Our Cup Remains Empty So We Will Stay On Track

The reverse order of the Kelim and the Lights is a very important principle because it forces us to achieve perfection. We make so many actions in the whole system, but we feel that after all we have done, we’ve received nothing. The more I work, the emptier I feel!

I come into the treasury and fill my mug with gold, but when I come out, all my gold is gone! So I work more and more, but still I see that I am left with nothing. I come in and out of the treasury with my mug filled with gold a million times, but still I have nothing.

The fact that this happens enables me to work selflessly, and in addition, allows me to develop my desires more and more. In the end, I do reach perfection when I make my final entrance into the treasury. This happens when I’ve already emptied everything that was there and there is nothing left to take…

Until then, everything is arranged in order to enable us to work more and more for a smaller and smaller reward.

We Will Continue To Aspire Until We Reach Infinity Itself

continuetoaspire When the Partzuf AB asks Galgalta for Light, it awakens an additional desire in Galgalta. With its help, Galgalta is able to draw a more powerful Light than it drew on its own. The lowest of all the Partzufim elicits the most powerful Light, Yechida, in Galgalta, and receives the smallest Light itself: Nefesh de-Nefesh.

The Light of Ruach is something completely new compared to the Light of Nefesh, like a flower compared to a rock: one is living while the other is dead. However, AB doesn’t know anything about this and doesn’t feel it. It will receive everything only upon its return upward.

When we rise from below upward, we gather the whole Light that we awakened in the Upper Partzufim. When we ascend into the World of Infinity, we have the whole Light of NaRaNHY.

Until the End of Correction (Gmar Tikkun), there is an operating law of a reverse correlation of Lights and Kelim. Therefore, each Light is not in its place, not in its own Kli. Only when the ten Sefirot of Direct Light and the ten Sefirot of Reverse Light unite completely from above to the bottom in one infinite Kli of HaVaYaH, with the Light of Ohr Hozer from below to the top, then the Lights will fall into their places and every person will receive the whole Light that he awakened and drew somewhere and sometime, in any other place of the Partzuf.

Each person will participate in all these actions and begin to feel them. Everyone will acquire their infinity. And this will happen to every person!

However, until then, the Lights are never inside their own Kelim, and therefore the pleasure we feel will always be incomplete. This will continuously awaken a desire, which pushes each person to aspire to Infinity.

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 11.24.09

Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson
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Baal HaSulam, Letter #46, 1927
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 37, Lesson 16

Article “Body and Soul” – Lesson 2
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Noah,” item 482

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5 Minutes Of Light From The Daily Lesson: Unraveling The Zohar

The Creator Will Teach Our Soul The Secret Wisdom

Get Through the Night, and Welcome the Dawn The Zohar: The soul says to the Creator: “Let me in on the secrets of the Upper Wisdom. Tell me, what do You see and how do You govern the Upper World? Teach me the secret wisdom that I had never known or learned, so I won’t feel ashamed walking on the Upper Levels.”

The phrase, The soul says to the Creator indicates that a person has already attained a connection with the Upper Force and therefore he feels how the Creator acts and awakens him. Let me in on the secrets of the Upper Wisdom is a request to know how I can attain the Light that will correct me, so I would be able to reveal the entire Upper System.

We reveal everything inside our desire. Nothing was created besides this desire, and therefore it is the place where everything becomes revealed, including this world and the world to come, the Creator, creation, the worlds and all the spiritual levels. Everything takes place inside the desire and we can only ascend by correcting it.

What do You see and how do You govern the Upper World? At this point we might wonder: why is the soul so curious? It’s because knowing the Creator is the same as bestowing to Him, as it is written, “Know your Creator and work for Him.” Our objective is to come to know the entire universe on the level of the Creator, and to become equal to Him in every way.

That is why the soul asks, Teach me the secret wisdom that I had never known or learned! We ascend to higher levels with the help of the Light that Reforms, and on every new level a person has to reveal a new inner desire for the secret wisdom – the wisdom of how to use all of your qualities in order to bestow to the neighbor.

Let Us Not Be Banished From The Gates Of The Upper World

Those Are Study Kabbalah Are Not Scared of Anything The Zohar: Every person who goes to that world without having attained the secrets of the Torah, even on account of many good deeds, is banished from the gates of the Upper World.

“This world” is what we feel right now, and “the world to come” (Olam HaBa) is our next state. Everything becomes revealed according to one’s desire. One’s desire can either be changed naturally, by means of Reshimot that make it more egoistic; or it can be corrected by one’s work with the group and the Surrounding Light.

If I don’t correct myself, then all the gates to the spiritual sensation will remain closed to me. I can’t feel the spiritual world without preparing my desires and Kelim for it, without correcting egoism to bestowal. That is how I can open the gates!

