Baal HaSulam, Letter 19: However, one must know in one’s heart that the Creator chases him just as much as he chases the Creator. One must never forget that, even through the greatest longing.

A person must have a deficiency, since without a vessel the Creator cannot awaken towards him. The Light can only bestow in response to some yearning on part of the vessel, on part of the soul. So a person is brought right from the start to Kabbalah from above without actually awakening towards it on his part. There is only a spark of awakening that remains in him after the shattering, like in the levels of the still, vegetative, and the animate nature that exist and develop without freewill at all.

But a person must begin to work and perform independent actions according to his freewill. This is why he is brought to the wisdom of Kabbalah, to a group, and then he is given greater freewill.

“When remembering that the Creator misses and chases one to cling to him as intensely as one wishes for it himself, he then always goes from strength to strength, with yearning and longing, in a never-ending coupling, the complete perfection of the soul.”

It doesn’t matter what state a person is in as long as he remembers, thinks, and even feels that everything that happens comes from an upper root, from the Creator. The Creator operates him like a human hand inside a puppet. If a person feels or knows this or looks for that during his whole life, it is called a continuous merging with the Creator.

A person constantly searches and clarifies how the Creator manages him. We have to feel that at least and to constantly think that everything that happens to us comes from the Creator. We must constantly delve into this thought until we begin to feel it. It is even better to ask to feel that everything inside me operates under the management of the upper force. Everything that I say, think, feel, or any movement that I make now is not my own doing at all; everything comes from above.

I must understand that I am managed from above and that I don’t decide anything or do anything at the moment.

“He then always goes from strength to strength, with yearning and longing, in a never-ending coupling, the complete perfection of the soul. At last, one is endowed with repentance out of love.”

This is a process we have to go through. There is nothing but the search for the Creator but each time in a higher and deeper resolution, by wider actions to the depth of the worlds, until the whole desire to receive is revealed. A person begins to understand how the Creator manages him and sees from one end of creation to the other. He discovers the Creator’s actions in every detail of the creation and discovers the Creator in each detail.

Thus a person can adhere to everyone. He cannot adhere to his friend unless he determines that the same upper force operates both in him and in his friend.
[111783]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/08/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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If the Creator pokes you with sharp thorns, these are not real thorns, rather simply the natural evolutionary steamroller that develops you just like the nature of the still, vegetative, and animate. This is not the development of the Adam (man) in you.

You indeed evolve, acquiring a little more intelligence, feeling, and understanding. But you don’t develop on the human level. Because the human level is the development in which you need to construct yourself through the creation of an environment and ready yourself for this environment to “poke” you with its thorns. Only then is this called the hastening of time (Achishenah).

The Adam in us is developed only by the way of hastening time. And the pokes that we receive from above, from the smallest things to terrible wars and disasters, all of this still doesn’t add anything to human development, but is used to prepare for this.

It is impossible without these troubles, but they are said to bring us to a state where we decide that from now on we must develop independently. We have now reached such a milestone. And so if we don’t go out to the wider public and don’t begin to work with them actively, to agitate and wake them up, along with agitating ourselves through our active deeds, we summon more thorns from the higher power, further blows at the still, vegetative, and animate levels.

And so we will need to escape from the blows like beaten animals as long as we are no wiser and begin to think: “Why do we need all this? Wouldn’t it be better for us to develop evolutionary forces for ourselves, desirable both in the eyes of the Creator and in the eyes of the person? We must awaken the dawn ourselves!”

This is to say, that Israel (those who yearn for the Creator Yashar-el) hastens the times. This is the difference between the level of “Israel” and the level of “nations of the world,” that advance naturally through the influence of nature.

What is the difference between the pokes that I receive from nature and the pokes that I create in myself through the group? The blows can come from a wife, from children, from a boss, from neighbors, from the police, from the internal revenue service, from the bank, or from something greater, like wars and diseases. All these blows belong to the animate level, to our earthly life.

But the level of the speaking (the Adam) is when I myself understand the goal of creation and want to advance towards it. Therefore I build a group that will influence me in a selective and goal-oriented form, so that I will advance towards that goal in a precise form. I relate to this environment in a unique, intentional way and want to get from it an exact reaction that obliges me in a particular way to turn towards the goal of creation.

The environment must arouse jealousy in me, that they advance and I do not, they influence each other, and I don’t, and they look at me as lagging behind them. These are also thorns, but are qualitative, compared to some kind of illness, adjudication or familial problems. These are no longer earthly problems, but spiritual. I myself need to create a state like this that will inflame and oblige me to forge ahead.

