We have no other means of advancement, no other lever by which I can move forward, except the influence of the environment. If all of me, completely and entirely, is concentrated within myself, what force can direct me the other way, from inside outward? I have no such forces within me.

All my forces act “for me,” “for my own sake.” How can I create the opposite action “for the sake of others (the neighbor)”? Where can such a force of nature be obtained?

For this purpose, the soul has been created in a divided state, in two parts: myself and the surrounding world. We are given a single freedom—to choose what is more important. If you want to attain spirituality, organize your environment so that it becomes more important to you than yourself.

In truth, this is not an external environment, but my own soul, my AHP, the “garments” and “palaces” of my soul’s Kli. It only appears to me as being outside.

Envy and the desire for honor draw you to the environment, to the parts of your soul. Organize them artificially so that they influence you.

From our level, we are given a psychological approach that is inwardly spiritual. By connecting with these desires (Kelim) that supposedly surround me, and by seemingly using my envy and desire for honor, I am essentially drawing these desires back to myself, so that they are connected with me and define my system of values.

So where do envy and the desire for honor come from? From the breaking of the soul into two parts—myself and the world.

Wishing to use the “help against him” (against my ego,) I activate these external desires of mine so that they, in turn, influence me. Later we will reveal that we are working only with ourselves, with our desires, with our qualities, and that everything was arranged this way from the beginning.

But without organizing the environment, there is no (and never will be) another force capable of “taking me by the ear” and directing me toward my true desires, toward the soul. There is no other force in the world.

Suffering can only make me more sensitive so that I will want to seek a solution. But the solution will be the same—to place myself under the influence of the environment.
[12059]
From Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/1/10

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 18, “Who Causes the Prayer,” (1986) (12.31.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, “Table of Answers for Topics” Item 87

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3rd part of the Lesson — Studying with Friends

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Question: If everything in the world depends on people engaged in spiritual development, does it mean we are responsible for all the suffering in the world?

Answer: We do not cause suffering in the world; on the contrary, by attracting the light, we move suffering from the material level to the level of spiritual suffering. Meaning, instead of suffering from wars, diseases, and all other problems, we suffer from a lack of spirituality. This is what the science of Kabbalah gives a person.

It brings him “suffering,” but it cannot even be called that; it is the suffering of love, as if I were invited to a meal in a couple of hours, so I do not eat right now to keep my appetite strong. This is called the suffering of love; it is when I realize that I should prepare spiritual Kelim.

And even now, in the empty Kelim, I feel the glow of the upcoming meeting with the people I love, and from the meal. This is what humanity needs to be brought to, to show them that there is a solution and to develop not as a result of the blows of nature.

Now we are entering a period of ecological problems that can cause the suffering and death of thousands of people. We see natural disasters occurring all over the world, in China, Europe, Russia, and America.

The only way to escape it is to transition to preparing spiritual Kelim, not in an earthly form, not waiting decades for suffering to pass until we finally realize that there is a reason and a goal and two paths to the goal: the path of light and the path of suffering.

Why should we suffer in vain? Let us draw the light now that will show us the difference between its state and ours, so we would suffer from the fact that we want a better state, rather than from feeling bad now.
This is what the science of Kabbalah offers man—the path of light instead of the path of suffering.
[20487]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot“

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I have nothing besides my desire, so how can I give it up? All my life, I have been following my rational logic; should I suddenly go against it, as if I have lost my mind and reason?

The science of Kabbalah does not call for working without mind or reason, but teaches us to rise above them. Knowledge and reason remain, we do not cross them out, but always rise above them and do the opposite.

Therefore, one who goes above knowledge stimulates his knowledge to grow ever more. The more his mind and knowledge grow, the higher a person rises to act above them, and therefore one becomes more and more intelligent in the material world, and further advances in the spiritual.

This is how he grows all the time, within knowledge and then above knowledge, and again within knowledge and above knowledge…

Therefore, we never annul our knowledge or go below it, as happens in religions, but always go by faith above reason. Faith gained above reason becomes knowledge, and again we must go above it. This is how we ascend the spiritual degrees.
[351259]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/20, “Work with Faith Above Reason”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 32, “Concerning the Reward of the Receivers,”(1985) (12.29.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, “Table of Answers for Topics” Item 87

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3rd part of the Lesson — Studying with Friends

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 23, “Concerning Fear and Joy,” (1986) (6.14.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, “Table of Answers for Topics” Item 82

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3rd part of the Lesson — Responsibility

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We are all puppets, deprived of free choice. People circulate in this world, in material, “animal” life.

Meanwhile, their egoistic desire grows until it reaches special states of despair that are directed toward the revelation of the embryo of the soul, the point in the heart.

And perhaps not a point in the heart, simply suffering sends a person into search, and then he joins those in whom the soul has already “broken through.”

Within the common cauldron, desire continues to simmer, and at a certain stage a part of humanity acquires the possibility of free choice. This means that people act, so to speak, independently of the Creator. They are freed from their egoistic desire, and it is entirely and completely in His hands.

