Question: On one hand, the spiritual system is subordinate to unshakeable laws. On the other, there is individual management. How does it all work?

Answer: The general and the individual management are divided only in our perception. In truth, it is not so. Our reactions, the personal journey of each one—everything is programmed into the system and is predetermined. However, in our view, these acts unfold gradually and require our effort in finding our freewill.

All of this is due to our inability to harmonize the two opposites. Originally, they were revealed to Abraham. The Creator told him that his seed will be named Isaac and commanded him to lay Isaac on the altar. These acts are as far from each other as day and night. However, for the Creator, there is no difference. Light and darkness are one.

He brought the point of desire out of Light by creating darkness, but only in relation to the created beings so that they could feel having been created and existing separately from the Creator. In truth, the desire to feel pleasure, which we feel independently simply doesn’t exist.

The general and individual governance in our eyes are as different as the following two principles: “If I am not for me, who is for me?” and “There is none else besides Him.” All of this manifests before us as a game, like an exercise, so that while we are ascending the rungs of our desire, we are able to see how different they are, to see the rivalry of the right and the left lines and make up the middle line. Until the very final correction (Gmar Tikkun), we will be experiencing the imbalance of these two constantly colliding opposites.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/10, The Zohar

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Question: When will we really reach the level of “love thy friend as thyself”?

Answer: Right now. Who is stopping you? First man discovered this path; the other Kabbalists adapted it for us, and today we have everything that we need. Many have reached the level of “love thy friend as thyself” throughout history. All of Rabbi Shimon’s students were on this level.

Question: But according to their writings, there was burning hatred between them.

Answer: That’s true. In the same manner, the Israeli nation was in the state of “49 gates of impurity” before the exodus from Egypt. So how could it be that they could exit such a terrible state and enter redemption by one leap?

The whole point is that “He who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than his friend’s.” If I try to reach the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) then my desire to receive becomes bigger and stronger on every level that I reach. The bestowal in me is faced with receiving, with the ego, the shell, the evil inclination each time. This is the reason that the Creator, the King of kings was revealed to the Israeli nation in the “49 gates of impurity.”

On the whole, the children of Israel advance along the middle line. The Light was felt in the shell as darkness and revealed the evil in them (1). To oppose it they asked for and received the Surrounding Light, which is the Light that Reforms, which means the Torah, the method of correction (2). As a result they reached the middle line (3).

This is the whole process: the recognition of evil in the left line, the request in the right line, and the transition to the middle line. Thus the evil grows each time and as a result, the goodness also grows, and then the middle line appears, which is the average of the two (S). So I promise you that the more you advance, the worse you will become. But this is the negative side. The left line will be balanced each time by the positive side, the right line.

This is a great problem for a person and it requires great work. First he despairs and doesn’t know what to do; he gets tired of it and doesn’t see that it leads to anything. He cannot justify the advancement along the left line in any way and he doesn’t understand that these new attributes actually have to be revealed negatively. It is because a person corrects only what is in him…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: After the morning lesson we begin a new day. How is it possible to use this day most effectively? How is it possible to advance without delay and procrastination?

Answer: We need to think about the guarantee, about the conditions for the guarantee, so that this concept will be as close as possible to us.

In the one collective soul, each one is included in all. The mutual inclusion doesn’t indicate control, but rather equality. And the equality is in this, that each one nullifies himself in regard to the others. Only then are we equal.

Pay attention only to this and focus on this. With this we will win, not in any other form. All other victories will turn into a loss.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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When a person studies the laws of the integrated system, it becomes clear that he can’t change anything. The whole calculation carried with him is based on the fact of whether he is able to take upon himself the law of mutual guarantee.

And if one can’t, then the difference between the way the system works in the state of mutual guarantee and how he was supposed to activate it independently feels to him as suffering, pressure that comes to him from that system. There is no mercy for an individual here, just a calculation of the overall system.

If a person doesn’t comply with its laws, to the extent that he would have to carry them out for the benefit of the whole system, it receives negative feedback from the system. It seemingly stops, waiting for him to put it into action. And that is what he feels like all kinds of misfortunes and suffering.

