We exist in a system of laws at work. There is the upper force that influences us and desires to bestow good. Hence, it created the will to enjoy, which it can fill with pleasure.

The created being receives pleasure particularly by becoming identical to the upper force: perfect and eternal. To achieve this, one must attain the same sensations, level, depth, power, and status as pertains to this upper force.

The primary force is regarded as the Creator, whereas the secondary one is the created being. This secondary force must undergo transformations while accumulating various impressions until it ascends all 125 spiritual degrees. It has to experience them on its own, through an independent quest, understanding, awareness, perception, and effort to attain all of it while aspiring to reach a state prepared for it by the upper force.

Hence, the creature’s evolution implies an element of personal participation, one’s own feelings and thoughts, an awareness of my own existence and attainment. But the creature doesn’t have the opportunity to do anything on its own except for one thing: desire to change. In fact, the force of transformations, their program and order come solely from the original giving force, the Creator.

One’s success in the work is determined by learning to divide one’s entire advancement into two parts: the work assigned to the creature and the work carried out by the upper one. They are partners, but their integral work is distributed according to what pertains to man and what to the Creator.

The key is not to try to do the Creator’s job, attempting to reform oneself and the world. A person’s job is to desire change. And these changes must occur above my nature, which is regarded as “above my reason.” This means that the direction of my transformation, as well as the properties and internal sensations that are being formed in me are totally incomprehensible to me since I receive a new nature.

Having no idea where one is or what he is moving toward is a sure sign of a new nature appearing in a person. After all, if man knew and felt everything in advance, all of the changes would occur in agreement with his egoism, his nature.

When a person grows within his own nature, he is somewhat aware of what is expected and makes choices to benefit his present egoism. But in spirituality, when we wish to obtain a different nature and become equal to the Creator, we always move towards something unknown and unpredictable. We only draw the developing forces upon ourselves.

However, essentially, there is only one force which is divided into several components according to its use: our individual, initial desire, “the point in the heart,” the power of the group, the force of the study, and finally the force that actually acts upon and reforms us called the Surrounding Light.
[37441]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/2011, The Importance of the Study

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Question: To what extent do our thoughts, intentions, and ability to focus during the lesson depend on everyone who studies with us around the world? Is there such a global interconnection?

Answer: What does interdependence entail? If I view the entire reality as parts of my soul, then I am totally independent. These parts of mine awaken solely to the extent of my attitude toward them, my desire to awaken them.

I don’t focus on their external behavior, but rather awaken them from within, and at the same very level of inner connection, with that they awaken me in response. Everything is determined by my outlook on the world: Either I view it as a material reality with lots of corporeal bodies, or as the earthly desires of men, or as the body of my soul, its Partzuf (structure).

In the latter case, I see not the external images which seemingly exist in the corporeal world, but rather the parts of my soul, which I must transform. “I” is the focal point of my thought, intention. “I” is the intention which I must add to these desires and properties to aim them correctly.

What does it mean that I depend on and get awakened by the others? As I awaken them, I awaken myself in response. This awakening seemingly passes through the external system, while the system is mine nonetheless.
[37445]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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It is said that “all the gates are locked” for man’s prayer “except for the gate of tears.” But what should we pray and ask for, what decision, if we receive two forces and discern their opposition? The upper one provides the force of the Surrounding Light, egoism awakens against it, and we stand between the two forces: the right and the left.

But the property that we need to attain pertains to the Thought of Creation to delight the creature. It is above all outcomes, actions, and forces. This mind, the head of the upper one, is precisely what the lower one, the creature, strives to attain!

It does not have the slightest chance to achieve this alone through its own effort, since there is a difference between the upper thought, the decisions, and their outcomes and actions. And we, ourselves, are the Creator’s acts.

Hence, when man exhausts all of his resources, having done everything he could, he discovers a special property that he has no connection with. It is a decision, a plan, to create the creature, an entire program conceived long before its creation. Man gets to know who the Creator is Himself, who conceived all this, and why He conceived it as it is: the root of the root of the very point from which the creature was born.

This desire is hidden in the tiniest action, and it leads us on from the very start! But we arrive at it only after a very lengthy search, after many actions. And when we reach it, we discover what is said: “All the gates are locked except the gate of tears.”

It is regarded as the “gate of tears” because all the “hair” strands of the Light (Partzufim Searot, the “hair”) that stretch to us from Above downward, from the upper one who is “storming” (Soer) and suffering while anticipating our arrival, are revealed only now as do the “drops of fortune” (in Hebrew, “Mazal,” from “Nosel” “to trickle”), the droplets of Light that trickle down to us. And one can attain their cause, why and how such effects descend to us, solely by getting to know Rosh de Atzilut (the head of the world of Atzilut).

And this can be reached only through the gate of tears or a state when a person gets to know the difference between the “body” (Guf) of the Partzuf and its “head” (Rosh). He cannot attain and comprehend the head of the upper one itself, its mind, but thanks to this prayer, he attains it.

In fact, by studying all of the Creator’s actions, we receive some idea about His mind. As when we look at a table, we can guess what the maker had in mind, so do we, while studying ourselves and revealing within the Creator’s actions, constantly accumulate this burning desire to understand Him and gradually arrive at the gate of tears.
[37688]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/10/11 on Prayer

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Excerpts for the Topic: Chosen Passages: Arvut as the Condition for Reception of the Torah
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “Ekev (Because),” “Ten Things to Do in a Meal,” Item 31, Lesson 4
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 9, Item 8, Lesson 7
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Topic: Globalization — We Live in an Integral World, Lesson 1
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Question: What should our attitude be to the natural disasters we are witnessing as well as to other problems?

