When I think about the group I don’t see specific people and I don’t remember faces or names. This is especially true since people change a lot, not externally but internally. So I don’t see individual people but rather the general desire of the group that has to be given a form that is as real as possible.

So we shouldn’t think about specific friends but about the whole group, which I have already added into one integral sum. Individuals remain on the left side of the formula, under the integral, while I already think about the right side of the formula, about its result, and this is where I start working.

Question: But this generalization seems like some abstract concept.

Answer: It isn’t an abstract concept but a live one! This general concept of the group is actually full of life, while every individual is dead. It is like the elementary particles, atoms, that begin to connect by some upper force that is not among them. Suddenly these atoms turn into something that is alive, and then a process of metabolism suddenly begins between them, which means life is formed!

One cell receives from another, absorbs things that it needs and extracts materials that are bad for the connection between them. They begin to look on the outside for whatever is good for the connection and helps them connect. All this stems from the connection, without which they would be dead, still, merely particles: electrons, protons, neutrons, ions, etc! These are only elementary particles in which there is no life, and suddenly by the connection between them they reach such a developed form.

Then an inner and external feeling begins to develop by connections that are increasingly more complex. The connection between the organs leads to such an unusual complex combination because each one is ready to take on a special role with regard to the others and worry about nothing else. The liver, for example, cleans the blood that the heart pumps and conveys to the other organs, but what can the liver do without the heart or the heart without the liver? All these organs reach such a loyal connection between them that each one is ready to sacrifice its life for the sake of the others.

The body wouldn’t be able to function without one of the major organs, without the lungs, the liver, the heart, the kidneys, or the brain. One is worthless without the others. Notice how close and connected they have become, ready to sacrifice their life for one another and not worry about it. Each one worries only about the mission it was given and feels 100% responsible for everyone else. This is called mutual guarantee.

Before that there is no body. So the general concept of a group is not an abstract concept but actually the only thing that lives and exists!
[129541]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/10/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Preparation for the Lesson

Workshop 

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”   

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”   

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Question: Before the lesson I think about the Creator, during the day I think about the connection with the group, when do I also think about the Light that Reforms?

Answer: The Light that Reforms is in all the gaps between my desire to reach a certain state and my reaching that state. The Light that Reforms is also between my current desire and the correct desire I should have.

The Light is in my lack of connection with the group, the lack of attraction that I feel, and the need for it, between the state of yearning when I am attracted to the group since I strongly feel its importance.

The Light is everywhere and in everything, in building the spiritual vessels, the restriction, the Masachim (screens), the intentions; in other words, whatever we do, we only need to think about the Light. Any change of the desire and any correction of the intention is possible only by the Light. Nothing operates except for the Light, neither negatively nor positively. We only need to add our component each time but without dictating to the Light what it should do exactly.

We only add the need for the changes, like a baby who wants something: He doesn’t offer any clever clarifications or specify exactly how it should be done, what should be done, and to what degree; he is totally dependent on the grownup.

I express this dependency in the society to such an extent that I don’t determine how the Light should operate and what it should do. The deficiency that is revealed is enough to help me adhere to the group even more, and the Light does everything else. It may even throw me to some new discernments, or to an unknown dimension; it is its business.

I use the only component that is up to me: the connection. I don’t even build this chain—my special connection with the group to affect the Light that Reforms—I don’t determine anything at all since I am always on a level of an embryo with regard to the new state, and I prepare myself to complete uncertainty. The most I can do is to be in state of smallness, like a small child.
[129432]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/9/14

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Question: When does the Light that Reforms influence a person and bring him to the love of others?

Answer: The Light constantly influences us: It either influences us according to the natural pace of evolution that is called Beito (in its time), or according to a program called Achishena (I shall hasten it), which is hastening time. But it’s always the Light that acts.

On one hand, it is said that “the Light is in a state of absolute rest.” On the other hand, we call it the Light that Reforms, which means that it can influence us in a different ways, either more or less. Of course, the Light is in a state of absolute rest, but I spur myself by the environment: the books, group, and teacher, thus increasing my sensitivity to the Light.

Lets say we are going out to disseminate. Before we go out we really think that we want to attain the love of others in order to attain the love of the Creator, and thus delight Him. We would like to perform this action out of real love, but unfortunately we don’t feel it yet.

