Just Ask, And You Will Receive

explainA question I received: What should I do if I want to ask the Upper Light which created me with the will to receive to also give me the quality of bestowal, if I don’t know how to ask for this – I don’t know whom to ask and what to ask for?

My Answer: Our development always follows a chain of causes and effects: cause -> action -> outcome, which then becomes the cause -> for the next action -> and so on. So, a person who reaches a true realization that he needs help from Above knows how to ask and what to ask for!

The problem is that we spend a long time in a state where we “seem” to strive toward something that “seems” spiritual, and it “seems” like we really want it with a burning desire. However, for now, it all just “seems” to be this way. This is why we don’t know how to ask and of whom to ask it. But in essence, we don’t know how to open up the Kabbalah book and find the Light that Reforms there.

This can be exemplified with a three-dimensional image. If you look at the picture superficially, as you would at any other picture, then you won’t see anything. But if you defocus your vision, then you will penetrate into the image.

The same applies in our spiritual work of revealing the Upper World. As a result of making many efforts, your vision will be refocused in a new way. You will be looking at this world, and all of a sudden you will penetrate into it. This should come as a result -> of all your previous actions.

However, as to your current complaints: “Why am I screaming and being ignored!?” It’s simply because you are not really screaming yet. When your pleas turn into a real cry, it will immediately become the cause that leads to the outcome -> the revelation of the spiritual world.

In Memory Of Baal HaSulam

baalhasulamWe can see how the system of creation is built in a step by step manner. A person is always connected to a specific level, and then he advances to the next level, and so on. The influence he receives from Above passes through all the levels in order to reach him. One’s path toward the goal is an ascent up the levels from below upwards, and in the process, one gradually becomes similar to the World of Infinity.

Each of us is a result of thousands of years of development by our ancestors. However, a person’s direct connection is to his parents. They give him the qualities and upbringing that the shape him inside and out.

The same thing happens in the science of Kabbalah. It has developed for thousands of years, and each Kabbalist out of thousands of Kabbalists did something unique in order to bring this wisdom to us today, the time when the whole world must awaken.

But nevertheless, our closest connection is to the most recent Kabbalists: Baal HaSulam and Rabash. They are our parents. They are the ones who give us life and the upbringing that shapes us. They connect us to the system leading to Infinity, and we perform this ascent with their direct help and by virtue of their teaching.

This is why it is so important for us to realize the method they have passed on to us – their upbringing. If we have the strength to hold on to these great parents which the Creator has sent us, then we will definitely reach success.

We are yet to see just how much they care for us. We will see that their souls are always connected with us and take care of us. We receive everything “Upper” only through them and only to the degree we carry out their advice.

Let us hope that we will merit and be worthy of what they have attained, and what they pass on to us. All the Light on their level is ready for us to accept It. Through them, we will be able to establish a connection with the Light, the Creator.

Baal HaSulam spoke about how the science of Kabbalah will begin to be revealed starting with the year 1995, and how thousands of people will come to it. He was talking about us. There is no other group that accepts anyone wanting to reveal the Upper World and that disseminates his teaching. Therefore, we have to be proud, and at the same time continue to make efforts in order to be deserving of such a benevolent treatment from Above.

Baal HaSulam writes in “The Future Generation” that a person has to try to:

1. Attain spirituality by himself, and / or
2. Disseminate it and help others attain it.

A person corrects his soul in either case. When we try to pass his teaching on to others, then regardless of how much we ourselves attain it, our actions bring about a correction and that is a great accomplishment that we have to be proud and happy about.

So let us raise a toast to this great soul, which connects us to the Creator. Each of us truly was chosen from Above. Each of us has received the great right and privilege to establish a connection with this soul, to be connected with this teaching and to disseminate it.

So, let us be worthy of being called Bnei Baruch. After all, Baruch – Blessed – is the name of the Creator.
(From my talk at Baal HaSulam’s grave this morning, 09.29.09)

The World’s Marathon Has Gone On For Too Long

insideIn the coming years, the world will slide down to such a sorry state that people will want to understand how they can live differently. This won’t even happen because of the difficult material circumstances, but due to a burdensome feeling deep down in people’s hearts.

But in the meantime, the world is ruled by money, and nothing but money. Yet, this will soon be over and people will feel that it doesn’t fulfill them any longer. They will simply feel bad despite all the comforts and pleasures in their lives.

People already feel bad now, but they are still able to “play around,” to close their eyes to what is truly important, and to chase temporary goals, which they envision in the form of different pleasures such as money, power and fame. Otherwise, what else would people have to do in this life? We look at one another and mindlessly do the same thing as everyone else. If I am similar to those around me, then I feel good. This is why a person chooses a goal that is generally accepted by the society, and chases it, trying to hide from the sensation of emptiness.

The body’s force of self-preservation forces it to search for a goal that will keep him endlessly busy, so he will “know what he lives for.” That way a person’s mind stays occupied with something. Otherwise he will be left without a “safety blanket” in life, like a child who is lost.

And if that were to happen, a person would be scared and intimidated by the eternal questions: why do I exist and what is happening with my life? However, sooner or later, a person will receive an additional desire and he won’t be able to keep fanatically thinking about corporeal things from dawn ‘till dusk. He will suddenly understand that this “marathon” was set up for him on purpose in order to distract him from the most important thing in life.

For a time, he was able to keep his eyes closed and run along together with everyone else, but he just doesn’t have the energy to keep this up anymore. Everyone continues to run the marathon, but he has stepped off the track: it doesn’t attract him any longer, he just doesn’t feel that there’s any meaning to it. His desire has become so deep that it can no longer be filled by the earthly goals:

a) bodily pleasures: food, sex, shelter and family
b) social pleasures: wealth, power, fame and knowledge

And thus, a person begins to look for a higher goal.

The Pomegranate Is A Symbol Of The Soul’s Desires

Building the Third Temple A question I received: You said at a lecture that the soul of a man consists of 613 egoistic desires and that one has to correct them to bestowal by attracting the Light during Kabbalah studies, thus coming to the quality of “loving one’s neighbor as oneself.”

This correction of the 613 desires is called observation of the 613 commandments. You also told that the soul is like a pomegranate that consists of 613 seeds in the same manner as the soul consists of 613 desires. But who checked this?

My Answer: You have described it correctly. There was an article written about the pomegranate which recounts a project where the researchers took a number of pomegranates from different countries and counted their seeds. Each pomegranate had a different number of seeds – some less than 613 and some more, but the average number of seeds was 613.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Faith Above Reason Is Bestowal Above Reception
Laitman.com Post: Discover The Correct Desires Within You, And You Will See Where You Really Are
Baal HaSulam Letter: “Igrot (Letters) P. 63”
Shamati #13: “A Pomegranate”