Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 130: They that are granted the sensation of His Providence in the form of the first degree of disclosure of the face, called “repentance from fear,” are considered medium. This is because their emotions are divided into two parts, called “two cups of the scales.” From the time before they were awarded the above repentance, all remain standing and are called “a scale of sin.” And the scale of merit is set and guaranteed to them from the moment of repentance onwards, the time of repentance stands “between” the merit and the sin, and hence they are called “medium.”

It isn’t about time periods but about the present reality. Upon reaching this level, a person discovers in his present attributes that he has partly sinned and partly merited. In other words, there are still uncorrected and corrected parts in him. The criterion here, of course, is the connection with others and with the Creator.

At the same time, a person is immersed in a state of Hafetz Hesed: He cannot do any evil to the other, but he hasn’t done any good to the other either. So it is as if he is in the middle of life, having neutralized the evil in him, but not turned it into goodness yet.

Question: Can we set the attainment of this “intermediate” state as our goal?

Answer: Why settle for half? You should imagine the state of the complete righteous. If you are asking for something, ask for the maximum: the end of correction. If you want to find yourself at the end of correction, you will barely succeed in reaching the next level. This is because at the moment, you cannot imagine more than its corrupt back side. This is the limit of your imagination because you have no other model. So go all the way, wish for maximum bestowal, and by that you will acquire the minimal similarity to the AHP of the upper one.

But if you only ask for half, this isn’t bestowal but pettiness. In bestowal there is no calculation for part of the whole. In bestowal you are looking for what else you can add, how to engage everything you can.

In this sense the spiritual laws are simple. I yearn for the end of correction, and I want all my desires and thoughts to be aimed at bestowal upon others. This is what I ask for. There cannot be half way in the attribute of bestowal. By demanding half, I am making an egoistic calculation and this isn’t bestowal anymore. After all, a secret bid for personal benefit is necessarily present in the “altruistic half” as well.

It is impossible to limit bestowal. Therefore, the course should always be set towards the final goal and not to intermediate phases.

In everything that we do, from this world to the world of Infinity, there are ten whole Sefirot, but in a minimized form. We are in a holographic picture, in which every part contains a whole. Therefore, a partial calculation isn’t right here. You have to do everything in your power, everything that depends on you, and then you may barely reach the next level.

You are now facing the AHP of the upper one, and this is the only thing you can imagine as something infinite. It is the same with small children who cannot take an example from a grown up. A five year old looks at an eight year old like at “God” and wants to be like him. There is something he can “hold on” to, it resonates within him. Rabash gave the same example of a girl who is more interested in playing with a doll than with a real baby.

So don’t try to minimize the goal to the “accepted” sizes. Even if you aim at the maximum, you will barely reach the upper one.
[74157]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/1/2012, “Introduction to TES” 

Related Material:
What Are You Wasting Your Life On?
Tuning To The Wave Of Bestowal
The Fear Of God Is His Treasure

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A - 1 Comment →

Preparation to the Lesson
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Shamati #59 “About the Rod and the Serpent”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” ”The Voice of the Lord Is Upon the Waters,” Item 334, Lesson 94
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 7, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 39, Lesson 15
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 133, Lesson 58
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: Can we measure our attainment?

Answer: First, what do I actually attain? To the extent that I bring contentment to the Creator, to that extent I attain the attribute called the “Creator (Boreh)” within me, according to the principle of “Bo-Reh” or “come and see.”

I attain the Creator in my understanding and awareness. This is my internal image. In the same way I also “draw” other people in my perception, and thus I attain them. My attributes are built so that I can imagine certain figures. I don’t know who is on the outside. Forces act outside of me, which project into my perception the “holographic picture” of other people who only seem to me as external. Thus my whole picture of the world is put together.

So what can I measure or weigh? I weigh my bestowal with regards to everything that I feel. This general measurement is called the “Creator.” Thus the Creator “clothes” a person, the Light “clothes” the created being.

