The essence of the method is to awaken yourself to move as quickly as possible, to take the force of development into your hands and control it. That’s why I organize the environment made up of people like me, in order for it to influence me and give me additional power. That is, everything depends on my impression from the environment—this is the measure of my ability to advance.

But I exist in a system of forces and have to know how to get from it the best and most effective influence in order to not harm myself and the environment. Indeed, the harm inflicted upon the environment will return back to me. In this influence there is a force called “the evil eye,” meaning an uncorrected human egoism not covered by a screen, which a person can set in motion unknowingly. Or the person may even be aware of these actions but can’t help it.

If a person sees that someone is more successful than he, he becomes jealous, whether he likes it or not. This can be good, productive jealousy, pushing the person towards development. That is, it could be “the good eye,” when I envy someone and try to advance too. Or it can be “the evil eye,” when I am so jealous I want to kill him because he is greater than me and this poisons my spirit.

There is a joke about this: “Are you making a revolution so that there aren’t any rich people? We were dreaming of a world without the poor….” Which state you desire makes the whole difference: that there are no rich or no poor? With what eye are you looking?

It’s the same in spiritual work: When you’re looking at a friend who is greater than you, do you want to bring him down or to advance yourself?
[44024]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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In Kabbalah, we talk about a person’s inner work. One needs to go deeper inside himself and, there, build images of the friends, the group, himself, his inner world, and his impression of spirituality, paying no attention to external impressions which may even be opposite.

The impressions one receives from the external environment may not be true because these are feelings that result from the states (Reshimot, informational records) awakening in him. One can’t rely on these impressions. Rather, one must rely on the images that he has built within himself of the friends, the group, himself, the Creator, and the connection between us.

I don’t rely much on what I feel today and see around me. After all, who sees this? I myself see, and I’m entirely in deception. So, it makes no difference what I see now. I have to build inside myself a model of the future world where we are all connected by mutual love and bestowal, inside of which we reveal the Creator as if in Divinity (Shechina).

[44027]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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There is a strict ban: You should never talk about the inner states in which you exist. After all, many of your friends still do not have the anti-egoistic screen, and they can harm you with their envy, hatred, and pride even without wishing to do so.

They seemingly do not want to harm you, but the lack of their inner correction forces them to do that if they see that you are above them and have more inspiration, if you achieved more connection and came closer to the goal. The one who has not yet reached correction cannot tolerate this and will harm you.

If you start sharing your personal sensations, you trigger the fire upon yourself. It is written that 99% of all failures happen due to the “evil eye.” This is not some mystical superstition that people believe in, but rather the normal envy of someone towards you.

As a matter of fact, we exist in the system of forces and connected desires. The one who envies you diminishes your power. Instead of love and connection, he passes a negative force to you.

If this just happens in the outside world, there is nothing we can do about it because the world is still uncorrected. However, if this happens with a friend within a group, and in addition, you are at fault for provoking such a reaction, it turns out that you harmed both him and yourself. You are the one who caused this “evil eye,” and it is not your friend’s fault because he still has not reached correction.

The system of laws force us to act this way. The forces of envy, hatred, pride, thirst for power and glory stand opposite to the positive forces of love and bestowal. In order to allow the positive forces to act within us, we have to be modest.

Kabbalists explain how we should use all these forces so that they facilitate good, effective, and fast advancement.
[44030]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: You keep saying that you would like to see your students being more autonomous. How does this kind of independence tie with self-annulment before the teacher?

Answer: Independence is the ability to make correct decisions autonomously and to act correctly, feeling and knowing what I would do if you were me. As a matter of fact, it’s even easier to use this principle in a large society. After all, we need a huge system to manage it. And if everybody puts forth their best effort to see in the same direction as the spiritual leader does and starts seeking how they can contribute to the common cause, we can’t fail.

It’s impossible to manage each cell in the body from one brain center; it would be too complex. In an integral system, everybody manages everyone else. And each of us has to examine how his or her opinion matches the view of the rest, accept the society’s view above their own, and act accordingly. This is what it means “to love others as you love yourself.” I don’t do what seems best to me; instead, I do what is best for the other. I work to fulfill his or her desire. And that is the essence of adhesion, oneness.

There won’t be one man with one heart unless we accept the collective point of view above our own. And for most, it’s a huge problem, especially for those who are good organizers. They think that they know how to arrange and manage society, and they use only their brain.

