Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. Commentaries in brackets are mine.

…all the worlds, Upper and lower and everything within them, were created only for man [to attain complete equivalence to the Creator]. This is so because all these degrees and worlds came only to complement the souls in the measure of Dvekut [equivalence in properties of love and bestowal] that they lacked with respect to the Thought of Creation [as the Creator said: I have created the evil inclination in man].

In the beginning, they were restricted and hung down degree-by-degree and world after world, down to our material [egoistic] world, to bring the soul into a body of this world, which is entirely to receive and not to bestow [the desire to receive with the intention for oneself. The desire to receive with the intention to bestow is considered to be bestowal. It follows that the intention determines the nature of the action or desire], like animals and beasts. It is written, “A wild ass’s colt is born a man.” This [the desire to receive with the intention to receive] is considered the complete will to receive, which has nothing in the form of bestowal. In that state, a man is regarded as the complete opposite of Him, and there is no greater remoteness than that.

Afterward, through the soul that clothes within one, he engages in Torah and Mitzvot. Gradually and slowly, from below Upwards, he obtains the same form [intention] of bestowal as his Maker, through all the discernments that hung down from Above downwards, which are but degrees and measures in the form of the desire to bestow.

Each Higher degree means that it is farther from the will to receive and closer to being only to bestow. In the end, one is awarded being entirely to bestow and to not receive anything for himself [after one corrects all the intentions on all of one’s desires]. At that time, one is completed with true Dvekut with Him, for this is the only reason why man was created. Thus, all the worlds and everything in them were created only for man.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 9

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Growing Up In Spirituality
Kabbalah Moments: “Upper And Lower”
ARIfilms: “The Intention Behind the Action”

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - 1 Comment →

The Creator Is Absolute Good
Questions about the post “Kabbalists On The Purpose of Creation, Part 1”

Question: Quote: "And because He has no will to receive, He is fundamentally devoid of a desire to harm anyone; it is as simple as that." Is the will to receive causing all of our problems? Aren’t we created to be receivers and won’t we remain this way since there is no Giver without receivers? How do we dispose of these contradictions so that the will to receive would give no reason to inflict harm on anyone?

My Answer: We need to correct the egoism to its opposite and continue to receive but to receive for the sake of bestowal.

Question: Quote: "Furthermore, it is completely agreeable to our mind as the first concept, that He possesses a desire to bestow goodness upon others, meaning to His creatures." It is impossible to agree with this since many do not have this kind of perception. We can only suppose that it is so. Baal HaSulam says that we should "accept it with our heart." How do we do this practically?

My Answer: We need to engage practically in correcting ourselves so as to become similar to the Creator. We do this through studying Kabbalah systematically and by engaging in the group. No one is suggesting that you should agree with it; Baal HaSulam suggests that you reveal this.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Preface to the Science of Kabbalah (“Pticha”) – Item 1
Laitman.com Post: The Kind Healer Of Hearts
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is A Patent For Infinite Pleasure
Spiritual Search: "Our Desire to Receive is Equal to the Creator’s Altruism"

Filed under: Q&A - No Comments →

A question I received: Why is it written that ascension from one spiritual step onto the next one takes place through the thickening (Aviut) of the screen since Aviut is a characteristic of the vessel (Kli) and not the screen?

My Answer: The screen is the spiritual vessel. After the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph), the will to receive cannot serve as a vessel. The spiritual vessel, the Kli, is that which I can pay with.

If I come into a restaurant and say I am hungry, they won’t look at my desire to eat; they will be looking at how much money I have, in other words, at my screen. This means I will be measured by what the thickness (Aviut) of my screen is, or what my ability to receive in order to bestow is, what my power of intention is, and what amount of my former egoistic desire I am able to attach to my anti-egoistic screen and to the intention to bestow.

With a screen that doesn’t have any thickness, nothing can be received; it is merely a restriction. A restriction is a screen with a zero thickness which means that I don’t wish to receive anything for myself and I don’t know how to receive in order to bestow.

How much can I receive to bestow? I can receive the amount that equals the thickness of my screen. If the power of my screen is 20 grams, I will be allowed to receive exactly this amount in order to bestow. Both actions must unite in the screen, as the reception and so the bestowal. When they are united, it will be for the sake of bestowal.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/10, Article “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Adding "Money" To The Desire
5 Minutes Of Light: "How To Attain The Quality Of Bestowal"
Kabbalah Moments: "Thickness Becomes Revealed"

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, My Similarity to the Creator - 1 Comment →

The Zohar, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out),” Item 88: It is written, “A Psalm of David, when he fled.” He said the psalm while fleeing because previously he thought that the Creator would punish him for his sins in the next world. And when he saw that He wished to avenge him here in this world, he was happy and said a psalm.

“This world” and “the next world” are two spiritual degrees because we exist in the Upper Light and see our qualities around us against this Light. This determines the reality we perceive.

Consequently, any state we experience is a state of concealment of the Upper Light which hides from us behind our egoistic qualities. It is revealed only to the extent that our qualities become similar to it. It follows that each of our states is called a “world,” (Hebrew “Olam” from the word “Olama” or concealment), that is a measure of concealment that we attain.

