Question: How should we come out of the daily Kabbalah lesson in order to continue the internal work during the rest of the day?

Answer: I receive everything from Above and I should prepare myself for the maximal independent clarification. Every state should be divided into two parts. On the one hand, it comes from the Creator and I don’t want to spoil it with my desires, thoughts, and feelings. On the other hand, I understand that there is nothing to feel except my own vessels. So how do I do it?

The assessment can be done only in one way: comparing one feeling to another, comparing one intention to another. In order to not be biased, I should always calibrate myself according to a certain standard, according to the group. So I should make efforts to be incorporated with the general spirit of the group, and in relation to it, I should check: Do I feel good or do I feel bad, and how I do interpret whether it’s good or bad so that I will advance?

I constantly clarify things internally, demanding the reforming Light through the group, trying to clarify things with its help so that I will feel myself in the opposite state. In order to do that, I need to try and justify the Creator first, even if I feel bad. Then I try to rise together with the intention to the good state, not for pleasure, but because I resemble the Creator according to equivalence of form. After all, His goal is to do good to his created beings.

Thus I end my clarification. And this is how it happens each time.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/22/12, Shamati #1

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The Creator is pleased that the created beings advance, although their advancement is full of great problems and worries, just as parents of a mentally retarded child are happy that he begins to progress and grow wiser. He is the one who has prepared all these problems for us; He is the one who has hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

This is how we advance until a person begins to feel that he is in a world that is totally bad. First, as long as he was in a state of “total retardation,” he thought that the whole world was good. Now he feels that he is in a bad world and begins to search for the meaning of life and what we are living for.

He continues to develop through the environment, the group, and the right books and begins to discover why he feels bad. It turns out that this bad feeling is purposeful. After all, it says: “I have created the evil inclination.” There is an upper force that worries about him and takes care of him. It isn’t just the environment, but something more sublime.

He learns not only about himself and his dependence on the environment, but also about the upper force, a third factor. He understands that the upper force intentionally makes him feel bad so that he will want to exit this bad feeling and he tries to exit it.

He sees that there is a method that enables him to wake up from the dream everyone else is in. He is not “retarded” any more; he reaches the recognition of evil and wants to rise above it in order to understand why he feels bad.

He begins to search the reason for this bad feeling and discovers that there is probably an upper governance. Here he reaches correction and connects with the environment.

He discovers that all these problems were intentional. The upper force didn’t create evil in order to bring him pain and sufferings, but so that when he rises above the evil, he will attain the upper force itself, and will be able to control, to understand, to feel, and to determine everything.

It is all thanks to the fact that he used his evil nature purposefully. Then the good force is revealed in contrast to the evil force. A person begins to work with these two forces, when he is above them, and thus he becomes a partner of the upper force, the Creator. Just as the Creator manages all our life and this world by these two reins: good and evil, he also wants to manage the whole world by himself, by the good and the evil. He wants the Creator to teach him how to do that.

Thus from being totally detached from life, like a retarded child who grows thanks to the egoistic environment that develops him and supports him this way, he begins to rise above this environment to an upper dimension. Eventually, he learns to use all of the environment, all of his nature and the upper force itself, in order to become like the Creator. He does all this in order to attain the upper force, to discover It.

At first he does it unconsciously, like a mentally retarded child who is dominated by the upper force. Then he begins to gradually exit this state, thanks to the evil force, that discovers the egoism inside him. He developed this way to a certain level, until he asked himself: What is the reason for all this evil? If everything were good, he would have no questions.

He has no choice but to search for the good force in contrast to the evil force. Then he grows wiser until he learns to use the two in order to rise above them.

This whole process takes place under the motto: “There is none else besides Him.” There is one upper force in everything, which helps a person go through the whole way. By recognizing and feeling the whole process, he understands what the upper force has done for him, and that It suffered much more that the person did. Because when a person suffers, the Shechina suffers much more.

This is how a person reaches the love of the Creator.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/22/12, Shamati #1

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Question: How can I, as an individual organ of the general soul, feel the harm that I am causing the whole body by my corruption? How can I feel the sufferings of the general soul?

Answer: You will feel it according to how much you feel the sorrow of the general soul. You should feel the harm; try to be incorporated in society and to connect to it. Then you will feel what it suffers from, its illness, and you will attribute all this harm to yourself.

The feeling of cooperation is all the result of the connection: both the collective joy and the collective sorrow, the commitment towards society and the freedom from it. It all depends on a person, and on how much he exerts himself in order to attain his state and his feeling.

It is said that one should feel sorry for the sorrow of the Shechina. We see how humanity suffers. Can we help it?

Kabbalists say that the Creator wants to be revealed within the created beings, that is, He too seems to be suffering because others suffer. His suffering is completely unlike ours.

