It’s essential for a person who wants to reveal spirituality to try to achieve that “everything would be in your eyes as new,” as if I was just born and I’m starting from scratch. I don’t know what world I‘m in, or who I am. While reading an article, I have no idea what it speaks about, as if I know nothing about these things. I erase all previous views, like I landed here from another planet without understanding a thing about the order of the universe. I want to perceive it anew.

Why? In their teachings, Kabbalists wish to show us that there are spiritual phenomena in our world. However, they are concealed from us, for if there was nothing of spirituality in our world, spirituality would not be called concealed. This is why we have to try to discern spirituality in our reality. But how can we do it? What kind of a special light, what illumination can help me see the spiritual reality? I don’t know; I have to master this.

Kabbalists tell us the following: If you want to recognize spirituality that is concealed here in this world, you can perceive it in a new relationship between you and the environment. Herein lies the entrance into the spiritual world, and you can penetrate it. Through your discovery of this opening, you will begin to see a new world. Its entrance is in your relationship with the environment, but it is a new relationship that you’ll unexpectedly reveal.

Suddenly you’ll see that an entrance into another world is from the world that surrounds you. No one recognizes it. It’s as if you’re walking down the street and right around the corner you are in the spiritual reality. This entrance opens when you look at our world in a different way, as if totally unfamiliar with it, with a fresh approach you perceive the reality of “I and the environment” anew.

From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/30/10, Rabash, Article 17, 1986

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Every Day Is A New Sky And A New Earth
Laitman.com Post: Soil For The Seed Of Life
Video: The Time Of Preparation – 5 Minutes Of Light (4:16)

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception - No Comments →

The difference between the Light and the desire compels us to move forward. When the Light fills the desire, we (the desire) calm down. We are pacified so much so that we are unable to move because we don’t feel the need to; we don’t feel any lack whatsoever. We begin to worry and strive for inner balance only to the extent that the Light differs from the desire.

We strive for balance both in terms of its quantity and quality. When the Light created the desire to enjoy and filled it (Phase One, Behina Aleph), the creature did not feel any problems since the Light came first. Only afterward does the difference emerge between Behina Aleph filled by the Creator and the Creator Himself.

A certain addition occurs. The Light begins to introduce new properties into the original desire, and the creature starts sensing the source of pleasure. “There is someone who fills me! It’s higher than me, it comes before me. It’s someone who gives; it is my Maker, the Creator.” Thereby an additional sensation is introduced into the desire of Phase One. This sensation forces the creature to compensate for it; it compels us to develop.

The kind of “friction” determines everything. In Phase One, Hochma, the friction was the sensation of the Upper One. In Phase Two, Bina, this will be the sensation of insufficiently realizing the desire to bestow.

Bina wanted to give, became filled with the Light of Hassadim (Hafetz Hesed), and therefore didn’t want to move anywhere or do anything. But then felt: “The Creator is truly giving, and what do I give?”, which produced the feeling of discontent. Hence, movement starts, which leads to a new state. In this way, the incompatibility between the Creator’s and creature’s properties, the Kli and the Light, the desire and fulfillment, brings about constant movement or development.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/29/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: There’s A Force That Doesn’t Allow Us To Stop Asking And Changing
Laitman.com Post: The Lack Of Desire Manifests As Lack Of Fulfillment
Laitman.com Post: Spiritual Growth Is Analogous To The Stages Of Human Growth

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 2 Comments →

A question I received: I came to the science of Kabbalah, the science of reception, in order to receive. But suddenly I see that it teaches about how to increase one’s desire. Where is the reception here?

My Answer: This is reception. I receive a special force from the Creator called “love,” which is something completely unknown to us. With the help of this force I attach all the desires existing in reality to myself. They all become my desires and I receive them along with their fulfillment.

This is called the science of Kabbalah, which is about how to receive desires full of goodness. They are all yours. All you need is to feel love for them. Then you will discover that they are in the state of the End of Correction, and all of it is yours.

When you acquire the force of love, you start to feel the desires of your neighbor better than he does, and you then fulfill him according to your sensations. It’s like a mother feels what her child needs.

