Reading The Book of Zohar helps us hasten time. If I need to develop for 5-10 years, then reading The Zohar can bring about these changes in me in several lessons or even less.

This is the difference between the level of the animate and the level of the speaking, although the two cannot be compared. No matter how much a beast wants to, no matter how much it jumps, no matter what it does—in its entire lifetime, it will not be able to perform one action that is similar to a human or even a small child. This is the difference in the levels of development.

Therefore, if we read The Zohar and don’t think about the actions that the Light can perform on us, our development will be very slow and may even be negative because in any case, the Light performs changes in us.

But if we add the right intention, then the reforming Light develops us from self-love to love of others, to resembling and becoming equal to the Light, and we reach the opening of the eyes.
[68301]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, The Zohar

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All our work is building the environment. After all you can’t create yourself by yourself. This is what we have to create for humanity these days. If I have to correct myself, how can I do that? I simply need to create around me such an environment, the media and an education system, so that I will be the product of this environment.

But by creating it, I correct myself. It’s because through the process of creation I already begin to feel how it should be built and how I should exist, and accordingly what kind of an environment it should be so that it will affect me. I feel how I should build it now so that it will take on such a form that will influence me.

In the building process itself, we join the operating mind and understand what the Creator wanted to do by the shattering, why He prepared such building blocks, wood and building materials for us, and why we should build this house. Thanks to this we begin to discover Him. It looks as if I am building the environment so that it will correct me, and so that the corrected me will be incorporated in it and then…but it isn’t so. By building the environment I get to know the Creator.
[67846]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, The Zohar

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The spiritual Partzuf consists of a head (Rosh) and a body (Guf). The Guf puts into practice the “Rosh’s” decisions. The part that tends towards obtaining similarity with the upper force demonstrates its intention, power, need, and implements its own decisions is called the “head.”

Initially the Creator made only one desire, the desire to receive. It had neither a head nor a body. Under the influence of the Light, the desire reconstructed itself; it transitioned through the four stages and got to a point where it began to understand that it needed to become similar with the upper force and acquire the property of bestowal. The system that emerges and builds in it as a result of this decision is called “head” (Rosh).

These processes took place within one desire; it’s considered to be the head only under the condition that its parts are connected at the level of thought, intention, and with the recognition of the importance of such a connection. The same desires that are activated by such an intention are called the body. There is a part of the body that is able to execute the head’s decisions; it’s the internal part, Toch. Also, there is a part that is not capable of doing so, the Sof.

Division into head and body (Rosh and Guf) takes place within the same desire. In our physical body, it’s manifested by the fact that the head is located above the body. This position reflects a spiritual process: First, the head makes a decision, and then it starts to be implemented through the body.

Everything happens within one desire, but connections between desires that are of a more sophisticated nature (like thoughts, intentions, and clarifications) are referred to as the head. Substantial thickness (which is called Aviut) is added to the network that we call the head, to all those liaisons and wires that are responsible for calculations and clarifications; and altogether the whole thing is called a body.

Previously, the desire used to be only a body. However, right after the first restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph) it decided that it wanted to re-build itself anew; for that, it needed a head. The body restricted itself because it couldn’t agree to sense itself as opposite to the Creator; at this time, it chose to get a new head.

Thoughts, aspirations, intentions, and plans that lead desire towards the Light are called the head. At this point, it starts receiving the power of the Light for the sake of bestowal and thus becomes similar to the Light.

If we look at the spiritual ladder, we’ll see only heads. Bodies are inside. We see only Partzufim’s heads, one underneath the other. Bodies are necessary only to implement decisions that are made by the head and to also give birth to another head!
[67046]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/12, “Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: What is the difference between “I awaken the dawn” or “the dawn awakens me?”

Answer: “The dawn awakens me” means that I am being awakened from above. Multiple attempts are made, but they will be paused if I am unable to make an effort to awaken.

There might be a few more attempts to awaken me in this life, or I might be left alone until the end of this reincarnation, and I will continue living like everyone else, going with the flow of life.

If, however,  “I awaken the dawn,” then I hasten time (Achishena). It is important for me to awaken and accelerate time, thus every moment of life becomes precious to me, and I work really hard to make sure I do not waste it or take it for granted. This is what it means to “awaken the dawn.”

Man’s entire work consists of “awakening the dawn,” and it does not matter what he receives from it. He might need to keep awakening the dawn for a long time until he sees some kind of a response.

It is important to understand that man always works with his vessel, desire, and that the upper Light is in the state of absolute rest. And if you have made a lot of effort to awaken the dawn and have not yet received anything, this does not mean that there is a lack of Light. There is a lack of effort in revealing the Light, which is inside it.

We await a reward as if we have paid in one place and wish to receive in another. I work with the actual revelation, which is right here before me, and all I need to do is reveal it more and more in the same place.

So I have no one to blame in my lack of success in awaiting the dawn; everything depends only on my effort. And if I have not yet managed to awaken the dawn, then I have not yet made enough effort. Because if I had made enough effort, I would definitely find it: It would have awakened.
[67710]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, Shamati #175

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Question: How is it possible to use that same point of unity that we obtained at the convention in December during The Zohar lessons in ?