And I enjoy these thorns because they stimulate my advancement. And a dual relationship is formed in me towards them. On the one hand, the beast in me suffers; but the Adam in me rejoices.
[107079]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/03/13, Writings of Rabash “Shlavei HaSulam”

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Question: Why is it written in The Zohar that a single rose with thorns is selected rather than all the other roses without thorns?

Answer: There are souls who exist without feeling a need to advance towards a goal. And there are souls who advance toward the goal of creation, which is that they want to transform their intention from “in order to receive” to an intention “in order to bestow.” For this they require thorns, like a rose, which is to say sufferings from their condition in the present state. They need to establish that this egoistic state is bad, and that the state of bestowal and love is good.

They receive a motivation to advance either from natural evolution, which pushes all of humanity forward like an evolutionary steamroller that forces development, or we need to create an environment like this for ourselves that will show us how much our state of “in order to receive” is bad and how much more preferable and good for us it would be for us if we were in a state of “in order to bestow.”

Thorns are forces that obligate the person to change his nature. Without them there would be no changes. Therefore it is impossible without thorns, and the question is only about who builds the thorns. This would be either the Creator, according to the program of natural evolution, called “beito” (in its time), or the person himself who wants to hasten his development and advancement and shorten the time; therefore he creates a society that will show him how much his development lags behind everyone else. So due to jealousy of others, he will pursue them.

These are also “thorns,” but others that are more useful and intentional. There is a particular sweetness to them because the person receives support from his environment. Development under the influence of these thorns is good and rapid and is done by the environment.

And someone who doesn’t have an environment like this doesn’t have thorns like these to help his development. The development of the person is done only by the environment on condition that he participates in his own development. For with this he begins to understand the program of the Creator, the plan, the thought of creation. It is specifically this which we must perceive, since Israel is called “Li-Rosh- I have a head” (a permutation of the letters of “Israel”), therefore we must acquire this knowledge, the goal, of this entire system before me, so that I will transform to be its house master, resembling the Creator.

The third state, which is the completion of correction, is separated from the first state, which is the beginning state of creation, in that we construct a head, intelligence, understanding, and awareness for ourselves. The Creator wants us to perceive His actions, as it is written: “From your deeds we will know you.”

Therefore we cannot advance through the thorns that come to us from nature, from the steamroller of evolution, rather solely and only if we ourselves design for ourselves an environment, that will “poke” us all the time. This will signify that we are developing ourselves. This is called the hastening of time, achishenah (I will hasten it) when “I awaken the dawn.”
[107059]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/03/13, Writings of Rabash “Shlavei HaSulam”

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The entire progress is realized only in the group of ten. From that moment on, we only work in it. The group of ten could be hundreds of our friends around the world. This also is called ten people, not nine or eleven.

Everything has the same structure of the ten Sefirot. The only difference is the scale, a greater or lesser resolution. You see ten people before you, but when you approach, each of the ten people turns into ten, and then each of these ten turns into other ten, and thus to infinity.

However, in essence, you see the same HaVaYaH, the same group of ten in which absolutely everything is included.
[111566]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/4/13, Writings of Rabash

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “A Single Governing Force of Nature,” Day 1, Lesson 1

Convention in St. Petersburg, “A Single Governing Force of Nature,” Day 1, Workshop1

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Baal HaSulam, Letter 57: There is no happier situation in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy. It is then that he is fit for wholehearted prayer for His help because he knows for certain that his own work will not help him.

It says here about the decisive factor without which we will not succeed. Before I come to the group and, being integrated in the friends, through whom I will draw the Light that Reforms, I need preliminary correction that is also realized by the Light.

Thus, its influence on me is divided into several stages:

• At the beginning with its help, I apply efforts to be included in the group.
• Then, having been included, I work in it as much as the Light lets me do this. Now, it works not on me personally, but on the relationship between us.
• When we achieve the correct connection, it gives us a common screen and teaches us how to form the head of the Partzuf by means of which we create the format of the collective soul.

Question: How can we attract the Light that Reforms?

Answer: It comes in response to the efforts that you make in order to enter a spiritual state. And this is already a solution: You are required to perform actions, which you are capable of, and the Light will bring you back to the source.

Even if you do not feel much for unity; however, you still follow the advice of Kabbalists and work in the group although your heart tends to something else. Moreover, even if you are in descent and the friends seem repulsive to you, if you nonetheless remain among them, the Light affects you. This force “works” in any of your states, no matter how they are manifested: “mechanically,” physically or internally—no matter what they affect—spirit, nerves, etc. The main thing is that you, at least a bit, strive for bestowal, unity, and self-nullification, despite your own resistance.

