Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”: Not only is it the wrong place to argue with them about their fabricated conjectures, but also the time of supporters of such views has already passed and their authority revoked. We should also thank the experts of materialistic psychology for that, which built its plinth on the ruin of the former, winning the public’s favor. Now everyone admits to the nullity of philosophy, for it is not built on concrete foundations. …Hence, we are grateful to materialistic psychology for handing it a deadly blow.

This is a very delicate subject. At the time, philosophy tried to dominate the Jewish people and to take the place of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Psychology seemed to keep the place of the wisdom of Kabbalah, while philosophy has reached its end. But during the 20^th century psychology has spent itself completely.

In order to jump onto the table you have to jump higher than the table. Accordingly, we cannot investigate man without rising above him. As long as psychologists studied the natural “animal” tendencies of man, they succeeded. They even managed to identify and to organize the pyramid of desires that Abraham Maslow described.

Still these are simple small revelations. At the moment, however, when psychologists are trying to penetrate a bit more deeply, they encounter great confusion. The problem here is that, in contrast to the exact sciences that study fixed laws that don’t change, psychology deals with “changing” laws. It’s because a person constantly changes, especially in our times. So the results of studies quickly become outdated: After several years both the researcher and his subjects change and are no longer who they were initially.

So psychology doesn’t have a concrete foundation. It isn’t an exact science, but a combination of different minor, narrow, limited, individual studies. So eventually, today when philosophy has become a “dirty word,” psychology, too, is exhausted. We are now on the finish line.
[95963]
From the 4^th Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/12, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Question: How can I give something that I don’t have, if I am totally in corporeality?

Answer: You don’t need to give anything! You should only know how to fulfill yourself. We are not required to give something that we don’t have. Indeed it says: “Love thy friend as thyself,” but we are not required to feel this love, we are only required to understand where we can fulfill ourselves correctly.

The problem is that we perform many actions in the wrong place. It’s like rain that falls in the desert instead of watering a sown field. Everything has to be in its place. If you sow seeds in the right place, in fertile soil that is irrigated, the crops will grow. But if you sow the seeds in the sand in the middle of the desert, nothing will grow from it.

Ninety percent of our exertion in this life is wasted on futile things. We shouldn’t even look in that direction, but we do…so the problem is not that we don’t have the power, but that we are wasting it in vain in the wrong place. That’s the whole point.

The place where we should concentrate all our exertion, except for our basic needs (food and family) is the group. If we invest all our energy in the group, we will advance as fast as possible. However, we scatter our forces and run in different directions. So we shouldn’t complain that we don’t attain any results. We have the power; we only need to focus it in the right direction.
[95960]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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In reality there are no separate, cut off parts; everything is one, but we can only perceive a few parts. Every single element is due to its environment; receiving powers and support from those around him, he can express himself in relation to others. Eventually, the environment gives us the power to connect.

Each separate part has to accept all the other parts as one body; all of reality as one system. It’s because there is a law: “Israel, the Torah and Creator are one.” Without the Creator, I cannot perceive the whole reality as one.

After all, if there is a Creator, then this reality has a single root that connects everything to one whole, except for me. So if I feel this one root, I perceive all of reality as one, except for myself.

To the extent that I want to connect to this reality, I can receive through it forces from the Creator and connect to Him. Everyone in this reality has one goal and the same opportunities. It all depends only on how one uses them.

A person has to go through all the stages and can’t be awakened more than he has given to the society as a result of his exertion to connect to it; otherwise, he hasn’t earned this awakening and it isn’t his.

It’s the same with our study and with what the teacher can tell a student. It all depends on the student’s vessel. Otherwise it turns out that the teacher denies the student of his freewill and steals his chance to exert himself. This is forbidden. Otherwise it’s like a merciful mother who does the homework instead of her child. Is this in his benefit? After all, he will grow up to be ignorant.

In the spiritual work we can’t use such lies, since any reward is given only for a person’s exertion: “The reward is according to one’s sorrow,” meaning the reward is according to one’s exertion. The vessel itself brings the Light out of its concealment and reveals it.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Preparation to the Lesson

“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 99, Lesson 25

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Naso,” Item 118, Lesson 8

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 9, Item 4, Lesson 3

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy“

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Question: We need to connect in an inner form, in our desires. But how can I approach the desire of the friend?

Answer: For you, your inclination to the Creator is enough. Only with this inclination, without trying to dig deeper, do you connect. Both of you do not understand this desire that the Creator “planted” in each of you. But precisely this desire in the friend, and only it, is important for you. This is a subtle inclination from the refinement of the soul. You love the friend’s spiritual spark, his inclination to the Creator. His character and his customs are not important to you; it is only the Creator who connects you, because “in Him our heart will rejoice.” It is in Him. You want to meet in the Creator.

