The desire to receive pleasure was created by the Light. This way the Light is primary, it is existence from existence, the primary cause. Whereas the desire to receive pleasure was created in it and is its consequence.

The Light created desire to make it absolute like itself. The Light can do anything with the desire. The desire is like hardware that can be programmed with different and even opposite programs. Depending on this, the desire will enjoy bitter or sweet, falsehood or truth, closeness or distance, and so on. The desire is only something that reacts to the Light. It will be what the Light programs it to be.

And so, the Light begins to work with the desire, showing its “changeable” attitude. It uses different methods to form a sensation of need in the desire—this is the first step. Fulfillment arises inside the need, the sensation of the Giver within the fulfillment, the attitude towards the Giver within the sensation of Him, and I discover who I am in relation to Him in my attitude towards Him. The Light in the desire manifests and fades in this chain of states—like a light bulb that keeps coming on and off.

From these concealments and revelations of Light the desire acquires a greater understanding, sensations, decisiveness, and analysis. Its inner reserve becomes refilled, and every time it reacts to the Light on a different level and in a different way. The Light has a simple affect on the desire, but thanks to this it becomes more complex every time and constantly undergoes qualitative changes.

We cannot characterize the parameters of these changes for we lack appropriate terminology. But one way or another, the desire operates based on what it feels at the given moment, and also what stayed in its memory from past sensation. It bases its actions on past experience. Moreover, the desire also has another memory, instincts imbedded in past states, which make it act in a certain way, even when there is no reasonable foundation for it.

Opposite forms must be present in the desire: the qualities of the creature and the qualities of Light, the Creator. Otherwise the Light would always directly control the desire. The purpose of creation is for the desire to acquire reason and feeling, become independent, and this is only possible in the conditions of opposition, clash, and separation into opposites that consist of different forces. And this is why the path always lies through ascents and descents in different forms and details of perception.

Instincts conflict with reason inside the creature. Animals that act according to the inner program do not make mistakes, but man constantly errs where he rises above the animal.

You also see this on human development: Some people develop certain habits and spend their lives living like soldiers, carrying out instructions they received back in their parents’ home. Their lives are quieter, standard; they have more balance and security.

On the other hand, a developing person has less instincts and more reason and doubts. He experiences frequent inner conflicts, learns and changes more, and acts like a child at an older age. He is always changing, full of life, and ready to be different.

And those who are closer to “instinctive” living feel more secure in life, knowledgeable, and stable. This is because they lean on stable instincts, and this provides them with an easier life.

Those who really want to rise to the Creator’s level experience changes, ascents and descents in different parts of perception. The degree of Pharaoh also lies along this path, who says: “The Creator is righteous, while I and my people are at fault.” This is a very high and important degree for a person who understands how great the difference is between the top of the ladder and its foundation. We are referring to difficult work within opposite qualities.

And this is why we must always try to see ourselves in our lives on the steps of the ladder we descend and ascend, over and over again. There is no need to fear this and wait for comfort—there is nothing worse than this.

On this path, changes are only realized through the environment. When a person is alone, he subconsciously wishes to remain in one place. He might not even be very happy or even be in very bad shape, but he still does not care for changes and constantly holds on to the routine.

It is hard to get out of a familiar swamp, and only the environment that constantly inspires man with other values will pull him out. And this is why we need to strengthen the group, to ascend and descend faster, understanding that every time we form within us the vessel for final correction.
[54533]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/9/2011, Rabash’s article

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Question: What is the purpose of the circulation of the knowledge of Kabbalah and in what forms should it be carried out?

Answer: There is a reality that we perceive in our desire to receive pleasure, and we cannot disclose it more than we feel it now. There is also a reality that we can apprehend in our desire to bestow. To the extent we desire to bestow we can reveal the upper force, the nature of which is complete bestowal. We can attain only these two qualities.

We perceive our world in our desire to receive pleasure and can develop in it. But essentially, our world is limited by our egoistic desire that absorbs everything “into itself.” Consequently, we discover ourselves existing in a body made of flesh and in the surrounding environment.

