It is known that the Creator created only the will to enjoy. This desire, "the body," develops and produces a mind or "head" within itself to help it attain what it desires. The entire mind or "head" works for the will to enjoy, the "body." If the desire or "body" needs something, then the mind or "head" begins acting in order to attain the desired thing. If the body does not need anything, then it is as if there is no mind or "head." Thus, the presence of the mind or "head" is defined by the size and level of desire.

When we study Talmud Eser Sefirot trying to understand it mentally, then we are trying to understand something that does not yet exist in our desire. That is because Talmud Eser Sefirot talks only about actions of bestowal, which are above our egoistic desires. That is why it is impossible to understand the meaning of spiritual actions; the head (the mind) can only think on the level of the bodily desires. It can only perceive whatever the desire understands. And if something is absent in the desire, then it is not present in the head as well. That is how material nature is built as well as the spiritual one. The body and head relate to one "Partzuf" or state.

Therefore, if you see a person who is very proficient at knowing the structure of the Upper Worlds, then either he is already in the spiritual world or he is studying it purely mechanically, not for the sake of correcting the desire. He may study and know a lot of theory, like the "Kabbalists" that Baal HaSulam once met in Jerusalem.

However, it is impossible for a person who came to correct his desire to understand the structure of the Upper World until the phenomenon he reads about in the book start to be revealed in his desire at least a little bit. With this initial revelation he will already have the ability to remember something, to talk about it, and to imagine it in some way.

Therefore, it is not a bad thing if a person studies for a long time and still does not know anything. In fact, this is a sign that he is advancing correctly. His desire and mind are connected together, and his mind works only to the degree he corrected his desire. This is the healthiest form of development.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/2/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Kabbalah TV Channel 66’s Kabbalah for Beginners, “Spiritual Worlds”
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Dear friends, I am starting to publish excerpts from my upcoming book, A Guide to The Book of Zohar.

Author’s Preface

Dear Reader,

If you are wondering why you need this book, read one page and it should tell you whether or not to continue. The science of Kabbalah and its main book, The Zohar, explain the reason and purpose for our existence, the program of spiritual advancement originally instilled in nature, as well as how to attain the purpose of life using the shortest and easiest path.

As described in The Book of Zohar, the Creator created a program of human development: to bring man to the state of the Creator. Why? Because this state is the best there is. But in order to lead man towards this state, it is not enough to fill him with pleasures or provide him with the knowledge of eternal and perfect life. It is also necessary for man to fully experience this state. For this, man needs to attain this perfect state of the Creator on his own. He has to learn how to separate pleasure and suffering from truth and lie by choosing the bitter truth over sweet deception.

It is not an easy path of development. We cover part of this path unconsciously in the course of multiple reincarnations. But our generation has reached the last stage of human development, and that is why we need to perceive the essence of life and to understand what is going on with us, where and why we live. These questions will gradually lead everyone to the wisdom of Kabbalah, just like they made you open this book right now. This is because after extensive search people will not be able to find a genuine answer, the revelation of the source of their existence, anywhere else.

This book describes the stages of your development, up until reaching complete similarity to the Creator. This process is inevitable and mandatory for everyone who lives on Earth. Whether you decide to close this book and continue to live as you did before, or you make an attempt to realize the usefulness of the wisdom of Kabbalah, it will define your future.

You will either live under stress caused by the circumstances of life, which will eventually force you to refer to Kabbalah anyway, or you will apply the effort to reveal the guiding hand of the Creator. In that case, you will discover the path, the purpose, and the reason for everything that happens; you will find out how to attain an existence similar to that of the Creator in an easy and pleasant way. Good luck!

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It is written: “I created the evil inclination and the Torah as a remedy for its correction for the Light in it Reforms.” On one hand, I collect my egoism, my evil; on the other, from the Creator, I take the force of bestowal, the Light. From these two components, I construct my new form called “man,” Adam, who is “similar” (from the Hebrew word “Domeh”) to the Creator. Inside this form resides my egoism; however, on the outside, it is equivalent to bestowal. In other words, I am reception on the inside and bestowal on the outside.

Therefore, my action is called “reception for the sake of bestowal,” and my work is in the three lines: right, left, and middle. The right and the left lines descend from Above, from the Creator, whereas the middle line ascends from below upward, from man to the Creator. The left line is represented by “I created the evil inclination,” the right line by “I have created the Torah as the remedy for its correction,” and the middle line by “for the Light in it Reforms.” Then, one becomes as good as the Creator. “I am good and do good, and so do you. Hence, you will be called ‘man,’ meaning ‘similar’ to the Creator.”