But if you know what the system is, you can even see in what form and way the problems and troubles will come to a person. It depends on the connection between the souls and the extent to which he has to bring them into action.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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When we are in a circle, it means that we remain in the general system of nature, which includes the entire still, vegetative, and animate nature and the human souls in the system of Infinity.

A line is when we take on the function of bringing this system into action instead of letting it be launched from the above, by nature.

A circle represents the condition of absolute mutual guarantee from the above, and a line represents the extent of our ability to realize the mutual guarantee on our behalf.

When we observe the law of mutual guarantee, the still, vegetative, and animate nature also join this process because it is included in our “human” degree. This way the entire system on all of its levels participates in the mutual guarantee.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How does one recognize that he is at a point of choice?

Answer: If you see clearly what is better, this is not a choice—it’s knowledge. And if you don’t understand what’s better, this too is not a choice; it is lack of knowledge.

A choice is possible when you see two equal components in front of you, but it’s impossible to solve anything with them by preferring one over the other. You see that both the desire to receive and the desire to bestow are equally needed; you cannot get by without either of them. You are situated right in the middle between them and you are confident that you must use both of them.

After all, how can I bestow if I don’t use my egoism? I can carry out some actions only due to my desire to enjoy. Yet how can I bestow if I don’t use the desire to bestow? It is impossible to proceed without either one of these desires. So how do we use them together?

I need to first build the attitude of love toward the one to whom this action is directed. And to the extent of my love, I will feel his desire, accept it and make it my own, and then I will be able to use my two desires, two forces, in order to fill his desire in me, like a mother fills an embryo (Ubar) in her womb. And then I make it more external for me, and this is called “feeding” (Yenika) or a big state (Gadlut).

This is how these states are built due to a third force that elucidates them. Then where is this third force? It is the one to whom I wish to bestow.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/19/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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We are all linked to each other, like organs, sinews, and cells of one body. Our body is an interweaving of infinite links between minute parts, systems, and cells. That is also how we are interwoven between us and linked to each other. We are apparently found in some sphere which is entirely filled with all kinds of threads and types of connection that link us into one. There are billions of links and every link acts at the “speed of light,” really with infinite speed.

We don’t need to arrange and stabilize these links in ourselves, they are revealed in us ready-made. This is revealed to us from the state of Malchut of the world of Infinity; this passes through a shattering and these parts are revealed before us as apparently far from each other.

But in fact, this distance between them is required for us to create a “sensitivity,” to focus the “resolution,” making it possible for us to see them and the links between them. Otherwise this is impossible; we can distinguish the details of the picture only on condition that they are separate, only in the gap between them.

Therefore, in order to see the entire general system and to be included in it, we must realize the principle of “And you shall love your friend as yourself.” For “your friend” is not some stranger; rather, this is myself. And no matter what I look at, I see my parts that are found outside of me and seem distant and remote, opposite me, so that in this manner I will better discover the concept of the shattering. The stronger the shattering works in me, the more the world seems fragmented and unattainable. This fragmentation testifies to the intensity of the shattering in me.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The goal of creation, if we establish it according to the appropriate activity, is adherence with the Creator. And according to the result, it is in order to bestow all the good to the creatures according to His name, which is “the Good that does good.” And from the side of the creatures, the goal is attained through a correction from their side, in order to bestow satisfaction to the Creator.

Eventually, all three of these conditions are discovered in the point of unification. This point of unification is cumulative, it is “drawn” through the connection of the various, opposing, opposite parts that repel each other. These parts, that is, humans, in spite of it all, make an effort and work, and with this they want to connect their hearts together through a unique power called the Light that Reforms. And that is how we implement the goal of creation.

Today we are found on the level of “this world,” which is found under the ladder of the spiritual levels. And the idea is that all the levels are discovered here in the level of this world. This is to say, the Kabbalist attains all the levels while he is also found in attainment of the level of this world. This ladder “is positioned on the ground and its top reaches the heavens.” And even though its height reaches and grows to the heavens, its foundation is nevertheless found on the earth.

And therefore every ascent on the ladder of the spiritual levels is expressed in the relationship between people, in the relationship of the still, vegetative, animate and speaking in this world. It is easy for us to explain it in this manner according to the interconnection between the branch and the root. And that is essentially what needs to be revealed.

