In the World of Infinity, the desire (Kli) is perfect, and it merges with the perfect Light as one whole. Together they descend down to the lowest place in the universe – this world, where the desire is perceived as man’s body and the Light dwindles down to a spark that enlivens the body.

Once these two elements descend, they lose their unity and start to oppose one another. All of this takes place inside a person, and he has to raise these two elements back upwards, in order to connect them just as before they descended. To this end, a person constantly receives a greater desire to enjoy, and against it – a greater Light. His task is to combine the two and make them similar to one another.

In order to do this, a person has to refuse to use his desire to receive. With the help of the Light, he can turn his desire to receive into the desire to bestow, and then man’s desire becomes similar to the Light and they merge together.

Yet, an even greater desire is immediately revealed inside a person – an ego of such proportions that he couldn’t even imagine it before! And he once again has to draw the Light that Reforms through the group and the study in order to connect his desire with the Light and find similarity to it. He has to do this over and over again on all 125 spiritual degrees.

Every time he overcomes a given portion of his egoism, it seems as if he has already overcome all of it. But all of his past resolves to remain steadfast and loyal to bestowal, all of his past corrections come tumbling down when he reveals just another additional ounce of desire. It casts him down into the darkness all over again, together with a lack of understanding, hate, and inability to do anything. And all of this happens just because he received another tiny portion of desire. He must then look for forces and means of correction all over again. And in order to do this, he needs a third element – the Creator.

This was all arranged deliberately, so that while we ascend from below upwards and feel ever-greater darkness inside our growing desire, we will desire to correct ourselves and will feel that we need each other, as well as the Creator.

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The depth of spiritual attainment is determined by the depth of the corrected desire. With each new generation, the souls descending into the world are “coarser” – more egoistic. Therefore, Kabbalists who lived before the Ari (16th Century) had small egos and were therefore able to reveal the elements of creation in full detail, including such concepts as the screen, Tzimtzum Alef, Tzimtzum Bet, Orh Hozer, and so on.

They used these spiritual forces, but they did not completely understand their origin and mode of operation. This is why they could not clearly express it either. It is like seeing a picture: even though you may be able to replicate it, you don’t know how the colors break down into a spectrum, what the wavelength of each color is, and how this affects all of us and turns into feelings.

If one’s desire is not thick enough, then it is impossible to attain the cause of a phenomenon and explain how the Light unites with the desire. The Ari was the first person to reveal the difference and the connection between the Direct Light and the Reflected Light in all its depth. He was able to do this by virtue of having a special soul. In addition, he was living in the beginning of the Messiah’s era, when the souls requiring correction began to be revealed in the world.

Prior to that time, there was a period of exile, when the ego was not revealed in a form ready for correction. This is why it is written that all the Kabbalists before the Ari communicated Kabbalah from the standpoint of the Direct Light (Kabalat Ramak), whereas the Ari explained Kabbalah from the standpoint of the Reflected Light (Kabalat Ari).

Later, Baal HaSulam continued the method of the Ari and made it fit for our use.

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A question I received: How can I make the most of the Surrounding Light – through the Daily Kabbalah Lessons, the television programs or other types of media?

My Answer: Right now the most powerful means for this is the Daily Kabbalah Lesson. Especially for beginners, the only way to receive the Surrounding Light and to attain the force of unity is through studying. Nothing else comes close.

Baal HaSulam writes in Item 4 of “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” that the Creator puts a person’s hand on the spiritual path and tells him: “Choose this path!” He brings a person to the group, the books and the teacher in order for him to realize the purpose of creation. But this is only possible if a person uses the Daily Kabbalah Lesson as a means.

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A question I received: Today people no longer have to drive or walk to the Kabbalah classes in the rain. They can just turn on the TV. But is each person who watches our broadcast lessons granted the freedom of choice?

My Answer: The freedom of choice doesn’t depend on how one connects to the lessons, but on one’s point in the heart. If the point in the heart is ripe, then one has free choice: the choice to establish a connection with the environment that will help him draw the Surrounding Light – the Light that Reforms. When a person feels the need for such a connection with the environment, this is called the free choice.

This may happen a few years after a person first starts attending our lessons. Gradually one realizes that he won’t attain spirituality with his mind. Knowing the terminology, actions, and structure of the worlds won’t reveal the Upper World to him. But it takes some time for a person to realize this.

I’ve seen many people who spent years studying the science of Kabbalah with their minds, trying to learn more. They took great pleasure in doing this and to this day they still don’t sense a need for real sensual attainment.

And I’ve seen others, who sensed such a need, but they still didn’t realize that attaining spirituality means reaching the attribute of bestowal, that attainment and bestowal are the same thing. Some people need years to understand that it is precisely the connection to the inner desires of the friends in the group (where the Creator has brought him) that constitutes the means through which one reveals the attribute of bestowal.

Nevertheless, in the interim their time does not go to waste. A person undergoes constant changes under the influence of the Light, and eventually reaches the understanding that he must obtain just the attribute of bestowal.

The freedom of choice begins from the moment a person begins to understand that a connection with all the rest of the souls, or with their points in the heart, is necessary to reach the attribute of bestowal. After all, this is what spirituality is.

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Two questions I received about how man’s egoism is evidenced in Nature:

Question: Rav Laitman, if I understand correctly, Nature conducts itself according to certain laws. For instance only take and use what you need and not more. But a friend told me how a wolf pack killed over 40 sheep and lambs in one raid. The wolves escaped without consuming any of the sheep they killed. If the Law of Nature rules the still, animate and vegetative world what causes this type of aberration?

My Answer: Predators exhibit this kind of behavior because they are influenced by man’s downfall. The whole world ascends and descends with man.

Question: If Nature is intelligent and we should resemble it by ceasing to be competitive but collaborative, why is it that animals compete for food and survival, or plants compete for sun or other natural resources? Does Kabbalah share some common point with the evolutionary theory?

My Answer: This is a consequence of man’s egoism, as it is described in the Bible.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Difference Between The Darwinian Theory And Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: We Will Evolve To Acquire Power Over All Of Nature
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Has The Power To Correct Man’s Egoistic Nature Without Revoking It
Article: “The Last Stage of Evolution”- Lesson
Kabbalah for the Student:  “You Who Love the Lord Hate Evil”

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In the News (translated from ISRUS): “Pilgrimage to Ukraine: The Jews Fell to Paganism?” – Annual “migration” of Chasidic pilgrims to Ukraine proves that their inner world is empty. Leaving wives and children at home and running away with the guys for a holiday no matter where – that is really an adventure! This illusory bridge conceals the emptiness wrapped up in a packaging called “faith.”
My Comment: Kabbalah talks about the immaterial and abstract Creator who will take the place of all the icons and pictures, replacing exaggerated customs with inner contemplation of the Creator in the corrected self.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: In The Modern Era, The Psychological Support Of Religion Is No Longer Enough
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is The Revelation Of The Creator To The Entire World
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Merging with the Creator”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”

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