Preparation for the Lesson
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Workshop
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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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Question: Why does it say that a person should judge himself to the scale of merit? Does he do it by himself? Isn’t it the Upper Light that operates on him?
Answer: We don’t say that the upper force operates here, although it does everything. When it says that “a person should correct” it means that a person demands that the Upper Light correct him.
It is the same in our world when we speak about a house that was built by a great architect. Did the architect actually build the house? He planned it and there were hundreds of people who built the house. But we say that the house was built by the architect and sometimes even hang up a plaque with his name.
We also don’t speak about the forces that we operate. There is the Creator who is good and benevolent, “There is none else besides Him,” He gave a law that cannot be broken: the law of equivalence of form that determines all the levels on the spiritual ladder. But all our appeals, all our work, depends only on us. If we activate ourselves by feeling the right yearning, we will receive the Light.
It is a constant supply that never ends and never changes. Everything depends only on our equivalence of form with the Light. So we don’t say that the Light corrects us. If everything is ready and He is good and benevolent, everything is determined by my desire for positive changes, and the Light immediately operates in full power.
Actually I don’t even have to ask it to do so. Therefore we don’t say “to beg” but “to pray” to the Creator because I have to beg myself and activate myself and not Him. I am the one who has to reveal my desires, and all the actions are meant to ignite our heart. The Upper Light is in a state of absolute rest and the problem is only in our heart.
[129111]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/5/14
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Question: Why does it say that the soul is absolutely separate from the Creator and at the same time that it is similar to Him in its attributes? According to spiritual laws shouldn’t they be one whole if they have identical attributes?
Answer: A soul is a desire to receive and not a desire to bestow. So why is it called spiritual or one that bestows? Since, although it is a desire to receive, it performs an action by which it resembles the desire to bestow; even though there is a wolf inside, it seems like a lamb on the outside. Now it all depends on the extent to which this wolf will wear the lamb’s skin or take it off, according to his freewill and his desire.
In the world of Atzilut, everything is white; it is totally a lamb. In the world of Beria we already begin to discern that it is a wolf but one that wants to be a lamb. He actually behaves like a lamb, but we still see that there is a wolf inside.
This means that it is still the spiritual world, that it is still a soul, but there is already the discernment that the soul isn’t in adhesion with the Creator. There is something that separates them here, and that is the wolf inside, the ego.
In the world of Yetzira it is even more so; there the desire to receive doesn’t control itself any more. There, the fact that I am connected to the Creator, that I depend on Him, and am totally under His domination is the only thing left of the positive attribute. The Creator determines everything that happens and I cannot determine anything. I have no powers, I am weak, and I am completely in His hands. The wolf acknowledges that he is a wolf more and more and he feels an increasingly greater inner resistance, but holds himself.
If we look at this from the opposite direction, from the bottom up, and we ascend to the world of Yetzira, which corresponds to the state of smallness (Katnut), I perceive that I am small. There are greater and better levels than I am in, and in the meantime, I am in this state. It turns out that there are positive moments and there are negative ones.
In the world of Assiya the recognition that I am incapable of anything brings me to a state of an embryo. I only close myself and place myself completely under the domination of the upper, and I have no way to identify with him except in the form of a single point.
[129098]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam
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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut” (Mutual Guarantee):“One sinner destroyeth much good.” This is because it has already been explained (Item 20) that the impression that comes to a person when engaging in Mitzvot between man and God is completely the same as the impression he gets when engaging in Mitzvot between man and man. He is obliged to perform all the Mitzvot Lishma (for Her name), without any hope for self-love, meaning that no light or hope returns to him through his trouble in the form of reward or honor, etc. Here, in this exalted point, the love of the Creator and the love of his friend unite and actually become one (see Item 15). Thus he affects a certain measure of advancement on the ladder of love for others in all the people of the world in general.
Thus we see how accurate these conditions are: bestowal, nature, the Creator who demands that we go through the phases of the evolution of our ego until we totally drown in it, filled with the egoistic evil on all four levels. In addition, the shattering that began in our roots should be fully completed and we should begin to discover its outcomes.
If a person really wants to advance in spirituality, which means towards bestowal, he begins to gradually and very slowly discover that these conditions are very difficult, practically impossible, and of course unbearable. It is because a person must perform continuous actions, use every opportunity he gets, and look for additional actions of bestowal upon others, out of love of others. At the same time, a person should feel happy and elated despite his feeling when he actually lacks everything!
We should understand that this is actually called spirituality: receiving no reward but acting only for the sake of others. If it were for the sake of the Creator, then one could agree to do something since He is great and rules everything.
