Our world is situated below the central point of the whole universe, Malchut, directly beneath the end of the line of the Light extending from Infinity (Kav Ein Sof), which “touches and does not touch it.” In other words, it passes a tiny spark of Light to us so that we could somehow imagine the Light and exist. This spark is called “a thin candle” (Ner Dakik).

But, in fact, with respect to the spiritual world, this whole world that we currently feel does not exist! In the picture of the universe, this point is also spiritual rather than material as we imagine it now.

Furthermore, all the subsequent 125 degrees by which I ascend to the World of Infinity vanish after my ascent. However, they are not my illusion; they simply unify, rolling up like a carpet, and remain inside of me, similar to how a person’s whole childhood experience remains with him when he becomes an adult. One can remember his childhood, and therefore understands children.

How else would I be able to understand my two-year-old grandson? This is possible only because I was once a child myself. And although I don’t remember myself at two years old, a child’s state, the whole “Partzuf of two years old” is inside me. If I didn’t have this, I wouldn’t know how to approach a little child from the height of my 60 years of age. I would invite him to study The Zohar and would not realize what else he needs.

However, we are arranged this way from Above, like a computer that holds all of these programs. We operate on the basis of inherent data and images that we awaken and choose from our storage archives.

Yet the reality that appears before our eyes now is a complete illusion. After all, it is projected by our egoistic desire, while this egoistic desire itself is an illusion and doesn’t exist! There is no desire to enjoy for one’s own sake; it vanished during the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph)! And even prior to it, the egoistic intention was not real because as soon as it awoke, it was immediately restricted.

But in order to commit a transgression, you need to repeat it. The first time, you just feel the taste of the previously unknown pleasure. If during the second time you already consciously decide to go ahead with it, then it is called a sin.

Therefore, reception prior to Tzimtzum Aleph was not considered a transgression; as soon as the creature felt it, it immediately resisted it. In Kabbalah our "earth" indicates the desire to enjoy for one’s own sake (“Eretz” – earth comes from the word “Ratzon” – desire). So does the terrestrial globe exist or not? It is my desire that portrays the earth this way for me.

It doesn’t exist, but its picture exists in my desire. And since it is an egoistic desire, it doesn’t exist in the spiritual world! Therefore, this whole world is imaginary. It is given to me as an illusion so that I could begin to be born in spirituality on my own.

The Creator wants us to build ourselves exactly like Him. But where do we begin? We begin with a complete zero, just like the Creator began with “absence” (Yesh Mi Ain). In other words, I’m starting from scratch, with not being in the spiritual world.

Each new degree for me should begin here, in this imaginary world, outside of the spiritual one: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on, until the 125th degree. (Remember how before Rabbi Shimon rose to the final degree, he felt himself as Shimon from the market.) That is, every time we rise from “this earth,” this desire.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/5/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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Question: Why did the Creator set up such a cruel joke: There wasn’t a drop of rain for a very long time, which resulted in a horrible fire, but as soon as people put it out by making unfathomable efforts, the very next day a heavy rain came down that only interfered with agricultural work? If the Creator controls everything, why didn’t He send the rain sooner?

Answer: Along the same lines, you could ask: Why did He cause the fire to happen to us? After all, what would be the point of igniting a fire and then sending rain in order to put it out immediately? If I love someone, I won’t beat him up in order to then be nice to him.

Clearly, everything comes from the Creator. As soon as the airplanes put out the fire, the rain immediately began, and this happened on purpose in order to teach us something.

The Creator ignites the fire and He also puts it out, while we have to learn from this and draw conclusions. We are inside a system that is entirely governed by the Upper Light and nothing can come out from its power, as it is written, “The hearts of the ministers and kings are completely in the hands of the Creator.”

All of nature is the Creator, and there is no freedom of will there. Our freedom lies only in our attitude to what it happening.

If I adopt a different attitude, then will the fire happen or not? Your attitude will change your reality or the way you perceive it.

Instead of perceiving Upper Light that comes in the form of harshness (Gvurot), as a consuming fire, you will feel it as the warmth of love. This depends only on your attitude: Do you love it or hate it?

Imagine that the person you hate most in the world is now hugging you. You will turn to ice, horrified by this embrace. And now think of how different it would be if you were hugging a person you loved.

The only thing that comes to us from the Creator is love and Light, but we do not feel it and cannot accept it. From Above there is always Light coming to us, wishing to fill the common desire of the whole world and the entire universe overall. This Light methodically advances this desire to the goal, to equivalence of form with itself.

If the creation below organizes itself in the appropriate manner, then it will feel a good attitude from Above. And if it doesn’t, then it will feel the reverse.

Everything depends only on you! Nothing changes from Above. Even when we say that we can change something with our prayer, that we can raise MAN and receive a response from Above, MAD, which brings us Light and returns us to the Source and changes us, none of this affects the influence of the Upper Light in the slightest. The Light constantly comes to creation, leading it to the final goal.