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, The Zohar

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Question: Suppose, I want to purchase a car. I will gather all the information about the model’s advantages and benefits, and I can easily understand all these facts. But if I want to reach bestowal in spirituality, it appears to be something fleeting and incomprehensible. Why is it so confusing and what should I do about this?

Answer: That is a fair complaint on the part of a beginner who has just embarked on the spiritual path: Why there is no simplicity or clarity in spirituality? Why don’t we see the future and its advantages?

In this world, at the time we apply to a university, it is normal to know when we will graduate, the kind of work we will find afterward, and how much we will earn. The examples of other people who have already completed the same path enable us to invest the effort required to achieve the same result. Why is it not the same in spirituality? Why is it so puzzling and never clear at the outset? Where are we going in the first place? If after a lesson someone on the street asks me “What did you get there?”, I will have nothing to say.

And yet, having no answers is a clear sign that we are close to revelation since this is the only way for us to uncover the concealed. We can only get it from the sensation of shortage and deficit. It comes to us out of absence of…I don’t even know what! The sensation of insufficiency is in and of itself preparation for revelation.

Therefore, this feeling of yours is very useful. It is not pleasant, but it is correct and happens right before revelation, which can only occur to us from the state when we ask: “Where is it? Why? What for?” That is, it occurs from emptiness. It will always be like that, at any level.

Don’t worry about the states we are going through. Most important is that they change quickly! We have to go through all of them anyway. That is why we don’t care much about our sensations at any given moment. The frequency of change we experience is what matters. Only that!

It does not matter if I feel good or bad, am confused, or understand more or less. What counts is moving forward. Those who scrutinize their inner conditions procrastinate; that is not good. Always strive ahead and don’t think too much. Rapid progress is what is important.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: If a few people create a group and connect with one another, how can they spread this sensation of connection to the entire world?

Answer: It is enough for me to reach the property of connection, bestowal, and love through my small group. When I turn to the big world after having obtained this property, I see it as unified. After all, if I can step out of myself toward one person, likewise I can step out toward all and to the Creator. A sensory organ for the external world (the screen and Ohr Hozer) appears in me. As a result, the world falls into the range of my vision.

Without it, I only detect things that correspond to my ego. I simply do not see whatever my egoism does not like or has no interest in. There are plenty of things in the world that I am not able to perceive. There is a formidable and extraordinary universe, the spiritual world, but I am blind to it. I simply do not have the necessary organ of perception. I do not feel the spiritual world. It just flows by me. It is here and now, but I am missing it all!

I have to acquire a new sensory organ: a feeling of love and bestowal. Then, I will feel the bestowal and love that permeate the world. This is what is called the Creator. When I receive such sensations, even the smallest one, to this degree, I will feel part of the spiritual reality. This will mean that I have risen to the first spiritual level. Then, I’ll expand my perception, obtain the ability to love and bestow more, and will feel more.

The greater my spiritual vessel, my instrument of perception, the more I feel the spiritual world. In this manner, I climb 125 spiritual degrees and gradually achieve the full sensation of the attribute of bestowal. Thereby I reach the complete correction of my spiritual vessel and now I perceive the entire reality, all of the Creator, and all the force of bestowal and love there is. I feel this force, and it fills me. The Creator and I are now together. I now act with the newly obtained property, the new sensory organ.

Therefore, not having this property of love and bestowal, I cannot complain that I do not sense the spiritual reality which exists here and now. It is not concealed somewhere far away in a different place. I simply do not sense, discover, or see it. It is like I took my glasses off and lost the ability to discern objects: The whole world disappeared and doesn’t exist for me.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/25/10, Shamati #99

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Question: What is freedom and freedom from what? How do we achieve it if both the corporeal and the spiritual worlds are defined by rigid laws?

Answer: The only freedom that exists is freedom from our egoism. I want the Upper Light to descend, take me over, and replace my egoism. I perceive the power of egoism or altruism over me as necessary: It is either one or the other.

There are only two types of nature: the nature of the lower one (reception) and the nature of the Upper One (bestowal). Both are preset, and function in accordance with invariable laws. The only free action we are able to take is to rise from one nature (egoistic) to the other (altruistic). In other words, we can break free from the power of the laws of egoism (reception) and transcend to the “jurisdiction” of bestowal.