Answer: We are living in a special time when our egoistic desire is starting to show us our imbalance with nature on all its levels.

The lowest level of nature is the still level, where we are now revealing our imbalance and disharmony with general nature. And the same is true for the following levels: the vegetative and animate levels of nature. We just don’t notice it for now.

We are in a terrible crisis, a “relationship crisis” with an angel called “Domem” (still), as well as an angel called “Tzomeah” (vegetative), and the angel called “Hai” (animate). All of these forms of nature are at an enormous lack of correspondence and opposition to us. Our obligation is to correct them because only man can correct all the rest of nature by correcting himself.

Therefore, the catastrophes we see around us are our own reflection. All of the responsibility is ours. There is nothing to ask from the still, vegetative, and animate levels of the world. They ascend and descend together with man.

By the problems in the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature that surround us, we can see how much we are uncorrected. All of these catastrophes are a reflection or demonstration of our own flaws, not to mention the “speaking” level of nature—human society. Look at what is happening in the world.

We have the opportunity to organize a life of true paradise for ourselves on this earth, but look at what we are doing instead. If a visitor from outer space would look at what we are doing on the planet Earth, he would think that we are simply crazy. Where is our human mind and feelings? Is this really how a thinking, intelligent human arranges his life? Only a total fool or self-hater would do such a thing.

That is to say, right now we are gradually revealing our true inner state. And only through the inner correction will we attain harmony with the external world.
[37909]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/13/11

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Question: Do Kabbalists reduce the world’s disasters by virtue of their spiritual progress?

Answer: Of course. Moreover, no one is bigger or smaller in this regard. People think that a great Kabbalist can just pray and make a plague go away. But in reality, it’s the other way around: Precisely the newcomers who have a point in the heart that has just awakened, who are confused and don’t understand anything yet, can do more than the old-timers with their distant, small desire.

Much like a little child who becomes the head of the family, people who have just set out on the spiritual path and who still seem far away from the “real business,” can do more than the “veterans” with their simple desire and their pleas.
[37931]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/13/11

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Question: Humanity cannot connect the ecological catastrophes to the correction of egoism. How can we explain this connection to people?

Answer: We have to look for ways to do it and try to write articles and formulate explanations precisely during times of disaster in order to convey the essence: All of this is happening because we are not corrected.

The external world is a mold of our inner state. Therefore, in reality we are talking about inner catastrophes that we only perceive as external. All the nations are parts of one soul, but in our sensations they are divided parts that seem foreign.

It’s as if I have been given an injection of  local anesthesia and now I don’t feel how my leg is burning or how my arm is being cut off. Right now it sounds funny, but that is what is happening.

Therefore, I want the sensation of belonging to gradually come back to me. I want to feel the “external” parts as my own. I hope to receive the opportunity to correct my state, my attitude to others.

If the external reality really will become a part of me, then I will feel a horrible sensation. Therefore, together with the discovery of the illness I have to receive the medicine, the opportunity to improve my state. This is what I am asking for: the medicine together with the illness that becomes revealed. Then I will be able to correct the flaws in myself, and as a result, the “external” cataclysms will settle down.

This is what we have to do: Ask for inner correction which will evoke the correction that seems external. Then we will see all the problems in ourselves and will correct them in us. These desires (Kelim) will unite with us, will become inner, and all the natural disasters evoked by our inner lack of correction will cease.
[37934]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbaalh Lesson 3/13/11

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Question from Japan: What should our inner work be in emergency situations? While I watch the lessons, the quakes are going on non-stop.

Answer: During these days we have to focus on unity even more and be confident that precisely by virtue of our inner efforts will we be able to prevent similar catastrophes in the world, both in Japan and in all the regions where people are now suffering.

Why do they suffer? Why don’t they advance toward correction by the right path? Why don’t they awaken and come out into the streets shouting, “The Messiah now!”? Stated differently, why don’t they demand correction, change, a new state?

Why do they instead shout for a change in government? How will this help them? No one will be any better off if this happens, not even if the Libyan dictator steps down. The resulting gap will be filled by Islamic radicalism or some other party, but this will be just blind psychological compensation. In practice people won’t feel better. This is still the path of suffering.

In recent times the world is swiftly acquiring more weapons. We are renewing the arms race that was halted before, as if we want to compete at how strong we are. But how silly it is to quarrel like little children! Yet, look at how much energy and resources this is taking away.

As a result, everything depends on us, on all of our friends across the whole world who have received a drive to be corrected. We have to unite from within and feel that we are one whole. Then, by wishing to unite the whole world into one, we will help others come closer as well. After all, they are a passive part of ourselves. They are unable to come closer on their own, until we present them with the opportunity to connect to us.

Once a person receives an awakening, a point in the heart, he will come to us and will join all those who activate and accelerate development, adapting the speed of their work to the speed at which new Reshimot emerge. Then no forces, tsunamis, revolutions, wars, and others such things will force us to advance in a negative manner.

Everything depends on our efforts, on the degree to which we work on unification. There is no other solution for the world.
[37940]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/13/11

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