I perceive different forms thanks to the attribute of bestowal that operates on the desires and arranges them in a certain way. From that I feel who the Creator is. I imagine the Creator and those who surround me as my own reaction to a certain action.

I don’t know who I am and what the world is. I don’t know anything, but gradually I begin to draw the sketches of different reactions and feelings in me. This is how I am built: The forms are all depicted as if on the outside. This illusion exists only here, in our current state.

A sensory system is developed in me along with its logical understanding. I live by the mind and the feeling. This reality is divided into four levels, the four layers of the desire: the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. By the right combination of the four I discover the origin of everything that happens, my source, the source of my feeling, and of my four-layer images. I discover that there is an initial reason for all that, which I call the “Creator.” This reason is revealed when I begin to relate to all four levels with bestowal. Then out of equivalence of form, I discover the attributes of the Creator, the Giver.

Therefore, don’t think that our world actually exists—it all ends within me. Later, when I ascend the spiritual levels, it’s as if I move from one class to another. Suppose I know that I am in the first grade now, but can I compare it with the eighth grade or even with the second grade?

Today the clear measurements are still unavailable to us. We only have vague feelings, but there are no accurate tools because the mind and the feeling are not tied in such a way that we can attribute quantitative characteristics to our sensations. In the meantime we are on the psychological level, which lacks the mathematical tool for measurements and comparisons. Such a tool is truly provided by the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[73820]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/27/2012, “Introduction to TES” 

Related Material:
The System Depends On Each One
Constructing The Lego Of The Soul’s Shards
Only By Studying Others One Can Understand Himself

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Perception, Q&A, Science - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Shamati #41 “What Is Greatness and Smallness in Faith”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “The Correction of PBP de Zon,” Item 330, Lesson 93
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 7, Item 35, Lesson 14
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 130, Lesson 57
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: In the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“, Baal HaSulam says that every person will go through spiritual states. Does this concern only people with a “point in the heart” or actually everyone?

Answer: Everyone must reach the end of correction, Gmar Tikkun, everyone. The question is, when? In what order? After whom and before whom?

It says: “For they shall all know me from the smallest to the greatest.” “For my home shall be called a home of prayer for all the nations.” Could it be that a certain desire to receive will remain uncorrected? Will the general and absolute end of correction of Malchut of Ein Sof come?

The whole difference is in our participation. There are those who pull all of humanity after them, half or a quarter of…it is the same as with Moses during the exile from Egypt who, according to Jethro’s advice, divided the people into tens, hundreds, thousands etc. in order to direct them to correction.

An African living on the Savanna will also reach correction, if not now then in a few more reincarnations. He too will have to go through all the spiritual states. In your imagination he is hunting an antelope now, but if you look at him differently, you will see that it is a spiritual vessel that is going through certain states on the way to more serious correction that are felt consciously, you wouldn’t see a corporeal picture but a desire to receive. Even now he is in the process of correction and is reincarnating, but it is unconsciously.

This process includes everyone, but each one in his own way. Therefore, we don’t criticize anyone. A person himself determines the way he feels his world and his cooperation with others. We are all different, and each has his own portion, his own combination of the spark, the Light, and the desire.

Question: Can anyone take an active part in the process?

Answer: Even a slight action is enough for someone to express the activity. Imagine that you were born a prince, and a great mission is waiting for you. Accordingly you are educated and taught, but you perform your mission by 80%, while an ordinary camel washer invests 100% of his internality. Therefore, the camel washer will reach the end of correction, will rise to the level of righteous, will receive and will feel everything, while you will have to work, although speaking in specific spiritual terms, your corrections are much greater than his.

Each one is measured according to his desire to receive, and in it he determines his level. The spiritual ladder is in our spiritual vessel.
[73973]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/29/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Mutual Guarantee De-Facto
Every Person Is Important For Perfection
Love Will Cover All Deficits

Filed under: Collective Soul, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Today, scientists are discovering that we are all interconnected, that countless threads, which we never even knew existed, stretch out between us. How does a Kabbalist see this? Could it really be that this enormous tangle moves constantly before his eyes?

