manner.

A person thus begins to see the Light’s actions and to work with It like with a partner. The period of concealment and preparation comes to an end, and a person begins to act with a clear perception of the spiritual world.
(From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

What Does The World Look Like To The Creator?

drugsEven when a Kabbalist has already reached high spiritual degrees, it is still very beneficial for him to study books by other Kabbalists, because this enables him to see reality through other people’s qualities. After all, every person sees the world from his own point of view.

By learning how others perceive the spiritual reality, one begins to see it through each corrected soul, and thereby quickly joins the common soul. Picture it this way: at first I am a point inside a circle. As I correct myself, I build a connection with Infinity – a line from the center of the circle to the Light surrounding it. Then, by connecting to all the other souls, I broaden this line, like a sector, until it comes to include the whole circle. Now the whole area of the circle is my corrected desire. Therefore, I can only correct myself completely by uniting with the other souls.

However, this is still not enough, because my personal circle is flat. But there are more circles like mine – other corrected souls. When all these circles unite, they form a sphere with one common center. This means that I start seeing all the corrections of all the souls from their point of view.

Why is this? It is because the Creator looks at each soul from Above and activates it. And I have to reach the same level. Therefore, I have to “clothe” into every person and see his correction from his point of view – from within his soul.

Only then will I reach equivalence of form with the Upper Force. It is not enough for me to correct my own “flat surface.” I have to correct one surface after another, circle after circle, until they all unite into one sphere.

This is mandatory in order for us to reach similarity to the Creator. Each person has to unite with others in this way and to look at the world “through” them.

And after that, everyone has to unite all together, so all the individual spheres will be united into a “rounder,” more perfect dimension. At that point, all the individual differences between all the people will disappear completely. But this stage is already above the corrections we make…
(From Part 3 of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

All The Upper Worlds Are Inside Us

changing-the-world-starts-with-changing-our-intentions1We cannot advance without the help of egoistic desires, Klipot. We are born with an egoistic desire, and this desire constitutes the whole of creation. But when we enter the spiritual world, then instead of our own tiny, primitive desire to receive, we discover an entire system of desires. The difference between Klipa (egoism) and holiness (bestowal) is only in how a person uses these desires: for his own sake or for the sake of bestowal. As he ascends the degrees of the spiritual worlds, he himself determines whether his desires are Klipa or sanctity.

We tend to have a mistaken conception that there are two worlds surrounding us, which are alien in relation to us, and we are “walking” between them. There is no such thing. Rather, everything always happens inside us, inside our desires. There is nothing besides this.

As we advance, we constantly reveal new desires within, and depending on how we relate to our environment, we determine whether our desires will be for the sake of reception or bestowal. We thereby build the spiritual worlds or stages.

This is different from what we imagine today – that the Upper Worlds already exist and we simply enter them as if they were an enchanted forest, with the evil spirit (Klipa) living to one side, and sanctity (goodness, bestowal) living on the other. Rather, everything exists only inside the person: all the worlds, the Creator, and the person himself.
(From Part 3 of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

There Is No Past, Present Or Future

birthThere was an entire infinite Kli, none of which was corrected, and the Creator seemed to be a source of evil. I then corrected a single element in the Kli, just the element that belongs to me at this moment, and suddenly I discover that the Creator is now good to me!

So what was happening yesterday? As I continue the correction, I feel that He has always treated me well – in the past, the present, and the future!

But what about other people? When I connect to them, I discover that they are also part of my Kli. I thus expand my correction to encompass the entire creation – Infinity, and I incorporate it all within me.

Everything depends on my correction. To the extent I correct myself, I discover that the Creator is good, and to the extent I don’t correct myself, I reveal Him as evil. Every person judges things to the extent of his correction or lack thereof. There is no past, present, or future; there are only degrees of revelation of the corrected Kelim, the degrees of my correction.
(From Part 3 of the revelation)

All Of Creation Is The Creator’s Game

chessA question I received: Would you be kind enough to explain the reason that the Creator created us in this form, with only the will to receive. Why do we have to go through this process at all? Why couldn’t we be created more like the Creator? Doesn’t the whole creation look like a game to you?

My Answer: You are perfectly right: the whole of creation is the Creator’s game with which he plays with His creation! The purpose of creating us in a quality that is opposite to the Creator is exactly for us to remain creatures that are different from Him, so that when we attain Him and become equal to Him, we will not vanish into Him.

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 9/10/09

Preparation to the Lesson
The beginning of a person is the point in the heart, which enables him to become similar to the Creator.
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Part 1, on Baal HaSulam’s Letter 28
In spirituality, the 613 desires don’t become revealed separately, but as a single complex.
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Part 2, on Item 6 of “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”
We are inside a global system: no matter what you touch, all people participate in your action.
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Part 3, on Item 152 of “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot”
The spiritual world is not a magical forest filled with characters from a fairy tale, but a reality that becomes revealed inside you.
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Our World Is Like A Wall Concealing The True Reality

mans-relationship-with-the-creator-is-like-a-dramatic-love-story

A question I received: If we proceed from the assumption that there are two realities, physical and spiritual, it follows that there must be two histories as well. There’s the history of the corporeal, physical world, and there’s the spiritual plane of history, correct?

