The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride),” Item 1
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 437
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Baal HaSulam, “Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Lesson 16
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose,” Lesson 1
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There are two parallel systems of connection between us:
1. The egoistical system, which is the one we experience at the moment.
2. The more internal, corrected system hidden behind the egoistic one. This is our next stage of development. In this system, pre-existing but concealed from us, we are in the intention of Lishma (for Her Sake), and it contains the Light, the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi).
If we, to the best of our ability, connect to the next state, desiring to attain it, then we draw upon ourselves the influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that affects us from afar. How do we reach the connection between these two rungs, the present and the future, so that the Surrounding Light will affect us from there? Between them there is a difference, a transition from “Lo Lishma” (not for Her Name) to “Lishma,” and I need the Ohr Makif to perform this transformation in me.
How is it done? We do it by reading The Book of Zohar. This is why Kabbalists wrote books for us. If we strive to reach this Upper system, our more internal, corrected, and close connection, we read about it.
It is irrelevant that while reading it, we understand nothing. This is due to the difference between the rungs (states, worlds). How can I comprehend the Upper World if I am not in it and don’t even exist in relation to it? Of course I’m unable to feel it, and therefore have no understanding of it. But I am reading about it.
Kabbalists wrote about the Upper World in a language I cannot understand, and I look at these letters without any idea of what they say. But I look with an effort, like a child who is trying to understand this world, and through my efforts and desire to know the Upper World, I draw the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) onto myself. This is the whole purpose of reading The Zohar.
Today at our lesson, our friends, representatives of 50 countries, are present with us. Let everyone look at these unfamiliar letters and desire to attain spirituality, and let them hear the words of The Zohar without any comprehension whatsoever. With their desire to learn, to live in it (we are talking about the soul in its more exalted state), by their efforts and yearning, the Light that Reforms, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), affects them.
In other words, while reading The Book of Zohar, we have to connect together and wish to feel (as opposed to understand) what The Zohar describes. Then The Book will reveal the screen within us, and on it we will see everything that takes place in the Upper World.
[26163]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, The Zohar
It is a known fact that our efforts and cries alone will not help. They are like a cry of a baby, and there needs to be someone Who will hear it: a mother, Bina, or the Creator.
A cry can only be heard when it is the correct cry, that is, when it is directed towards the true goal of uniting, acquiring of the force of bestowal. This is why we need to connect together in order to create specifically the desire to bestow among us, and then we can scream for the Creator together.
And this is why we read The Zohar together, wishing to connect with one another, even if it is over the Internet, television, or other types of communication. It doesn’t matter that for now our connection is egoistic because each of us is driven by the desire for our own sake (Lo Lishma). We are ready to connect, yet still want to benefit from it. Such is our nature and there is no use in lying to ourselves.
We are egoists, and each one of us understands that he is connecting with others in order to somehow benefit from this. Otherwise, none of us would be able to make the slightest action, and we would not have the energy to connect with others.
But this physical connection (gathering in one place or virtually at the same time in one thought) is the only action allowed to us. This is because for now we are only able to perform physical actions (the so-called actions performed in our egoism).
Besides this action, we need for the Upper Light that Reforms, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), to influence our egoistic connection. It is referred to as surrounding (Makif) because it shines from afar, from our next state, from the corrected desires (Kelim), in the “Lishma” desires that have the intention to bestow.
So if we really to try to strive toward it, we will evoke its influence over us because we exist in the world of physical laws of nature (the Creator). We evoke this Light over us by reading The Zohar because we unconsciously connect to our next degree.
[26168]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, The Zohar
Whether we want it or not, we need to learn how to become similar to the Creator, to come closer to Him, and be like Him. The Creator is the Upper Force of nature, and it operates everywhere in the lower nature, affecting all of its parts.
The Creator once broke the creature into the parts in the same way that our world was formed as a consequence of the Big Bang, when a small, upper spark broke through, exploded, and created our entire universe. The same way, the Creator created all the spiritual worlds through the descent of the Light all the way down to our world.
And now an opposite correcting force is beginning to collect all these parts in the spiritual space, and we have no way of avoiding this. Resisting this connection is the same as fighting the forces of nature; it will only bring us suffering until we give up.
If we resist, we will evoke enormous suffering over ourselves, and not just the usual problems with family, life, or health, but horrible epidemics, ecological catastrophes, and even atomic wars as Baal HaSulam wrote about. Everything only depends on our resistance and lack of desire to constantly follow the force of correction in order to better correspond to it.
All of this happens according to a very specific program. When we advance according to it, we feel good and comfortable. When we accelerate the realization of this program and even want to run ahead of it, we feel even better because we attract the Creator with our actions and force Him to do even more by rushing nature, as it is said, “Those who strive towards the Creator hasten time.”