In spirituality the Upper One knows best what the lower one needs. The lower one simply screams, revealing his desire to you. But you know all the components of his desire, even though he does not. That’s because you are the upper one. If you are the one who bestows and you fulfill him, then you are the upper one in relation to him and you know more about him than he does.

This is the law of upper love, which does not have anything in common with the notions we attribute to the word “love” in our world.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, “Matan Torah”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Can We Love The One Who Created Love?
Laitman.com Post: Meeting The Creator On The Bridge Of Love
Laitman.com Post: Be Like A Child: Reach For The Impossible

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Love - No Comments →

The Zohar, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 90: …“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” means with both your inclinations—the good inclination and the evil inclination, so the bad qualities of the evil inclination will become good… Then there will certainly be no difference between the good inclination and the evil inclination and they will be one.

In our world we aren’t aware of the qualitative difference between good and evil, and therefore we don’t understand that they define and support each other and cannot exist one without the other. We would like to immediately annihilate all the evil and leave only the good, meaning whatever we consider good at this moment.

Spirituality, however, is revealed upon the contrast of opposite qualities, rather than through attempting to eliminate or destroy one of them. Both qualities exist in order for us to discern both of them, and the spiritual state is built from both of them – the Light and darkness together.

Initially we do not have the right inner definitions; we don’t understand what is Light and what is darkness. Once we identify them and can tell what is Light and what is darkness, and once we choose the Light over the darkness, we can then fully use all of the Light and all of the darkness to build our spiritual state.

We do not erase either one because if we were to remove one of them, the other would disappear as well. We build the middle line from both of them. In our world this structure does not exist. This phenomenon, the middle line, is unknown to us. We always strive to eliminate anything we don’t desire or feels unpleasant to us. It seems to us that there is no room for them in the world.

However, in spirituality, there is room for everything and everything has to remain forever. Only when both things unite with each other in the right way, is there room for the existence of both and one does not exist without the other.

Therefore, the wicked and the righteous, reception and bestowal, faith and knowledge are all built one upon the other. Therefore, they are equally important for attaining the goal. It is written, “A person must be grateful for the bad just as for the good.”

The correction of evil lies in using it correctly, together with goodness. Then the two participate equally and together to reveal their Source, the Creator. The middle line, the soul, is created from both of them. It is the revelation of their Source, the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: When Darkness And Light Become One
Laitman.com Post: The Unity Of Opposites Is Above The Speed Of Light
Laitman.com Post: Love Above Hatred

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 1 Comment →

A question I received: How do I recognize the form I’m being taught from Above?

My Answer: The science of Kabbalah speaks of very logical things and reveals a great deal of new knowledge about man in this world and the force that governs us all. By doing so, Kabbalah supplements our knowledge of human psychology and our general outlook on the world.

Yet the science of Kabbalah is meant for those who already sense spirituality and have five spiritual “organs of perception”: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut. Until a person acquires these higher organs of perception, Kabbalah is not a science for him, but rather an encoded message, a book of mysteries.

What can I do if I am unable to understand a single word that I read? I don’t exist in the reality that converts every word I read into a concrete sensation. If I lack such a connection with the world under investigation, it’s not considered a science. Only when I have all research data and can experiment with it, does it become a science.

Thus initially, we study Kabbalah not to learn this wisdom, but to obtain the tools (Kelim) to attain it so that we can  begin to sense the object of our research. If my vision is bad, then to be able to see, I first need to get myself a pair of glasses. I earn money to buy the glasses, put them on, only then do I begin to see clearly. Only then do I begin to hear the explanations and understand what I am being told about.

That is why there is “preparation time” during which we work on ourselves in order to enter the spiritual world.We begin to sense it to the extent we acquire its properties. Later on, as they appear and develop within us, we proceed with investigation of the new world, much like a child who grows because of new properties that surface in him.