Answer: That point of unity that we obtained has already disappeared, hidden itself, and was erased from our feeling. And we shouldn’t be sorry about that. We shouldn’t try to hold on to it by force. We only need to bring the warmth and enthusiasm of that spiritual uplifting since after all, we need to feel a secure basis. We can’t hang in the air.

The time has come to worry about a new point of unity. To connect does not mean hugging and holding hands. Unity is determined by the measure that I am able to detach from myself. In the connection with others, there is no need for anything from me; otherwise, there won’t be even a trace of real connection in it. I can’t connect with others. In the connection only the ” anti-me” needs to participate, when I convert myself as opposed to getting rid of everything I have in mind and feeling, from everything that I know.

Thus, first and foremost, I need to annul my “I,” and then the Light that reforms works on me, and with what is left, I attach to the states formed by my friends. Hence, together we discover the unity between us if we find our points within the hearts, within the ego, with the help of the Light that reforms that inverts them from the posterior of sanctity to the face of sanctity; if we connect with each other, then this connection is already worthy of adherence with the righteous, with the high souls.

We discover our connection with them and are ready to entrust ourselves to them so that they will take care of us. Since now we come in contact with them. Before that there was no contact. They simply spoke to us from afar. And then we will see how the writers of The Zohar, Rabash, and Baal HaSulam care for us and raise us.
[66795]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/17/12, The Zohar

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Question: Can one remain in the sensation of the material world and attain spirituality at the same time?

Answer: A person who attains spirituality does not lose anything in his sensations. On the contrary, he feels this world much more as a source and motive to enjoy.

The spiritual world means that you attain the reason why you are alive. Then this entire life in the reality that you feel in your body, called “this world” is also worth it.

The spiritual world is the Creator. By collecting your previously dispersed and broken attitude to others into one, relating to them as to one whole which is yours and dear to you, you begin to reveal the Creator within that attitude.

Through this entire world, like through a focusing lens, I focus all of my attitude to it – in love, unity, and connection, and in this point of focus I find the Creator.

It’s as if many rays (forms of my attitude) enter this lens (the group, humanity), come out of it, and focus on one point (the Creator).

Therefore, nothing disappears, but on the contrary – I use this entire world. Without it there is nothing for me to do. Until the full correction (Gmar Tikkun) I have to be in this world, and if I didn’t finish the correction, I have to return to the same reality, to its observation.

What does “this reality” mean? I return to the same qualities of perception, to the same desires that I did not finish correcting. And then I once again see a certain reality, feeling this world the same as now or maybe somewhat different. But I have to see reality in the intention to enjoy, in my flawed receiving desires, which I still retain, until I correct all of them. Then this reality disappears because it becomes unified.

Look from aside at this entire reality, which appears before us, and at the spiritual reality. We have to see the will to enjoy and how much we feel in it – for the sake of reception or for the sake of bestowal. According to this, we are in one reality or another. And our life cycles are like a change of Partzuf, one after another.
[67327]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/23/12, The Zohar

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” (50): However, before that, when the writing speaks only from the perspective of one concealment, the text ends, “they will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?”

In other words, a person feels that he has no connection with the Creator because he lacks the equivalence of form with the Creator, and as a result he feels bad. It could be that he made a lot of money in the stock market and that everything is fine, but he feels bad because he has no contact with the Creator, meaning that he lacks the equivalence of form with the attribute of the general bestowal called the Creator.

“This means that they still believe in Providence of reward and punishment, and say that the troubles and suffering come to them because they do not cleave to the Creator…”

This means that I understand that I am bad, that I didn’t bring about the correction, and so I was “punished.” I have sunk into concealment. But on the other hand, we can also see it as a reward because I feel a negative response and thanks to that I can correct myself. This means that I have to “kiss” the stick that helps me be aware to how low I deteriorate. Otherwise I could deteriorate without even feeling it.

So the difference is in how I judge: according to how I feel my present state, or according to the state itself, as is. I have to determine the state as bad in relation to the required correction of the desires in which I am not adhered to the Creator. These vessels are broken, and the evil can be felt in them in a different way. I may feel bad because I am empty, and I may feel bad because I am detached from the Creator. I can also feel empty and feel good about it because I feel the shattering that way. Finally, I may feel bad because I feel the detachment. In any case, I feel that I am detached from the Creator.

So everything is determined according to the present state. It doesn’t depend on you and you can’t randomly jump from one state to another (like the arrows in the drawing). Rather, you have to examine what you have: “Do I feel good or bad? Suppose I feel good, what do I feel: detachment from the Creator or a connection with Him? Detachment: Does it bother me? No, I feel good. But can I still see the evil in this situation? Not at the moment.”