All the changes take place only relative to our sensation. No matter what, the train is moving forward and nothing can stop it or slow it down.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/7/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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The only thing that can help the world against all disasters and problems is a stronger connection, cooperation, participation, and attention to each other. This is the part that the world can fulfill. And the people around the world who relate to “Isra-El” (“straight to the Creator”) have to add their intention to this. Our work is on the intention.

By connecting our intention, we will raise all these actions, all the common desires to the level of bestowal, back to the Creator. And then we’ll balance all these forces of nature that are falling upon us nowadays.

In reality, these forces are good: All disasters, fires, and hurricanes are nothing but a stronger Light coming to us. But we can’t receive it properly, and that’s why it leads to disaster. If the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) is not received inside the Light of Hassadim (Mercy), it turns into four plagues. The Light of Hochma without the Light of Hassadim is called a sword (knife).

The Creator always reveals a greater Light. He reveals Himself according to a special formula: He cannot and does not want to stop. He will not “wear our shoes” as He already has a complete program from the beginning to end of creation.

The first (initial) and third (end) states are already joined together and that’s why the program is working: The Light releases itself stronger and stronger with every moment. And according to this, if we don’t start working on greater similarity to Him all the time, disasters will continue.

They will be happening on all levels. First, they started on the still level; these are the blows that we see now. It’s like the first Egyptian plague, “blood.” And then just wait, all the other plagues will come: “frogs,” “lice,” and so on. Let’s hope that we won’t have to get to the last, the worst plague, “death of the first-born.”

The whole world has to connect and help each other, putting aside all the hostility and childish bickering. And those who have a “point in the heart” and are called “Israel” have to add to this their screen and Reflected Light, meaning the intention of bestowal.

And then everyone will unite together and achieve equivalence to nature, revealing the Creator for everyone! Each individual, according to his level and degree of participation, will discover the spiritual world.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/10, Special Talk on Tragedy in the North of Israel

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The Creator works only with His Light. The Light affects desires (Kelim, vessels) which, depending on their condition, feel better or worse according to their equivalence to the Light. This is what constitutes the law of equivalence of form.

The more I match the Light, the better I feel. The less I am similar to it, the worse I feel up to the point that I feel a blow. All of these are effects of the Upper Light. Even the darkness I experience is also the Light working on me, and it is only my opposite qualities that reveal Him to me as darkness. Instead of the Light (Ohr), I feel darkness (Orta).

However, the Creator possesses no darkness. Simply, when He adds a little bit of Light, we immediately feel bad. This is because in this Light, we uncover a greater desire, and that’s when darkness falls.

The Light stands against desire. In other words, with the help of the Light, enormous desires unfold in me. Somewhere across from them, in a place concealed from me, there lies enormous pleasures, and, yet, I suffer.

It may also manifest in health problems, lack of sustenance, bad mood, inner restlessness, and even in wanting to die, but it is all the effect of the Light. If the Light fills prepared desires (Kelim, vessels), it is experienced as pleasure since it fills them. If the Kelim are not ready, it is a blow.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/10, Baal HaSulam, Letter 52, 1928

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We need each other in order to overcome our ego and be truly able to bestow to the Creator. This is what He expects us to do. However, you will be able to delight the Creator only when you unite with the friends.

You will not succeed if alone because when you do it alone, it isn’t true bestowal. It won’t work. When you are alone, it doesn’t mean that you bestow; you deceive yourself.

The entire system is designed so that there is a certain filter on your path, and it doesn’t allow you to arrive at that sort of bestowal since it isn’t authentic.
[28286]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/10, Baal HaSulam, Letter 52, 1928

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Question: How do we distinguish spiritual properties from material ones, and how do these differences become apparent?

Answer: From early childhood and on, we have been developing properties of reception, that is, properties of absorption. We feel only what we can absorb into ourselves and for ourselves.

However, there is another phenomenon, another method of perception: effusion, outflow. We are not familiar with this property because it is not instilled in us from birth. But we have the starting point, and even if it is still absorption, its vector is bestowal rather than receiving.

In order to develop this property, we are given the wisdom of Kabbalah that tells us about the concealed part of reality. From there, we attract the abundance, giving that part of our desire a similar “external orientation.”

In other words, the Light develops the point in the heart, the only desire that will bring us to real bestowal. We don’t know what will grow from this seed, but its seedlings will be nothing like the fruit of absorption.

The intention to bestow is built on a different basis: A person begins to sense something that exists outside of himself as his own. It doesn’t become your possession as in our world, but rather, it is the “native” part of yourself. This is completely different from anything that we feel today.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/10, The Zohar, Introduction, Article “The Rose”

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As we read in The Book of Zohar, Introduction we should be more concerned with the intention, rather than with understanding the text. Our main concern should be to keep ourselves attuned properly. Why are we reading The Zohar? What happens to us meanwhile? What affects us? What do we wish to achieve as a result?

Only then do we turn to the text itself, trying to penetrate into its meaning. Only by “cleaning out” a place within ourselves will we achieve the needed effect. Otherwise, there will simply be no place for it to be revealed.

