Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/18/24
Posted on December 18th, 2024
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 30
What Prayer Does the Yearning for Rain Belong To?
The yearning for rain, such as that of farmers in the Negev, is a prayer, but it is not one that belongs to those engaged in spiritual work, nor is it a middle prayer. For those of us on the spiritual path, the middle prayer constantly changes as it is influenced by all the events we experience. If we can feel only one prayer in our heart, then we are called “holy still.” If we do not consider our heart as a prayer at all, then we are simply an animate organism.
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Kabbalah and religion are completely opposite concepts. Kabbalah teaches that one must change oneself, whereas religion suggests that performing external actions is sufficient to achieve everything necessary in life and you to attain paradise and all kinds of blessings in the next world.
According to Kabbalah, heaven and hell are states experienced by a person in our world while being in the body. However, one has the opportunity to rise above his body so that it no longer controls him. In this case he will perceive reality beyond the body and will not need to die to experience this.
If one does not reach a state above the body, his death only leads to the most minimal spiritual state, which cannot even be called spiritual. It is merely a state of some detachment from egoism but not the possession of a spiritual quality.
The focus is on the soul of a person who desires to correct it. In our world there is nothing higher than this, and if a person strives for it, you cannot prohibit him.
This is the issue between Kabbalists and the religious who put up a barrier: “Follow the rules up to this point, but do not engage in the development of the soul.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/19, “Questions and Answers”
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It is specifically when one becomes worthy, when he inverts reception into bestowal, called “receiving in order to bestow,” there is peace between them (Rabash, Assorted Notes, 240, “Discernments in States”).
A person desires to transform reception into bestowal, and the Creator performs this action.
Therefore, our task is to feel that we want to be in the desire to bestow and to ask the Creator to create this desire within us.
If all the members of the ten wish to receive for the sake of bestowing to the Creator and unite in this shared desire, a vessel (Kli) is formed between them that is worthy of correction and generates equivalence with the Creator.
Question: How can we, in the ten, become worthy of receiving for the sake of bestowal?
Answer: You will certainly achieve this. The Creator will give to you, and you will receive not for yourselves, but for all the other friends in the ten with the purpose of connecting it into one movement back toward the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/24, Writings of Rabash “Discernments in States”
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When studying Kabbalah in a group of like-minded individuals, we gradually uncover our nature, how much we are governed by egoism. We see it somewhat from a distance, as if from the outside, and then we can begin to do something about it. Essentially, we try to resist our egoism and unite with our friends in the group to resemble the Creator.
However, all these efforts are merely tools to help us realize that we cannot achieve anything on our own. Only by turning to the Creator, to this force that is opposite to us and willing to help us, can make a difference, but only to the extent that we genuinely desire to change. Otherwise, there is no other way.
Without this, our progress will only come through suffering. In other words, instead of asking the Creator to correct me from the start, I might simply endure suffering, which then also acts as a kind of request.
Thus everything we can do boils down to either asking or suffering. Both suffering and requests reach their target, the Creator. To the extent that we reach out, He draws closer to us, transforms us through His presence, and we change to resemble Him.
So we have two paths to transformation: through suffering, where the Creator changes us even without our conscious request, but only in proportion to the suffering we endure; or by consciously asking Him, where He changes us even before we begin to experience real suffering. This is the essence of our work.
Why do we study the wisdom of Kabbalah? To understand what we need to become and to begin asking the Creator long before we feel suffering. This is called the “path of light” or the “path of Torah.” If not, we are destined for the path of suffering.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/19, “Questions and Answers”
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Question: What does it mean that a person has performed a Zivug (a connection between the force of reception and the force of bestowal)?
Answer: If a person has a desire to bestow and arranges things so that the desire to receive is revealed before him, then when these two desires are combined, a Zivug occurs between them, meaning a combination that brings light into both states.
Question: We understand that without the help from above, we cannot perform a Zivug. How is our active participation expressed in this process?
Answer: Your active participation is expressed in the fact that all of you strive to unite with one another in order to reach a common desire to bestow.
Question: Does going through all the states mean experiencing each and every perception of the friends?
Answer: Not entirely, they experience many states that you do not need to go through. You only need to see how you can help a friend, connect with him, and unite.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/24, Writings of Rabash “Discernments in States”
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Question: Very often when reading the sources, we hear that one rabbi said one thing and another said almost the opposite. What do these opposing opinions in the sources lead us to?
Answer: The opposite statements in our sources lead us to conclude that all the great Kabbalists say the same thing.
Question: So our method is talking things through, asking for opinions, and coming to one conclusion? Is that what advances us?
Answer: Yes.
Question: How do I read the Psalms of David? As a rule, we read them in a group, try to figure out what he meant, and often realize we cannot. Can we just read them without clarification?
Answer: Psalms are usually read without clarification or explanation because they have a huge potential for holiness.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/24, Writings of Rabash “The Way of the Land Preceded the Torah”
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Question: How does the combination of the qualities of judgment and mercy ensure the existence of the world? Can the world exist solely with mercy?
Answer: No, we cannot progress if the Creator acts upon us only with mercy.
If the Creator refrained from applying the quality of judgment to us, we would achieve nothing. The Creator constantly shifts His influence between judgment and mercy, which leaves us with no choice but to rise above His attitude toward us.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/24, Writings of Rabash “A Ladder Set on the Earth”
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Question: If Isaac was forgiven all his sins, why did he still need the middle line, the property of Hassadim? What is this additional correction?
Answer: It is an essential correction because we are discussing the middle line.
Question: How can we merit the middle line?
Answer: You will not know until you merit it. The middle line covers both the left and right lines and balances them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/24, Writings of Rabash “Isaac Sowed in That Land”
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Question: How can I hold the line of wanting to love my friends and bestow to them without waiting for them to love me back throughout the day? Because when some obstacle arises, it is over. I am already in receiving mode, and it feels like I don’t even want to overcome that obstacle. That is, the importance fades, and the goal shifts.
How exactly can I hold onto this thought within the ten?
Answer: You must hold onto this thought, onto the connection between you as if it were a rope keeping you from drowning. If you let go, you will completely forget about your life and its purpose. That is how you need to act.
Question: And if I feel like I cannot overcome the obstacle, can I tell my friends: “Help”?
Answer: Of course, you can. You can fall and cry out. As long as that fall is genuine.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/27/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “ A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”
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