And here there is a great danger in how they and the entire society will be progressing. In fact, it’s easy to switch to the direction opposite to the spiritual path. On the outside it will look like they succeeded on the material plane, but they will not advance spiritually.
[43939]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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

The Importance of the Intention during the Study

The Creator, who created the evil inclination, evidently knew to create the remedy liable to eradicate it altogether. And if one practices Torah and fails to remove the evil inclination from himself, it is either because he has been negligent in giving the necessary effort, as it is written, “I have not labored but found, do not believe,” or perhaps one did put in the necessary amount of labor, but has been negligent in the quality.

This means that while practicing the Torah, he did not set his mind and heart to draw the Light in the Torah, which brings faith [the property of bestowal] to one’s heart. Rather, he has been absent-minded about the demand for the Light that Reforms, although he initially aimed for it.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 18
[43361]

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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Bamidbar,” Selected Excerpts
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It’s the student’s job to seek how to cleave to the teacher. And it’s definitely not about worshiping and honoring him, but rather about taking his point of view. This is something totally different and relates to spirituality.

Yet, it is somewhat dangerous since you may think that you follow the teacher while, in fact, you listen to your ego instead. Therefore, you need to do an internal assessment: What is your opinion and that of the teacher, and how do you set and evaluate one against the other?

Then you scrutinize what you do and do not agree with it. And in the area where you clearly can’t agree with the teacher’s view, you happily grab this disagreement and start implementing it in your life. That’s what it means to accept the teacher’s point of view.

If you didn’t have something that differed with your opinion and which you had to suppress, it isn’t a real choice. You must be aware of what you are not in agreement with and what you would do differently!

If there aren’t these two versions, when you want to do something one way but are forced to do absolutely the opposite, there is no faith above reason. Only when you know for sure how the teacher would like you to act, but still wish to do the opposite, you receive a chance to act above your own reason.

After all, in order to come to equivalence of form, you have to know its opposite. Only then will you know for sure what this equivalence is like. In fact, the equivalence is always opposite to my form and goes against my perception. As for me, it’s as if while standing on my own opinion, at the same time I am above it. I am resisting myself and cultivate a new, higher mind within me.

There’s nothing we can do about this: This is the law of nature. The upper one stays on his rung and the lower on his. In order to ascend to a higher degree, you must accept the thought of the upper one by faith above reason. And of course you may think he is acting strangely and doesn’t understand it all. But does it really matter for your spiritual progress how well you understand what he does?

You don’t have any other chance to rise to the next degree other than with the help of the teacher, the upper one, whom the Creator has placed against you. And there is no room for any compromises or backstairs in it.
[43942]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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Question: What is the difference between the Thought of Creation and the Creator?

Answer: Everything we say is in reference to us. We do not know anything except for the things happening within our desire. And even when we reveal the existence of Light, “existence from existence,” which created desire, “existence from absence,” we also base this on desire which reveals to us what supposedly happened before us in this way. All our attainments come from the sensation of matter in our desire.

For this reason, when we speak of perception, a sensation within desire, we divide our entire perception into three components:

• the one who perceives (I am the perceiver),
• that which is being perceived (what I perceive from the Creator),
• who it is being perceived from (the source of the sensation, the Creator).

As I learn my ability to change the perception of the Creator whom I feel in terms of what He wants from a connection with me, I start having a connection with Him and change the relationship between us. How do I know what I am changing? It comes from my sensations. How do I know what He feels and how He reacts at the same time? This also comes from my sensations. Everything is based only on my sensations; I do not have any other qualities of perception. Everything exists only within desire.

This is why we say that HaVaYaH (the four letter name of the Creator, “Yod-Key-Vav-Key”) is the four stages of the development of desire. The revelation of the Creator within man (Creator or “Bo-Reh” refers to “come and see”) occurs only after that.

The worlds also exist only in our perception in the form of revelations or concealments (“world” or “Olam” comes from the word “Alama” or “concealment”). The ladder of spiritual degrees exists within man as well. The group, humanity, the entire reality, the world of Infinity, everything is within us.

But what do I attain through all of my efforts in wishing to learn who and what I am, who the Creator is, what He wants from me, and what my connection is with Him? As a result of all these efforts and the long journey, when we realize all the possibilities given to us, we attain a single perception, a single understanding, a single sensation, called “the Thought of Creation is to bring contentment to the created beings.” This plan includes everything: Who the One who pleases the creatures is, what kind of pleasure this is, who these creatures are, everything.

The state when we attain the Thought of Creation is called “the point of adhesion” or “a drop of adhesion” because in our perception everything centers on one point of the Thought of Creation. We attain it through our efforts as we desire to unite with the Creator, and this is why we call it “a drop of adhesion.”
[43964]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “Go Forth From Your Country”
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “General Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 1, Lesson 1
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “The Freedom,” Lesson 20
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