Question: How do we ask for the Light to change us if we don’t perceive it?

Answer: It’s true, first you must have the desire, and only then can you turn to the Light.

If I wrote on a piece of paper: “I need to ask the Light!” and read it a hundred times, nothing would happen. This would become a habit; I would keep repeating these words like a broken record and nothing more.

But we are given the opportunity to change our desire with the help of our environment. After all, we exist among other people and not alone.

When I listen to them and watch them through a prism of envy, lust, and honor, all these properties that are part of my desire to receive pleasure, then I want to receive all the good things that they have, and rise even higher than them.

If they want to become thieves, then I want to become the most important, powerful, and successful thief, because they respect this.

When my environment deems it important to attain the property of bestowal, then naturally I will want to succeed in it the most, because this will become important to me.

So I can change my heart’s desire through the environment. And so it is written: “We shall do and we shall hear” because I am able to do such things that as a consequence I will suddenly desire something that was not in me initially, such as bestowing to others, deeming this to be important, somehow egoistically wishing to bestow.

After all, I exist in an egoistic society, and if this society starts convincing me that it is worth it to bestow, naturally I, just like all my friends, will begin to think that it is really worthwhile to bestow.

But at the same time, I think that this will benefit me, that I will become important in their eyes, I will be great, I will attain the Upper World, and the Creator will be mine. So bestowing it is; what matters is for me to profit. This is called Lo Lishma.

When driven by this aspiration, I still want the Light to come to me and change me, it begins to change me, and I suddenly catch a “virus” of some sort; I acquire something I did not have before, something I did not want, and I did not intend to get. I suddenly really begin to think that bestowal is something special, good, and sublime.

Where does this come from? This appears like an illness that you really did not want to have. I seriously begin to think that it is a good thing to think about others instead of thinking about me, without any kind of benefit or reward in it for me.

Naturally, I go through a sequence of changes here. First of all, I think that I should pull away from my egoistic desire to receive pleasure and that this will make me feel better and freer.

Then I begin to think that I should bestow to others, because in this way I will still acquire some kind of superiority, because in the end I will become close to the Creator, and this is also worth something.

And so on, until the Light gradually influences me in such a way that I attain a pure intention called Lishma, exclusively “for the sake of bestowal” without receiving anything in return. And I feel it; I check that I do not receive anything in return.
[27765]
From the lesson 11/26/2010, Writings of Rabash

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Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.

We live in a certain reality and sense ourselves and things that surround us. We instinctively want to know what these things are. In essence, people are just egoistic desires to fulfill themselves. Naturally, awareness of our place in the universe helps us find out which things are useful for us and lets us avoid harmful influences, and allow us to achieve the most beneficial results.

We spend a certain amount of time in this reality and wonder about what was and what will be. We strive to be impervious and live in the best possible conditions to enjoy perfection and eternity. We are pushed to this need by our desires.

Thus, each one of us has a natural craving for reaching the authentic reality in which we all dwell.

At this time, we are not masters of our fate. We have no idea what will happen to us in a second and generally speaking we are unable to decide anything on our own.

This upsets us and as a result we build “lines of defense” to protect ourselves from heat and cold, robbers and wild animals, from everything that is bad for us: We construct houses and yards creating a distance between us and others. We always care about being in the safest situation. It stems from our desire to receive.

Therefore, a person wants to know exactly what is going on with him, where one is at each given moment, what reality one lives in. People develop sciences to be able to experience pleasant sensations every single moment of their lives.

At the same time, we toss aside everything away that doesn’t bring us pleasure, for example, space exploration. Previously, it was of great interest; however, nowadays we see that it is not worth investing heavily in this. Calculations have demonstrated that this program will not generate any gain. Where there is no profit, there is no reason. Likewise, we don’t pay as much attention to exploring the depths of the sea or the Earth anymore. People care about things that are close to their hearts.

However, if we view the whole picture, we’ll see that we lack knowledge of the system we are in. We see that everything in the system is in constant movement; everything is planned; everything is interconnected, including us; but we don’t know the essence of what is happening to and around us. Thus, the knowledge overall system is the most important thing. From it we learn everything.

Our attempts to develop a systematic approach have never reached any tangible success. We become disappointed with earthly sciences since they don’t provide us with clear knowledge that would allow us to control our destiny, our lives, nor do they allow us to correctly fulfill our existence or go beyond it.

