A question I received: Why is the spiritual system so complicated:  The creature asks for one thing and receives something entirely different?

My Answer: First of all, this is incorrect. The Creator and the creature can understand each other, work together, and have no disagreement provided they become partners. Then the creature receives what it asks for: The Creator knows in advance what the creature will ask for, gives it all that it needs, and there are no problems.

A problem arises only when the creature is not asking according to the order of the degrees, meaning it is asking for the sake of self-gratification. Then the creature naturally receives a burdening of the heart and suffering, in order for it to see that its state is not good and the aim is incorrect.

Therefore, it is only by incorrect communication between the creature and the Creator that makes it seem to the creature that the Creator doesn’t understand it, doesn’t do for it what is needed. With the incorrect aim, the creature presents numerous claims to the Creator: “So where is everything that I’m entitled to, why are you not correcting me, why are you not filling me?” However, as soon as the creature acquires the connection with the Creator, it knows exactly what portion of Light it is receiving, why, where to work by means of faith above reason, where by means of personal strength, and so on.

The Creator is interested in our getting to know Him and walking along His side. But where are we in communication with the Creator? In faith above reason. The creature desires to be in communication with the Creator under the Machsom, within the desire to receive, but the Creator tells him: “No, rise up to Bina, attain the qualities of bestowal. There we will understand each other, there you will have no problems with me!”

It is written, “The Creator created man to be direct, but people invent numerous calculations.” Numerous calculations are within the desire to enjoy, because there are a huge amount of all kinds of desires. However, if we cover all these desires with only an intention to bestow, then there are no longer numerous calculations. There is only one calculation, one destination.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/10, The Zohar

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My new book The Point in the Heart was just published in English. The book is a compilation of specially selected excerpts from my daily writings published on Laitman.com. The selections are pointed toward touching the hearts and souls of all those who read it whether they are current students or new to Kabbalah. It is a great introduction for beginners or those curious about Kabbalah. The Point in the Heart is truly a source of delight for everyone’s soul.

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A question I received: What does it mean that the Upper One supplies me with the Light of Hassadim, the properties of bestowal?

My Answer: It means that instead of problems, suffering, darkness, and evil, I begin to perceive goodness, light, abundance, love, kindness, and mercy. Why has it changed? It is because my perception and my desires are beginning to change. My desires become corrected, and suddenly I see the very same darkness as goodness. I understand that bestowal is good. It isn’t darkness, but quite the opposite. It’s a new life that I hadn’t previously known. I perceived it as death, but it turns out to be the land of real life.

This happens to a person who unites with the others and wishes to connect to them, who does everything he can, but discovers that it’s not within his power. So, he asks the Creator to work with him and help him annul himself before the group. Thus, the Creator becomes his partner and all three unite: the person, the Creator, and the group. A person can’t enter the society without the Creator. He must invite the Creator to participate.

When I prepare my desires this way, I suddenly feel that bestowal is not darkness but life. The Light works on me so that subconsciously I begin to avoid reception and to value bestowal. My attitude to the others suddenly changes.

It seems to me as though this intrinsic change occurs in me on its own. I don’t yet understand how the Light has effected this change in me. First, I start to appreciate and honor this quality of bestowal from afar, as it were. However, soon, I desire it and yearn for it so much I simply crave it, and the Light grants my demand and reforms me.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/10, "Preface to the Sulam Commentary"

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A “friend” is not just any person; he is a companion who stands opposite me. I gradually acquire love for him in order to reach love of the Creator. This formula is rigid and doesn’t change. First I appeal to the Creator, and in order to connect to Him, I have to unite with my friends.

I labor in love of friends because that is the necessary condition for attaining love of the Creator. A friend and the Creator are linked because with respect to my desire to receive pleasure, they are equal. The Creator and my friend are equally distant from me, and I relate to them in the same way.

The Creator is pure bestowal. I hate my friend as much as I hate bestowal, and therefore, I reject them both. If I don’t achieve this attitude and view my friend and the Creator in the same way, then I can’t work properly. It is similar to aligning one’s eye to aim at a target. If my aim is more toward the Creator, or more toward my friend, then it is no longer precise. I must aim precisely at the target, so that he who aspires for the Creator (Isra-El – straight to the Creator) and the Creator (the Light of correction) merge into a single whole.

A Kabbalistic group is a spiritual vessel, a system of souls, while the Creator is the One who fills it. The vessel becomes just like the Light. Then I realize that it is one and the same since there is no Light without a vessel (Kli).