It is respectable to be connected to Him, to be close to Him, and to bestow upon Him. But when we speak about bestowal upon others and not the Creator, which means upon any person in this world whom I need to delight, to make feel good, and please by my efforts, it seems as an impossible mission.
At this point we realize that only the Surrounding Light can do this, can bring about such a change, and that this action is essential because I have nothing and I cannot escape it. This is really the goal of creation and the justice of the upper, and I need the Creator’s help because without Him I cannot do anything.
Eventually I agree and understand that this is the upper justice and that this is the way it has to be, despite the fact that I am totally against it. I am ready to constantly ask for the upper force to come and correct and change me so I will seemingly cease to exist and will only serve all humanity, both my enemies and my loved ones.
There shouldn’t be any difference in my attitude towards the lowliest and the worst person in the world and my attitude towards the Creator. Only when I attain absolute love for the created beings will I reach the love of the Creator. After all, the Creator has to be revealed among everyone.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/14
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Question: One student may think that he is close to the teacher but may not be close and it can also be the other way around; one may think that he is far from the teacher but in fact is close to him. How can we measure that?
Answer: We don’t measure this according to what a student thinks but according to the opportunities that he had to subdue himself against his will and to the efforts he made in doing so. Closeness, just like other things, is measured according to the effort that is made above our ego.
We can only measure things by our ego. Measure is determined by how much do I have: how I can take my desires and weigh them like weights on a scale.
Everything depends on self-annulment. Don’t expect to reach some tough static system that has been stabilized once and already exists. The work we have to do is continuous, constant, according to three states: submission, differentiation, and sweetening, which is the constant work of the lower with regard to the upper, of a person with regard to the group, of a group with regard to the teacher.
Question: Is it true that if a person fails to connect to his teacher when the teacher is alive, it will be very difficult for him to do so afterward?
Answer: I don’t think it’s even possible to do so afterward. Try to connect to Baal HaSulam now or to any other great Kabbalist! This world was created in order to enable us to reach a corporeal connection, so that we will be able to perceive the upper in some way. If we have no corporeal contact with the upper, how can you hold on to Him? Now there is the seemingly corporeal form of the teacher before you, some corporeal representation with which you can come in contact. You can already connect to this image, bestow upon him, and serve him. Thus, you acquire a place by him according to your efforts. It says that if the groom is a great man and he receives a ring as a present from his bride, it’s as if he has given it to her. If you really want to serve and to bestow, you feel that you receive. The same relations should be among the friends, and each one should feel this way with regards to the others.
Question: When do I connect to the teacher, is it before transcending the Machsom (barrier) or afterward?
Answer: You will not transcend the Machsom if you don’t annul yourself before the teacher. We are here in order to establish a system that will take on a form above the Machsom. If this system isn’t made of the relations that are necessary above the Machsom, how can you transcend it? You don’t transcend the border to the spiritual world by marching along, but by the connections between us, by overcoming the Machsom that separates us.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/14, Topic of Lesson: “Teacher”
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Preparation for the Lesson
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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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The group must be a means for ascent, for reaching the small state (absolute bestowal), for attaining the importance of the goal. To be in a group does not mean that one is just found in the company of a hundred people. A group is a system in which you want to be in the right line, following the point of choice.
Before the choice, this is not yet a group, but simply a collection of people, like the crowd that left Egypt that still hadn’t transformed into a people but was just a mass. Only after they received the Torah, entered into mutual guarantee, then it is said about them: “Today you have become my people.”
After the ego is discovered and Mount Sinai (“Sin” – hatred) was found between all of them, thoughts that were tearing apart those who had gathered at the bottom of the mountain, only then does the person feel a need for the group.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/2/14
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The foundation of the group is the daily morning lesson. Someone who doesn’t join it, at least during the hours that are convenient for him, simply cannot connect to me. And also the lesson itself must become a running operation of “mixing” all of us together in order to see ourselves as one whole and to expect the Light that will open between us.
The lesson must be very difficult, as if in a cement mixer where you must turn this whole mass through which the sand, cement, and water are mixed until it’s completely connected. That is how we must feel the lesson developing, with great difficulty and with much effort. If a person doesn’t feel this difficulty and oppose it, then he doesn’t build the Kli, he doesn’t attract the Light. This effort must be felt inside all the time, with tension and pressure.