So we act even out of self-interest (Lo Lishma): We want to attain spirituality, to know about it, to feel it; we expect that the heavens will get revealed to us. When we operate this way, even with the intention of “not for its sake”—as it is said: Mitzvot (commandments) don’t require the right intention—it still works. The Light illuminates on me from a distance (this is why it is called the Surrounding Light), and thus advances me.

So all my work is to check which of my actions are the most beneficial in order to spur and to draw the Surrounding Light. The most beneficial action, according to the law of the equivalence of form, is the one closest to the properties of the Light, namely: bestowal, love, involvement, closeness, embrace, kiss, and coupling.

We should yearn for that, and I am ready to yearn for that, but only on the condition that I get something from it, i.e., I will be rewarded with new feelings, understanding, and by opening my eyes to reveal the secrets of the Torah so that the heavens will open up for me. I want this and cannot do anything with my desire!

Never mind, I need to work with the desire that I have. It is not up to me, but is arranged that way by the Creator. I work with whatever I have, even if it is clear to me that I do everything for my own sake, and the Surrounding Light will gradually impart right intentions to me. This is how we advance.

If we reach the love of the Creator from the love of the created beings, then the most beneficial thing we can is to take care of the created beings! So dissemination—or as it is said, the role of the Israeli nation, obliges us to bring all of humanity to the Creator—is the most beneficial action for anyone who participates in it. We only need to understand this, to interpret it correctly, and to tell each other about it. Then we will understand that we are in an excellent state. We have received unique opportunities.
[129425]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/14

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Recommendation for how to work at the time of reading The Book of Zohar: I read along together with everyone and I listen. But in the beginning I don’t listen to the reader, I don’t want to hear and think about the text. I think only about adherence with the group and adherence with the Creator, wanting the Upper Light to hold me all the time and increase my state of adherence more and more.

If I succeed in holding a few minutes in this state, I allow myself to begin to start listening. I keep bobbing all the time, like a buoy on water, constantly checking myself: Am I listening, more or less, seeing the letters or not? But the main thing is to “float” all the time, to be in adhesion.

To the degree that I can add my impressions from the text here (suppose that it touches me because I have already gone through similar states), then I allow myself to combine the text with adhesion. And if not, then even though I don’t hear it at all, the main thing is that my thoughts will always remain correct.

That is, first of all we all want to remain in adhesion with the upper power, in mutual Arvut, in connection, and the Creator strengthens and adheres us together. And as much as possible, we add to this what The Book describes. The Zohar talks about all kinds of changes, all the kinds of guiding routes, roads, paths: capillaries, cells, body parts of this entire system of unification; it explains how it works, how it acts. To the degree that I am also ready to be in this, I do this, and if not, then I don’t.

We want to feel ourselves under a shower of Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light) or in a sea of Ohr Makif, in the depths of this sea so that it will influence us all the time. The closer we join together, the stronger its influence. We need to feel that we are in a sea of Upper Light and that the words of The Zohar pierce us. To the degree that we are prepared to combine them to intentions and to our state of connection, we make it possible for them to enter into our feelings and intellect. And to the degree that they disturb us and distract us from connection, we don’t allow them to enter into us.
[129245]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/2/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Preparation for the Lesson

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”   

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”   

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: Why doesn’t the desire of an animal grow with time and only a man’s desire grows?

Answer: The human is that animal in which the desire to receive grew. A human is some kind of unnatural mutation from the animate level, and in truth, he is called Adam (man) only after he attains the Creator, and before that he still belongs to the animate level.

Man is a form of bestowal that we acquire by resembling the Creator. Before this we call ourselves “human beings,” as with an eye for the future, because there is a potential power in us that we can develop and transform to be the true spiritual people.

Look at the disorder and rioting that is happening in the modern world. Is it worthy to call them Adam (Man)? It’s more like animals that have gone crazy. According to their behavior it is possible to say that the human has not changed at all from ancient times and he is no better in any way than the primordial savage man, and even worse. Since then, the desire to receive grew and brought us even more damage. None of our development went in the right direction and Adam is what is called only that part of us that is similar to the Creator.

