Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/29/24
Posted on December 29th, 2024
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 32
Chapter 4 Between Fear and Joy
It is unclear why some things are counted while others are not. After all, we need to count what we have, to know where we stand, how much we have done, and how much more we can do. Even in the Shulchan Aruch, there are rules that require counting and rules that forbid it, all of which relate to spiritual work. Everything depends on the intent and purpose of the one who counts.
The will to receive was initially created in us with the intention to receive for oneself. If we approach the will to receive without intending to correct it, we must not count or dwell in it because doing so drains our strength, places us under the control of the will to receive for ourselves, and distances us from the purpose of creation.
However, if we examine both sides—first the right line and then the left—it becomes our duty to count what we have in the left line and determine how much we can take from it for correction. This is because our approach has become creative and beneficial for progress and correction. Therefore, everything depends on the intent and the approach to the will to receive. It is what lets us determine whether counting is permitted or forbidden.
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Question: When I receive evil and aggression from a friend, do I just keep quiet and justify it as coming from the Creator, that there is none else besides Him? Can I somehow help my friend rise at this moment so he does not remain in an aggressive state?
Answer: This is a difficult question. Yes and no.
At least, do not respond to him aggressively. And also, not at this moment, but maybe later, show kindness.
Neutrality is mandatory here. Acting with kindness in response to aggression depends on the state your opponent is in at the moment. That is, how will it affect him? Will he take it correctly or not?
Maybe, on the contrary, it will bring out even more aggression in him. He barks at you, but you smile or want to kiss him, then he could hit you!
Therefore, you need to be very careful for your friend to perceive you correctly. You must understand him. You have to enter his state.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”
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I must always pray for the ten because it is my soul. From the spiritual point of view, I am nothing on my own; the upper light can only bounce off me.
When it shines on me, I feel either attraction to it or positive or negative suffering, but I cannot do anything about it. My conscious action can only come from movement together with those like me. I am obligated to create a structure similar to the light. A structure resembling the light is ten egoists united by a single goal. That is how we act.
It should be noted that women have a way to move forward as follows: if the women’s group unites as much as possible among themselves and, at the same time, helps the men’s group move forward, this constitutes their spiritual work and progress.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”
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Question: At the convention, a critical mass will gather, and by physically interacting with it, we will have a wonderful opportunity to “take off the gloves” on one hand.
On the other hand, this mass will help us annul ourselves.
How can we avoid extremes in this state, prioritize one over the other, and maintain balance?
Answer: I think everything begins with immersing yourself in the surrounding environment. You must reach a state where you dissolve into those around you.
Then, to the extent that you can awaken your own feelings while slightly detaching from the surrounding group, you will be able to position yourself in a way where you not only dissolve into them but also desire to inspire them, and thereby will pull them forward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”
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A person must take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven on the lowest quality, and say about it that to him, even that state, the lowest that can be, meaning one that is entirely above reason, when he has no support from the mind or the feeling, so he can build its foundations on it, and at that time, he is seemingly standing between heaven and earth and has no support, for then everything is above reason, then a person says that the Creator sent him this state, where he is in utter lowliness, since the Creator wants him to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven in this manner of lowliness.
At that time, because he believes above reason, he takes upon himself that the situation he is in now comes to him from the Creator, meaning that the Creator wants him to see the lowest possible state that can be in the world.
And yet, he must say that he believes in the Creator in all manners. This is considered that he has made an unconditional surrender (Rabash, Assorted Notes, 21 “Sanctification of the Month”).
When we perceive that something seemingly bad comes from the Creator and believe it, it becomes easier for us, at least, to identify the source of our negative feelings: it comes from the Creator, who has some intention, goal, or path. Even though we feel our states as bad, we justify them, acknowledging that they, too, are necessary because they originate from Him.
However, this is not enough. We must reach a state where, even in the worst circumstances coming from the Creator, we reveal the best possible state, which is good and beneficial.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Rabash “Sanctification of the Month”
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When one works in order to bestow, he does not mind what he feels during the work. Rather, even in a state where he sees a shape of black, he is not impressed by it, but he only wants the Creator to give him strength to be able to overcome all the obstacles.
It means that he does not ask the Creator to give him a shape of white, but to give him the strength to overcome all the concealments.
Hence, those people who want to work in order to bestow, if there is always a state of whiteness, the whiteness does not allow one to continue in the work.
This is because, while it shines, one is able to work even in the form of reception for oneself. Hence, one will never be able to know if his work is in purity or not, and this causes him never to be able to be awarded Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.