This is where the wisdom of Kabbalah, the most ancient science, steps in. Before Adam, very few people possessed knowledge about nature. Their knowledge was based on their direct contacts with nature. Adam discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah; as a result, he caused the entire wisdom to be revealed.

We don’t require more knowledge. If we understand how to correctly influence the system that governs us and all other worlds, the entire universe, we won’t feel a need for the minor additions of physics, chemistry, etc. They don’t make any sense since the wisdom of Kabbalah encompasses everything. It teaches us what is worth doing in various spheres of life and what’s useless. We don’t need to go into details of molecular and atomic structures or comprehend the laws of the inanimate, vegetative, or animate world. When we feel the entire system as a whole, we sense each of its details and realize what our relationship with them should be so that it works to the best of our interests.

It means that all scientific disciplines can be explored through the wisdom of Kabbalah to their full depth, up to their final stage.

Baal HaSulam states that the wisdom of Kabbalah is the general knowledge that covers everything. It is revealed as a complete knowledge to all of us at the end of human development. And, the wisdom was opened to a chain of individuals beginning with Adam and further to his successors.

The ARI wrote that after the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, there appeared a man (Adam.) He had some similarity with a higher, new stage. However, later there showed up a genuine Man (Adam) who revealed and started to explore the system in which he appeared. That’s why his name is Adam HaRishon (the first Man).

Adam HaRishon’s perception and attainment is beyond others. He is the one from whom we trace from those called “Adam”—the chain of Kabbalists from ancient times till nowadays. The words “You are (named) a Man” is about them, whereas all the rest of us are still at the “animate” level.

And yet, at the end, all of humanity will have to reveal the level of Man and fully realize the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[141695]
From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The Torah “Leviticus” (Tazria-Metzora), 14:10, 14:14-14:17: And on the eighth day, he shall take two unblemished [male] lambs…

And the priest shall take of the blood of the guilt-offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleanses, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

And the priest shall take of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger before HaShem.

And the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt-offering.

This passage is about various types of correction. Priest (Cohen) is the highest quality of Bina. Blood (dam) from the word “domem” (inanimate) is the lowest property of a man.

Hands, feet, fingers, and ears signify the qualities with which one is supposed to work. For example, an ear stands for the property of Bina in a man. Fingers and toes symbolize ten Sefirot of Keter. The right arm and leg are the level of Hesed.

In other words, we come to a state when the Upper Light called Cohen starts correcting apparent, obvious properties in a person. The big finger of the right hand symbolizes Keter de Hesed. The big toe of the right foot denotes Keter de Malchut.

Anointing the tip of the left and right ears indicates the correction that is done with the help of blood and oil since the blood stands for “domem” (inanimate), whereas “oil” stands for Bina. Generally speaking, oil symbolizes the Light that comes from the Sefira Hochma. This is how correction happens.

In this world, there are two concepts: listening and hearing. Sometimes we say: “You don’t hear me.” What does hear mean? It means that there is a property in a man, but there is no implementation of this property. To listen and to hear are two different things. One can listen to sounds, but in order to hear them, one has to turn on one’s internal apparatus.

This is why when the inner apparatus that has the property of oil is turned on at the level of Hochma (the right ear), this property begins to perceive, feel, and attain the level at which it is positioned. In this case, one begins realizing and accepting the level that one is at. This is the point where one’s correction takes place.

Hands stand for the receiving vessels, whereas feet are the tools through which we give from what is repelled. The head is the entry point of everything that goes into our system and feet are the place through which everything goes out. This process is called circulation.

Usually, a lower system is originated from the feet since ten Sefirot of Malchut of the lower level have to grow up to Keter of the inferior Partzuf. This situation must be corrected, although there is actually nothing to correct since the remaining Sefirot will be altered by this action automatically.

Many religions have a ritual of feet ablution. It means that when one corrects, underneath him there will immediately emerge the next, inferior Partzuf, the lower system that is built of the ten Sefirot called ten toes.

Feet stand on the ground, i.e., they are positioned on the general desire. At this time, a viable object that can be further corrected and that is made of the general desire has to be shaped, meaning there is a need to form something concrete that requires correction. So, in order to self-correct, feet have to be clean.

Question: Why is there always something between the ground and the feet, for example., shoes?

Answer: There is a rule that one should never sit on the ground. One has to place something on the ground before sitting on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sheet of paper or any other object.