At the initial stage of developing new properties within us, we have nothing to ask about, because we have no ability to understand. Only one question is appropriate during this time: Are we aligning ourselves correctly in order to attract the Upper Light which forms new properties within us? Our success and future depend on the Light’s actions.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/29/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: “See Your World In This Life”
Laitman.com Post: Be Ready For Changing Perceptions
Laitman.com Post: Preparation Time Depends On The Root Of One’s Soul

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception, Zohar - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam, “The Future Generation,” Preface (abridged):
There is a legend about a group of people that were lost in the desert and suffered from hunger and thirst. One of them found an abode filled with abundance, and started to shout and blow his horn so that his less fortunate friends could hear him and come to this place of abundance.

All of humanity is lost in a horrible desert, but we have discovered Kabbalah books, a source that can fill our souls with life. We remember our friends who are still lost in the desert, and thus we blow the horn hoping that they will hear us, come closer to us, and become as happy as we are.

In this world, knowledge helps us provide for our corporeal needs. Aside from that, we develop through hardship and affliction, desperately trying to prevent pain and suffering. Imagine that there is a book that describes the way of attaining order, confidence, and tranquility, a book that guarantees peace in the world and in our everyday lives. With it, we have a chance to correct our future.

The Appeal to Study Kabbalah
I don’t consider myself to be a special person, so if I managed to find everything I need for happiness in these books, then you can too.

Why Do I “Blow The Horn”?
I take everything that is happening and the opportunity presented to us now so close to my heart that I simply cannot hold back any longer. I’ve decided to broadcast the way to achieve happiness. So, I reach out to people and blow the horn because, in my opinion, it is worth doing in order to gather together all the “chosen ones,” who by studying and comprehending these books will bring themselves and the whole world to the scale of merit.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Majority Of Society And A Chosen Few
Laitman.com Post: We Only Disseminate Kabbalah, The Upper Light Does The Rest
Video: What Do You Get From Kabbalistic Books? – 5 MInutes Of Light (5:24)

Filed under: Kabbalah Dissemination - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #206 “Faith and Pleasure”
My environment has the power to fundamentally change my values and me and make me desire things that are opposite to my egoistic nature.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 77
By understanding that the entire world is a reflection of my own qualities, I begin to view reality as a testing ground for self-correction.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 117, Lesson 37
The book, Beit Shaar HaKavanot, describes states that are closer to us, thereby sharpening our demand for correction.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Lesson 5
Love is boundless and the pleasure it gives me doesn’t put out its flame.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Lag Ba’Omer (the 33rd day of the Omer) is a special day, when the Light starts to enter Malchut from the Upper Sefirot. The Light comes to us from Infinity, passing through the World of Adam Kadmon, then the World of Atzilut, then through Partzufim Atik, Arich Anpin, Aba ve Ima, and Zeir Anpin, until it reaches the souls.

Zeir Anpin contains seven Sefirot, each of which contains seven Sefirot. Altogether, 7×7=49. Malchut is the 50th Sefira. That is how we count the days of the Omer, the entrance of the Light into Zeir Anpin, and on the 50th day, into Malchut. That is when our souls, which are included in Malchut, begin to receive the Light.

The unification (Zivug) of Zeir Anpin with Malchut takes place on the 50th day, but the Light enters Zeir Anpin completely on the 33rd day, when it enters Sefira Hod de Hod. Thus, there is Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, and Netzah, with seven Sefirot inside each one of them. This adds up to 28, and there are five more Sefirot in Hod (Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, and Hod), which equals 33 (Lamed Gimel – Lag).

On this day we celebrate the entrance of the Light into Malchut of Zeir Anpin, meaning the Upper Light enters the system beneath which it already relates to the souls. If it reaches this place, then there’s no doubt that we will receive this Light. We begin to feel it and to prepare for its revelation.

The time from the 33rd day until the 50th day is already preparation. The Light continues to descend lower down and adapts itself for entering the souls. A person who is already in the spiritual world feels this preparation, which takes place before the reception of this special Upper Light, called Zohar.

That is why we celebrate this day. Rabbi Shimon left this world because he completed his mission. He no longer had anything to accomplish in this world because he passed the Upper Light through all the Sefirot down to Malchut de Zeir Anpin. With this, he completed his work.

