Our work is to rise above evaluation according to the principle of “sweet–bitter” to evaluation according to the principle of “true–false.” After all, the Creator is called Truth.

The word “truth” (Emet) consists of the letters “Alef–Mem–Tav.” “Alef” and “Tav” (the first and the last letters of the alphabet) are the desires at the two extreme poles.

And “Mem” in the middle is the quality of Bina, by which one can connect these poles and come to correction, that is, to truth.

Determining where truth lies and where falsehood lies is possible only in relation to a group of Kabbalists, the environment. By myself, within myself, I lack the necessary conditions for this; I possess only one parameter: my ego. To measure I absolutely need one more parameter outside of myself.

After long study and many clarifications in the group, a beginning Kabbalist starts to feel himself in the general (global) system of desires, among other “points in the heart.” Relative to this particular environment, I am given the opportunity to acquire new sensory concepts: drawing closer to it and distancing from it, sensing its global system, my inclusion in it, the necessity of its support, the realization of it as the place in which I will reveal for myself the upper world and the Creator.

Meanwhile, within me, an interaction of two forces —myself and the environment—takes shape within me. The environment gains weight and acts as a counter force to my “I,” my ego. Another authority emerges, one outside of me, which I will begin to take into account and view as a source of salvation, a lever that can pull me out of my current state, out of this world.

I measure the “self – environment” dynamic, and as a result of my measurements I obtain quantitative and qualitative measures for measuring spiritual relations, forces. I build a measuring ruler: on one end is me and on the other is the group. With this ruler I can already research, measure, and depict the upper world.

From the “I – group” relationships a spiritual cell is formed within me with which I can measure all of reality above myself. In this way I build a soul within myself.
[5643]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/9, Baal HaSulam, Letters 41 & 42

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