The work is always divided into two parts: the period of concealment and in disclosure. Even before the state of disclosure, there are periods when concealment gets stronger and then weaker, and we begin to understand and feel a bit more.

In periods of disclosure, we received illumination in the heart and the mind and then are drawn to unity, studies, the spiritual path, praise the Creator and the goal. And during concealment, we, on the contrary, do not want to advance, are not happy about the working conditions, and neglect the goal. It is possible to move forward here only in faith above reason, due to the dedication of the soul and individual efforts, above one’s own desire and human strength.

These conditions will never change; it is a person who has to change. Just as he sought knowledge and pleasant feelings, filling them during an ascent, so now he must seek devotion of the soul during a descent.

But from where can we get these forces, because the desire to enjoy works only on the fuel called “pleasure”? Pleasure determines the goal and supplies energy for the work that enables us to reach this goal. But if the darkness and concealment thickens, and any desire to go forward disappears, what can we do then?

To a certain point, you need to advance and apply efforts as much as you can. There is a set limit, until which a person can do this, getting fuel from the group, environment, teacher, studies, the Creator, that is, the external sources. But one day he reaches this limit even if all the available means are arranged ideally.

This means that he overflows his measure and a prayer is born above it. He wants to work without any reward, without fulfillment, like a “perpetual motion machine”: to become a machine running without any fuel that is not demanding anything, not the greatness of the goal, not feeling the significance of his action, not any compensation.

He works only because the King needs his work. Moreover, he does not understand that King and does not feel Him in order not to receive from his consciousness any reward and motivation that could be used as fuel. He cares only about not having egoistic fuel! His efforts to do actions without any motivation are called devotion of the soul, self-sacrifice, superhuman efforts, or faith above reason.

That is his goal because it allows a very precise measure whether he really strives to present the upper force, the Creator. If he truly wishes nothing for himself in order to perform the work without any conditions and limitations, infinitely, above any compensations, this is the point through which he begins to touch spirituality at every degree.

This point is called the point above reason. It forms the head (Rosh) of the Partzuf relative to the body (Guf). This is already a higher degree in relation to the current one or adhesion with the AHP of the upper like an embryo. These states are very accurate; a person can measure them and thus advance.

Therefore, devotion of the soul is not a vague concept, but it is measured clearly relative to the human desire to enjoy. If he restricts his desire from all sides and wants to work so that he does not receive any fuel and any compensation for his egoism in anything, either now or in the future, then he rises to the state of faith above reason or devotion of the soul.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/13, Shamati #219 “Devotion”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”: Moreover, even the things we imagine we attain by their essence, such as rocks and trees, after honest examination we are left with zero attainment in their essence, since we only attain their actions, which occur in conjunction with the encounter of our senses with them.

I perceive everything and feel only as an impression, created in my sense organs, not in the original form. The truth is outside of me and unknown to me. Only by perceiving something within myself, distinguishing what was “depicted” in my vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, can I consider something. All names and symbols, all phenomena, and responses, all kinds of matter, everything that happens is due to the perception in my sense organs. The essence remains “behind the scenes,” eludes material sensations, lies outside of the picture of the world that they “draw” for us.

Question: How, then, can we communicate with each other and understand each other?

Answer: We can understand each other because each one has a similar program with a similar template inherent in our sense organs. Their correspondence allows a person to pass his emotions to others because they are in the same illusion as he is. We are all at a certain level of perception and this situation allows us to discuss it among ourselves.

Based on the current “picture,” we admit the existence of our world, in which there are the still, vegetative, and animate natures, as well as people who perceive reality. What it is in reality, we don’t know. Perhaps, it’s just waves as physicists say, or almost primordial emptiness because the distance between subatomic particles is incomparably greater than their size.

How do we perceive the world? How does this affect us? How do we imagine what is happening? Why does reality specifically take these forms in our perception? How do we process the received data? How do we compare them with past results? How and with the help of what code do we pass information to each other? How do we store it to use the accumulated experience later to find something, to draw an analogy? All these are derivatives.

And the most important thing is that people in this material world perceive only a subjective picture. If they are given other sense organs, they will see a different world. If their program of perception is changed, the picture will change. Today we have already invented devices that enable us to modify and augment the perceived reality, to create illusions and false images.

Moreover, animals, compared to us, perceive the world completely differently. A dog orients himself by “spotting” odors; he does not look at a person, but smells him and by this means builds a human image. He recognizes a cat that runs by not so much by the eyes, but in the field of smell. A snake determines the temperature of objects to fractions of degrees, and this gives it a clear picture.

In general, it’s clear that everything in the world is relative. It’s relative even between people, although by nature, there is not such a big difference between us.

Question: In this case, how can Kabbalists, discussing the spiritual world, understand each other?

Answer: A Kabbalist is a person who resides in a body, like you, and who perceives the world through the bodily senses, as you do. Besides that, he has additional perception, in which he distinguishes the forces controlling the world and his connection with them. There is a network of forces before him, that’s all. But it is really everything.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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We walk on two legs: left, right, left, right. We should always seek the right, but we always start on the left foot, from the growing desire to receive. It is impossible to do anything without a desire, without a deficiency, without any interest.