[After all, he lacks a clear understanding of the state he is in.]
For this reason, he is given from above a form of blackness, and then he sees if his work is in purity. This means that if one can be in gladness in a state of blackness, too, it is a sign that his work is in purity, since one must be glad and believe that from above he was given an opportunity to be able to work in order to bestow (Baal HaSulam, Shamati, 42, “What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work?”).
There is none else besides the Creator. The Creator sends us both positive and negative influences, darkness and light. This may be darkness and light in feelings or it may be darkness and light in knowledge and understanding. In either case, we must understand that we work on the contrast between darkness and light, the positive and the negative. Therefore, it is essential for us to understand these two states and exist within them.
That is, I must develop an attitude within myself toward darkness and light, understanding and confusion, good and bad feelings in people, in myself, and in the circumstances, regardless of what and how that allows me to go in the middle line.
In essence, it does not matter what I feel; what matters is that I am directed toward the Creator, for all feelings come from Him. The most important thing is that if I strive toward Him above these feelings, I fulfill my purpose correctly.
The meaning of my actions is to perceive everything as coming from the Creator and as necessary for my spiritual development.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work?”
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Question: We as humans have all sorts of emotions: good, positive, and negative. Should we as Kabbalists learn to regulate them and keep them within ourselves?
Answer: We are human and we are emotional beings. Especially when we begin to study Kabbalah, we enter into various states—internal and external stresses and sensations that are sometimes difficult to contain. We suddenly become weak relative to our qualities and confused in some way.
Such incomprehensible changes occur in our hearts and minds that at times it seem like you are losing your mind. These are all natural processes, and the only thing we can do is work on ourselves within the group.
The group is that anchor, the central point where we must constantly strive to achieve balance. So even if I am thrown from side to side, and I feel like I am losing my usual qualities and emotions—it does not matter. We must constantly seek the center of the group to balance ourselves within it. There is no other way.
Can you imagine how much we rise above ourselves when we transition from being an animal to an ordinary human being? What a difference in thoughts and feelings, what a vast leap when you begin to understand what is happening, while the animal cannot hide anything from you. It has no such motivations; everything about it is clear—either it wags its tail like a small dog or it snarls at you. Everything is on the surface.
When we begin to enter the upper world, new qualities develop within us to the extent that we experience heaviness and do not know what to do with it.
This is why a steady group is necessary—to at least call each other daily, meet weekly, and once a month share a meal or do something together. This will balance you.
Of course, you might think: “What can this shared meal do for me?” You cannot imagine how much it balances you internally, spiritually! And under no circumstances should you neglect this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/19, “Questions and Answers”
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A person must say the opposite of what he said to the evil inclination. He should send messengers to the evil inclination, meaning tell the evil inclination that in his work, a person should be just like angels, meaning a Kli [vessel] for the sake of the Creator (Rabash, Assorted Notes, 375, “Jacob Sent“)
Sending messengers to the evil inclination means paying attention to your egoism and assessing how much it has changed as a result of such an attitude toward it—has it strengthened, or on the contrary, may it have completely disappeared?
Question: How can you understand that the evil inclination is telling you that not everything is good with you?
Answer: Only a friend from the ten can show you this.
Question: So should you wait for your friends to arouse you?
Answer: No, you should constantly strive toward the goal so that you can hold on to it more and more strongly every moment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/24, Writings of Rabash “Jacob Sent”
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I perceive our world as some kind of imposed barrier between me and the Creator; the meaning of this picture is hidden from me—who supplies it to me, why, and with what purpose. Therefore we must somehow get through these layered concealments in order to grasp Him and begin to reveal Him.
The very beginning of this revelation consists in the fact that first I begin to imagine that everything around me is a picture that the Creator develops through an effort of will. This entire world in its three-dimensional image with all the people acting in it, with everything that happens is what the Creator draws before me.
Second, the fact that I exist with my qualities, properties, desires, my view of this world, and all my initial data—with the help of which I see and feel it exactly like this—is also planned and created in me by the Creator in advance. Therefore the external picture of the world, everything that is around me and inside me and everything that is obtained in the connection between my internal properties and external influences, called “the world”—all is from the Creator.
And where am I myself? I myself am only an effort striving to hold the picture in such a way that everything that is drawn before me is from the Creator. Everything that is in me, all my properties with the help of which I see and analyze this world, also come from Him.
And my efforts, too, probably come from Him. Who prompts me to look for the source of life, the meaning of life, the essence of existence, and why everything happens around me like this is also the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, The Work in Concealment (Preparation for convention in Moldova)
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