Every person who goes to that world without having attained the secrets of the Torah (which is possible only by studying Kabbalah in order to receive Light into one’s corrected desires), even on account of many good deeds (the way people think in this world), is banished from the gates of the Upper World (meaning, that person has no opportunity to feel and enter the eternal world).

On the spiritual path, this happens on every step of the way when we go from one state to another. You can only advance by revealing secrets – that which is concealed from you right now. Everything happens inside your desire. Your current desire and sensation are called “this world,” and a more corrected desire and sensation are called “the world to come.”

The Wisdom That A Person Needs

wisdomneeds The Zohar: The wisdom that a person (every person without exception) needs is to know and see the Creator’s secrets, to attain who he is, how he was born, where he came from, where he is going, how he can correct himself, and what awaits him when he appears at the court of the world’s Ruler.

We have to attain knowledge, as it is written, “And Adam knew Hava.” Knowledge is attained when you unite with the Creator, thus uniting the only two things in existence. Thus, attainment or knowledge is formed when the Light of Hochma clothes into the Light of Hassadim – into one’s corrected desires (Kelim). This is the true unity.

When a spiritual Partzuf receives Light inside, this Light is called the Light of Knowledge. This is both wisdom and mercy, the Light of Hochma and the Light of Bina, the Light of reception and the Light of bestowal united together.

If I want to include my soul in Malchut – the sum of all the souls, the only created creation, known as the soul of Adam, then my desire to be together with everyone makes me part of Malchut. Malchut then raises this desire to the level of Daat (knowledge), and then Aba and Ima (Father and Mother, Hochma and Bina) give me this knowledge. This is how the Upper Mechanism operates.

(From a lesson on The Book of Zohar, the chapter, “The Wisdom That A Person Needs”)

The Book Of Zohar Can Only Be Understood By Uniting

ifweunite When we study The Book of Zohar, we have to remember that it was written by a group of Kabbalists and therefore, it can only be understood within a group as well. In order to understand this book, we have to first unite, find the connections among us and try to reveal those connections with the help of this book. We will be able to reveal this book only inside the connection between us.

Everything that The Book of Zohar talks about is between the souls, between us. If we desire to bestow to one another, these desires will become our souls, and inside them, inside the connection among the souls, we will reveal the Creator, the Light that connects us together.

The Book of Zohar talks about how we can reveal the Upper Light: It is revealed inside the intention of bestowal and love. That is why preparing for the study and engagement in The Book of Zohar is the same as preparing to acquire the quality of bestowal and love, the thought of unity, mutual guarantee, and “love for your neighbor as yourself.” We are preparing to attain this state in order to reveal the Light of bestowal and love. This is what The Zohar will help us to accomplish.

This is exactly the reason why Kabbalah is being revealed in our time: in order to help humanity attain this quality. But it will only happen to the degree we realize that it is necessary.

“And They Built A Tower That Reaches To The Heavens”

bridge.jpg The Zohar: And the Creator said: “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.” And they came from the East, from the ancient days of the world.

 

And they found how to use the secret wisdom of the first people, the generation of the flood, so they wouldn’t have to submit to the Creator. And they built a city and a tower.

 

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens.” They decided to act according to their ego and to rule all the way up to the heavens themselves.This is completely opposite to elevating oneself over one’s ego in order to reveal the Creator and life in the Upper World.

 

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. This was the situation in Babylon: Even though they were egoists, their ego was so small and undeveloped that they lived as one people, in complete understanding, as though they were speaking one language.

And since they all had one heart and one desire, and they spoke the holy language (the language of bestowal and love), they were able to accomplish anything they put their mind to. And there was no one who could stop them.

 

These people are opposite to the Creator and want nothing to do with Him, but because they are bound by bonds of love, they are invincible. They are like a band of criminals who are staunch friends and look out for one another to the bitter end. Their connection is loyal and true, but their goal is egoistic – to build a city with a tower.

They do not use their connection to become similar to the Creator, yet they created their connection upon the quality of bestowal, which makes it indestructible! That is what the Creator “complains” about.

 

This connection is equal and opposite to Him, and that is precisely why the people had to attain it. It is in order to then tear it asunder and recreate it once again, but this time in likeness to Him.

It is very similar to the world’s situation today. It’s the same as if we now decided to liquidate the crisis and reject all our egoistic interests by establishing a connection between all the nations, yet we would do so without thinking of the Creator or the goal of creation. We would then return to the state of Ancient Babylon. Today we are discovering that the world is global, that everyone is interconnected, and that we must treat each other well lest we will destroy one another. However, if we begin to establish good relationships with one another without thinking of how to connect to the Upper Force and without an objective of achieving the goal of creation (to reveal the Creator), this would lead us to self-destruction, just as it happened in Ancient Babylon.