Imagine a family that has a mentally retarded child. How much does the child suffer? Sometimes he doesn’t even feel that he is sick and that he is different in anyway from the other children. We too, are living a peaceful life at the moment, not worrying about anything. We think that everything is fine, and we are surprised when we are told about a crisis and different problems.

People protest: “What is all the noise about and what are these claims that people are suffering? No one suffers; everything is fine. Don’t disturb us and let us enjoy life!” But this kind of life is like the life of a retarded child who isn’t aware of his condition. He plays with something and is happy. To others his condition is physically apparent, but the child is happy, he doesn’t suffer. Those who are near them suffer.

This is because they know his condition, how ill the child is, and how much he is lacking in life. Everyone who sees him suffers. This is the “sorrow of the Shechina,” which sees us like that retarded child.

But if he begins to improve, to get better, to understand and to feel more, then as he adds knowledge, he adds pain. He begins to feel problems and pressures; he sees that not everyone wants to be friends with him. First he felt the whole world as good and he was all right, he lived as if in a dream.

Now, the more he wakes up, the more strongly he feels the different states and his dependence on others. Only now does he understand where he really is. It turns out that this whole world is full of worries and problems and that you have to get along with people and to be careful of different dangers.

But the parents are happy! Why are they happy? After all, the child isn’t happier. True, he isn’t happy yet, but he has begun to live!
[67527]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/22/12, Shamati #1

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Shamati #148 “The Scrutiny of Bitter and Sweet, True and False,” Writings of Baal Hasulam “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot, uMasbirot,” (To: “Let me explain it to you in an allegory”), Item 16
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Moses and Jacob,” Item 155, Lesson 43
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 6, Item 8, Lesson 7
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“Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 52, Lesson 27
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Question: Romania has been shaken by collisions for a week now. In Bucharest they are becoming quite brutal. Our friends there are very worried. Overall, how should we view the suffering that the world experiences?

Answer: We must only disseminate materials about unity. And there are several rules in this regard:

– We do not mix with anyone;
– We are not “for” or “against”;
– As educators, we relate to people very considerately and unsophisticated.

That is how we approach the situation, according to the principle, “Love will cover all sins.” It is necessary to reach consensus, conciliation, unity. This does not mean that everyone calms down and goes home, since in that case we would be against the protestors. No, we are for change. However, in all of history, methods like this have never brought about anything good.

We have live examples before our eyes: Egypt, Tunisia, and other countries. For example, what was the use of the spontaneous disorders in London? This approach does not bring anything good to anyone. And Egypt has become immersed in devastation and is left with nothing. So, disorders won’t help.

That is why we have to release explanatory brochures with materials about mutual guarantee, including our advice: communication, round tables, and integral upbringing.

But first of all, we must concisely describe the current situation: Why is this happening?

And in doing so we do not speak out against the government or anyone else. We are talking about a natural process, a regular phase of our evolution where the world is becoming global and interconnected.

So what should we do? We have to adapt to the new conditions. After all, there is no other way to go. The integral network is already expressing itself. It’s simply that previously we adapted instinctively, whereas now we must reach harmony with the changed world consciously, with our own awareness. This is our new level of development.

Next, we have to explain how to do this: by means of integral upbringing, with the help of a good environment, which will convince every person of the need to unite with others.

Romania is a pretty homogenous country. It is not home to different cultures living side by side—it’s not America or the united Europe, so there it’s easier to talk about unity. This approach will appease the people, will revitalize the country, and will give people work. People will rise in their consciousness and will understand what is happening. They will see for themselves that this is good for them, their children, their country, and people.

As a whole, we are only inviting everyone to unite, and no more than that. There are no hidden “fees,” dirty tricks, or attempts to make money off of someone. On the contrary, let them do everything themselves. Let them organize the learning process and build an environment according to the laws of nature, while collaborating with psychologists.

This is what we have to offer, especially considering that there are many countries standing at the threshold of the same kind of strife.
[67215]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/22/12, “Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Inheritance of the Land”: Indeed it is said in the books that it is impossible for the souls to receive the good reward for which the Creator created them and the world, without the vessel prepared to receive, and a person cannot attain that vessel without exertion and the efforts to keep the Mitzvot; under pressure and war, a person fights with the evil inclination with many obstacles and concerns. The sorrow and exertion in the Torah provides a vessel for the soul so that it is ready to receive all the pleasure and goodness for which He created for the created beings.”

We can’t receive goodness and pleasure without hard work. Why? Because it is the hard work that stabilizes and builds the right desires in us for the fulfillment the Creator has prepared. It is impossible to manage without these desires, without the burden, without hard work and real sufferings. It is said: “You shall eat bread with salt, and drink water sparingly, sleep on the ground, live a life of sorrow, and in the Torah you shall work.” On the whole, all of humanity is going through a path of great sufferings, much worse than death.