To adhere to the Rav, to the Elyon (Upper), doesn’t indicate adherence to some particular person. The Elyon is not a person; rather, it’s a concept because within this person the connection is attracted towards what is higher. Therefore I must clarify:
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/14, Topic of Lesson: “Teacher”
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Question: We know that to be connected to the Rav (teacher) is possible only through attainment of equivalence of form, the same desire. But often when the Rav turns to us with some task, suddenly it’s clear that the person is not ready to carry it out because this is against his understanding and inner convictions. It turns out that that he has a million things that are more important, and with this he misses this opportunity to connect with his teacher. How can the group give a person the power to grasp this opportunity immediately and transform it into a link, making his desire similar to the desire of the Rav?
Answer: In fact, the desire of the Rav is the desire of the group. It’s that desire that must be in the group but cannot yet has not be reached; this becomes the desire of the Rav.
The Rav doesn’t have his own desire. Where could he take a desire from with which to approach the group, the students, the lesson, everything? He takes the general desire of the group and according to this, he acts and behaves. This is not the desire that is in the group at the moment; rather it’s that desire which must be in the group. And therefore he is their guide.
The group is in a state of “-1,” and the Rav directs it towards a state of “+1” so they will know what direction they should proceed. This is the role of the guide on the spiritual path. His role is not to show the students where he himself is or where the Creator is; rather, he must show them their future state, the next step. Therefore a Rav must feel the corrected state the group must attain and show the students how it should be. And also, he must show them what should be done in order to reach that state. This is the role of the guide.
The Rav demonstrates your best future state for you and nothing more. Therefore you must agree with him, surrender yourself, work for him, and help him because he is showing you your future form: If want it, accept it; if don’t want it, then there is no reason to study in vain, so leave.
The students will never see or know the desires of the Rav himself. Rather all of his behavior in regard to the students and the group is determined by their future level, their next closest step, like hands extended to an infant that teach him to walk step after step. This concept, this principle, is called a Rav, a spiritual teacher, who is a little higher than the students. If he were to turn to them from a height of two levels, then there would no longer be a connection among them and this would not bring them benefit.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/14, Topic of Lesson: “Teacher”
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From the The Book of Zohar, “The Donkey Driver,” Item 109: All the righteous stand in the lower Garden of Eden, clothed in precious adornments, similar in quality and form to those which they wore in this world, meaning in the same form as people in this world and according to man’s actions in this world. They stand there and fly away through the air, ascend to the Assembly in the Supernal Garden of Eden, fly there and bathe in the dew of the pure river of Apharsemon (persimmon), then come down and fly below in the lower Garden of Eden.
Question: Up to now I have not understood what the benefit of reading from The Book of Zohar is, I perceive it as abstract and it doesn’t awaken any emotion in me and my thoughts about the connection between us are not at all connected to what we are reading.
Answer: Suppose that I checked the temperature and found out that my body requires more heat, otherwise it will get cold and will not be ready to maintain normal metabolism. In order to warm my body they suggest that I light an oven. The oven requires heating material, etc. What is the connection between cutting down trees or laying a gas pipeline and the metabolism of my body? If we ask a little child, he will tell you that it’s not necessary to cut down trees or drill and produce oil. Who needs that black liquid?
The fact is that you are like that child and you don’t see the connection between things. But the Kabbalist sages say that there is definitely a link between what we read in The Zohar and the connection between us. In the example of the fuel, there is a direct connection since they are involved only with external causes. And here this is talking about your soul that you want to correct. The Book talks about the most internal phenomena that are taking place within it.
When you on the lowest level, you make some efforts just to sit in the lesson and listen to my voice that you hate at the moment. You want to sleep and instead of this you must sit and listen to all of these explanations that you don’t understand. But if you invest the smallest effort, obligating yourself to read and to listen, then what you read and hear is happening inside of you. But these phenomena are happening in the highest states and levels connected to the world of Infinity.
From you to the world of Infinity there is a thread, a conduit through which you get some kind of energy. The moment when you show at least a small awakening from below, not sleeping in the classroom, you don’t sleep for the entire lesson, rather you try to hear to some degree, and then this transfer is already beginning to work. And all of the levels are in it, including those about which we read in The Book of Zohar, but they are very high. And they are activated by your small desire that you can awaken now.
Suppose that you are ready to look with only “half an eye,” from half of a dream and your brain is 99% asleep. But this is not important, for in spite of all this, you awaken the desire and the conduit begins to work. Even though this conduit is sealed, at least something is passing through it. And thanks to that small amount that passes, all of the levels about which you are reading in The Book of Zohar begin to work. You look at us with quarter of your eye open and are connected to the reading with one percent of your mind; this is not important, for on the higher levels there is a Light that is much stronger and the greatest desire. And you activate them and obligate them to work.
So I am ready to tolerate those who are just about asleep in the lesson because they still have some small desire. And in the meantime they are not aware that they are activating all of the high levels that are described in The Book of Zohar.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/25/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam
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