Question: How do we prepare this place?

Answer: We prepare it by rising above the obstacles. A person comes to a lesson on Kabbalah, to a “date” with The Book of Zohar, to a meeting with the friends with a whole heap of problems which seem coincidental to him, but there are no coincidences. There is none else besides the Creator.

Therefore, I need to perform the right calculation: I don’t understand what is happening, why it happens to me in particular or to us, and I still need to rise above everything only for the sake of unification with the friends. In this manner we prepare the foundation, create a place for future ascents; we form Malchut. This is written about in a different article from The Book Of Zohar, Introduction: “The Night Of The Bride.”

At the lesson, we are given an opportunity which is not present anywhere else. How important is it for me to reveal the Creator, to give Him pleasure? How important is it for me to rise above my egoism and unite with others in order to reveal Him? I constantly measure my goals according to their importance.

At the same time, I see that every time, I am given obstacles, and I need to step on the throat of my egoism in order to continue the path, staying in unification, on topic, and in direct closeness to the spiritual primary sources. This is a great work, and this is what is meant by “preparing a place” for the revelation of the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/10, The Zohar, Introduction, “The Rose”

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Question: From the very beginning of the lesson, I feel that I am battling myself in order to hold the intention, but I fail constantly. How can I hope to win this battle someday?

Answer: Since you’re asking me, I will tell you just one thing: If a person doesn’t connect himself to the group, the teacher, and the studies using every means possible, he will not survive. Only patience and perseverance can help… “Holding on with his teeth,” a person needs to determine his place and advance against his ego.

If you are here and you are constantly unhappy, wishing to escape every minute, and you still stay, be grateful at least for this. After all, this is already some kind of connection. It’s not important that you are “naked and deprived of everything,” as was written about King David. Nevertheless, you have some connection to the Torah.

Nothing can be done. We don’t understand to what extent we need to perform inner work. We cannot see this. A person constantly judges himself. He forgets that he is dealing with the Creator.

After all, the Creator gives you all this. He wishes to pull out all the stubbornness from you, all your pride, foolishness, and dumbness in the mind and in the heart. He pulls you in various directions, not leaving you alone even for a minute.

Allow Him to work on you. What can you do? How long will it go on? The more you can withstand, the faster He will carry out this work. However, if you are unable to stand it and every minute you scream, “Oh, no! Just not this!” He lessens His influence since He is proceeding along with you. It turns out that you advance very slowly.

Readiness to endure is everything. He reveals to you who you are to the extent that you have patience when you just don’t see this, but you are able to exert much effort to sort out all these things properly. What are they for? Why? From where? From Whom? What specifically do I do with them now?

If you truly invest all your strength into this, then you will advance. If not, you will continue to advance less. However, in any case, every one who exists within these boundaries advances. It takes years, but such is the path. Sometimes, it takes from 10 to 20 years, but so what? What is this compared to the universe that has existed for 15 billion years?

Your ancestor, a hundred thousand years ago, hunted for animals in order to find food for himself and throughout his whole brief life of 20 to 30 years didn’t think about revealing the spiritual world or the Creator. Just look at how many reincarnations you have already gone through and only now you have an opportunity to really realize them. All the previous incarnations are now reaching their realization.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/10, The Zohar

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Until you receive spiritual attainment, you should not accept the stories of Kabbalists as facts that do not require proof, but only as a condition for your own spiritual development. You cannot use their description as a spiritual law and act according to it because you are not on the level from which it was written.

Therefore, we need to accept it as hypotheses, assumptions that such laws indeed act in the spiritual world. However, they are not carried over into our material world, meaning your state and your world.

Even the words of sages are their attainments, their world. They know how to work there and not make mistakes. If you begin to implement the same principles in the work, you will use all these statements in the egoistic form that you understand, that is, for the sake of your egoism rather than for bestowal like they used them. For this reason, it will clothe into the most egoistic forms for you. Thus, it is forbidden to do this.

Every person should have his own “judge” who limits him and says, “You may act only in accordance with your own corrections.” It is forbidden to come out of the boundaries of your corrections even if you’ve read or heard about it.

However, who is reading this? You are! Who is hearing it? You are! It has already passed through you, and it has already warped in your egoistic perception. How do you know how correctly you understood everything? It’s likely that you understood incorrectly since everyone “judges according to his own Kelim (vessels),” and you perceive everything that was said by Kabbalists in your own defects.

Do you understand to what extent studying comes down only to the Light that Reforms even for Kabbalists and sages? If you don’t draw the Light that Reforms through the studies which changes you, giving you an opportunity to work in accordance with these changes, then you are not allowed to listen to any advice of the Torah. After all, if you use it above your correction, above your degree, it will be to your detriment.
[28099]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/10, "Body and Soul"

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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “Mother Lends Her Clothes to Her Daughter,” Item 16, Lesson 1 
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 17, Lesson 7
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Baal HaSulam, “Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Item 70
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress,” Lesson 2
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