Shamati #161, “The Matter of the Giving of the Torah”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, “Truma (Donation),” “The Watchman Says ‘Hear O Israel, Blessed Be the Name of the Glory of His  Kingdom Forever and Ever,’” Item 129, Lesson 6
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Chapter 9, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 35, Lesson 25
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “The Point in the Heart”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

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

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Question: What do we celebrate during holiday Shavuot?

Answer: During Shavuot, we celebrate the giving of the Torah. It’s the day when all who are regarded as “Israel” (“Isra-El,” meaning “straight to the Creator”) were given the Torah, the method of self-realization through free will, rather than coming to the pre-programmed state of fulfillment under the impact of the Light pushing them to it.

On the contrary, they are able to see themselves, the entire reality, and even the Creator. Instead of Him doing it, they can decide that they truly desire to reach this goal, as if He wasn’t the one who supplied it.

We celebrate that we are able to understand, feel, and attain the upper force that works within us and can identify ourselves with its acts. Clearly, this upper force, the Creator, works either way. However, we attain how He works; we desire for Him to work on us, and even before He takes any action, we already strive toward Him. This is how love is measured.

Question: So, only with the giving of the Torah did we obtain free will, the freedom to accept the method and realize it willingly, whereas previously, we didn’t have any such free will, did we?

Answer: Correct. Hence, it is regarded as freedom from the angel of death, “being a free nation in our own country (our desire),” being free. What does such freedom entail? Now I am able to express my own view of the purpose of creation and our path.

Can you switch to another purpose? You can’t. Can you choose a different path? No. What is so unique about it then? I take my part in it; I make a decision; I choose this desire; I am present in this process. Otherwise, I’m not. The Creator gave us a chance to participate. This means I assert myself and my independence, which happens in the degree I identify myself with the Creator by becoming similar to Him. I am either a beast or a human.
[44582]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/2011, Shamati #40

Related Material:
The Giving Of The Light
The Most Important Event Of Our Lives
Preparation For Receiving The Torah: The Light Of Correction

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

Question: To annul oneself sounds so unnatural for a secular person; all our nature is against it. What can force humanity to sit on the school bench and study Kabbalah?

Answer: I do not understand why self-annulment appears so unnatural to you. I used to study at a university, and there was a professor whom I considered a great expert in his science. I wanted to absorb all his knowledge, and thus I annulled myself before him. This is also called self-annulment.

If I read a book or an article and want to understand what is written in it, I stick to the author’s thought and emotion. It is a kind of self-annulment. I would not be able to do anything without cancelling myself! To cancel oneself means to open oneself for the reception of knowledge, information, and sensation from outside.

There is an expression: “The sages came and said.” In this way, clever people come—political scientists, psychologists, economists, and teachers—the 10 percent of the cream of society, the most intelligent, clever part of humanity that is concerned about our future, and they tell the rest, the remaining 90 percent: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing a huge problem!”

“If we continue in this way for ten more years, and a world war does not occur before that, we will be left without natural resources. We will not be able to grow anything. We need something to eat and energy for heating and cooling. But we have to reduce our consumption to a reasonable level.”

Scientists, smart people, say that, so why would you not believe them? When I see a doctor who looks at my X-ray and prescribes a treatment for me, I trust him and accept therapy. Although I have no way of checking what happens on that picture (is it mine at all? It might be someone else’s X-ray), I have to believe my doctor and in his remedy; I have no choice.

In order to take the medication, from my level , I have to believe the one who gives it to me that it is something good and it will cure me. This is also called self-annulment. This happens everywhere: When I come to a teacher, to a doctor, or in any place where I want to receive something. I have to be prepared to pay for that (Leshalem in Hebrew), that is, to complete (Leashlim in Hebrew) myself.

When all the media, plenty of important people, scientists, professors, politicians, and economists all talk about this, they will be able to convince people. This is far better than the world war that might occur where  you would not know what might happen to you in the next moment.

We have no choice. You cannot dictate your own conditions to nature if it imposes such conditions. Whether you want it or not, you have to agree. Either you stop this crisis by your inner participation or perish. This is not like with your mother when you can be capricious for a while and do things your own way. These are the laws of nature.

These laws are explained to you by serious, respected people who understand them. Do not think that they benefit from this: They are in the same situation as you are. This is our common problem.
[44588]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/2011, Shamati #40

Related Material:
“Things That Come From The Heart, Enter The Heart”
The Meaning Of Faith Below Reason
The Lessons Of Natural Disasters

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Dissemination, Q&A - No Comments →

Writings of Rabash, “What Is the Torah Called the Middle Line in the Work”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, “Truma (Donation),” “The Watchman Says ‘Morning Comes,'” Item 100, Lesson 5
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Chapter 9, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 33, Lesson 24
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “The Matter of the Mind Controlling the Heart”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

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

Question: Lately, you have repeatedly said that the group for a person is like a womb for the embryo, and that one has to nullify himself before the group in order to adhere to the walls of this womb. What does it mean?