The other desires are connected in a different way; they remain in you and simply are searching for fulfillment together. But practically this is not unity with the other, but it is taking advantage of the other.

And we on the other hand, do not connect only between us. Light comes to us that bestows upon our desires, connects us, and dwells in us, in our connection. And then all of us together are glad that we gave the Creator the possibility and the ability to be revealed.

Therefore, for you, it is enough for you to have the inclination for the truth, for the Creator, for the goal. You yourself still do not know where you are going to, but the yearning exists already, and you need to always raise and care for it. How? By connecting with the friends. As a result of it, enough yearning will appear in you that the Light will correct you, will connect to a big single desire that in it you will reveal the Creator and will rejoice in it.

From day to day it will be clearer to you how to use all kinds of means in order to prepare yourself for the new state. You will not succeed in understanding it in advance, and you don’t need to demand understanding but the force of bestowal in “above reason.” Precisely by this yearning for bestowal above reason,” the knowledge will be revealed you and you will know.
[95530]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/12/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: We need to be directed by what we see; we need to use our senses, our knowledge, our reason. And on the other hand, there is the principle of “above reason,” and through it, the wisdom of Kabbalah expands the research of how one needs to correctly pass from their own understanding to rise above reason.

Answer: The whole upper world exists above our current knowledge, meaning, above the ego. In this manner, “above reason” symbolizes not for the ego.

By that, we are covering the gap between the levels. By revealing the new network of connection between all, we see it as the foundation of all the laws of nature. It is as if nature lies on this network, and we begin to observe its parts in fields, in mechanisms, that activate people. We are penetrating through such layers, which in comparison to them, the atom seems like a coarse thing. The intentions are revealed before us. The forces that precede the matter, that are activating the atoms, the waves, the light waves.

In our perception, we are passing closer to the beginning and we see everything in a new intention, in Ohr Hozer, in Ohr Hassadim, above our current knowledge.
[95589]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/12, “The Peace”

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The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Naso,” No. 93: When the Tree of Good and Evil rules, which is the purity of weekdays and the filth of weekdays, then these sages, who are compared to Sabbaths and holidays, have nothing more than the weekdays give them. As well as on Shabbat, there is no more than is corrected with its help on weekdays.

A man by himself, in his foundation, is just a point. He receives all his “body”/desire from the environment by means of the Light that Reforms. And this “body” is filled with the Light, the Creator that is revealed in it.

That is why Kabbalists write how, through desires/vessels/Kellim received from the environment, a person each time reveals the Creator. Everything what is written in The Zohar are the levels of revelation of the Creator in the desires that we get from the environment.

The Creator is revealed inside desires, within the environment, in the same place. The Zohar describes the degrees of this revelation both from the evil side and the good side, in opposite ways, because it is impossible to try something and feel its flavor if it is not salty, sweet, etc.

That is why The Zohar takes us through different experiences. But we know nothing, reveal nothing, except the Creator. The concept of the environment and specific details of perception disappear, and all this becomes more and more connected in “there is none else besides Him,” in one whole. In the end, we discover one desire/vessel, and inside it—the Creator. And nothing else.

That is why, if a person is yearning to the greatness of the Creator, to have only that in front of him, this directs him correctly.
[95945]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/12, The Zohar 

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Rabash, “Make Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend 1”: If a person is very tired and goes to sleep at around 11 pm, if he is awakened at 3 am, of course he will say that he has no energy to get up to study because he is very tired. And if he feels a little weak or has a slight temperature, the body will certainly have no power to rise at the time he is accustomed to rising.

But if a person is very tired, feeling sick, and goes to sleep at midnight, but is awakened at 1 am and is told, “There is a fire in the yard; it’s about to come into your room. Quick, get up and you’ll save your life in return for the effort you are making,” he will not make any excuses about being tired, mindless, or sick. Rather, even if he is very sick, he will make every effort to save his life. Evidently, because he will obtain an important thing, the body has the energy to do what it can to get what he wants.

Therefore, while working on “Make for yourself a rav,” a person believes that it is, “For they are our lives and the length of our days.” To the extent that he feels that this is his life, the body has enough strength to overcome all the obstacles, as written in the allegory. For this reason, in all of man’s works, in studying or in praying, he should focus all his work on obtaining the greatness and importance of the rav. Much work and many prayers should be made on that alone.

In the words of The Zohar, this is called “Raising Divinity from the dust”

…It follows that all we lack is, “Make for yourself a rav, to sense the greatness of the Creator. Then, everyone will be able to achieve the goal, which is to adhere to Him.”