Answer: In reality, everything is very simple. And the further we advance, the simpler it is. Man is simple, and the Light is simple, while the multiple calculations arise because egoism interweaves with the desire to bestow.

The further a person progresses, the more naturally he perceives the picture of the world. Habit becomes second nature. The same way you view your family and loved ones: It becomes your life, your nature, and you no longer exert efforts in the relationships with your loved ones or those whom you don’t really know. You know each of them and understand all the connections.

Right now it seems to you like a problem because it requires efforts. But when the desire to bestow reigns within you, problems disappear. There’s nothing simpler than coming to know the spiritual world and living in it.

“Is such a thing possible? How can I take care of everything, to control the movement of all the atoms and all the worlds?”

You don’t need to control anything since all of it is revealed within you, as your own system. And this is why each subsequent degree will be even freer from pressure, from the necessity to understand what’s happening. With every step, everything will become only clearer.
[73976] 
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/29/2012, “Introduction to TES“  

Related Material:
Habit Becomes A Second Nature
Cursory Thoughts On Shamati,”What Is The Habit Becomes Second Nature, In The Work”
Everything Will Be Clarified In Thought

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

I need to separate the outcomes of my every action and every state into two parts: 

1. The state itself came from the Creator, and it is always good;
2. While I, in accordance with my desires, can call myself either the “wicked” or the “righteous,” depending on whether I justify this state or not.

Moreover, which criteria do I use to justify it? If it is pleasant for me, then of course I justify it. What am I in this case then: the“wicked” or the “righteous?” I am the wicked because I justify the Creator egoistically.

It could also be the opposite: My state is evil for the will to receive and good for the will to bestow since it allows me to move forward. It turns out that the Creator is helping me by sending a bad sensation so that I don’t remain in the same place and instead realize that there are still things that require correction in my relationship with Him.

True and precise self-evaluations are always needed. Everything depends on a person who attains the given state, analyzes it correctly, and comes to a demand. And what does he demand? He asks for the forces of bestowal, and nothing more.

If I ask for good, this demand will be egoistic. At the same time, I am not able to ask for harm to my egoism. The very same ego lurks in any such request.

How can I beg to progress to the next state, which undoubtedly bodes harm for my egoism? Could I really ask the Creator to correct me, that He take away the most precious thing I have right now? If in my current desires I yearn for pleasures, how can I ask to stop receiving pleasure? It won’t be an aspiration of the heart but simply words that don’t count in spirituality.

A person has no possibility to raise a prayer for correction on his own. The only way is to appeal from within the point in the heart (without attaching anything from my own self since egoism reigns within me) by connecting to the group at the same time. Only together with the friends can I make my contribution to the common prayer for correction. And this prayer will help us.
[73979]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/29/2012, “Introduction to TES” 

Related Material:
Reward Instead Of Punishment
An Honorable Task Of Becoming Righteous
“A Thousand Times The Righteous Will Fall And Rise Again”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Prayer and Intention - No Comments →

There is nothing but the relationships among us, relationships of receiving and bestowal. The result of these relationships should be to bring contentment to the Creator. The upper Partzufim cooperate: Abba and Ima, and ZON perform endless different actions, the Reshimot (reminiscences) change, but the main thing is the intention of the person who operates this whole system.

Before he operates it everything in it is dead, still. Then a person comes and the first thing he does is to weed out the dry thorns from the vineyard, which means that he cuts and separates the “stony heart” that cannot be corrected. Then he begins to work with all the rest. Prior to that, the whole system is quiet and a person operates it according to his exertion: He “presses the gas pedal,” he wants the system to work in order to bestow.