Therefore, “this world” and “the next world” are two degrees. One is what I feel and observe at this moment or what I can verify, investigate, and study. The other is a state to which I aspire, a measure of concealment that I want to reveal and attain. That is what the Kabbalists refer to as my next world.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Can I Influence My Own States?
ARIfilms: "Kabbalah and Our Perception of Reality"
Kabbalah Moments: "Concealment"

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, My Similarity to the Creator, Perception, Zohar - 1 Comment →

The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Balak,” Selected Excerpts
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Torah, Zohar - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. Commentaries in brackets are mine.

It is known that the meaning [essence] of the souls of the children of Israel [those who aspire to the Creator, regardless of corporeal origin] is that they are a part of God Above [the property of bestowal]. The soul cascaded [diminished its property of bestowal] by way of cause and consequence and descended degree-by-degree until it became suitable to come into this world and clothe the filthy [egoistic] corporeal [desire to receive everything] body.

By keeping the Torah [studying to draw the Light of correction] and observing its Mitzvot [creating the group through Arvut, a mutual guarantee, the condition to receive the Torah] it ascends degree-by-degree [in acquiring the quality of bestowal] until its stature is completed [all 613 egoistic desires are corrected], and it is fit to receive its reward from The Whole [the Creator, who is completely giving and loving]. This has been prepared for it in advance [in the Thought of Creation], meaning attaining the holy [holiness = bestowal and love above one’s own benefit] Torah by way of the Names of the Creator [His qualities, that is, similarity to Him], which are the 613 deposits.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, From the Mouth of a Sage”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalists On The Purpose Of Creation, Part 1
Laitman.com Post: The Body Is Transient, The Soul Is Not
Basic Concepts in Kabbalah: Chapter 2. “The Purpose of Kabbalah”

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - 1 Comment →

The Creator Is Absolute Good
Questions about the post "Kabbalists On The Purpose of Creation, Part 1"

Question: Right now I see the Creator as good that does good, even though I often scold  Him and believe that He is unfair to me and others. In the next moment, I can see Him negatively again. Is my ego painting this picture for me? How can I ask for MAN (prayer)?

My Answer: Study the articles of Rabash together with us. He is the only Kabbalist whose articles describe all the spiritual Laws in detail, as well as the states that a person goes through as he attains them.

Question: I quote: “The Creator is absolute goodness.” I want to feel the Creator, bestowal, all the time, but how do I feel it and to whom do I bestow? On the one hand, bestowal is absolute good, but on the other, it is simply a blind law. If we are desire, which is matter, and we must become similar to the Creator, what exactly are we supposed to become? By becoming similar to the Creator, we will turn into a different matter, a different substance, so what will we feel?

My Answer: You should know that there is no answer for this question. You will find your own answers through attainment. Answers to spiritual questions come only to the extent of your entrance into the spiritual quality of bestowal. This is possible only through a systematic and practical study of Kabbalah. All theorists will remain with their questions refuting Kabbalah disdainfully in an effort to justify themselves. All of your questions have already been answered on this site, so read up!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Muse of A Kabbalist
Kabbalah Moments: "Seeing Goodness"
5 Minutes Of Light: "What Is The Creator?"

Filed under: Q&A - No Comments →

Shamati #99 “He Did Not Say Wicked or Righteous”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 61
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out),” Item 132
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

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

A question I received: Who is our “Upper One” in spirituality?

My Answer: We don’t know that. We exist in the womb of the Upper One as a mere point, a droplet of semen, our spiritual Reshimo (record, gene). Beyond this Reshimo, we have nothing else!

In fact, our corporeal body, mind, and feelings have no relation to the spiritual world and cannot be seen there. In the spiritual world, there is only a womb of the Upper One (Malchut of Infinity) and us inside it. And each of us is a Reshimo (0/1, Shoresh Aviut/Aleph Hitlabshut) or in other words, a point in the heart.

Our task, as a point in the heart, is to try to cling to the wall of the spiritual womb! Beginning with the three days during which the semen is absorbed, the first problem for the embryo (us) is to attach itself to the wall of the womb. Attaching to the womb is establishing the very first contact with the Upper One.

In order to do this, we must annul ourselves before the Upper One. But where is this Upper One, this wall of the womb? What is it exactly? The Upper One is the Kabbalistic group, my environment! This is how the Upper One reveals the Creator for me.

Thus, there are the group and me, who adheres to it, despite all the obstacles. I accept the entire force of the group’s desire for bestowal, and I am willing and ready to take it all in through annulling myself before them.

When I attach myself to the group, my Aviut, which is the strength of my will to bestow, begins to grow and cause unpleasant sensations in me: disappointment, growth of egoism, and burdening of the heart. But I must go even deeper in, like a leech, clinging to the group which is the “wall of the womb.”

Then, between us, the first connection will appear, not through a point, but through the tube through which “blood” will start flowing into me. This connection, so far, is on the inanimate level (“Dam”- blood, from “Domem” – inanimate), but I will have already received spiritual sustenance from the Upper One.

All of this takes place through my connection with the group. There is no other “wall” through which I can enter the spiritual world!

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/10, Article “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”

Related Material:
Kabbalah Moments: “Spiritual Simulator”
Kabbalah Moments: “Annul Oneself Before The Group”
5 Minutes Of Light: “Growing The Desire For Spirituality”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →