Face To Face With The Point In The Heart

priestEvery person experiences an awakening of “the point in the heart” at least once in his lifetime. But people usually think that the emptiness and bad feelings they have are caused by earthly reasons. A person doesn’t understand that it’s his soul awakening in him and demanding to be developed.

Most people don’t pay attention to these moments, which come to them in various life cycles. They don’t understand that these moments are urging them to begin to develop the soul. Instead, they think that they are caused by the usual down-to-earth causes, and not the exalted higher goal.

However, after being awakened many times like this, a person begins to understand why he feels bad. This realization is called the recognition of evil. A person realizes that he feels bad not because he is empty, but because of his lies and lack of truth. He feels this so strongly that he is ready to hear the truth, no matter how bitter it may be.

He is then ready to endure the absence of fulfillment and prefers to make a restriction on his egoism for the sake of coming closer to the truth. A person has to understand that when the difficult questions are hounding him, when his mind is heavy and he feels powerless, this is the beginning of the soul’s revelation. At that point, he has no choice but to develop it, since otherwise he will only prolong his suffering.

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 11.03.09

Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson
Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio

 

“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” item 4
Download: WMV Video MP3 Audio

Baal HaSulam Article “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Its Essence,” Lesson 2
Download: WMV Video |MP3 Audio

Baal Sulam, Letter 38, 1927, Page 116
Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio

Moments From The Daily Lesson: Entrances & Exits

5 Minutes Of Light From The Daily Lesson: Effort = Acceleration

Ascending Toward The Creator Along The Degrees Of Desire

Perserverance Is the Key to SuccessA question I received: What is the goal of creation, and where are we on the spiritual ladder leading to this goal?

My Answer: The goal of creation is to reach adhesion with the Creator. Kabbalah uses various techniques in order to express the essence of categories and qualities of a concealed world that the reader does not perceive.

In order to discern the difference between the Creator and the creation, we say that the Creator is “above” and creation is “below” with regard to the importance of their qualities. We then measure the distance or height between them, although it is not a physical distance, but a difference of qualities, the degree of man’s separation from the absolute Creator.

If a person does not have even one desire that is similar to the Creator (the quality of bestowal), then he hasn’t reached even the first degree of the ladder between him and the Creator. If he has made at least a minimal portion of his desires similar to the Creator, then he ascends to the first degree. If he is able to use a greater portion of his desires for the sake of bestowal, then he ascends to the second level.

These “portions” are set for us from the beginning. They are precise and always differ from one another by ten Sefirot. Each time, I receive a strictly defined addition of desire, and by correcting my intention from reception to bestowal, I ascend.

Untitled-1

Eventually I will have to make the entire desire that was created in me similar to the Creator. However, this desire is presently concealed from me and becomes revealed to the degree that I am able to use it for the sake of bestowal. This is why the entire universe is divided into three worlds:

  • This world, which I perceive just like everyone else, even within the desire “for my own sake”;
  • The world that is concealed from me, which is a desire that I am still unable to use for the sake of bestowal, and that is why that world does not become revealed to me;
  • The Upper World that is revealed to me, which is a desire that I am able to use for the sake of bestowal, and that is why I perceive the Creator within my equivalence of form with Him.

Everything takes place inside the one, common desire that was created by the Creator. There is nothing in existence besides this desire. Everything that is concealed and revealed constitutes one created desire. Therefore, that which is concealed from me today will become revealed to me tomorrow. And thus, one more part of reality will shift from being concealed to revealed.

Increase Your Spiritual Movement To Laser Speed

anyoneIt is written that the entrance and exit of the Light in and out of the desire creates in the desire a recognition of the Light and Its Source. So how many times does the Light have to enter and exit my desire in order for me to start being conscious of myself, my state and my actions? And where is the beginning of my own desire, discernment, freedom of will and intention?

The Light’s entrance and exit, and Its interchanging influences create a desire (Kli, vessel). The desire become more and more complex due to the various influences of the Light, and gradually starts to understand its own state. It begins to make its own decisions independently of the Light regarding how to desire It and how to aspire for It.

Spiritual life is evaluated by the frequency of the Light’s entrance and exit in and out of the desire. It depends on the frequency with which a person evokes these actions, as well as how he tolerates and uses them.

This is similar to our material life, where the rate of things always increases. With the development of technology, the clock rates used by computing devices increased from Hertz to Megahertz and to Gigahertz, and the frequency spectrum of communication devices rose from radio waves to microwaves and to optical laser frequencies.

In spirituality, a person is like a device that is measured by the frequency of his movement, his “start – stop” intervals, or the Light’s entrance and exit in and out of his desire. The more a person advances, the happier he is about the changes taking place within him and the more he knows how to use and control them.

For Spiritual Progress, You Need Constant Acceleration, Not Constant Speed

everything-we-perceive-is-like-frames-of-a-motion-pictureA question I received: Why is it written that an effort is only something that is beyond the ordinary?

My Answer: With regard to spiritual work, we always talk about acceleration, not speed. There is a well-known principle of relativity which states that if an object is moving at constant speed that is identical to your own, then it is not considered to be moving at all. If you assess its position relative to others, then you may find that it is moving relative to them, but relative to you, it is still. And in Kabbalah, we measure all the changes relative to the person himself.

Therefore, if we are acting out of habit and carrying out constant, habitual actions, which don’t require us to add a new effort at every moment, then we do not change. If I am not adding effort, then I won’t ascend to the next level, and that means that I won’t make a spiritual movement.

Therefore, you can check your advancement, despite the absence of any reaction, by the accumulation of efforts that you put into correction, bestowal, unification and studying. What you have to check is what you have added to what you had yesterday!

You should make a habit of constantly increasing the effort. You have to get used to a constant acceleration. What we need is constant acceleration, not constant speed! This has to become a habit.

Just Listen And You Will Hear The Creator Talking To You

freeThe speed of one’s spiritual advancement depends on how attentively one relates to everything that happens to him in life and whether he doesn’t let a single moment go by without connecting it to spirituality. One has to be restless like a child and use every single moment. In this regard, the environment is very important. The environment speeds up a person’s development by giving him the right direction and always pushing him forward.

With the help of the environment, a person can discover that even the calmest moments have great content. It is particularly during those moments that one discovers the Creator’s passionate attitude toward him. It’s like discovering a whole world deep beneath the still surface of water.

Don’t let life pass you by. We shouldn’t miss a single moment, since each moment is an opportunity to connect to the Creator. This is called returning life to its Source. We have to understand what He wants to tell us through each circumstance He gives us. Our whole life is a conversation between us and the Creator, but because we let moments slip by, we don’t hear Him! If we only listen, we will hear the Creator’s voice at each moment.

That is how we will connect the material time with spirituality. They will unite as one and we will see the spiritual picture. If a person perceives time as a number of actions, then he is ready to view his life as a spiritual process. However, only the environment is capable of attuning us to this attitude to life.