Whereas the desire to bestow reveals for us the five worlds and the upper force, where we feel ourselves eternal and perfect like the upper force. But the problem is that in our desire to enjoy we sense a need for this world. Whereas we don’t have any need for the desire to bestow, for the spiritual world, and we have to develop it. Otherwise, we will not be able to attain the spiritual world.

The question is how I can develop a need for something I don’t want, feel, or understand and have no taste for? I don’t have any prerequisites for it; I have never tasted spirituality. What should I strive for?

I can advance towards it by means of problems and blows. But then I will only want to get rid of the blows, to run away from them, pushing or pricking me from behind. And how can I discover good awaiting for me ahead? I cannot see, feel, or taste it.

Thus, we do not have any choice. Blows, suffering, problems, crises, and bankruptcies alone cannot help us: All these impacts will not assist us in reaching spirituality. Therefore, Baal HaSulam states that there should be a preliminary condition for revelation of spirituality—the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah, which is referred to as “the call of the Messiah’s horn.”

I need to disclose to the world that there is something good, pleasant, and worthy that opens everything before you. It should be so attractive that even if I do not feel any lack now, I will suddenly realize that I am missing a different world—the upper one.

How can I get a desire for it? It is possible if I get impressed by the environment that tells me about it. Meaning, I need a good, big environment that “will brainwash me” to such a degree that I will really want something I do not want now. And we can see that the society is able to do it.

Therefore, everything depends on the environment. Otherwise, sufferings will come and will bombard me with blows—until I develop a desire to disseminate and try to disseminate in any case in order to receive an aspiration to move forward. By virtue of this desire I will be able to progress towards the quality of bestowal, towards the spiritual world, and then and only then I will attain it.

Thus, dissemination is an indispensable and mandatory condition for attaining spirituality. In what forms should we disseminate? In any! How can we influence a person? Through all his senses: Let him be impressed, desire, beg, or fear—it could be anything that will make him desire spirituality, as it is said: “I want!” Otherwise, if I don’t wish to advance on my own, only sufferings will come from behind, which is not enough.

We should desire spirituality ourselves and only then we will reveal it. That desire must be complete and reach a full measure called “Seah.” And I can receive it only from the environment. Therefore, you should realize how important circulation is!
[54431]
From the New York lecture #2, 9/12/11

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

I am the first interpreter of Kabbalah by root and branch, and cause and consequence. Hence, having understood it, any person can then comprehend any Kabbalistic text himself.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

The very fact of the possibility to create the Sulam (Ladder) commentary to The Zohar is a clear proof that we are already in the days of the Messiah, at the outset of that generation upon which it was said, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Creator.”
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”
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“We Are for the World” Lesson 5
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Question: Lately, you have been saying that no economic program or transaction will be successful without taking humanity into consideration. How can we explain this to people? They are unable to take all of humanity into consideration. The most they can understand is to consider a few companies or a number of people.

Answer: If I want to make a deal with someone and I want it to be successful, I must think: “What deal can be successful if the world has become round and is in a global crisis because we are unable to consider all the connections between us? What deals can I make without considering all these connections?” True, you can’t make any. So, what should I do? I should consider them as best as I can.

A business can be successful on condition that I also care for a fellow human being as much as I am able to the extent of my correction, as much as the fact that the world is round becomes revealed in the world. If the fact that the world is one hundred percent round would be revealed to us, we would find our hands and feet tied, and we would not be able to do anything. I am not able to find a piece of bread until you bring it to me, and you will not be able to feed yourself until I give you a piece of cake.

This is why these connections are not being revealed to us. We only discover minor faults in the connection between us: “So, what is the big deal?…” In this case, I need to take into consideration that I must contribute to the world and care for preparing people for the new world and their global education.

Education is the primary priority. If people and the world as a whole do not know where they are, this would be the worst thing. Essentially, this is the only difference between the current and the future reality: the perception of common interconnection where we exist, to see the strings that connect us with our own eyes.

This is why it is necessary to educate people first, to open their eyes, to impress them, make them feel and see that we are really connected, and that there is nothing that can be done. People will be able to make deals, conduct business, make calculations, and earn interest to the extent that they feel that there is nothing else they can and that we are really connected.

So, what do we do now? We try to act this way regardless, even if we do it artificially, to the extent of our understanding, for example, to give several percent to the world’s global education.