Some come to the group, as they say “on autopilot,” some fall asleep in class, and the Light that Reforms still acts. Even if a person dragged himself almost on all fours, but he apply efforts, the Light responds.

Question: How can I know that it responds?

Answer: So far, you can only believe the Kabbalists. In the same way, a kid believes his mother who tells him what to do. In life, you first need to listen to the adults and then the results are seen. We learn from schoolteachers and university professors, initially believing their words. So, I also believe people who are wiser than me and I gain their wisdom in order to verify its truth later.

Otherwise, it is impossible: We need guidance, instructions, on every stage of development. The wisdom of Kabbalah is no exception. It turns out that you come to study in its standard format, the same as at college or anywhere else. There is nothing “supernatural” here. The tips that you get are achievable. They can be realized; all you need is a spark, an inner urge—and everything is open before you.

We are always seeking where to extract the maximum benefit with minimum investment. Here we act egoistically; you are not required to be better than you are. So, it is possible, and everyone is capable of this.
[111860]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Principles for Building a Better Environment,” Lesson 4

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Question: Is it necessary in the remaining days before the convention to focus on the thought that it is forbidden to ask for oneself because then you damage your soul or to come there to raise our collective prayer?.

Answer: Before the convention it is necessary to focus on the thought that a prayer can be only collective, as well as on the simple principle that we will eat there what we have prepared for the convention. As it is said, “One who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat (the Sabbath), what will he eat on Shabbat?”

You should not place your hopes on me—not a single percent! It all depends only on your vessel, your desire.

Question: Do I have to imagine now how I am connected with the friends there?

Answer: Start doing it right now, why wait for the beginning of the convention! Preparation does not mean that you are ready to cry out there, but that you are crying right now and that during this cry you are better discerning your desires. If you leave this for tomorrow, what will happen to you today? We should aspire to unity right now!

Preparation for the convention means that you are already now with all your strength striving to unite all our desires, vessels. Then, you will arrive at the convention more consciously and will ascertain the desires. And if so, then why do we need to start thinking about this today, a month in advance? We would have thought it over in advance, and that is enough.

The task is not to wait for the desired moment, counting down the remaining days on the calendar. Preparation is that at every moment, the entire time before the convention, every day, to advance in unification, understanding, feeling, care, inspiring the friends more and be inspired by them. Tension is building and building inside you with each day so you will come to the convention and explode there! Or maybe we will achieve everything what we desire on the way.
[111792]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/13, The Zohar

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Preparatory Lesson”

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Question: In The Book of Zohar, “The Night of the Bride,” we read about how the bride (Divinity) decorates herself before the meeting with the groom (The Creator). What jewels have we prepared for ourselves in the group in order to decorate ourselves before the coming convention?

Answer: The bride’s decoration is the wedding crown, Keter. It is the upper Sefira that has nothing to do with the other Sefirot, and is actually their source. The term Keter (crown) means bestowal and it has no concrete form and no attributes. This is all that we should know about bestowal, and everything else are expressions of the Sefira of Keter that Malchut receives.

A crown is bestowal without a definite form. It is actually what we should yearn for, as it says: “a crown on the righteous’ head.” A righteous is the Sefira of Yesod (basis), that connects the other Sefirot in it. If we want to connect, we feel the need for a crown on the righteous’ head, on his thoughts, his desires, and his plans. This is where the the crown should be and where it is.

A righteous, the Sefira of Yesod is the place of coupling with the Light. After the second restriction there is no room for coupling in Malchut itself, but only in Yesod. (This is because the children of Israel didn’t want the coupling in the Sefira of Yesod, in Joseph, and so they went down to Egypt). The righteous are those who gather in them all the discernments that they can work with, except for Malchut. All these discernments connect in Yesod. Malchut that ascends to Bina is called Yesod.

All our work is to be incorporated in every way possible in the group, with all our heart. Before the convention I prepare to totally annul myself, which means to feel that my motions are together with everyone else, with all the thoughts and the desires.

I should remember that I cannot turn to the Creator with a personal prayer! A person who raises a personal prayer destroys his soul. He actually destroys everything even if he wants to bring contentment to the Creator. So the incorporation in the group precedes every other action. This is called Yesod since it is the basis for the work and because it is the Sefira of Yesod that we work with instead of Malchut.
[111789]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/08/13, The Zohar

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