A thought is a result of the desire (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 153, “A Thought Is a Result of the Desire”).

This is indeed true, because the most important thing in a person is desire. Thoughts appear only to fulfill these desires.

Desires arise in the heart, and we listen only to it. The mind is activated only when it is necessary to realize the desires that come from the heart. Therefore, the main thing is desire, while the intellect is merely an auxiliary tool, a means to achieve what is desired.

A person thinks of what he wants. He will not think of what he does not want.

In our world this is natural. You can look at any person and, by understanding his desires, guess what thoughts he has. All his thoughts are directed solely toward realizing what he desires. And to the extent that his desires have a hierarchy, you can tell which thoughts dominate and which are less important, what occupies him more or less. In other words, desires practically rule us.

For example, a person never thinks of his day of death. On the contrary, he will always contemplate his eternity, since this is what he wants. Thus, one always thinks of what is desirable for him.

Thought is secondary, auxiliary. It develops only because a person has desires. And therefore, one develops intellect in order to attain what is desired. As the saying goes: “One beaten man is worth two unbeaten ones.” For the one who is beaten, who is forced and compelled, becomes wiser because he searches for ways to realize himself.

Thus, the mind always grows when there are great desires. And conversely, if there are no desires, there is no great mind. Therefore, if you wish to develop your children, you must awaken in them great desires, not spoil them.

To spoil means to try to impose some kind of fulfillment on a child before he even wishes for it. On the contrary, let him desire, let him experience a bit of lack, let him seek how to realize what he wants. From this his intellect will develop. Only in this way, and no other.
[249076]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/14/19

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Question: Do you believe that the Jews of Israel will eventually bring about the correction of all of humanity?

Answer: It is precisely the circumstances in which they find themselves that will compel them to do so. Why does the world around them bristle against them?

This is eternal antisemitism; the perpetual feeling that you are hated and that you must defend yourself and justify your existence in the world. When all this passes over a person from generation to generation, it is transmitted through the genes; it leaves behavioral layers in one’s character, in one’s perception of the world, in one’s attitude toward everything. There is nothing like this in any other nation.

The Jews are not like the Gypsies, who are simply despised, nor like people who impose their culture, manners, way of life, or religion on other nations. In those cases, it all stems from a sense of superiority. But here, on the contrary, it comes from a sense of inferiority, smallness, and worthlessness.

This complex has developed very strongly over the last 2,000 years. It has already produced secondary and tertiary consequences, which gradually evolve and merge with all other philosophies of life.

All this has left a deep imprint on their attitude toward everything and has generated enormous internal stress within the people, especially among the European branch of the Jews who were forced to develop in order to elevate themselves above the surrounding nations in some way, to protect themselves.

We see, in the Middle Ages, how they suddenly experienced a leap in special character traits and intellectual abilities; it is not even clear why. Previously, nothing like this existed anywhere, not even among other branches of Jews in other countries where they lived more or less peacefully.

There is a great deal of research on this topic. And indeed, we see how many scientists, artists, and thinkers they produce. All this is the result of their defensive reaction.
[349765]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call, The Jews of Israel,” 9/13/10

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Faith above reason means that I accept the view of the upper one even when it clashes with my own understanding, as it is written: “They have eyes but do not see; they have ears but do not hear.” This means that I can lift myself to a higher level each time, as though pulling myself upward to the next rung, by choosing the upper one’s opinion over my own, even when it contradicts everything I know.

If a friend hands me an envelope with $1,000 and I do not check the amount because I trust him—this is faith below reason. My trust does not contradict what I know, and therefore it does not demand faith.

Knowledge is the mind and perception I possess within this material world, like a judge who relies solely on what his eyes can see. Faith, however, is what stands above this knowledge, as Bina stands above Malchut. And to rise from the degree of Malchut to that of Bina, I must advance through faith above reason.