The action itself is performed by the Light that Reforms. On the whole, it is a very simple process, but because we experience it by these feelings it throws us into different states. When we are on the left side we cannot see the right, and from the right side we cannot believe that there is also a left side. And so we are like kids that either cry or laugh.

The desire to enjoy, the desire to receive, is all of our matter, which totally determines our state: all our feelings, our mind, and our perspective. We all depend on it until we reach the middle line. There we can already be above our desire, both on the left line and the right line, and manage ourselves, which is called above reason, above pleasant impressions or unpleasant ones in our desire to receive. We can already use all these states for our advancement from our own freewill.

But we will be thrown from side to side: to the left and to the right, until we attain the control of the middle line. When we are on the left, we need to somehow control our state so that we will not lose our heads and despair of the fact that everything is bad, that everything is dark, and that we don’t see anything. We have to use the left line effectively and constructively by trying to make something out of it and to not just having a bad feeling, drowning in despair, helplessness, and hopelessness.

It is clear that if a person is totally made of a desire to receive and it totally under the influence of the Light, then nothing will help him but the environment. If he doesn’t lose connection with the environment but invests in it, then the environment will always provide him and influence him with a certain measure of Light. If a person puts his exertion into the “warehouse” of the environment, his connection, his submission to the environment, the more support he will receive in this warehouse during a descent, and then he will be able to rise faster.

It is the same the other way around, when everything is nice and good. Then he shouldn’t lose his head, but rather try to use this situation in order to advance. We will also need the support of the environment that should balance us in such an ascent. The main thing is never to forget and to be aware of the fact that we need to reach a real deficiency. The only way to reach a real deficiency is by the support of the environment, since a person will always escape from the work in such states when he is by himself. The main thing is to go through as many pleasant states as possible and not to think about how beneficial they are for one’s advancement.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/13

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Rabash “Concerning Love of Friends – 2“

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Parashat, “Beresheet,” Item 709

Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Histaklut Pnimit, “Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 4, Item 38

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence“

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Humanity has believed that there is life after death for ages, but in fact the next world is the next level. On the whole, there are five worlds: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. Each of them is divided into five Partzufim and in each Partzuf there are five Sefirot. They make a total of 125 levels and each one is also called a world. It’s a about a certain “place” in my desire to receive that has certain attributes.

Eventually I am stabilized; I am in my current state, and then I feel and understand, perceive, and live according to the definitions, the values, the perceptions and method of clarification that are typical of the current level. This level is my world, “this world.” Everyone is on this level, including the greatest Kabbalists who are also on the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature of their existence.

This state is given to us from the start. No one asks me whether I want to be born here.

But I can add the next level called the next world to the current state. It says: “You shall see your world during your lifetime.” This means that I have to attain it here and not after death. This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is called “the revelation of the Creator to the created being in this world.” I can discover the Creator on the level of this world. The revelation of the Creator is called discovering another level of the 125 levels. This is how I attain it, starting from the smallest measure until the fullest measure.

The next world will be revealed if I form the image of the force of bestowal out of the items that I have prepared. Then I will acquire new feelings and a new perception in that image, in my new desire to bestow. This will be my next world, one of the 125 levels.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/5/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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There is a constant struggle between the importance of the goal and our feelings. If the goal is important, it makes no difference what states we go through along the way. It’s like a patient waiting for an operation knowing that although the treatment is unpleasant it is meant to save his life.

We should also understand that the Creator sends us more and more disappointments, darkness, feelings of helplessness, and unpleasant states on purpose. We, on the other hand, have to keep on increasing the importance of the goal so that the goal will be more important for us than the current state and what we feel. It’s a sign that the Creator “hardens Pharaoh’s heart,” and sends us more troubles.

It makes no difference how clever a person is and whether he is sensitive or not; everyone must go through this and hold on to faith and to the general power of bestowal he receives from the environment. Then you will not lose direction and the importance of the goal in states of  the”hardening of the heart.” This actually depends only on the balance between the forces that operate on a person. It can all be measured. If the goal was important for you and you dedicated yourself to the group in order to receive the support you need now, the Creator can harden your heart even more, and you can thus shorten the way and you advance along the path of “I shall hasten it” (Achishena), towards the goal.

The path of the Light, “I shall hasten it,” is not feeling constant troubles; of course, the path of “I shall hasten it” means that the importance of the goal helps you climb every summit and fall into every pit and still come out of all these hard states. It’s because you are constantly looking ahead at the importance of the goal. So, no matter what knocks you off your feet, whether it lowers you or raises you upwards, you keep on advancing consistently like a baby crawling on all fours.

We must understand that we have to reach the hardening of the heart that will fill our measure to the fullest and at the same time allow us to struggle and keep our connection so that it will illuminate for us and keep us from getting off track and letting go. We will be more aware of how essential the Light that Reforms is time and time again. We thank the Creator for the sufferings He brings us because it’s thanks to them that we need Him. We understand that we can turn to the Creator only together by connecting and by the prayer of many.