The ground symbolizes a completely uncorrected, non-scrutinized desire that is a mixture of the good and the evil. In order to start analyzing it, one has to stay outside of this desire, to float above it. That’s why it is not permitted to sit on the ground without an interlayer placed between the person and the ground, there always has to be either a layer of clothes or something else there.

Question: Does this rule explain why in order to receive the crops from the land we should first plow it?

Answer: No, it is a totally different scheme. The ground has to be overturned in order to sow it. If the ground is not plowed, the forces that make grain grow, won’t be released.
[141664]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/25/14

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Convention in Sochi, Lesson 2

Convention in Sochi, Lesson 3

Convention in Sochi, Lesson 4

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Convention in Sochi, Lesson 1

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The moment I receive the intention “for the sake of bestowal” without receiving anything in return, I begin to be called a “son of the future world”; I enter the upper world in the perception through the intention to bestow, the aspiration to bestow.

Then I begin to perceive the Light that fills me, the Light of Hassadim, in my bestowal to others (only inside the desire, because so far I have nothing to bestow), in my attitude towards them. This fulfillment pulls me away from my egoistic desire.

It does not disappear, but I pull away from it, rise above it; it no longer feels important to me, the desires of others become important to me, just like what matters most to a mother is the desire of her infant, and she dedicates herself fully to caring for him. But this is part of her nature, and we attain this attitude towards others through the Upper Light.

In this way I reveal the upper world. And as I disconnect from myself and begin to live within the desires of others without any connection to myself, I reach a state called “freedom from the angel of death,” when my desire, where I previously felt alive, no longer feels like the source of life in me, something that brings me to life. It does not bring me to life. I perceive life in the fulfillment of other desires, Kelim, because they have become mine.

Freedom from the angel of death means that my desire, even on its lowest initial level, which seems as though my body can cease living, receiving even the minimal illumination that gives it life, Kista de Hayuta, and I do not feel as if I had lost something. I no longer relate myself to it because I have acquired a different Kli, called soul.

These others’ desires that I perceive as mine are called a vessel, the Kli of my soul. And the fulfillment within these desires is fulfillment with the Light of NRNHY of my soul. There I meet the upper force, the root of everything, and this means that I attain adhesion with the Creator.

Then I begin to understand that the little sensation in my egoistic desire, with which I had begun my journey, was a mere illusion in which I needed to live and exist in order to enter this universal reality of bestowal.

The previous reality was simply imaginary, existing only in my illusion, like in a dream. But in reality it does not exist, because there is no place for desire to receive pleasure. This imaginary, made-up world disappears like a dream.

In this way we approach a different desire. And every time a person attains within the Kelim of others, which become his own. And this is why it is written: “Man learns where his heart desires”; in that place, in those desires, he reveals an eternal, absolute, higher life.
[27762]
From the lesson 11/26/2010, Writings of Rabash

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When reading The Zohar, we primarily need to think about the intention, as if I am planning on traveling and the main most important thing is for me to arrive at the correct destination.

But at the same time I need to do many things along the way. For example, if I need to go to another city, I get in the car, lock the doors, turn the ignition on, buckle up, and drive along many streets, sometimes even in the wrong direction, until I reach the main road. Why can’t I just go straight?

But the fact is that I consist of many systems, different desires, and I need to be connected with many conditions, parts of the common system of Adam (man), which operate in two directions: reception and bestowal. The different combinations of reception and bestowal are so complex and complicated that sometimes it is completely impossible to understand how a certain event or condition can relate to the goal; for example, horrible events like World War II and other catastrophes that cannot be justified. But every action brings us closer; we just do not see how it brings us closer. For this reason, intentions, actions, thoughts, and desires can become their absolute opposite, changing 180 degrees. But, at the same time, we must keep the goal.

Imagine what would happen if you forgot where you were going in the middle of the trip! Such illnesses occur in old age. This is not just a weak memory where you get in the car and don’t remember where you are going; it is a detachment from reality that occurs all the time. Such person can no longer take care of himself; he needs to be taken care of, like a child.

We have the same illness with respect to spirituality since we lose our intention! Every moment we lose the connection with life and forget: why we live, what we have done and are still doing, and for what purpose. This is an actual illness, and we need to fight it in every possible way otherwise we are not alive! When I lose the intention, I do not live a spiritual life! I live like an animal instead of a human!