We will not be able to evaluate even our own initial nature until we acquire the second, altruistic nature. We are currently locked within a single dimension, and for as long as we remain in it, we cannot comprehend it.

Look how often we err! For thousands of years, we developed within our egoistic nature, and we still do not know it. This is because we are locked inside it, but in order to understand it, we need to have something opposite to compare it with.

If we possessed an opposite nature (that of bestowal), we would be able to compare it with our egoism and thereby comprehend what reception and bestowal mean. However, in our world, there is nothing but receiving. Whatever we do, we do it solely for our own sake and benefit. This is why we cannot understand our own actions and how this world operates.

You see that humankind continues making mistakes, and doesn’t know what further direction to take. And now that we have reached the peak of egoism, our complete inability to understand this world is obvious. This fact pushes us to the realization that none of us has a choice but to transcend our egoistic nature.

Moreover, in order to simply live well within the boundaries of our egoism, we need to step out of it and study it from above. It is impossible to learn about an object while remaining within its bounds. We have to be above it in order to be able to study it. Only if we rise above ourselves can we learn who we are and what the right way to live is, at least in this world. This is what today’s global crisis is pushing us toward.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/25/10, Shamati #99

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages of the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The comments within brackets are mine.

The Reality Contained in the Wisdom of Kabbalah

I have already written in several places that there is not a single word of our sages, not even in the prophetic wisdom of Kabbalah, that relies [exclusively] on theoretical bases [are based on reflection detached from matter]. This is because [everything comes only from one’s personal practical attainment based on sensation and one’s investigation].
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

The need for Kabbalah is great [in order to attain the purpose of creation which we will have to achieve willingly or not, as it is predetermined in the Thought of Creation] and hence, we must know it [for choosing a preferable path of correcting our egoism not by suffering but by the Light] as it is said: “Know today and bring into your heart that the Lord is the Creator of all.” [That is, put the Creator, the property of bestowal and love, into your heart, your desires]. Meaning we should know [attain by ourselves practically] not just through faith [speculatively, theoretically], but through notions aligned with the heart [desires].
– Ramchal, The Book, The Wars of Moses, pg.1, Item 1

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “The Matter of Truth and Faith”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Lech-Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 281
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 15, Item 6, Lesson 5
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 5, Lesson 5
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Question: Is a person’s soul connected to his body like a spiritual root and its branch?

Answer: The soul is not connected to the body. The soul contains 613 desires which I have to correct with the help of 613 Lights. These desires are not connected to our world in any way and they are not present in a regular person.

They surface only in those who study Kabbalah with the intention to create a connection among the students based on bestowal and love, meaning to correct the breaking of the single soul of Adam into parts, into separate souls. These uncorrected desires or mutual hate do not emerge in those who do not study Kabbalah and therefore they have nothing to correct.

The correction takes place in two phases:

1. Not using the 613 desires. This is called carrying out the "613 recommendations of the Torah (Eitin).

2. Reception inside the 613 desires for the sake of bestowal. This is called carrying out "613 instructions of the Torah" (Pkudin).

The desires that were corrupted and became egoistic have the intention "for one’s own sake.” When they are corrected, they acquire the intention of being used "for the sake of others." These desires are the fulfillment of a commandment, since the Creator commanded us "to correct our souls."

This is a spiritual action that does not depend on the physical body. A person may have no arms and legs, or may even lack the whole body, but he can still carry out these actions. The correction of one’s desires is in no way connected to physical flesh. One’s presence in the spiritual world is not connected to this world.

Everything is felt inside the desire. Matter is desire. The sensation inside the lowest desire creates the picture of our world for us or the reality in which we live. The lowest level, called "this world," is impossible to correct. It is the still level which is not subject to correction.

However, besides the still level of desire called "this world," I also receive a small desire of the next level, a "point" of the higher level which is in no way connected to the material level. This desire is called a "point" because in it I perceive only an aspiration to something beyond this world. I can develop it by drawing Light that will connect it to the points of other people, or stated differently, it will connect my soul with other souls. Inside the connection that emerges, I will begin to feel the spiritual world.

When more points connect to my point, then a system emerges and the Light brings it to life. Then all the participants feel life!

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/1/10, “The Matter of Root and Branch”

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