The Creator would shatter our connection just as He had done in Babylon when He “mixed the languages” (meaning, when egoism emerged between the people) and people stopped understanding one another. This would happen in order for us to understand that our connection requires another component – the Creator. Only He can bind us with a true connection and allow us to feel life on the Upper Level – a life that is perfect and eternal.
From a lesson on The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Noah”

The Book of Zohar Is A Ticket To The Spiritual World

lecture It is common knowledge that The Book of Zohar is unique. The reason for this is that it is the only book with the power to bring human beings into the spiritual world. This unparalleled mission is what brought this book to fame and has made humankind have a special relationship to it.

Nature prepares a very peculiar entry into this world for us; we are born without any knowledge and nothing is explained to us ahead of time. A child does not inherit an intellect, senses or memories from his parents or preceding generations. A person is born as an empty shell and then starts sensing this world as warmth, coldness, light, darkness, sound and silence.

In the beginning a baby doesn’t feel anything at all. But gradually it begins reacting to sound and light, and later on it recognizes its mother and notices actions that are being done to it. In response the baby laughs or cries, and gradually starts to explore the world and to want to find out what is going on around it. It begins to identify with its body and that is how it grows up.

Compared to this, it’s surprising that baby animals get to know everything and learn to survive independently in just a few days, whereas a human baby remains totally helpless without an adult’s care for a long time. If we leave a human baby in the woods, it would grow up just like the animals that surround him.

A human baby’s development is based solely on impressions, examples and behavioral models of this world, which he receives from adults. People have created music for children, toys, playgrounds and games designed to teach children to take things apart, reassemble them, and distinguish between colors and sounds. The purpose of these games is to prepare a child to live in our world.

A child’s parents and the people around him are ready to give everything that is needed for the child to grow up in accordance with the standards of his generation and the world he lives in. Our instincts direct us to transfer our knowledge to a child, since otherwise he won’t be ready for life in our world.

This type of upbringing is natural and cannot be changed. We are unable to feed a human being with information by connecting him directly to a computer that will transfer encyclopedic knowledge to him. We cannot simply “install” a proper upbringing in order to develop a child’s feelings and reactions. We can only do so gradually as he shapes his personality by acquiring and accumulating impressions.

This process takes at least 20 years of a human being’s life. And when we become adults, we still continue to learn and develop, and often we end up regretting that we didn’t acquire more knowledge earlier in our lives.

Our birth and development in the spiritual world involves similar processes, but the difference is that we also continue to exist in the material world, a sort of inconvenience. Just like in the physical world, growth in the spiritual realm requires parents, surroundings, toys, education, a proper upbringing and explanations. If we don’t get the right examples, then we won’t be ready for living in the spiritual world, and therefore it won’t reveal itself to us. Even if it did, we wouldn’t be able to recognize it.

Baal HaSulam writes the following in the article “Body and Soul:” “A human being cannot exist in our world without having knowledge of it, and similarly his soul is unable to exist in the Upper World without having knowledge of it. Moreover, knowledge about the Upper World actually serves as a way of sensing life in it.”

If an infant were left alone in his cradle without any attention and only his immediate physical needs were satisfied, it would become nothing more than a living, breathing body. We are incapable of developing unless we receive new and diverse impressions on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter that we don’t understand the meaning behind many of these impressions, just like a child doesn’t understand much of what happens to him. Regardless, we are still filled by these impressions and use them to grow. The same thing happens in the spiritual world: We must fill ourselves with diverse impressions that originate from the spiritual world, and that don’t exist in our world.

And that is exactly how The Book of Zohar influences us and why this book is so special. When a person reads or listens to this book, it starts transferring impressions of the higher, unknown world to him. It doesn’t matter whether we understand the meaning of its contents or not; we’re still filled by those impressions. There is no other book that makes such an impact.

Gradually, as we advance through studying The Book of Zohar, we start receiving and accumulating impressions from the spiritual world. When those impressions enter our being, they advance our development in the spiritual world even without our awareness that this growth is taking place.

When we read The Book of Zohar at our lessons, I will provide explanations of the text in order to help connect a person with its contents. However, a person can read The Book of Zohar without any explanations whatsoever. All we need is a desire to understand and connect with the text, the same way that a wide-eyed child explores the world around him and can’t sit still for a minute because of his natural tendency to learn and absorb everything around him. If we open our feelings, heart and intellect to absorb what flows out of this book, just like a child who soaks up everything in this world, we’ll advance in the spiritual world.

It is of little importance whether a person possesses a brilliant mind or whether he has trouble learning, whether he is lazy or hard-working, rational or emotional; everyone will develop in their own way, which is best for them.