There is a set table in front of me and I have to gradually take everything that is on it and enjoy the refreshments in order to bring contentment to the host. So I check my vessels and see that they are vessels of receiving. I mustn’t receive even one gram of pleasure in them. First I must restrict myself. If the host is important to me, I will not enjoy for my sake, but will only want to enjoy for his sake.

But how can I bestow upon him, where can I find the power to do so? I begin to look for different methods and advice, and eventually reach the request. In order to receive such power, the Creator has to be revealed to me as the One who bestows, and then He reveals His greatness and His importance to me. But when the power of bestowal reaches a person, it doesn’t rule him, but according to a person’s request, it only rules his desires to receive.

I am made totally of this desire to receive, so how real can my request for the power of bestowal to rule me be? I can scream forever, but it will just be empty tears because I don’t know what to ask for. It’s like a baby who cries loudly, but no one gives him what he wants. We are angry that we don’t receive the spiritual revelation, just like babies.

I have to know exactly what to ask for. If I know what to ask for, how to ask, and for what reason, then my request will be effective. How can I demand the attribute of bestowal? First I have to acquire its importance. This means that I am asking for the Creator and His revelation. I am not asking to enjoy Him, but only to attain the greatness of bestowal: “Let me respect you!” This is the final request. It isn’t so that I’ll feel good and receive pleasure. I only want to respect Him without taking myself into account. We can receive and demand this necessity from the environment.

This request should not be expressed in words, in a fiery speech, or a carefully composed telegram. It’s revealed in the heart, it breaks the walls of the heart and spills out. I ask not in order to enjoy the feeling that I bestow, that I am great and equal to the Creator. I want to acquire the attribute of bestowal itself and I check my intention to improve my attitude to the friends.

Then I will understand what Kabbalists write about and I will consciously be included in what is happening in Malchut of Atzilut. All these things take place in a clear and clarified manner inside me according to the process that Kabbalists describe and reveal it in small portions one after the other. We are very close to that.
[73883]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

Related Material:
Polishing The Request For Bestowal
Water The Field That Awaits The Rain
A Prayer, Growing Secretly In The Heart

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Prayer and Intention - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Shamati #190 “Every Act Leaves an Imprint”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Three Letters Tov (Tet-Vav-Bet),” (Starting with: “It is written”), Item 326, Lesson 92
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

“Preface to The Book of Zohar,” Item 31, Lesson 17
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

When we read The Book of Zohar, we should imagine that we are already in the highest state—we should desire to reach it. The higher state is the state in which we are connected.

The Zohar describes how the force of bestowal reaches us and what work it performs on us. Some parts of the soul rise and others descend in their feeling, understanding, and perception of the changes that take place in us. By reading this book together again and again, we expect that the force of bestowal will affect us by carrying out all the spiritual actions within us.

If we were in the revelation of the spiritual world, then during the reading, everything that we read about would be realized in us openly. But if we are in a state of concealment and want these actions to happen within us, they are still realized within us, but in a concealed manner and to the extent that we are not in the spiritual world yet!

It’s just like a child who sits in a toy car, turning the wheel and imagining that he is driving. He is really driving, and in a way he is like the real driver he will become in fifteen or twenty years. He is already in the process, but in the preliminary degrees and states when he hasn’t attained the actual realization yet. But these states are essential on the way.

Similarly, by reading The Zohar now and imagining that we are in it, we are enabling the Light to act specifically upon the attributes that we read about. It makes no difference whether we understand what is written; in the meantime, the Light influences and advances us.

I don’t know what is concealed behind the names of the Sefirot and the angels, and I cannot picture anything, but it makes no difference. I only imagine one thing: Right now I am under the influence of the Light, the force of bestowal, that will grant me this force so that it will rule over the force of reception in me. Thus I will go on until this Light stays with me permanently.
[73880] 
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/2012, The Zohar 

Related Material:
Let The Book Of Zohar Talk About Me
When The Book Of Zohar Becomes Revealed….
Where Is The Light Hidden?

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Zohar - No Comments →