“Introduction toThe Book of Zohar,” “The Torah and a Prayer”, Item 182: Come and see an advice for a person: when he goes to bed at night, he should take upon himself the kingship of above wholeheartedly and come early to deposit his soul to Him. …

And when he does so, the governance of the night cannot blemish him any longer and arrest him from the pleasantness of the work of the Creator, for to him, the evening and the morning are one day, and the night is only a real part of the day. Hence, he is immediately saved from any bad illnesses and from all the evil spirits, which do not control him, for his night has already parted the domain of the Sitra Achra, since nothing can ever part him and the holy Divinity, and the forces of the Sitra Achra and the Din do not govern him any longer.

How can we turn the night into day? Of course there is no night or day, and it only seems that way in my corrupt desires. If additional deficiencies are evoked in me and it is time to correct them, I feel darkness in them, night. Night is lack of unity, lack of the revelation of the Creator, the force of bestowal that should fill all my vessels.

My vessels are my reality. The whole world is my vessel, all of the still, vegetative, animate nature, and human beings are inside me. If this vessel is filled by the force of love and mutual bestowal that unites everything into one whole, then there are no big or small, distant or near; everything is one. Because love covers all the sins and erases all the differences. This means that I discover the Creator, He fills me, and I unite with Him.

But there are still more uncorrected desires in me that I have never felt and seen, and they suddenly begin to rise and to appear. So I begin to think badly about the friends, the group, the teacher, and the Creator. I am thrown from side to side until I ascend to the last ultimate level of the end of correction, and until then I discover deeper and worse levels of my ego of increasingly greater Aviut (coarseness). I am thrown very far from spirituality or even become totally unaware that I was ever in spirituality and that I have left it now. The coarse levels of the corrupt Aviut that are revealed in me will be so coarse that they can totally disconnect me from the feeling and recognition I had before.

Then I feel night in these desires. Night is the force of separation and it isn’t just darkness and loss of interest in spirituality and the goal. I am either thrown to a state of total helplessness or I disrespect the spiritual goal and the group and I am aware of that, or I may totally lose this recognition and descend back into this world worrying only about my corporeal existence, which means that I lose even the human level of this world and descend further and further down to the animal level until I totally fall unable to move, like a corpse.

All these forces that separate me from adhesion to the Creator, from the one force that dominates and fills all of reality with the attribute of love and bestowal, are called darkness and night. But there is an angel called night that actually brings the drop of semen to the Creator and asks, “What will be born from it?” This means that night is actually the force that brings the drop of semen from which a human develops. A person is reborn every day and has to determine his own fate: whether to be wicked or a righteous.
[126143]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Why are we sometimes shaken to the extent that we simply cannot tolerate our condition? We wake up in the morning and everything is against us…

Answer: These “shakes” are not against you, but rather they give you a chance to wake up. Would you want to climb a steep hill if you woke up in the morning and saw birds singing, the sun shining, everything blossoming, green grass around you, and caressing waves splashing against the seashore?

How can anyone advance without resistance? You have to understand that we really are in need of the left line! We should never cast it aside or cancel it, but rather work with it and bind it to us as if it’s written in stone in our brain: “Nothing is extra in this world.” We should be thankful for going through even the worst things and encountering terrible enemies. Those who prevent us from disseminating Kabbalah, who slander us, are vitally essential to us. Without them, we won’t be able to stabilize ourselves correctly.

It’s impossible to shape ourselves without destructive forces that press upon us. Because of them, we can format, build, and frame ourselves. We cannot advance without the second alternative force and only by being under the influence of one force, the force of benevolence. We would go crazy if the only force we encountered would be a good, benevolent power that has no limits.

We always act inside certain boundaries. Going beyond the limits would mean positioning the entire left line against the right one. At this time, we are only beginning this work and that’s why we should regard it in a very simple way: “From this moment on, I should bear in mind that my life is the intertwining of two opposite forces; it’s extremely important that we accept that both of them compose my life .” We shouldn’t expect the forces that we dislike to suddenly disappear. It just won’t happen.

Look how our bodies work. Life is possible only where there is interaction, connection, digestion, and metabolism.

Comment: I can comprehend it with my brain, but when the Light starts pressing on me even a little harder, I cannot stand it.

Answer: There is only one recipe: cling to the center of the group. Now you already see that you need a “shield,” otherwise you will never be certain of what will happen to you the next moment, or else, you be in genuine fear instead of playing with the toys that you are given at this time. Deliverance can be found only in the center of the group. If you hold onto it, you will be saved.
[124912]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/13, Shamati #72 “Confidence is the Clothing for the Light”

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Preparation to the Lesson

Workshop

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Rabbi Shimon’s Exit from the Cave,” Item 185

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 3, Chapter 6, Item 5

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 41

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 35: In Phase One of the will to receive, called “still,” which is the initial manifestation of the will to receive in this corporeal world, there is but a collective force of movement for the whole of the still category. But no motion is apparent in its particular items. This is because the will to receive generates needs, and the needs generate sufficient movements, enough to satisfy the need.