But when we fall behind, our suffering and problems increase to the extent of our delay as they strive to push us to develop. And this is not because the Creator wishes to punish us; rather, this is the way everything operates according to the law of nature!
There is nothing here except the laws of nature, which we can come to understand and see how they push us as if in a force field. The further or closer I get to the place of balance, the force of the field (its intensity) influences me in proportion to the square of the distance, as it strives to return me to balance. For example, I distance myself to one measure and the pressure of force doubles; I distance myself to two measures and the pressure quadruples.
I need to understand that my slightest movement, a tiny step back immediately attracts enormous forces of suffering. This is because any field, whether it is the Light field, magnetic field, or the field of gravity, always operates in a square function. The spiritual field operates the same way. The laws of the Creator are constant.
It is written that the righteous pay double. This is why even a slight deviation to either side causes a huge impact, a positive one or, God forbid, a negative one.
[26182]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, “The Future Generation”
Question: If I feel my alienation from a friend, or perhaps a friend seems more distant from me, can I say that the same happens to me with respect to the Creator? What can I do in such a situation?
Answer: States can be different; therefore, if we are talking about one friend, the parallel with the Creator is possible, but not in all cases. Here there is something additional, which is how much I appreciate the group and the goal that we are revealing among friends. After all, the group, the purpose, and the Creator are one.
Only the group is the vessel, the desire (Kli,), while the Creator, the attribute of bestowal, is the Light that fills that desire, manifesting itself in the desire to the extent of their mutual equivalence. Eventually, the vessel and the Light become completely equivalent by achieving the property of mutual bestowal and unity; they will become inseparable.
Thus, one should attribute to the group even more importance than to the Creator. The group is a means, without which I cannot reach Him, and at this stage what is important to me is the means. Rabash gives an example of an unimportant government clerk from whom I depend more than from the entire government: While ministers are busy with state affairs, the clerk makes specific decisions about my case, either by approving or rejecting it.
The Group is a meeting of our little desires, striving to reveal the Creator, the attribute of bestowal. I must once and for all decide: I cannot turn to the Creator on my own. My message is carried out only in the group, and as for the Creator, I don’t know who He is, but He will be the one revealed inside it.
[26123]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/5/10, The Writings of Rabash
The Creator cannot create us complete, equivalent to Himself. Rather, through our own efforts we have to promote gradual development, step by step, up to His level. The Creator’s anticipation is constant, meaning that He always waits for us to exert effort to be similar to Him, like that of a child who wishes to become a grown-up.
All of creation is aimed at the final state of existence; all of creation is the preparation for it. Everything we undergo is aimed at getting us ready for the revelation. What will we reveal? We will find the place where we and the Light are always present, but which is currently concealed from us by our own uncorrected properties. It is as if we dissipate the fog in the place we are in right now.
We have never left it, and the Creator has never gone from it either. We simply lost the ability to feel Him, and He disappeared from our sensations, “puffed into the air.” And now we, ourselves, are preparing to feel Him by constantly exploring within ourselves the quality of bestowal, thus causing the appearance of His image “out of the fog.” Our exit down from Infinity into the corporeal world and our return back to it is our preparation for the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun) of our sensory organs so that we may feel the Creator.
Everything depends on the preparation. Let’s take, for instance, a performance of a symphony orchestra. The uneducated listener will simply not understand where he is. He was hoping to see something interesting, brought a bag of chips and a can of Coke with him, but instead of an expected show, he got the “symphony in B-flat.”
And next to him sits a savvy connoisseur of music who catches every note with ravishing awe. The latter experiences an unforgettable gamut of sensations and the former is unable to fall asleep only because he is too irritated. Everything depends on the preparation. The prepared one enjoys, and the unprepared suffers.
If we experience a negative sensation when we hear about joining in absolute good, it is only because we are not sufficiently prepared. Therefore, now, before the Convention begins, we must be concerned solely about the preparation. Having strengthened the parts of the collective Kli, we will experience the result of our effort in it.
It is as if the Creator is giving us a flattering response, and we must be very serious about it. We build the entire foundation within by ourselves, and on His part, there won’t be any changes since Infinity is invariable. So, will we be able to feel that which already exists?
Ultimately, we need to keep our hearts opened wide, that is, have the correct desire aimed at mutual bestowal. Let us hope that in the coming days we will achieve this.
[26153]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/10, Rabash, Letter #40
We do not know in advance what and how to correct, how to assemble ourselves into an integrated system created in the world of Infinity. After all, the Creator wishes for us to be independent so that a person would find the correct formula of mutual integration through his own efforts and experience.