Let us say that the common connection between us is now being revealed as 3%. Then, a person is not required to be connected to the world more closely than an extra 3%. He must think that the world is interconnected and contribute to the world’s advancement in this direction. In our example, he would give 3% of his profit to global education.

Then, success will really accompany him. This is because in this way, he becomes harmoniously connected to nature, makes himself similar to it and in balance with it to a certain degree, and changes in the direction of a new tendency. He is not required to know at all the entire connection between us and act according to it.

When he attains this entire network and begins to realize the connections according to it, everything will become very simple. He will only take what he and his employees need and give everything else for the benefit of society. Then it is said that he knows the entire network and is connected with it like a cell in a single organism.

However, this is not required of him now. Instead of only keeping what he needs, he keeps 97% and gives 3% to the education of the world. It may be 5% a year from now, and 50% in another five years. And thus we will advance gradually, to the extent that we sense and move toward the contemplation of the network that connects us and obligates us to act in accordance with it.
[54529]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/9/2011, Rabash’s article

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In the News (from bbc.co.uk): “European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet has called for swift action to help Greece.

“He urged eurozone governments to rapidly implement the agreement, which allows for a second bailout.

“His comments to the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee echo those of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

“The latest problem for the implementation of the second bailout is that the government of Finland wants collateral for its fresh loans to Greece.”

My Comment: This demonstrates how a lack of understanding of the necessity to be in mutual guarantee for the survival of everybody will lead to the collapse of the European Union and war. After all, by not helping, you cause bankruptcy. This is similar to people in one boat: There is a leak under one of them, and the rest think that it doesn’t concern them—most importantly, it’s still dry under them.

Finland’s reactions show how necessary it is to provide universal upbringing and education—an explanation of the fundamentals of global and integral humanity and its laws—for decision-making politicians in the first place. We, all those who understand from Kabbalah that unity is salvation, have a duty to introduce this into the world.
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Question: How can we ensure that our circulation is not met with antagonism?

Answer: The approach is simple. First of all, we circulate the knowledge about the crisis without frightening people, but showing them the real situation.

And the situation is that we are opposite to global, integral nature. We know from biology, zoology, cybernetics, physics, astrophysics, and other disciplines that nature is global and all its parts are interconnected; they all are in homeostasis, balance, and harmony. All, except man.

Man was intentionally directed to the egoistic path of development that lasted until our time. And now we find ourselves in the crisis with regard to nature. In its development, human society became a global system and came into direct conflict with nature.

Existing inside nature, we are opposite to it. This is the core of the crisis: We do not correspond to nature. And until we reach accord with it, we will feel bad. This is what happens during any change of parameters be it temperature, pressure, or anything else. Hence, by not adapting to the environment, we experience crisis.

This shows what can be done, how human society can correspond to nature. This correspondence means that we have to be connected harmoniously between ourselves and with nature. Harmony demands of us to receive and give in a balanced way. After all, only two forces act in nature: reception and bestowal.

If we implement this approach both in human society and also in relation to the outside world, our life will be good. Thousands of scientific articles attest to it. We only need to show and explain it to people. We don’t say anything from ourselves; we merely organize the materials and present them: “Look, this is what constitutes our problem. Economists, scientists, and sociologists talk about it. So let us find a remedy according to their diagnosis. Let us cure ourselves.”

We do not employ the wisdom of Kabbalah or religion in our explanations. We only present the available scientific data correctly and bring it to people.

This raises a question: How do we correct our interrelationships—how to correct man? In response, we explain what’s described in Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom” and other materials: Man is a result of the environment, and hence, we need to change the environment so that it affects everybody in a different way. We have to artificially, using games, create among ourselves the correct environment.

The influence of the environment that I build transforms me. Yes, I play, I pretend; in reality I have no desire to be nice and responsive. Yet, I created a big environment that influences me in different ways, and thanks to this I change.

This is what we have to do, similar to how children grow. By building the environment and feeling changes in myself, I get to know my nature and Nature in general. I become wise, like the Creator, and raise myself to His degree. This is our goal: not to solve the crisis and have a good life in our world, but to raise ourselves to the next degree by correcting the crisis.
[54540]
From the New York lecture #1, 9/11/11

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Baal HaSulam, “Messiah’s Shofar (Horn)”: And the dissemination of the wisdom in the masses is called “a Shofar.” Like the Shofar, whose voice travels a great distance, the echo of the wisdom will spread all over the world so even the nations will hear and acknowledge that there is Godly wisdom in Israel.