From here it is clear to us that desire is the motivation for everything, even on the level of the still.

Question: The electron is found in constant movement. What does this say about its desire?

Answer: All of the fundamental particles exist precisely because they are found in incessant motion. Hypothetically, if they were to stop moving, they would disappear. The beginning was in the “Big Bang,” in the spark of spiritual energy that gave life to our entire universe. From there, the nature of the still, vegetative, animate, and the speaking is derived and this provides for the incessant, unlimited movement that we see. Everything is derived from that spark that erupted into the plane of this world, created “space,” and filled it.

In the foundation of matter, energy loss doesn’t exist. Its expansion is not its disappearance, for the spark remains and acts within everything. This is the reason that we cannot stop an elementary particle.

Question: So what is the difference between correction of a simple desire and a complex desire?

Answer: It’s impossible to correct a simple desire. This is because desires on the level of the still, vegetative, and animate are not ready to understand their deficiencies. The desire of the still that is found in a static state doesn’t require anything. If we move it from its place to a place where it will feel uncomfortable, it will react; let’s say it’s like a stone that rolls down a slope. But at the same time it is not acting, rather it’s nature that is activating it.

The vegetative level produces independent actions whose purpose is to supply the optimal conditions for growth. The plants already make an independent calculation but only in one direction, how to reach a particular height and realize an internal program. If this program conflicts with something, then it’s necessary to bypass the disturbance. Therefore the plants bypass what disturbs their growth.

Unlike them, the representatives of the animate level are not ready to realize their inner program if they remain in one place. They reproduce differently, live and die in a different form. All these are a great desire to receive, which is included in the three levels.

In connection with this, it’s not clear in what way the human is different from the animate level if he is concerned only for his body and his regular life. You see the animals also provide for their own corporeal existence, including the need to continue the species.

The human is called Adam (Man) if he wants to be like the Creator. In this case, “corporeal movements” will not help him. This is because the level of Adam is outside the body; it belongs to its inner spark, inherent in it since the “Big Bang.” Through this, it receives connection with Keter, with the Giver, connecting to the foundation of creation and going out to the level where the origin of our entire universe is, from there the ascent begins.

And his body remains in its place. It doesn’t belong to this. In the end, Adam will not have any sense of belonging to it.

So, Adam is the level of adherence with the Giver. He goes out from his present existence and reaches a higher level. And this is his uniqueness, for he is ready to “abandon” himself and ascend upward.
[126071]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/21/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: I noticed that  over time, I gradually become less sensitive by the standards of this world.

Answer: You become less sensitive to some things and more sensitive to others. The main thing is to be sensitive to the connection with the friends, the group, and to be generally sensitive to being incorporated. This is what should impress you and cause an inner shivering, that should pressure you and excite you and cause you pain and joy.

You should look at all the corporeal aspects of life like food, sex, family, money, respect, and knowledge as useful and essential aspects only. I need all this in order to advance normally, on a level that “is not condemned and is not praised.” Make sure you have all the basic necessities and use this world according to your needs, but be above it in your thoughts and your intentions. Don’t be overenthusiastic or ascetic. Don’t regret what happens to you in this world. Don’t devote to this world any more than it deserves. On the corporeal level, you should use it rationally, and in sensation, you yearn for connection with the Creator through the group.
[125983]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Preparation to the Lesson

Workshop

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “You Are Partners with Me,” Item 68

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 3, Chapter 6, Item 1

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“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Article, “Torah and Prayer,” Section 183: And in the morning, when he rises from his bed, he should bless his Master, walk into His home and bow before His hall with great fear. And then he should pray his prayer… .

It is clear that this is not talking about the physical body awakening from sleep. Morning is a state when a new spirit reaches a person from integration in a group, from studying, workshops, and connection with others. He has no other way of receiving spiritual strength except through the environment. If he tries to go deeper into the group and be integrated with the friends, he can draw powers from there.

And this group can be small from the start. That is, they don’t need to have revealed any spiritual forces, but this is unimportant. If a person knows how to enter and be integrated with them, he will receive power for advancement, as in the well-known example of Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma.
[126104]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Article, “Torah and Prayer,” Section 183: Hence, one must not enter the house of assembly unless he has first consulted with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for our whole prayer is to complement what is still missing in Divinity, after the corrections that have been made in it thus far. Thus, first we must know and extend all the corrections that have already been corrected in the Holy Divinity, and then we will know what still needs to be added to them.