My Answer: They are the same, because the spiritual plane is the “base” upon which our corporeal world exists. That is to say, our world exists upon a net of forces, which we cannot feel. We call these forces “spiritual” because they are beyond our senses, too subtle to be perceived by them. We simply haven’t learned to perceive them yet. But it is these forces alone that determine everything taking place in the corporeal world, and this world is a reflection of those forces.

Question cont’d: But in science we make derivations based solely on the cause and effect relationships of this world. How, then, does the spiritual world play into it?

My Answer: Think of it this way: a small child walks up to a faucet constructed into a wall, turns on the faucet, and fills his cup with water. He thinks that this is the way the world is set up: he believes that water simply flows out of the faucet in the wall. But what exists behind the wall is beyond his understanding. To him, the faucet is the source of the water.

And that is precisely how our earthly sciences perceive everything that happens to us, as they never see beyond the “wall” of our world. So what actually happens behind that “wall”? This is explained by the science of Kabbalah.

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A Kabbalah Student Has To Unite His Heart And Mind

reasonThe correct way to study is to always connect your mind with your feelings, like a doctor who gives a sick patient a medicine, knowing its ingredients and how it works, and at the same time, understanding how the patient feels. This is how we have to research the desire to enjoy: on one hand, we can talk about sensations, as The Book of Zohar does, and on the other hand, we can discuss scientific terms and definitions, which Baal HaSulam adds in his “Sulam Commentary” on The Zohar’s original text.

This is why the science of Kabbalah may seem mystical, founded on sensations, faith and morals, but on the other hand, it’s a science that has precise definitions and analysis, explaining how the entire system of Lights and Kelim operates, similar to a well working machine. So, are we dealing with science or sensations? The answer is: both!

A student has to try to connect both of these approaches together in order to unite his heart and mind. He has to be able to feel and see why he feels the way he does, which forces and actions of the Creator are operating inside his desires, and what is happening inside them. But on the other hand, he has to be able to evoke the actions of the Light (the Creator), so they will influence him. He has to know them and be able to measure them correctly, while feeling and marveling at what is happening inside him.

He has to connect the mind and feelings together by staying in the middle line and controlling his research of himself. He should evoke the Creator’s actions and see the results inside him, and in addition, experience the results of the Creator’s work in a very sensitive way. Yet, at the same time, he should stay grounded and not lose self-control. He shouldn’t forget where each action comes from, why, and how to use it next.

This constitutes our entire work, because the Creator wants us to work with the matter He created and to have control over it. We thereby attain His mind, the very Plan of Creation.

Meanwhile, people who aren’t familiar with the science of Kabbalah think that it is mysticism or fantasies. They don’t understand that this is real, actual work with the matter of creation, with all of reality, carried out with full awareness and control. You control yourself and the Creator’s actions, because everything happens by your choice alone.

The Power Of The Light Helps Us Overcome Our Egoistic Desire

it-all-comes-back-to-youIf a person begins to work directly with his desire to enjoy, trying to suppress it or, vice versa, to increase it, then the process takes place within the boundaries of this world. There are many people who are willing to suppress their desires for the sake of something more important – for example, because they want to lose weight, keep a healthy lifestyle, or attain success in a sport.

In these cases, the bigger egoistic desire subjugates the smaller desires. Everything depends on one’s decision. What is more important for me?

The society and advertisements can imbue us with values that are so artificial that they will force us to act contrary to our natural, egoistic desires to enjoy life. That’s because man’s greatest desire is to merit society’s approval, as this is a desire that comes from the connection among the souls.

Many people cause their egoistic desire to grow on their own or under society’s influence: they struggle to win wealth, fame and power, without setting limits for themselves and trying to fulfill themselves directly. Both approaches are egoistic and common in our world. Even what we call “mercy” or “empathy” is also a form of reception in disguise.

If, however, a person wants to ascend to the level of true bestowal, then he has to find a way to be sure that he isn’t lying to himself, that he isn’t remaining inside the same egoism as usual. This is why he is brought to a society whose objective is to attain bestowal and unity with each other, but in addition, this is done for the sake of revealing and uniting with the Creator.

In order to do this, one needs the Upper Light, because an external force, the force of the Light, is needed to carry out the work against one’s egoism. In this case, I don’t choose which desire is more important to me, to eat well or to lose weight, but I simply decide that my egoism won’t receive anything at all. My only reward will be the quality of bestowal that I acquire.
(From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

Understanding The Three Lines Of Our Inner Work (Advanced)

all-the-people-in-the-world-are-sick-with-the-same-sicknessWe don’t understand how two opposite phenomena can exist at the same time, how it is possible to receive and enjoy, and at the same time to give delight to the one who gives you pleasure. These feelings are opposite. So how can they be combined, if they are aimed at opposite directions: one towards me, and the other towards Him? How is it possible to simultaneously feel pleasure from two desires?

There are no examples of this in our world, because it is based on one desire alone, which is the egoistic desire. But in the spiritual world, there is an additional desire, the desire to bestow, and both desires work together.

But first, these two desires must go through a collision with each other. The will to enjoy grows and contradicts the will to delight. The harmony between them takes place in virtue of the third line, which isn’t just a connection of the two desires; it isn’t a comprise. Rather, the two desires – “for myself” and “for Him” – become one. The only way for this to happen is through the revelation of the Upper Light, which gives you the ability to understand opposites and connect them together.
(From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)