I acquire freedom from my egoism and become independent of it, that is, independent of the Creator who governs it. Together with others, we turn into independent acting beings; we want to understand and realize what is happening ourselves and to take part in the process ourselves.

I do not want the Creator to govern me—I want to act exactly as He does, but of my own freewill. Through this, I come to know His work, His actions, His goals. My “profit” lies in the fact that I become similar to Him, become a human (Adam), and perform exactly the same work that He performed over me.

In the end, all the benefit here is that I give pleasure to the Creator. There is nothing else besides this.
But there are also people who do not possess a soul of this type. Their souls can only join the development to one degree or another. As they become what is called “dust under the feet of the righteous,” they receive illumination and spiritualization through this, they understand the importance of the process, and they also acquire their soul.

Likewise, in our world there are leaders, “those who lead,” and “those who are led,” those who simply live their lives without questioning them. They constitute 99.9% of the population who earn their bread and do not feel a lack of anything more. However, in unity with everyone, each will reach his or her root in the common Malchut.

Through interconnection we all feel ourselves living in one world. Of course, great scientists, philosophers, and thinkers understand it far better than a street sweeper or a market trader who knows only how to sell watermelons and watch football on television. There is no need at all to despise him, he is not guilty of anything; it is simply that his desire has such a structure and acts in such a way. Another person, however, needs to attain the world from the height of Malchut of infinity, otherwise he feels unrealized.

All the difference between them lies in the desire that the Creator created and awakens to life. Everything comes from the Creator. And therefore the thinker must understand that in his realization he is in no way higher than the trader. For the circumstances do not depend on him at all. Thus it turns out that in this sense they are completely equal, because all their accounts are signed by the Creator.
[41714]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 4/28/11, Baal HaSulam, “The Acting Mind”

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Our world is a copy of infinity, only at the smallest level of sensation. We perceive and feel reality only to an insignificant degree; we are as far as possible from complete perception.

It is like a person with poor eyesight who sees almost nothing without glasses. He barely distinguishes those around him, even though they stand right next to him.

Drowsy, blurred sensations, a tiny fraction of clear awareness of infinity—this is what our world is. Yet we always reveal a complete picture, just as each fragment of a hologram contains the entire image.

Even at the lowest degree, I observe the full spectrum of reality to the extent that I can see it without “glasses.” The better these glasses are, the clearer the picture becomes.

We exist in an unchanging state; we simply feel it according to the clarity of our perception. The clearest, most unclouded perception is the world of infinity.

To approach it, we must first correct our tools of perception (Kelim), to reveal a bit more light within them. And in order for that to happen, they must become similar to the light.

The advice of Kabbalists helps us in this correction, and when the light is revealed, we discover a “treasure” or rather, a deposit, a new layer of reality that was originally “placed” into our account.
[5120]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 10/2/09, Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book From the Mouth of a Sage“

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 23, “On My Bed at Night,” (1985) (6.7.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 1, “Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words” Item 51

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3rd part of the Lesson — Studying with Friends

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Our world operates according to the desire to receive pleasure; that is, every part of creation instinctively makes an internal calculation about what is most beneficial for it, according to its understanding, inner makeup, inborn qualities, upbringing, and the influence of the environment. We are incapable of acting otherwise.

We are not even aware of how much each of us is locked into such an egoistic calculation every single moment. And even when we perform some merciful act, it is only in order to gain something through it; otherwise, we would have no motivation to act that way. This is how all of nature functions, from the smallest atomic particle to the most educated and developed human being.

But there is another intention: for the sake of bestowal, not for one’s own benefit, but for the benefit of the other. This is the anti-world, anti-matter, the complete opposite of everything that exists in this world.

There cannot be even a thought about oneself there; such a thought has undergone restriction (Tzimtzum) and is cut off. Everything is governed and moved solely by concern for the good of the other.

So how can we approach such a vision and such calculations? Naturally, this is not within our power because no such force exists in our world. We must draw it to ourselves from that other, opposite reality that exists beyond the boundary of the spiritual world called the Machsom.

But how is it possible for that force to reach us at all, if everything operates according to the law of equivalence of form, and like connects with like? Yet there is a special force called “the light that returns to the source,” “the light that reforms,” or “surrounding light,” that can shine on us to the extent of our yearning to be in that opposite world.

It helps us even if our yearning is false, even if we do not understand that world or feel it, as long as we have at least some relation to it, a single point of contact with it, the “point in the heart,” a spark of the spiritual world.

If we work on this spark, then to the extent of our efforts, the spiritual force shines upon us and turns these efforts into “spiritual flesh” around that point, which begins to grow. Until it becomes a complete spiritual vessel through which you break through into that very anti-world, and then you find yourself in the “opposite reality.”

The request for the force that brings changes—for the light that returns to the source, that corrects our intentions from egoistic to bestow upon the other—is called prayer. And to the extent of our yearning, our demand, our persistence, this wondrous force acts upon us and carries out changes within us.
[37159]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/11, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Charity to the Poor Makes the Holy Name, in the Work?”

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