Typically, the question is raised: What is the difference between Malchut de Atzilut, Malchut de Ein Sof and Malchut of the Completion of Correction, which is called Shechina? In principle there is no difference between these terms. The mutual integration of the souls in one another actually transform into a single whole and stand one-on-one with the Creator, it is the same spiritual creature that is called Shechina, Malchut. If we are talking about connection, correction, then everything is summed up in one concept.

How must I “take counsel with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”? If I don’t arrange myself according to the “3 lines,” then I am not ready, to either raise my prayer or to receive an answer to it. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the “right line,” the “left line,” and the “middle line,” which I must arrange within me. This will mean I am “facing the pillar.”

There is a general rule that it is necessary to pray before the pillar. Certainly this doesn’t mean a marble pillar. A “pillar” symbolizes the “middle line.” We must bring ourselves to this state because without this there is nothing to do. Otherwise we cannot bestow to the higher system because we are not in the same frequency with it, meaning, we are not oriented in the direction in which it’s possible to bestow.
[126079]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/14, The Zohar

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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 3, Chapter 1, Item 6: Thus the Masach (screen) that reaches the upper as a result of the incorporation of the lower in it is called a window, since there are no Dinim in it, but only a reason for illumination, like a window.

The lower enters the upper and awakens it and demands to receive the Light from the uppermost, thus creating a window in the upper. I demand the upper to convey the Light for me, and it is as if I make a hole in it that way.

The upper level works like an electric amplifier with a great resistance at the entrance. It is very important that I don’t affect the amplifier and don’t bring myself into it but only operate it by my action. I don’t connect my system to its system, but only give my signal to its signal.

Thus, the amplifier should have a very high impedance at the entrance. In the past, amplifiers were made of diode lamps with strong resistance and not with transistors. Then, you could be sure that you are not affecting the system in any way or making any changes in the system, except for operating it.

This is how the spiritual levels are made. However, we must overcome this great resistance. Our work is to overcome the desire to receive this way in order to annul the resistance and to insert only my bestowal into it. Technology allows us to do that by connecting semi-conductors. In the spiritual work, I need the Light of Hassadim in order to annul the resistance.

The Light of Hassadim symbolizes my yearning for pure bestowal without connecting the whole system to the upper system. I only want to insert my net bestowal into the upper, and so I immediately annul all the limits and make a “window” in it through which I reach the uppermost.
[126060]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/14, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Our world seems very confusing to us even though it is designed to direct and bring us by the shortest, nicest, and most comfortable way toward discovery of the Creator. However, because we are egoists, opposite to the characteristics of the Creator, we are forced to be in confusion all the time, discovering and clarifying the confusion and the opposition, resolving it, transforming it into the right state, and thus taking a step forward.

This is like a children’s game when a child is blindfolded, turned around so that he will be confused, and then directed in the right direction and leave him. With his eyes covered, he must find the required goal. That is how it happens with us at every moment in life where we don’t know and don’t understand what is happening. We are confused.

It is clear that it is impossible to make the right decision with our intellect. And even if we decide to act in opposition to Him, this also won’t help because, in spite of it all, we receive every decision according to our ego: “for” or “against.”

But, we have no possibility of finding the right decision within our ego, and therefore, the only thing that is left for us is to go with our eyes shut, and someone will direct us. That is, I close my eyes and don’t want to go forward in any direction according to my choice and evaluation. I need for someone to give me the direction, so I need the environment and the teacher. It is the only way possible to advance.

It turns out that my spiritual advancement is one hundred percent in the hands of the environment. The environment is the teacher, the friends, and the Light that Reforms that does all the corrections after I give myself into the hands of the group and the teacher.

In the end, I must connect with the friends so much that I see the Shechina (holy divinity) in them, that the Creator dwells in them. If I go out of myself and dissolve within the society, then suddenly I see that this is not a society as it seemed to me before. Rather, this is the sacred Shechina. In other words, by going out of myself, I discover that the entire world is, in sum, the revelation of the Creator who dwells within all of His creatures. This is what the person discovers the moment that he is ready to shut his eyes and go with faith above reason.

Therefore, if I am ready to give myself over to a friend and I try to do this, with this I acquire the friend and reach a connection, and this action itself is called a donation (Truma), “contribution of the Creator.” I do that in order to awaken and elevate the characteristic of bestowal and place it at the head of my advancement, above the intellect and feelings and all of my decisions that the desire to receive always wants to present to me as rational things. Here, everything is going above the egoistic logic.
[125910]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/14

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