Answer: “Three days of the attachment of the sperm to the uterus” means that a person cleaves to his or her environment: the teacher, the group, and the books. These three components carry a certain idea, the source and the force to which the person connects himself. He renounces himself on the right and the left lines and, by employing them both, the right and the left forces, he builds the middle line and thereby merges with it.

The right line is the line of bestowal, along which one moves “blindfolded.” To the left line, he attaches the thick coarseness of his egoistic desire (Aviut), while he himself is willing to cleave to the right line. And the middle line comes in play when he acquires a certain permanent level of connection with his environment and doesn’t fall below it.

And no matter what else may occur, he no longer has the thoughts and desires that would disconnect him from bestowal completely, from “there is none else besides Him,” from “the good who does good.” This signifies that one has attached himself inside the “womb”—his environment.

This is the most complex moment. And the key to the successful accomplishment of this act is to lower oneself before the environment. It is written: “Man’s Pride Shall Bring Him Low.”

Question: What does “lower oneself” mean?

Answer: To lower oneself means that without getting in your own way, you are trying to hear and absorb as much as possible of what the teacher is saying and to exalt the friends, to open yourself for receiving the greatness of the goal from them. This considerably expedites one’s spiritual growth.

And if one succeeds (which isn’t that easy), it is as if he finally gets on the straight road, and in this way shortens his trip. This literally saves him years of work.
[44514]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/25/2011, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Like An Embryo In The Mother’s Womb
A Society That Helps Start A Spiritual Life
Keep Your Nose Down, Raise Your Group Up

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

Comment: As a rule, prophets talk about two options of development: hard and easy….

Answer: Suppose your son is lazy and stubborn. He is smart but has no desire to realize his potential properly. What would you like to see him as in the future?

Comment: A famous soccer player.

Answer: I see. It is the modern dream of a father.

Well, you take him to a soccer school, but he is lazy and does not want to work. He is required to have a daily regimen, exercise regularly, and sleep well at night without any parties. The life of athletes is a hard life indeed; it follows a strict schedule. People sacrifice their best years to become professionals. In this case, the body becomes a machine that is pushed to work at full capacity.

So, your son does not want to practice. What can you do? But you are sure that soccer in particular is his future. Then, you take a belt. Here, the question arises: Whether beating can make him a soccer player? Does this move him in the right direction?

Comment: No, this simply hurts him.

Answer: It means that the belt does not help. But after this “educational work” your son makes a calculation: What should he do? He suffers both from the beating and the training. Where is suffering greater, and where is it lesser? His egoistic desire compares the outcomes, and he decides: If his father makes him suffer more than the coach does, he goes to soccer practice.

On the soccer team, he meets other boys and gradually acquires a taste for the game. If he does not, you continue to punish him until he fulfills your program.

We see from this example that suffering simply takes one closer to realization. How can we manage without it? We are lazy and stubborn, each of us. It is not just about physical activity; we are obstinate in the mind and heart, in perception and sensitivity. Every second, we shrug aside important things, take a smoke break, sleep with our eyes open.

How can we use every moment of our life for spiritual training? To do that, we constantly have to ignite ourselves with our friends’ burning desire. Otherwise, the Creator will inflict blows upon you, and you will come out of your daze because of fear or pain, one or the other. However, you must realize the entire program because without it, you will lack desires.

Consequently, you face only one opportunity: to fulfill the desire of the Creator. You will do it in any case, but you have two options, two paths, leading to this realization. You cannot escape training and awakening; however, you can take the long path of suffering, during which you sleep (although not like a baby). Or, you can take the short path, where you are given a chance to realize yourself quickly by receiving additional desire, additional awakening from the environment. They stir your enthusiasm, and you run to your practice.

It does not matter which way you come to the practice: This is your choice.
[44466]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, “The Peace”

Related Material:
About Punishment
Bestowal For The Sake Of Bestowal: A Clean-Up State
Provide The Basics Of Life And Take Care Of The Soul

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will, Inner Work, Suffering - No Comments →

Question: If the Creator gives me an opportunity to reveal Him every moment, why don’t I succeed in spite of how much I try to achieve this connection?

Answer: It doesn’t matter whether you reach this revelation or not, but every moment the private upper governance works upon you. You have to look within yourself: What does He want from me, why did He give me this state, what do I have to do?