You should determine your accurate feeling and your attitude to the real state. This is the inner clarification of the state you were given. Then you feel the demand: “How can the group and the reforming Light and the other means help me correct my attitude?” It’s impossible to correct a good feeling or a bad one, or the state of detachment. The group can only correct my attitude to the situation.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/22/12, Shamati #1

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Baal HaSulam, "Inheritance of the Land": And so Abraham wondered, “How will I know that I will inherit it?” meaning how will I know that the Children of Israel will receive such a great reward, since where will they get such big vessels that will be worthy of this wonderful receiving, and to this the Lord answered him, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, and then they will have great exertion in the Torah and the Mitzvot….” This is the case for those who deal with the Torah, but those that deal with the fillings of this world and are not ready to deal with the Torah, how will they receive these vessels? Indeed the answer is that this is what is said in the Midrash, that Israel are not redeemed until they are united…."

So we see that we must connect with the world that provides us its deficiencies because we don’t have enough deficiencies of our own. In the same way we received the desires of the Egyptians in the time of the Exodus from Egypt.

Let’s see how things developed. After the exodus from Babel we went down to Egypt, we were there for 210 years and we went to Mt. Sinai. Then there was a series of ascents and descents until we arrived at the Land of Israel and built the first Temple. Then we fell from that degree and built the second Temple.

Thus we ended the work of the Egyptian exile. We corrected the whole legacy of 210 years in Egypt, all the evil inclination, with the help of the Torah, meaning the method of Kabbalah, which we received on Mt. Sinai.

After having fulfilled this level, we fell, we have been through two thousand years of exile, and now we have to ascend again. It is said about our state that: “The children of Israel were exiled only to add the souls of the gentiles to them," which is all the Babylonians. In the past, Abraham took a small vessel of Israel out of Babel, and now all of Babel have to reach correction. Here, in exile, we meet the Babylonians, we are mutually incorporated in them and together with them rise to correction, as one body that has a "head" and a "body." The head is the point in the heart (*), and the body is what we call "the nations of the world (NW in the drawing)."

Thus we reach mutual correction. The body cannot manage without the head, and the head cannot manage without the body.

[67055]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, Baal HaSulam, “The Inheritance of the Land”

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Question: What does a group that enters spirituality look like?

Answer: On the outside there are no special signs. Everyone seems like ordinary people. Inside will be everything we read about in the Kabbalah books. You will see the same faces, but you will treat them differently.

You will feel the internal network of connections among you. This is what creates the place where the spiritual world is revealed. It is as if you’ve received a flashlight, you turn it on, and in that light you begin to see stones, trees, animals, and people: a whole world.

This shining flashlight is your good attitude towards all the others, the mutual guarantee that you feel towards them. In the mutual guarantee that stems from you, you begin to discover the upper system and to see that in it, right there before you, there are trees, animals and people, which you didn’t see before.

But all the inanimate objects, plants, animals and people are not corporeal like in our world, but are spiritual. This is the picture that is revealed to you. They are the same familiar faces, but you discover the internal connection among them.

Many years ago I saw a movie about a diamond theft. The robbers sprayed a special spray and in this mist they began to see the laser beams that activate the alarm if someone crossed the room.

So it is as if you are also spraying a special spray around you, like a cloud of emotional attitude, of sharing, of a sense of connection and mutual guarantee, and in it you discover the laser beams that connect us to one another and see how they pass and tie everyone.

You discover this relationship, and see how it operates and manages everything. You understand what really motivates everyone.

Now, you see that everyone is moving, but you don’t understand which forces are moving them. Then you suddenly begin to feel, both physically and internally, how a hand enters the puppet and begins to move it from one place to another. This is revealing the governance and upper Providence.

Accordingly you learn how to adapt yourself to the system of this Providence, just as the movement of a good horse is adapted to the desires of the rider.
[67079]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, Shamati #174

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A person lives only by the desire in the heart. It makes no difference what he says out loud, or whether before reading The Book of Zohar he suddenly begins to think about what he should pray for or what he should think about.

We are before a system that can give us anything we want. We only have to clarify what we can receive from it. I can receive from it something that can harm me by bringing me all the goodness and corporeal pleasures and thereby keeping me away from the goal and “shutting me up.” This is called the “potion of death,” which will fill me with pride and make me receive everything that I lack in this world, meaning to fill my ego.

Or I can ask for something that is detached from this world, which is opposite to it and is not so real—and I will actually receive that. After all, this force can do anything: He created the evil inclination, and He can also create the good inclination and perform the shift between the two worlds: both from top down and from the bottom up. It all depends only on me, only on what I ask for.

So a person has to think, and to take into account that he always raises a prayer because there is always a desire in his heart. This desire either says: “I want to sleep so leave me alone,” or it can be a desire for different nonsense that is in his subconscious. After all, the Reshimot (informational genes) are always evoked and fulfilled in some form.

A person can also take things seriously and want to find out what to ask for; it is all in his hands. A person must know that he is always under the influence of the Light, but now that influence is more intense and strong, and he has the opportunity to advance even in the opposite form of the created being.

It all depends on his deficiency. If he has a deficiency, if he is really somewhat part of the special actions of the Light, which can raise him—then it is fulfilled. And if not, then the Light works on him in the opposite manner.

If people don’t pray with the right intention, meaning if they don’t ask some purposeful action of the Light, they still are under the influence of the Light. This is because the surrounding Light operates on everyone and the Reshimot are constantly evoked in us. The Light operates on the Reshimot and so humanity advances. [Read more →]

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