Question: How does spiritual ascent occur?

Answer: When a person begins studying Kabbalah, one starts going through various states. They do not know where these new states come from, but essentially, all changes come from the upper one.

There are two levels: the upper and the lower. In the upper, there are an upper and lower part (GE and AHAP), and in the lower also GE and AHAP. Together, they form the ten Sefirot, the structure of our soul.
As long as I merely exist in this world and have not begun to correct my soul, I perceive only myself, my current level, as my body, my life. And nothing beyond that.

But when I begin studying Kabbalah and join a group, I begin to receive the surrounding light. It is called “surrounding” relative to me because it is hidden in what surrounds me: in the books, the teacher, the friends through whom I receive this light.

I do not receive it just “from the air”; there is no upper light in the air. We are talking about the ladder of spiritual levels. But relative to a person, it so far manifests as a light transmitted to them through various means.

Sometimes this light awakens a person, and at other times, on the contrary, it gives them a sensation of darkness, the reverse side of light. The upper can explain something to the lower like a wise, adult explains something to their student. And the students enjoys what they hear and become wiser. They perceive it as receiving the light, knowledge and sensation.

Or, on the contrary, the teacher, relative to the student is in such a state, gives them such material and knowledge, such an experience that the student sees how little they understand of spirituality and how little they feel, how closed off and empty they are. And then, the more the teacher gives them, the darker it becomes for the student.

It does not depend on whether the light of Hochma is present or not but on how much the upper adjusts to the lower. Yet, if the upper adapts too much to the lower, it deprives them of the opportunity to perform any independent actions.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/2012, Writings of Rabash Article 195

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When A Heart Speaks, No Words Are Necessary
Between Two Worlds: Upper and Lower

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