Everything merges into one. The group becomes the model of the Creator for me. In my attitude toward them, I learn how to relate to Him, whether to love or to hate him. Certainly the only way to relate to the Creator is with bestowal. So, I am presented with the group to test how much I can bestow. My ego is what creates the distance, the disparity of form between the Creator and the group. If it weren’t for my ego, then there would be no difference between them.

So why do I feel a difference now? It is only because I receive pleasure from the Creator and nothing from the group. That is the only difference.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/10, Article, “What does ‘Love Thyself as Thy Friend’ Give Us?”

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Shamati #16 “What is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 373
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Тhe Zohar is written for people who wish to attain the purpose of creation and yearn for the Light that brings them back to the Source. Without the Light, it’s impossible to correct our desires and unveil the Creator in them. This is why The Zohar, like the entire Torah, can either be the “elixir of life,” or a “deadly poison.”

One has to check his intention before approaching The Zohar and the Torah, in general. If with the help of studying he wishes to attain the Light that Reforms, the Torah becomes an elixir of life for him, as it is written: “I created the evil inclination and handed down the Torah for its correction, because the Light in it Reforms.”

If, however, a person isn’t yearning to bestow, meaning return to the Source, but studies The Zohar motivated by his will to receive pleasure and be filled; if he is pursuing other objectives (which is called “idolatry”), then, his studying turns into a “deadly poison” and distances a person from the purpose of creation.

Therefore, we must be cautious and remember that during our studies, especially while reading The Zohar, we are preparing our desires for the Creator. We want Him to give our desires the strength to bestow and as a result, to reveal Himself in these forces of bestowal.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/10, The Zohar

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Rav Baruch Ashlag, Article “Love of Friends“
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 364
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A question I received: When a spiritual descent comes, I can immediately understand that I have to go through it and submerge myself in it, can I?

My Answer: You are yearning for the corrected state, and only then you fall. Otherwise, if you are trying your best to attain a good state, you won’t be able to discover your egoistical downfall.

A downfall is not an error on the path, but uncovering in oneself an additional new egoism. It is as if you picked up a barbell, gathered all your strength to lift it; lifted 200 pounds; and suddenly it fell! What happened? You suddenly realized that they had added another 2 weights to it, 10 pounds each. This why you faltered and fell; you felt their heaviness.

Now that you experienced the additional weight, you know what you need the strength to overcome. This analogy in spirituality translates to your knowing what you need to rise above, knowing what to ask the force of correction for. You fell with the weight of these added desires, the additional 20 pounds. You felt the weight and heaviness of the additional desires that were revealed to you that opposed your will. Now, you have these new Kelim (spiritual vessels, instruments). If you now ask for additional strength for them, you will be able to lift the 240 pounds.

This means you will not be able to receive the burdening of the heart until you succeed! Only when you succeed, can you receive additional egoistic desire. Of course you will fall. This, however, is a sign of your success! Now you have managed to receive additional strength for correction.

You might ask: So, when do I succeed if every time I get up I am immediately thrown right back down? Why not let me spend a little time enjoying my achievements? Why don’t I receive the medal I deserve? Then I can continue. That isn’t possible. This is done on purpose, so that you learn to enjoy the work itself and see a reward in the fact that you were given a chance to give a little more.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 5/26/10

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The Light acts on our will that is similar to Him. This measure of congruence of the will to the Light is called faith. If I read Kabbalistic sources with a purely egoistical desire and purpose, they will not affect me.

The point in the heart is a broken point; it draws a person to spirituality but only because he feels bad. He isn’t yearning, yet, for the “Good that does Good,” for bestowal and love. So far, he merely isn’t satisfied with earthly life: The future is dark and life has no purpose. These simply provide an egoistic motivation for seeking spirituality. But the Light cannot affect such desire even from afar. It acts on the will according to the measure of faith in it, that is, it acts only on one’s yearning for bestowal.

Faith is tested by a person’s devotion to the path and purpose. One must check the purity of his intention to attain the quality of bestowal. Faith itself, the attribute of bestowal, is received from Above as a reward for efforts made. When one is deserving, then the “night” will end and he will see “the light of day.”

If a person uses Torah for his own egoistical fulfillment, it becomes the potion of death for him. This means he is not only “spiritually dead,” but also he is “drugged” by death because he thinks that it is spiritual life! He raises his egoism even higher and cannot believe that he is living in deception.

Exit into the truth: If we do everything together, if everyone receives from all others such forces that one can easily demand the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) to act on him, then the path becomes a wonderful adventure. Just cling on to each other!

If you stay alone, there immediately grows a wall before you. If you unite with the others in order to walk together, the wall immediately falls and spreads itself into a wide highway. There is either a wall or the highway. The choice is to be among friends each moment or not. Everything is done by the Upper Light; we must obey only this one condition.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/10, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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