If I count the money and find that there are $999 instead of $1,000, then $999 is my knowledge, and the remaining “$1” is the measure of my faith. But if the envelope contains only $1, or is completely empty, and still I believe the higher one, considering his view to be true, then I elevate myself above my own reason and begin to see from the vantage point of the upper one.

The mind of the upper one is the opinion of the group or the teacher. If I strive each time to rise to faith above reason, this means I am ascending spiritual degrees. If I make no effort to accept the mind of the upper one, I neither enter nor approach the spiritual world.

Faith above reason is the only point of free choice granted to a person in this world.

If I accept the upper one’s view and agree that the envelope holds $1,000, although I counted only $999, then I rise to his degree. And then I myself witness how the envelope becomes filled to the full measure, not with money, but with the greatness of the Creator.

Faith above reason is a special mechanism, a unique method that lifts us from the material degree to the spiritual one, and from a lower spiritual degree to a higher one. This is the only way to ascend: by taking on the opinion of the higher one.

Each time I am as if born anew on the next degree, again and again. I enter the new state like a newborn who carries nothing from the previous one; I cling to the mind of the upper one and proceed with it.

With my own senses I see only $1 in the envelope. Yet above my senses I must accept that it is $1,000. I do not nullify my knowledge, I leave it as it is. I clearly see the gap between what I know and what stands above knowledge.

This gap defines the difference between Malchut and Bina. On one hand, “the judge has only what his eyes see”—this is Malchut. Yet I must go against this knowledge and prefer the knowledge of the higher one—Bina, faith.

And within this interval—this divergence between Malchut and Bina, between knowledge and faith above knowledge—the upper world and spiritual reality begin to reveal themselves.

All the work in the ten proceeds by faith above reason. I may see no love among the friends; on the contrary, we seem ready to devour one another. Yet we work to love each other. In the eyes of the upper one our ten is perfect and stands in complete unity; in our own eyes it appears entirely otherwise. This difference is what we must examine and rise above.

And this contradiction remains. I cannot reconcile one with the other, for this distance is the very gap between Bina and Malchut, it cannot close; in fact, it continues to widen.

This is the difference between the Creator and the created being as it awakens within me. And the more I follow faith, the more I cleave to the Creator instead of clinging to my own mind and animal body. This is how spiritual advancement unfolds.
[349942]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/20, “Work with Faith Above Reason”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Work with Faith Above Reason” (9.9.2020)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, Chapter 5, Item 3

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3rd part of the Lesson — Conversations of a Kabbalist with His Students During the Day

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4th part of the Lesson — The Book of Zohar, “Beresheet – 1, ‘Taamim, Nekudot (Points), and Otiot (Letters)'”

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Question: How can we verify that we are bringing contentment to the Creator? What should we feel?

Answer: We should feel that we have an inner connection with the Creator, that is, feel His presence in my heart, His attitude toward me, and my attitude toward Him. In essence, this is the foundation of connection.

Question: I will feel it internally with my heart, but is there any external indication, relative to the environment, that I am correctly directed toward the Creator?

Answer: We constantly learn from the sources that it depends on love for friends, on connection with them, and on mutual help.

All of this relates to the connection within the group. Without it, we cannot advance.
[349845]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/10/25, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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Question: How can one learn to accept all the twists of fate? It says here: “Accept all the turns of fate. It is a playful picture” and so on and so forth. How can one learn that? Nowadays fate takes sharp turns.

Answer: You need to perceive all of this with a certain excitement, as a game. When your opponent makes a move on the chessboard or plays a new card on the table, you begin to see your next move. You should rejoice that you are in connection with such a “player.” And you wish, through this connection with him, to reveal the Creator.

Question: So then, each of my responding moves, that is the adventure? My inner one. And all my thoughts are “how and what?”

Answer: Yes.

Question: And then you said the phrase: “You find yourself in connection with the Creator.” Even if that thought does not actually exist within me, it is precisely that which leads to such a journey through life?