We see how in our groups around the world there are sometimes many people who arrive at the lesson and sometimes very few. It is hard to judge them, since it says: “Do not judge a friend until you are in his place.” But no matter what the hardships are, the reason for being absent from a lesson is still the same—the lack of feeling its importance.

The feeling of importance depends on the group and not on the person himself. We see different groups on the screen during the lesson: Kiev, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and many other groups. Sometimes we see that the place is full of people, but usually there are just a few. The reason for all that is the lack of feeling the importance of the goal, which we don’t develop in us. From Above, the feeling of the importance is intentionally lowered, so that a person will need the group and feel that he depends on the environment that should increase the feeling of importance. To the extent that he adheres to the group, the importance of the goal increases in him, and he is attracted to the group and advances.

But if he doesn’t feel the importance of the group and doesn’t adhere to it, then accordingly he doesn’t feel the importance of the goal. Therefore, he will not be able to advance and eventually will leave.

It all depends only on feeling the importance of the goal: to what extent a person yearns for it, studies, and demands the awareness of this importance during the study. It serves him as the fuel necessary for his advancement.

Our main concern should be that we lack the feeling of the importance of the goal, the fuel, the Creator’s greatness, that it should be enough for our advancement, so that I won’t stop thinking about Him, and will constantly worry that the feeling of importance will draw me to the center of the group in which I will find the entrance to the spiritual world.

“Rav” (big, great) is the Creator. “Make yourself a Rav” means to raise the Creator above all the other values a person has, so that nothing compares to it. According to such priorities, a person will determine his daily schedule and his attitude to everything.

“Buy yourself a friend” is required in order to increase the importance of the Rav. Therefore, you should buy yourself friends; pay them by your attitude, by your efforts, by serving them, so that they will help you acknowledge the greatness of the Rav, the greatness of the Creator.

Then during the study, we will have the right prayer for the one thing that we need—the Creator’s greatness. Everything is focused only around this greatness: the prayer, the illumination, and the love. Only the environment can help us by that, if a person evokes it by himself.
[95863]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/19/12

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The whole world is a force and not matter. So you give importance to the force of thoughts and your attitude to the friends. It is what operates in reality. By your attitude to others, you correct and change the world. No one can stand in the way of such power. If you think and worry about the connection with the friends from morning to night and that it should bring us, the world, and the Creator good, then you are actually performing a very powerful action, which cannot be compared with anything else.

The power of thought, the power of our desire, is the most important thing. If you activate it according to the goal of the creation, then you influence things much more strongly than an ordinary person.

Question: Can this be proven?

Answer: The point is that I don’t want to prove it to myself. The proof will give me egoistic confidence, while I want the opposite, I want to bestow upon the friends by using these forces so that I won’t be able to see the result. I want to help, to connect, to love, but not in order to receive a reward.

After all, I need something else: I am ready to pay with my attitude toward the friends, in order to discover one thing only—whose command am I fulfilling? I want to discover the Creator and to bring Him contentment by that.

Then, I have to conceal the result, so that the reward won’t bribe me. By that, I attain the point from which bestowal begins.

Question: Why am I not attracted to this?

Answer: Because this truth is opposite from us.

Question: So how can we advance?

Answer: By small lies every step of the way. You conceal the truth from yourself and play as if it is attractive and will bring you some reward.

Question: What will force me to think about the friends all day?

Answer: The recognition of the importance: “I will profit from this, I will attain spirituality; otherwise, my whole life will be wasted in vain. I have to attain something in life.” It says: “Taste and see that God is good.” “So, where is He? How can I taste Him? I have to manage until the evening, no matter what…”

You are told: “If you worry about the friends, if you lower your head before them, if you join them, then you will discover spirituality.” You are ready for that; you imagine the reward according to your taste, as it says: “Educate a child according to his way.” You imagine spirituality as tempting, as some great spaces, hovering in space, forces, and you are drawn to them.

Everyone depicts his own image. Ask the friends to explain the goal and its importance to you. We have to feel the taste of love: Ask for it.
[95859]
From the 4^th Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/12, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Question: So far, our ego twists and turns, trying to find different excuses. How can we change this on our level?

Answer: We can only do one thing: evoke the Light that Reforms. We don’t have any power but for that. So we have to know how to draw this Light.

The Light is evoked only if I want to attain the next closest level to me. How can I take such a step towards the Light so that the Light will influence me, and then make another step so that the Light will influence me again? I need a group for that. To the extent that I can influence the friends and evoke them by some corporeal actions to connection, to love, to corrections and to raise their spirit, I draw the Light upon me.

I don’t need to ask anything from the Light; it will operate and influence me without any request, without any words, only in response to my actions. To that extent, I will advance. Everything happens according to exact laws according to the powers one invests, as it says, “the reward is according to one’s sorrow.”
[95856]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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