A Question I Received: When I read The Zohar, my mind keeps seeing superficial images. How can I remember that all these things are happening inside me as the text speaks about connections between us?

My Answer: To tell you the truth, it doesn’t matter. "Time does what the mind does not." The time is for studying and growing closer with the friends. When, during the lesson, a person isn’t able to think (with his head) about the goal (with his heart), let him listen to his heart.

Most important is to constantly hold on to the thought of what you want from the study. Torah does not have an affect without this. The Torah influences according to one’s intention. As it is written, "I created the evil inclination and gave the Torah as a spice." Do you have an evil inclination? Bring it and then you’ll receive the Torah as a spice to it (the means for its correction).

However, how does having this spice help you if you lack the evil inclination? Kabbalists give us simple examples. Do you have soup? Would you like to add pepper, salt, and all kinds of seasoning? Go ahead, but how will you benefit from having salt and pepper if you don’t have the soup? By themselves, salt and pepper taste disgusting.

In our case we first need to prepare the "soup." Without it, there’s no need to ask for seasoning; we wouldn’t even be able to ask for it. It’s during the process of making the soup (in the group) that the need for seasoning arises (for the Light to unite us). Only those who need Torah have (discovered) the evil inclination.

This is why we need to approach the reading of The Zohar and all our lessons with the proper intention, with  knowing exactly what we desire, or, in other words, with a prepared evil nature. With the evil revealed in you, you have something to correct; you will receive correction for it. If you haven’t discovered the evil within, you first need to look for it. If you feel righteous, the Torah is not for you; it is for the sinners for their correction. This is why the one who is greater than the others is the one who discovers a bigger egoism within, a greater evil, and he has something to correct.

Thus, it doesn’t matter how much one understands during the lesson. "It’s not the wise who studies" (Lo ha-Hacham Lomed). What matters is feeling that one has something to correct in the connection with his friends.

We need to unite into one desire, the soul of Adam, and we must become brothers in our goal. Even though we now hate one another, don’t want the others, and disdain them, we understand that unity is the goal. This is why we wait for the Light to come and bring us back to the source where we will become one complete desire, and the Creator will become revealed among us.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/17/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
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Laitman.com Post: Preparation For Receiving The Torah: The Light Of Correction
The Zohar: "The Intention in the Prayer"

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