As the result of such searching, perhaps I will be able to reveal what He demands from me and perhaps I won’t. Maybe, He purposely confuses me so that I need Him to reveal what He wants. But I have to have some sort of “end of the rope” that I can grab onto.

It is said: “Do anything, but just don’t leave!” That is, do everything not to lose the hook by which you can hold on to the Creator. Every moment I search for how to find Him concealed somewhere within me. That is why it is called the internal wisdom, “the inner part of the Torah.” You have nothing to look for on the outside, but only inside yourself.

The Creator is within a person, within our desires. Usually, we imagine that we ascend a ladder in space, but this merely shows that we move to higher, greater spiritual states, bestowal. In essence, our entire search is internal.
[44429]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

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

Question: How can a person reveal his or her role in this life?

Answer: This comes after the question about the purpose of life: “What do I live for?” This question becomes more and more acute every time, rising above other questions of the heart.

There are many questions (desires) in my heart, and I have to deal with them, organize them in order, and take the highest one so that it is not obscured. I have to go with this particular question, and the rest only support me in reaching the answer to this most important inquiry.

Each person chooses his or her goal for this core question, be it money, honor, power, or knowledge. One would like to become a scientist, another a member of the government, and a third one just dreams of becoming successful and enjoying life. And there are also people who ask about the meaning of life.

However, to find out its meaning, it is necessary to connect with the root from which this life comes. It turns out that this search is higher than regular earthly life. It’s not inside society, but above it where this life descends from. It is impossible to find an answer to this question within human society.

Long time ago, I naively thought that it was possible to approach the solution to this question through science, to understand how this life began, to artificially create vegetative, animate or human life from the still level of nature, to solve the mystery of life: Where does it come from and why does it exists? In the end, I realized that our science does not answer such questions, and my interest in it disappeared at once as though it was something frivolous.

A person should try to clarify his most important question, his highest requirement, and go with it. Then, he will gradually find out how he is pulled toward increasingly more exalted questions. As a result, he will come to the question: “Who is the Creator that has created me? Where do I come from? Who am I? What is my purpose?”

This is the question at the degree of Bina, bestowal, that asks within Malchut. It is explained in The Zohar in the article “Who Created These.” MI (who) is Bina, and ELEH (these) is Malchut. A person has to come to this question: “Who Created These,” meaning “Who created me?” When he attains “Who” (MI), he will know himself. This is ELEH because ELEH becomes clarified only in the unity with MI.

Then, he reaches the name Elokim (God, the name of the Creator made from ELEH and MI) that becomes dressed in Him, as it is written: “May the name of the Creator be upon you.” Thus, he attains everything.
[44432]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Question: During the studies, sometimes I think about how I can attract the Light, and sometimes I try to understand the inner meaning with all my might. Do I have to try and regulate these states, or should I just accept them as they come?

Answer: We have to study the upper system the way it is explained in “The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (Pticha) and The Study of the Ten Sefirot. Without this, we will not acquire the language of Kabbalah, and we will not have anything in which we can clothe our sensations, to express them in any way, or give them names.

That is why we have to know the definitions. In every science that we begin to study, we first of all learn the definitions and terms in order to understand its language. Having learned the definitions, we can start linking them together and come to know more complex concepts. However, for now, I’m just learning the terms and not the qualities I would be feeling. For now, I’m just playing with them like a child with toy blocks.

Hence, we need to study, and this is study in the mind. Yet, you shouldn’t immerse yourself in it too deeply. This system has to gradually become clearer in a purely mechanical form without your trying to attract your sensations or spirituality into it. Otherwise, these examinations will harm the inner work.

However, after you have learned the system, you have to look into how it can relate to you. That is why when reading The Study of the Ten Sefirot, you are sometimes thinking about your inner states without any connection with the text. But in some states you understand that all this is happening inside you, and you try to look for these states.

Sometimes you even start feeling that with every word you read, something is happening inside you; you already have inner, sensory reactions. Furthermore, you start to react in your sensations just by recognizing familiar words.

This means that the Light is spreading inside you and coming closer and closer to the degree of Malchut, organizing the inner HaVaYaH inside you, taking it to the first spiritual step on which the revelation occurs. That is why you start feeling and reacting to different qualities.

Of course, during the studies, you not only have to look deeply into yourself in an inner search, but also align yourself with how you are connected with the group and how you want to reveal the quality of bestowal between you.

You have to align yourself as follows: me, the group, and the Creator whom I reveal in the connection between us, and that’s what I’m reading about right now. Now you only need to start studying, trying to reveal this common network in which you will reveal the state you are reading about.
[44425]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

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