Now tell me, how many moments in your life have you spent living like a human? How much effort have you put into being human? Are you at least trying to attain it? The number of these moments equals the number of times you have let the upper Light influence you. And you still want to attain some kind of result this way? You did not even give the Light a chance to work on you, maybe just ten minutes in ten years!

And now you count time by the calendar and complain that it has been ten years, how much longer? After all, it is written that this takes from three to five years! But what were you doing all this time?

You count time according to the clock turning, but did you spin with it around one intention? You did not? Then what are you demanding?

In other words, we all have Alzheimer’s, an absolute loss of memory, and we do not even suspect it. And how can we keep a pure intention this way? This is why there is mutual guarantee! Other people come to those who have lost their memory and help them! There is no other solution. So let us agree to keep the intention.
[27803]
From a lesson The Zohar 11/25/2010

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Question: Do we have freedom in selecting our faith?

Answer: We only have one freedom of choice, and it does not apply to faith.

It is clear that we do not choose anything that our nature finds repugnant, we choose things that suit it; from this follows that there is no freedom of will in this.

Instead of choosing faith, we need to attain revelation, to reveal the truth instead of choosing what we like most from abstract theories!

If other people in this world have other facts, then my knowledge is no longer a fact. How do Kabbalists who attain the spiritual revelation know that they have revealed things that are authentic and correct? They know this because all of them reveal the same phenomena in their experience.

Every person, who attains a certain degree or correction of a certain force, reveals the same phenomena. He receives the same inner fulfillment, called the soul, like all the others who have attained the same state.

The path, the attainment, and the understanding are the same for all; every person comes to the same result. This is why Kabbalists refer to this as facts, like facts of our world.

In our world I do an experiment, get results, publish the explanation of the results in scientific paper, and invite all to verify the truth. And when my results are checked, confirming they are true, it becomes an accepted fact.

There is no absolute knowledge that does not require proof; everything is according to my actual sensations through which I attain the facts.

Certainly, this knowledge is relative; it is attained according to my physical properties. But everyone attains the same facts and this is why they are called a scientific law. This is how we derived all the physical laws.

All of them have been determined in the conditions that surround us on this planet. But if we were thrown on some other planet, there might be completely different laws; who knows?

I verify the laws in relation to another human like me living on this planet.

According to Einstein’s theory, if you travel at the speed of light, other laws will take effect: distance will compress, time will accelerate, geometry will distort with the straight becoming curved and curves straightening out.

Therefore, we establish that we are studying a physical science that can be applied to any person. And we have the same approach in spirituality. This refers to the authenticity of Kabbalah as a science: when we reach certain conclusions, and we know that they are applicable to us.

Rabash writes that if an angel and I were to look at a table at the same time, we would see different things. This is why all conclusions are in relation to the person attaining them.
[27971]
From the lesson “Body and Soul” 11/28/2010

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Question: I do not understand what desire is, is it a vessel for the Light?

Answer: Only forces surround us in the world. If I want to lift a ton of metal, over the force of gravity of this ton mass, I need to add a little over a ton of effort.

It turns out that there are two forces: the force of gravity, the force of the material, through which it exists, and the force with which I influence it.

Even ordinary physics acknowledges that the particles of matter do not exist; there are only forces, some waves. The desire to receive pleasure, the material of creation, is also a force.

This is the way we discover and perceive it because we only feel forces. Why do I perceive an object: its color, volume, weight, and temperature? This is how I perceive forces that influence my sensors, and I visualize an image according to my sensations.

And Kabbalah says that all the billions of forces that fill the universe in their essence are just two forces: the force of reception and the force of bestowal, one against the other.

And I am the third, I am in the middle between them, and I need to build myself from these two forces, like the Creator. These two forces come from the Creator: material and intention, and I need to use them to create a likeness to Him.

We are surrounded only by forces that influence us and create the picture of the world for us. Right now I live in a film, which is projected within me on my material.

And this picture appears from the combination of forces the same way electromagnetic forces form images on a computer screen.

Only I have a better picture: three-dimensional, live, tangible. People say that soon laser films will exist; there is no problem creating this when everything is just forces.

But we are so used to our film that we take it for reality. As soon as we begin to separate ourselves from it even just a little, everything takes a different turn.

And the main thing is that you begin to see that you can change this film! If you want to watch a different movie—go ahead! These forces are in your hands.

This is what we learn in Kabbalah.
[27967]
From the lesson “Beit Shaar HaKavanot” 11/28/2010

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