Why does that happen? Why is it only in this way that we can clarify the deficiency that is aimed at the goal? Indeed, without acquiring this deficiency first, we will not feel the goal, and will not be incorporated in it. Perhaps we have already reached the goal but can’t feel it because we lack the experience.

So a lot of hard work is needed until we finally reach the leap, and it is revealed to us as the proper yearning. As we work, we make more and more efforts, and it becomes constantly harder to justify the way until we finally do not escape from Egypt. And the next step isn’t simple.

Kabbalists don’t hide this from us. On the contrary, they want to explain to us that our work is hard and that it is constantly growing harder. Don’t wait for everything to happen tomorrow, unless you are really able to add the wonderful tomorrow to the present. Here everything depends on you.

So we have to “keep the Torah and the Mitzvot,” which means to correct ourselves by drawing the reforming Light, whose influence connects us. The method of Kabbalah is meant to connect us. It is said: “I’ve created the evil inclination and I’ve created the Torah as a spice.” The Torah corrects the evil inclination, meaning the separation, and it corrects it by unity and love. So “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is the great rule of the Torah. We have to discover the hatred among us and the unity to correct it. We cannot escape it; we must unite as one.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, Baal HaSulam, “The Inheritance of the Land”

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Baal HaSulam, "Inheritance of the Land": And so Abraham wondered, “How will I know that I will inherit it?” meaning how will I know that the Children of Israel will receive such a great reward, since where will they get such big vessels that will be worthy of this wonderful receiving, and to this the Lord answered him, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, and then they will have great exertion in the Torah and the Mitzvot….” This is the case for those who deal with the Torah, but those that deal with the fillings of this world and are not ready to deal with the Torah, how will they receive these vessels? Indeed the answer is that this is what is said in the Midrash, that Israel are not redeemed until they are united…."

So we see that we must connect with the world that provides us its deficiencies because we don’t have enough deficiencies of our own. In the same way we received the desires of the Egyptians in the time of the Exodus from Egypt.

Let’s see how things developed. After the exodus from Babel we went down to Egypt, we were there for 210 years and we went to Mt. Sinai. Then there was a series of ascents and descents until we arrived at the Land of Israel and built the first Temple. Then we fell from that degree and built the second Temple.

Thus we ended the work of the Egyptian exile. We corrected the whole legacy of 210 years in Egypt, all the evil inclination, with the help of the Torah, meaning the method of Kabbalah, which we received on Mt. Sinai.

After having fulfilled this level, we fell, we have been through two thousand years of exile, and now we have to ascend again. It is said about our state that: “The children of Israel were exiled only to add the souls of the gentiles to them," which is all the Babylonians. In the past, Abraham took a small vessel of Israel out of Babel, and now all of Babel have to reach correction. Here, in exile, we meet the Babylonians, we are mutually incorporated in them and together with them rise to correction, as one body that has a "head" and a "body." The head is the point in the heart (*), and the body is what we call "the nations of the world (NW in the drawing)."

Thus we reach mutual correction. The body cannot manage without the head, and the head cannot manage without the body.

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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, Baal HaSulam, “The Inheritance of the Land”

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Question: Can I feel something towards the Creator without any fulfillment?

Answer: There cannot be a relationship between the “guest” and the “host” without fulfillment. If I totally restrict myself, I detach myself from receiving, but I cannot respond to the treatment of the Creator either. My relationship with Him is possible only through the fulfillment that I receive from Him.

If I receive from Him, from His huge table laden with delicacies, even “a tiny slice of cake,” in this cake I feel His attitude towards me. It is for this reason that I take it, after I restrict myself internally, in order to feel only His attitude towards me in that cake.

Otherwise I can’t perceive how He treats me. I feel love and concern in the Light that comes to me. Then I take a piece of that cake in order to feel all that, not to simply enjoy it since that would be a Klipa (shell), egoism, but rather in order to build my attitude towards the Creator from it, in order to reach equivalence of form with Him, in order to reach a state of balance. This state in nature is called homeostasis, harmony with nature.

If I am in such a state with respect to the Creator, a certain relationship is established between us. This means that I am already on some spiritual level: 1, 2, or 3….

But the question is: Where do we go from here? After all, this harmonious system relaxes me, and I cannot reveal more than I’ve already revealed. I received from the host, I gave back to him, we’ve established a relationship of equality between us, and through the refreshments we make each other feel good and bring each other pleasure. But what’s next?

If I don’t feel an additional deficiency, I won’t be able to move. What’s important is: What will I have a new deficiency for: the refreshments or for the host, for strengthening our relationship, for greater connection with Him?

Here, according to my preparation, a new deficiency is revealed in me. After all, I want to feel the deficiency for a stronger connection with the host. In order to discover the right deficiency for the host, I must have an appetite for the refreshments.

