The Zohar, "Introduction of The Zohar," Chapter "BeLaila de Kala (On the Night of the Bride)”: …through the deficiency of the light, which is the night—which includes all the Dinim and torments, which are opposite to the quality of day, Hesed—there is fear of Him. Were it not for the fear, the measure of day and morning would not appear.

Our first correction is fear. I am afraid of receiving the Light directly into my desire. I am cautious; I tremble and fear that I won’t be able to hold back and will "open the door" to the pleasures that come through in the Light.

Like a guest who refuses a feast, I lock all the locks, fearing the possibility of receiving these pleasures not for the sake of bestowal.

The first phase of correcting my desire is to keep it back from directly receiving the Light. This is called "return from fear."

This is the first quality that I have to acquire, the fear that all of my actions would be only for the sake of bestowal.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, The Zohar

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Question: Why do the descents make a much bigger impression in our sensations than the ascents?

Answer: It’s because we are egoists. We were created out of the will to enjoy, which experiences pleasure or suffering. There is no middle between them, and therefore even when I am in a neutral state where both pleasure and suffering are absent, I feel bad. I lack pleasure. I always demand a positive; zero is not enough for me.

That is why a person is dissatisfied. He has a home, a job, and plenty of food, but something is still missing. Either the grass is greener on his neighbor’s side, or life is devoid of meaning.

Our egoistic desire is not satisfied with what it has. As a result we suffer from the lack of an addition, and this addition must definitely grow as our egoism grows.

Besides, our source is the Creator, who created us. He is the only, single, and irreplaceable one, and every one of us feels the same way. So where can we find fulfillment for someone who is so unique?

That’s why it turns out that we never find satisfaction, not through pleasure, nor through the right self-realization. That is the nature of egoism. The smallest descent is enough for all of our heroism to vanish into thin air. We would agree to anything just to avoid feeling empty inside!

The desire for pleasure depends entirely on the Light. As long as it receives Light, it is full of energy, even though it doesn’t understand where that energy comes from. But as soon as the Light grows slightly distant, you feel helpless and would agree to anything in order to correct the situation in some way.

Look at the world: there’s terrorism, murder, theft, and lies. It would seem that if you gave every person what he wanted, no one would do anything bad. So who’s to blame? It’s the Creator, who does not reveal Himself and thereby evokes bad things. All that remains is to make the right conclusions from the above.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, Introduction to the Book of Zohar

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What is the end of correction for which we are striving? It is a special and constant state that the Creator has initially created.

We exist in this state even now; nothing else was created, only the World of Infinity. However, in order for us to perceive and realize that we exist in this state, the Creator has prepared an exit from this state into the sensation of “this world” and the consequent return to it.

The path downward is referred to as the descent of the worlds, which has also translated into the breaking of the Kelim (vessels) and the formation of the 125 spiritual degrees. All of this is the preparation which manifests for us from Above downward, and then we return home.

Initially, each one of us is a point (like a drop of semen) in the World of Infinity. In our world, each one of us is also a point. Simply, this point has become egoistic (an egoistic aspiration to the Creator, to the meaning of life) during the descent from Above downward, and it has become overgrown with egoism (the desires for this world).

We return to Malchut of the World of Infinity through five worlds of ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya) and Adam Kadmon. As we ascend, we grow in our desire for the Creator, the property of bestowal, and we acquire independence.

As a result, everyone becomes Infinity (with regard to size and quality). Then, unlike before, everyone’s Infinity becomes filled with the Light of NRNHY (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida) instead of the previous Light of Nefesh.

In this world, one has a spiritual Reshimo (spiritual gene, reminiscence), similar to the drop of semen which contains full information about the body and the entire process of its development. The point of Reshimo, too, contains all the information about one’s spiritual path and the way he will see the World of Infinity in his perception.

However, everything is predetermined. As I realize my Reshimo and push it to develop, I acquire the sensation of independence. Now I consciously exist, feel, and make conscious decisions. I acquire my spiritual “I” which develops from the Reshimo just like a grown, independent human being forms out of a drop of semen in our world.

We have one point and, with regard to volume, it needs to develop infinitely. Every person must become like the Creator. At the same time, every person ascends to their World of Infinity, and then all the infinities unite.

To find out what this process depends on, read the post, “You Must Be Ready For Me!”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/10, Rabash, Letter #40

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Question (from a woman): We have been talking about the fact that we have to ask for everything only from the Creator. But what should I do if I am shy? Or maybe I am not even worthy of asking Him for anything?

Answer: I would advise you not to ask, but to demand. And women know how to do this very well. 🙂

On a more serious tone, if we are ashamed to ask the Creator, it means we feel that we are still distant from Him, that we don’t have anything in common with Him.

Men often feel proud at first and behave like little roosters: "Why would I ask Him for anything? What should I ask Him for?" So on one hand, there is shame, and on the other – pride. Yet, both of these sensations will gradually pass. If a person becomes included in the group, it happens very quickly.