And this task was said about Eliyahu the prophet since the disclosure of the secrets of the Torah is always referred to as “the disclosure of Eliyahu.” It is as they have said, “let it rest until Elijah comes,” and also, “the Tishbi will answer the questions and problems.” For this reason, they said that three days (a known intimation) prior to the coming of the Messiah, Elijah would walk upon the hilltops and will blow in a great horn, etc.

You must understand these intimations: The issue of the Shofar is only the disclosure of the wisdom of the hidden in great masses, which is a necessary precondition that must be met prior to the complete redemption.

We can ascend to a higher dimension, see the world from end to end, live in boundless space, become eternal and perfect here and now, and be filled with great pleasures. And this all depends on the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah.

We are talking about beginners who have not mastered the Kabbalah method but are already trying to pass it to others, as well as those who are still in the dark but feel some desire, not knowing what to do with it. Together they—those who want to bring Kabbalah to others and those who are already willing to listen—create this notion: “Messiah’s Shofar.”

Then, the great Light of Hochma (Wisdom) comes and begins to unfold in the entire world. And people’s eyes are opening, in other words, they feel from within that some higher development that is beginning to transpire in the world is built-in here. They find themselves in a multi-dimensional space, where all the souls, all the people who lived, live, and will live are held together. They know now the development of all the souls from the beginning to the end of the world: why and what for. Everything is collected into one tremendous system called “the Infinity,” and everyone begins to feel this perfect reality.

This is the “revelation of Eliyahu.” We are not talking about the name, but about the concept, the Light, revealed within us.

Then we slowly begin to rise above the point, where the Big Bang created our universe. We penetrate in what was before, higher and higher through the all the spiritual worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, Adam Kadmon, and the world of Infinity, getting rid of all limitations.

Today is the time of the coming of the Messiah—the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah to the whole world. These things appear unreal to us for now; however, according to the current events, we can say that everything will happen very quickly. Time accelerates at an exponential rate, becoming compressed, like the divisions of the slide ruler. Each day seems shorter than the previous one: 24 hours, 23.5 hours, 22 hours, 20 hours.… And the difference is increasing. On one hand, we will see this in the development of our world, and on the other, very soon we will find that people are searching inside, and they need a method.

The peculiarity of our time is that the science of Kabbalah is becoming the heritage of the whole world. Indeed, we will not be able to exist without the knowledge of the system of Malchut of the world of Infinity. The science of Kabbalah is revealed as needed, and soon the crisis will be so apparent, while the absence of its solution so obvious, that the need will manifest itself. And once this happens, Kabbalah will be revealed to the world.

The whole problem today is the lack of need. And we can cause it by our work in dissemination, thereby reducing the development time.
[54414]
From the New York lecture #2, 9/12/11

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Question: How do I choose a group in order to advance spiritually?

Answer: Today, for a person to advance spiritually, he needs to choose a group that disseminates. In our days, only wide dissemination can lead us into the spiritual world. This situation formed years ago, but it has only now manifested with full strength.

You need to choose a group where people do not deem themselves too important, that understand what they are doing, and follow the example of the central group. It is important that their actions do not lead to separation and that they spend less time settling scores. Instead, they rise and disseminate our message.

This is the group you should choose. Keep away from those who do the opposite and fight. A good group does not look within it, but only looks toward the outside.
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From the New York lecture #2, 9/12/11

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

I am glad that I have been born in such a generation when it is permitted to disclose the wisdom of truth. And should you ask, “How do I know that it is permitted?” I will reply that I have been given permission to disclose Kabbalah in the world. And it does not depend on me, but on the state of the generation.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and its Essence”

I am not at all worthy of disclosing such secrets, and much less to thoroughly understand them. And why has the Creator done so to me? It is only because it is the last generation, which stands at the threshold of complete redemption and full revelation of the hidden world.
– Baal HaSulam, “Messiah’s Shofar (horn)”
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