Together with his students, he conducted the entire Light of Infinity through himself like through a special filter, preparing it to be received by our souls. This is the main work they accomplished. Now, when we look inside this book, even without understanding the words, with our desire we unite with the system they prepared for us, and through it we receive the Light.
[13671]
From the lecture in honor of Lag B’Omer 5/01/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Light Of The Zohar
Laitman.com Post: The Filter For Desires
Article: “Ask the Kabbalist” (May 22, 2008)

Filed under: Holidays, Zohar - No Comments →

On Lag B’Omer we celebrate the passing of the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of The Zohar. He was a special person and the revelation he made signifies the giving of the Torah, the science of correction, to the whole world.

Humanity developed from one generation to the next in birth pangs until it reached Abraham, who revealed the science of Kabbalah above the crisis that developed in Ancient Babylon. Then the nation of Israel waited for the Egyptian slavery and the Exodus from it, followed by the construction of the First and Second Temples, as well as other ascents and descents. All the horrible events that befell this nation and all human history in general appear to be one never-ending trial.

However, the entire path that we went through until the arrival of Rabbi Shimon was just our preparation for correction. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the nation of Israel finally lost the sensation of spirituality and entered exile from it. But then we received this gift from the heavens, marked by the arrival of a sage from the times of the Temple (a Tana), a Kabbalist of great stature. His special soul incorporated all the previous souls and united them within itself. That is why, together with his students, he was able to attain an extraordinary height, the final correction in his generation.

Baal HaSulam writes that never in history has there been any attainment higher than the one achieved in the times of Rashbi and his generation. The likes of it can only happen again at the End of Correction, and we are now standing at its threshold.

Zohar is the name of the Light that becomes revealed in GAR of the World of Atzilut, in its root, which is a special place – the "concealed mind" of the system of Arich Anpin. Rabbi Shimon was unique in that he was able to connect this incredibly high level with our world. His attainment placed him on the level of the Final Correction, just as before the destruction of the Temple, yet at the same time, he lived a regular, material life in the times after the destruction of the Second Temple. This was when the nation fell completely from the level of brotherly love to unfounded hatred, and this fall caused a complete disappearance of the spiritual sensation.

Because Rabbi Shimon united these two entirely different poles within him, he was able to write this great Book, meaning to make a revelation. Without it, we would not have the opportunity to correct our souls and attract the Light that Reforms.

From the lecture in honor of Lag B’Omer 5/01/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Entering The System Rashbi Created
Laitman.com Post: Rashbi’s System Revives The Common Soul
The Book of Zohar: Prologue."About Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai"

Filed under: Holidays, Zohar - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Book, The Tree of Life (abridged): “Deliverance from suffering” and the “arrival of the Messiah” means attainment of the Creator, as it is said: “and they shall teach no more every man to his neighbor, saying:  Know the Lord; for they shall all know Me, from the greatest of them to the least of them.”

When the children of Israel receive complete knowledge, the fountains of intelligence and knowledge will flow beyond the boundaries of Israel and water all the nations of the world, as it is written, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord…. And shall come unto the Lord and to His goodness.”

That is why The Zohar says: “Because of this Book, the sons of Israel will be redeemed from exile.” Only through the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah to the masses will we be granted a complete redemption. As the sages said, “the Light of this book Reforms.” Only The Zohar contains the Light that enables a person to return to his Source.

Therefore it is our obligation to first disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah to the masses so as to become worthy of the arrival of the Messiah. The dissemination of Kabbalah and the appearance of the Messiah are interconnected. This is why we have to open schools and write books in order to accelerate propagation of this wisdom among the masses.

The Creator’s actions are laws of nature and cannot be changed. According to our sages, “If they do not attain it on their own, suffering will help them,” and whatever reason doesn’t do, time will. In other words, the path of suffering helps us to detach ourselves from our egoistic behavior and climb the ladder of perfection.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Everything Depends On The Dissemination Of Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: The Spiritual Calculation Is For The United Whole
Video: Why Disseminate Kabbalah? – 5 Minutes Of Light (5:06)

Filed under: Kabbalah Dissemination - No Comments →