But it could be that the deficiency for the refreshments is revealed before the yearning for the host. Here it depends on if I approach the development from the side of sanctity or from the side of impurity.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, Shamati #174

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Question: What does a group that enters spirituality look like?

Answer: On the outside there are no special signs. Everyone seems like ordinary people. Inside will be everything we read about in the Kabbalah books. You will see the same faces, but you will treat them differently.

You will feel the internal network of connections among you. This is what creates the place where the spiritual world is revealed. It is as if you’ve received a flashlight, you turn it on, and in that light you begin to see stones, trees, animals, and people: a whole world.

This shining flashlight is your good attitude towards all the others, the mutual guarantee that you feel towards them. In the mutual guarantee that stems from you, you begin to discover the upper system and to see that in it, right there before you, there are trees, animals and people, which you didn’t see before.

But all the inanimate objects, plants, animals and people are not corporeal like in our world, but are spiritual. This is the picture that is revealed to you. They are the same familiar faces, but you discover the internal connection among them.

Many years ago I saw a movie about a diamond theft. The robbers sprayed a special spray and in this mist they began to see the laser beams that activate the alarm if someone crossed the room.

So it is as if you are also spraying a special spray around you, like a cloud of emotional attitude, of sharing, of a sense of connection and mutual guarantee, and in it you discover the laser beams that connect us to one another and see how they pass and tie everyone.

You discover this relationship, and see how it operates and manages everything. You understand what really motivates everyone.

Now, you see that everyone is moving, but you don’t understand which forces are moving them. Then you suddenly begin to feel, both physically and internally, how a hand enters the puppet and begins to move it from one place to another. This is revealing the governance and upper Providence.

Accordingly you learn how to adapt yourself to the system of this Providence, just as the movement of a good horse is adapted to the desires of the rider.
[67079]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/12, Shamati #174

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Baal Hasualm, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)” (abridged version): The Lord hath spoken “Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” And all the people answered together, and said: “All that, we will do.” These words do not seem to fit their role, because common sense dictates that if one offers one’s friend to do some work, and he wants him to agree, he should give him an example of the nature of that work and its reward. Only then can the receiver examine it, whether to decline or to accept.”

When we begin to work with the vessels, they are not round yet, because they are divided into three parts: head, internality, and end. As a whole, our reality is in the form of a pyramid that is made of five layers of coarseness: root, one, two, three, and four. This is all of reality.

The point in the heart (*) awakens in the purer vessels and they can fulfill the correction on the levels of root, one, and two. Together they make up the part called “Galgalta ve Eynaim,” (GE), or “Israel” which comes from the Hebrew words “Yasher Kel” meaning “straight to the Creator.” By their nature, they are the vessels of bestowal.

Of course, the lighter vessels of Israel are the first that awaken to correction. The correction itself is performed by the upper Light, which influence the points in their hearts so that they awaken. In these vessels there is the level of the forefathers that don’t need any preparation, and there is also the level of the sons who already have to work in a group or as a people, to go through the heaviness of the heart or to discover the “Egyptian bondage” in order to unite and to make a covenant among them around Mt. Sinai, and then to rise to the levels of the first and second temples.

And so the vessel of Galgalta ve Eynaim reaches its end of correction Gmar Tikkun, and then it is shattered and falls into the vessels of receiving, to a state of exile. Then there is the mixture, the mutual incorporation of the vessels.

At the end of this process, after 2000 years, comes the year 1995, the point from which the clarification and the correction begin.

It is said: “And you shall keep My covenant and ye shall be mine own treasure from among all peoples.” This means that the vessels of GE will have to correct themselves after the 2000 years of mixing. “A kingdom of priests” means that everyone works in bestowal and a “holy nation” is the nation that works for the world. Thus they serve the Creator and the other people and they don’t belong to themselves at all.

They have a choice only in the middle third of Tifferet, in which they come to the decision to devote the upper part to the Creator and to devote the lower part to serving the other nations so that they will also be corrected for the sake of the Creator.

The people of Israel agreed to that when they took upon themselves the correction of all the desires, in mutual guarantee and in unity. It is the desires that are revealed against unity, against the covenant, against mutual guarantee, that belong to the correction.

On the other hand, all the desires that do not belong to the connection, as “high” as they may be, are called “beastly” because they belong to our beastly body. In our world there are the levels of the inanimate, vegetative, and animate, while on the level of speaking, we are all connected to each other. This is why only the desires that yearn for connection or are against it belong to it.

Therefore, the desires on the levels of the inanimate, vegetative, and animate belong to this world and we don’t see them as part of the correction. For example, if you wish to eat ten meals a day, you don’t have to overcome this desire in order to reach the spiritual goal. Just focus on the desires that are aimed at bestowal upon others or those that are against bestowal upon others. They are the only spiritual desires, and only they are called Adam (Man).

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