If we know how to fulfill our mission, then the work we have to do doesn’t seem difficult at all and is actually pleasant. Although it requires our constant overcoming, it becomes a sport. We enjoy the efforts that we make if we see a clear goal before us. Thus we advance speedily.

So there are two conditions that help us not to give up the hardest work there is: being incorporated in the group and thanks to this reaching the recognition of the importance of the goal. If we fulfill all that, we will feel grateful to the Creator and reach a prayer in response to which there will come such a measure of the Light that Reforms that it will raise us to the first spiritual level, to the world of Assiya.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/13

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Connection is the condition in which there is nothing related to you or to me, rather it is only “ours.” In this connection it is impossible to distinguish anything that belongs to either party. It no longer exists. It is as if they pour dye into water and they mix.

And this is not a precise example, for there still remain molecules of water and dye.

Whereas, here it turns out there is something with no recollection of the previous components and division. Something completely new is created.

Even in an infant we distinguish the different facial features which he inherited from the father or mother. The same thing happens at the time of the descent of the worlds from above to below. Part reaches the Zeir Anpin from Abba and part from Ima. But after that, when we begin to pass from below to above, then everything is united in the Creator.

There is an action or intermediate state through which we reach unification. And unification indicates that there is only one, the two sides disappear. In our world unification like this doesn’t exist, for today a couple is connected and tomorrow there may be a divorce.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/13, The Zohar

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Parashat, “Beresheet,” Item 686

Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Histaklut Pnimit, “Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 4, Item 33

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence“

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Question: How can we connect through the Creator?

Answer: Very simply. Due to powerlessness in the face of the fact that we are not able to unite, we turn to the Surrounding Light, the Creator, and ask Him to unite us. This occurs at every degree. After we discover our inability to unite, we come to the “gate of tears,” cry, and receive the force to connect, merge together.

But how does the Creator glue us if we are different? We become glued together only according to our intentions to connect to the Creator if we want to bestow only to Him. He becomes our connecting link, our goal. This is like parents who unite in one child. They might even hate each other but connect through him, taking care of him together.

But in this child, they are reconciled but hate each other. However, they love him and that is why they connect in him, in this point. This is the union of opposites. We are all opposite in a thousand different properties and directions. No person is the same. So, what can we do with our desire to enjoy? We cannot kill it; we can do nothing with it. We are only given the opportunity to perform actions that lead to unity.

We need to connect two parts that have nothing in common except the animal basis. That is why there is this world in which we can connect on the physical level just by “holding hands.” But we express our feeling by this gesture. Therefore this degree is separated from all the other degrees, from all the states, because it allows us to begin to ascend. In this world, we can slap the other person in the face or kiss him and thus affect their desire. It is possible to kiss on request, and the desire can be changed due to his desire to kiss.

I just hug someone without feeling any sympathy for him, and even feeling rejection, but due to these actions, my desire gradually changes. This is the uniqueness of this world in which it is possible to affect one’s desire by physical actions. But all this happens at a certain degree and only as a preparation. And that is why it is not considered a spiritual connection.

But if we talk about spiritual desires that are higher than the degree of this world, then there we use material desires that in no way intersect with someone else’s desires. If we want to unite, then the Creator must be between us. Only through Him, through our root, we connect, like two brothers connect through a common mother. That is why they are called brothers.
[122091]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/13, The Zohar

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Question: Spiritual work must be intense and incessant. So why does the Hanukkah symbolize a “rest-stop” on the way, from the words, “Hanu” a “rest-stop here”?

Answer: Truly in spirituality there is no parking in the full sense of the word.

The idea is that in this stage we need to finish the work on all ten Sefirot and go on to correction according to the method of “reception for the sake of bestowal.” Therefore there is a “rest-stop” here for we need to stock up on the resources, new vessels, in our war for correction. Essentially, this is talking about a new method.

First we successfully introduced vessels from the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya into the world of Atzilut. With this we pass through the appropriate levels in the same order: zero plus the first, second, and third. In other words, we stabilize ourselves in the levels of still, vegetative, and animate.

And after this we work in the world of Atzilut in order to draw these Lights below, to the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. And this is the fourth level, using the receptive vessels in order to bestow.

And after this, the completion of correction is reached by way of the descent to these worlds.

Therefore “Hanukkah” symbolizes the transition to work with a completely different characteristic: If previously we rose to the world of Atzilut in Galgalta ve Eynaim and vessels of “AHP on the rise,” so now we descend to the depths in order to finish the work. Here what is required is a transition to a completely different approach, a different style of work, and therefore this stage is called a rest-stop.

Accordingly, the Lights before Hanukkah and after it, the former being Neshama and the latter being Chaya, are opposite Lights. For in work in Hafetz Hesed I don’t want to get anything, and in reception for the sake of bestowal I work with those vessels, those desires, which I formerly restricted completely, I didn’t activate them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/13, Writings of Rabash

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