I would advise you to be more insolent. 🙂 The Creator likes it when a person says, "I deserve this. You have to help me!"
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From the lesson on the article "There Is None Else Besides Him" on 11/12/10

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Question: How can we find the strength to advance because as time goes by we feel greater opposition and less strength?

Answer: That is wonderful! If you feel less and less energy, it is help from Above so you wouldn’t think that you can do anything at all. If you feel greater opposition, this is also help from Above so you would see that you will never be able to break through on your own.

This is help! Pharaoh, the Egyptian King, the ego, the evil inclination, is opposite to the Creator – the reverse side of Him. The Creator deliberately creates this image for you. Your entire nature, your egoism, is a reverse mold of the Creator. The Creator inserts Himself inside you and acts in a way that stops you. He does everything! There is none else besides Him.

When we say that “There is none else besides Him,” this does not mean that I exist and someone else exists opposite me. I also don’t exist! All the forces inside me that act for and against, that are good and evil, are all Him. And who am I? I am the point of discernment. I only discern what is for and what is against. From His two forms I discern with whom I desire to be.

The Creator is an actor that plays all the roles; he alternatively clothes into good and then into evil. It is how you play with a small child in different ways so he would learn to differentiate one thing from the other and understand what he should be like. He will learn about good only to the degree he attains evil.

Therefore, if you feel heaviness now, it’s the Creator who makes it happen. If you feel that you cannot do anything on your own, He gives you this sensation. Why? So you would turn to Him.

If I want to teach a small child that he has to turn to me for help, then I deliberately act in a way that prevents him from accomplishing something in order that he will need me. That is how we act in the relationships between us.

Suppose I want you to become my friend and to respect me. In that case I do something behind your back so you would feel that even though you do not desire it, you will not succeed without having a connection with me. You suddenly understand that I am great, that you have to respect me and ask me, and now you know that I am great and you depend on me. I have arranged your life so you are left with no other choice but to come to me and ask for it.

That is what the Creator does to us. Of course, He is not motivated by the egoistic intention to trick us, but the desire to teach us and raise us to His level, the best state, since He is called “Good who Does Good.” However, He acts precisely in this way, creating all kinds of misfortunes, problems, messes, and confusion constantly in the world, in all areas of life and in all the worlds so as a result you would desire to come to Him, to ask for help and this way to come closer to Him.

Then you will desire to become the same as Him. When you look at someone who is great, wise, or powerful, you desire to become the same. It’s not enough for you to just receive from Him; you want to be in His place. This is exactly what the Creator does to us.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, The Zohar

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My new book in Russian titled The Point in the Heart (gift edition) has been released. The book is comprised of the best of the blog’s material and is a wonderful gift for everyone whom you want to introduce to the wisdom of Kabbalah.

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Opposition of the Study of the Wisdom of Kabbalah

I see that the primary reason for the lack of success in everything being done to strengthen Judaism [revelation of the Creator] and Israel’s status everywhere, is that the Divine Light [for correcting their nature] has been neglected, completely abandoned by heart and mind. Everyone is now turning to correct simple ultra-orthodoxy [traditions called “commandments”] alone, as if the world could be revived in a body with no soul [without the intention to bestow and love one’s neighbor].
– Rav Kook, Letters 1, 160-161

Woe unto them that make the spirit of Messiah [the power of correction of our egoism] leave and depart from the world, and cannot return to the world. They are the ones [because of their attitude to Kabbalah] that make the Torah dry [by talking only about mechanical actions], without any moisture of comprehension and reason [without any understanding of the purpose of creation and the role of a human being in this world]. They confine themselves to the practical part of the Torah [observation of rituals], and do not wish to try to understand the wisdom of Kabbalah, to know and to understand the secrets of the Torah and the flavor of Mitzva [the essence of which is correction of human egoism]. Woe unto them, for with these actions [detachment from Kabbalah] they bring about the existence of poverty, ruin, and robbery, looting, killing, and destructions in the world.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 70
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What is the source of joy? If we are speaking of egoistic joy, its foundation is receiving fulfillment. A child is happy when you give something to him, and he cries when you take it away. A more developed person experiences joy from good or bad actions. I stole and didn’t get caught so I am happy, or perhaps I did something good for another and enjoyed it.

Everything depends on what pleases a person. But joy is always triggered by the fact that we fulfill our egoistic desires. Our basic needs are food, family, wealth, power, and knowledge. Yet the problem lies in our inability to fulfill ourselves through them.

The Upper Light, the pleasure that wishes to fill our desire, is a plus and the desire is a minus. When the plus meets the minus, a short circuit occurs, meaning that as soon as I touch the pleasure, it disappears.

But there is another form of receiving pleasure, and we find an example of it in electronics. Instead of “shorting-out” the plus and the minus directly or receiving pleasure into my desire, I create a resistor between them, a resistance screen. Connecting the plus and the minus, desire and pleasure, through resistance is now possible without annulling either of them, and it can bring a positive result. Therein, we experience life.

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride),” Item 128
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “Tzav (Command),” Item 1
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Baal HaSulam, “Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Lesson 18
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose,” Lesson 3
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