[129280]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How did the children of Israel walking through the desert receive “Manna from Heaven” and were nourished by it?

Answer: They encountered new challenges and troubles each time as they increasingly revealed their evil inclination, and then they had what to pray for and what to clarify.

First, we have to feel bad and when the evil is revealed we begin to ask and to clarify why we feel bad. From inside his ego a person begins to clarify why he feels bad and wants to eliminate the source of evil.

If he is developed enough, he begins to ask about the source of evil, about the cause for evil, about the purpose of evil. This stems from the fact that he is already connected to the upper force by some inner sense. His desire to receive has already reached level four of Aviut (thickness) of the clarification. Then he feels that he is connected to the upper force by fate. This is why astrologers, fortune tellers and so forth are so popular these days. It all stems from the same reason, as waste material from the right search.

We advance in the desert and discover new problems and troubles that are connected to the upper force through a point called Moses. This means that there is already a system that belongs to holiness that includes studying and dissemination actions that tie us to the Creator.

There is also a corrupt system—this world, which we want to connect to us, and so we go out to the public. To the extent that we go out to the world, we can correct ourselves. But without dissemination we cannot correct ourselves in any way. It is thanks to the dissemination that we advance in the desert together with all our groups.

Thanks to being in the process of studying and dissemination each one begins to live more and more by his prayer, by his appeal to the Creator through the group. Then he feels that it revives him and so it is called MAN. MAN means that you adhere to the force of bestowal and you want to be in it.

You don’t yearn to fill your vessels of receiving, but you totally want to remain in the appeal, in giving. You are given these powers so that you can raise MAN, which is a request to remain in the desert and not to demand anything but the opportunity to turn to the Creator in any situation.

This is the work of clarification in the desert and you live by this work. You have nothing and you don’t need or want anything. Gradually we begin to feel it. This is depicted to a person only after a very long time since it requires an inner change of his systems, of the system of his soul. Gradually he agrees to be more and more part of these pictures.
[129210]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/14

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Question: Prayer must be for my connection with the friends. So this sense of lack of connection, is this the prayer?

Answer: Prayer is not my feeling in relation to someone. Prayer means that I discover what I need to change in me and I turn to the Creator as my partner, that He is higher and the determinant, so that He will correct my relationship to creation. For the moment that I see something bad and I automatically blame Him. And in no way do I want to accuse Him.

The correction is possible only because I don’t want to condemn the Creator for how the creation seems uncorrected and evil to me. But not so that I or another will cease to suffer and will live better, or the opposite, not so that someone would vanish because it would better that some villain not live.

I don’t ask for their correction,but only for the correction of my vision. After all, I see evil before me because “All who condemn do so through their own flaws.” We need to work on this point all the time; to refine and clarify it more and more. And when I have precisely sharpened this point of view of the world I suddenly will see that the entire world is in line and everything is okay, everything is good and beautiful.

The Creator arranges the entire world in complete harmony and only intentionally shows me some kind of blurry patch sometimes here and sometimes there. So He plays with me portraying that there is something distorted here and there, and so forth. But all of this is so that I will straighten myself out, and then this entire picture will seem ideal.

There is always one picture, a picture of the world of Infinity, but I absorb this Infinity into my egoistic system and therefore see this world instead.
[129206]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/14

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Question: How do I measure my state outside of the desire to receive and is this possible if we are within it all the time?

Answer: It means that I am ready to remain in the present state forever, that is in Hafetz Hesed, no matter what happens. And the further I rise, the lower my state of Hafetz Hesed descends downward, meaning that it extends to the lowest level. This is called measurement outside of the desire to receive. In a state of Hafetz Hesed I don’t make any measurements, rather I try to stay as low as possible in a permanent state.

This is considered that I am measuring outside of the desire to receive if I don’t attribute benefit as fulfillment for the desire to receive. I receive the ability like an iron bar lifted in the air by a magnet. Thanks to the magnet, the iron can hang in the air. So it is also with the desire, to the degree that the Light influences the desire, raises it above an intention for the sake of reception, it can be hanging in the air with an intention for the sake of bestowal.

The desire itself is unchanged, but its direction transforms from being for oneself to another, meaning, toward the Creator. That is how we rare able to measure outside of the desire to receive.
[128989]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/2/14

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