Answer: Yes, that is what you wish to attain.
[349823]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 11/7/25

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It is impossible to directly measure our attitude toward one another or our attitude toward the Creator, it can be only relative to an outside standard that is not in Him, not in us, but in between. In this standard, which stands between us, we can find what connects us and what separates us.

This standard is the group. If I attach myself to the friends in the group, then to that same extent I discover myself in adhesion with the Creator. The group gives me the ability to measure concrete parameters, the “height” and “weight” of my love and hatred, through which I attain adhesion with the Creator.

According to the measure of my adhesion with the ten, I can determine the measure of my filling with the light. After all, I have no possibility whatsoever to measure the light itself, it is only indirectly, through the group. Through the shared desires in the group, I begin to feel the light that fills it.

I can only feel pleasure in my own desires, and this is not enough. I need to check how, through the pleasure in these desires, I connect with the one who fills them, and whom I, in turn, fill. Therefore, there is the condition that “From the love of the created beings one comes to the love of the Creator.”

We cannot judge the light itself, but only the desires that are filled by it, just as one does not speak of electricity itself, but only of electrical phenomena. It is telling that electricity does not pass inside the wire, but around it.

Therefore, the group is the perfect standard for my adhesion with the Creator, like a tuning fork by which one evaluates the sound of a string on a musical instrument. Until I touch the string and it begins to sound, nothing can be said about it. Only by the desires (Kelim) can one judge the light.

A similar example are musical notes by which one evaluates a melody. The notes indicate which strings must be plucked or which keys must be pressed. They are the score of desires with which we work in order to hear the sounds of the music within ourselves. A note does not indicate the sound itself, but the instrument that produces it. Therefore, by attaining the instruments of connection with the group, we attain adhesion with the Creator.
[232516]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/18

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Question: You have said more than once that a person is given only what they can endure. What do you mean by this? We see that people are given things they cannot endure. Or can they still endure it?

Answer: They can. What is it that people cannot endure? It only seems to us that they cannot withstand something or cannot survive it. No, a person survives everything, bears everything, and can work on themselves to such an extent that no other creature could withstand such things.

Question: What does to endure mean? Does it mean to agree with this blow? What does it mean to come out of it?

Answer: Even to agree, even to understand, to realize, and to go through it is called coming out of a descent.

Question: What should a person’s guiding principle in life based on this be?

Answer: The principle of life must be very simple: instead of feeling myself, I must feel others; I must live not within myself, but within others. That is it. Essentially, this leads to the correct result.

Question: So, are you saying that if I close within myself, then a descent is inevitable? But if I am always open toward others and live for them, then I quickly come out of these states.

Answer: Yes.

Question: Why are descents given?

Answer: A descent is given in order to empty a person from the past, so that they will be ready to be filled with the future. Each descent and each ascent is an inner renewal of a person.

Question: Until when can a person be renewed? What peak must they reach?

Answer: It is until one completely renews oneself. This is a state where one returns to the root of one’s soul. And from that point on, one no longer needs to change internally, as it were.

Question: Do they return to their permanent place?

Answer: They return to their place, to their original point in the soul of Adam.

Question: “The soul of Adam,” do you mean that it is one single soul?

Answer: Yes, a person returns to their point in this soul. Every human being must go through this path of ascents and descents in order to return to that point. We cannot escape it.

Question: Do we know this point in advance? Do we know where we are heading?

Answer: We cannot know it because we cannot yet feel it.

Question: At what moment do I begin to feel it?

Answer: To the extent that you truly draw closer to it.

Question: Why is it given to us not to feel it?

Answer: Because we do not yet have the qualities of bestowal, love, and connection with others, with other souls, and so on.

Question: Am I moving toward that very connection that will unite us into a single whole? Is that where I’m going?

Answer: Yes, therefore, the commandment, the main condition, is: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
[349908]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 11/11/25

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Work with Faith Above Reason” (9.8.2020)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, Chapter 5, Item 1

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3rd part of the Lesson — Conversations of a Kabbalist with His Students During the Day

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