The Kabbalists discovered this in “potential” not through deeds in this world, in small amounts, in a small connection, in a small group. And we need to discover this ladder actively, on a larger scale.

But in any case, according to the conditions, our bestowal to the Creator is carried out through love of the other. And from this we can draw conclusions about it as to which forces and which efforts we need to invest in love of the other so that in this way we can reach love of the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Desire, Israel, (“straight to the Creator”) in a person gets reformed in stages, step by step since it must reach understanding and attainment according to its inner needs.

In this, it differs from types of desires regarded as “the nations of the world” that get reformed all at once in one set. Desire, Israel, demands that a person discern and attain the spiritual world, get to know it, immerse in its details, become the Creator’s partner, and not just join the system and receive all the good from it on a platter.

Israel wishes to connect with this system and work with it, receiving pleasure from knowing it. As it is written, “Know thy Creator and work for Him,” and there are such desires or people who don’t aspire to knowing the Creator, although it is written that, in the end, “for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” However, this is regular knowledge by a person simply residing in the spiritual world.

As in our world, not everyone wishes to be a scientist or researcher and enjoys learning about creation, understanding its causes and effects. There are two rungs of bestowal: to explore and get to know the Creator, or simply join the source of all good. Therefore, the souls that belong to Israel advance step by step, gradually. Naturally, they suffer while doing so since the entire attainment is founded on the previous unsatisfied need that must be cultivated.

Those who refer to the “nations of the world,” the lower rung, and who come in to take it for granted, as it seems, also must do a lot of work, but it doesn’t imply internal adhesion with the Creator as that of two partners.

Whether such a desire emerges in a person depends on the root of the soul. Heart, liver, and lungs—all the vital organs of the body—must maintain the connection with the brain that governs them in the first place, and all the rest of the flesh, comprising 90% of the body, doesn’t have such a direct connection with the brain and interacts with it through the supplementary systems.

This doesn’t mean that one desire is good and another bad, because at the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun), all souls will be absolutely equal. The difference lies only in the path to it. The strong desire is obliged to work on its path itself and uncover all the secrets of creation and the weaker ones, each in its own measure, simply attach to and support the former one. Essentially, everyone must reach the root of his soul, which signifies the end of correction.

In the spiritual world there is no inequality; this is another difference from the material world. Being in the spiritual world, a person acts based on his natural desires and cannot desire something that isn’t planted in the root of his soul.

Only in our corporeal world can I covet a neighbor’s luxurious car. However, in spirituality, I cannot desire what he does. I desire solely what is planted in my own informational genes, Reshimot.

I can gain inspiration and motivation from him but only in order to reform myself. Hence, there cannot be division into “big” and “small” there.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/9/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: If I wish to become a partner with the Creator in the work, what do I need to do for Him to agree to it?

Answer: If you agree, it means you are already His partner. You don’t need to do anything else, the Creator always agrees.

However, you choose Him not because He is the most powerful, intelligent, profitable partner. You wish to be His true helper which means to walk the same path to the goal that He defined according to His rules. This means that you are already in bestowal (Hafetz Hesed).

If I come to the Creator and ask to be His partner, it means that I’ve risen above my entire ego and fully entered the state of bestowing in order to bestow. I left the desires of the corporeal world at the level of vital necessities and rose above them with my point in the heart. Next to it, there grew an entire mountain of hatred (Mount Sinai), my ego, and I have ascended it with my point in the heart.

Now, I stand at its summit as a perfect Bina, Hafetz Hesed, and having reached this point, I can tell the Creator that I wish to be His partner. I am ready. Now, give me a job! And He says, “You want a job? Here you go! We will take this entire mountain of hatred and start picking desires out of it and use them to bestow to the rest.”

To be the Creator’s partner means to yearn to be like Him. The Creator gives me the Light and says, “Use your ego to bestow the Light to the others, and you will be like Me, and I will raise your desire, expand it so that you will rise to My exalted position to bestow to all like I do. Then, you will be a partner in everything there is.”

Desires belong to the others, but the Light is mine. Hence, I must withdraw from my desires to please myself, engage in the desires of others, and use mine solely to fill theirs. A mother has her own desires and everything is available to her. She owns the entire world, but she uses it only in order to bestow to her child as his desire dictates.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/9/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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