Like little children, we try to connect divided parts, put them together, and take them apart again. Correction and breaking replace one another, and thanks to these efforts we come closer to an understanding that will assure our success.
All in all, four attempts are expected of us because our will to receive consists of four levels of thickness (Aviut). At each of them, we attempt to assemble ourselves, discover our inability to do so, and disassemble the parts in order to start over. Wisdom comes with the experience of errors: First we have to discover the entire depth of the breaking and hatred between us, and then we begin to comprehend what to do with them.
Today, we are facing the last, fourth assembly. We have to find for ourselves the method of correction. But this time, the entire global system is taking part in this process, and we must realize the method on the global scale.
Today, we are unifying over enormous egoism, above the deepest abyss of breaking, hatred, and rejection. According to this magnitude, we discover the power of the method which will allow us to unite again by way of the force that had been planted into Nature and that holds the broken parts together.
It is not we who will link the parts with one another. Our job is solely to be prepared for it and to discern the methods of assembly, the place of each part, and the form of its correct integration in the collective whole.
Our work has just begun. This work is unique, and it leads a person to unprecedented evolution. It is a true challenge.
[26242]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/10, Shamati #161
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Question: If friends from different countries were to unite over the Internet, would they generate the same kind of force they would have generated during a physical participation at the Convention?
Answer: Absolutely. We are speaking about forces that are very important to us. We do not yet realize that in the spiritual world, the force comes from quality, not quantity.
The representatives of so many countries and nations create an entire palette (Babylon). They are different, and this difference along with the connection above it is the attainment of our correction. The difference is caused by the breaking of the soul of Adam followed by the flood of Noah and the Tower of Babel or the separation above which we are now uniting.
Every person represents a part of the common whole which is different from everyone else. By gluing these parts together, we correct the breaking, the Creator’s work of “I have created the evil inclination,” with the Light. This is why the virtual participation of all our friends is so important to us. Under no circumstances should they leave us, and they need to be with us at the Convention the entire time.
The number of people gathering in one place does not matter: It could be two hundred thousand or two people, or individual students from all over the world. In the spiritual world, it is not the quantity that matters, but everyone’s individuality.
[26147]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, Writings of Rabash
In order to enter the next degree, I need to desire it since the field of the Upper Force itself does not change. This field of the Upper Force is divided into rungs, and for the time being, I reside at the very bottom, at the level of “this world.”
How do I leap to the next potential level of the “World of Assiya” and keep going higher and higher? We travel in this field in leaps like electrons that leap from orbit to orbit. In order to port from state (orbit) 1 to state (orbit) 2, I need to receive the desire of level 2 and begin wanting to leap to the degree of bestowal.
In other words, in order for the field’s force to accomplish the job of transferring me from level 1 to level 2, passing me from rung to rung, I must start desiring to be in state (orbit) 3 while still being in the state (orbit) 2. I only need to obtain the correct desire, and then the field will carry me over if I correspond to it.
However, how do I start desiring greater bestowal than I possess now so that I may cause a sequential ascent along the 125 spiritual degrees? To accomplish this, I am given the environment. For example, I myself have a desire valued at one unit, but in order to ascend, I need the strength of 10 units. So, if you link with nine friends, you will receive the strength needed for the next degree valued at 10 units. There is no other way.
Therefore, one big soul of Adam HaRishon (the First Man) broke in order to give enveryone an opportunity to absorb the desires of others, to attract the effect of the field, and climb the 125 spiritual degrees, up to the final correction. Only by connecting with the others do we receive the need to ascend. Initially, you are given only one spark, but thanks to it, you have to attach nine more sparks, and then you receive enough strength to jump to the next degree. And it occurs suddenly, like the escape from Egypt.
The same takes place at each degree. As the Aviut (coarseness) of the desire grows from the root (0) level to Aleph (1), Bet (2), Gimel (3), and Dalet (4), the potential energy increases as well, leaping from orbit to orbit (rung to rung): 1, 2, 3, and so forth.
Thus, you reside at the very lowest, 1st state, and at first, you may think that this is life! But later, you suddenly feel that it is exile. In order to understand what it is, you need to clearly “draw” redemption, the next degree, for yourself. After all, you may view redemption as paradise, filled with various treats, or you may think that redemption is a chance to bestow, love, and connect with others.
We realize this discernment in the group. All our work takes place within the soul, either the broken one or the one which we re-assemble with our efforts. If we unite with each other stronger, we generate a more powerful force field and attract weaker particles, helping them to advance. They feel attracted to us for we are have been all linked together starting with the unified soul of Adam. It broke only in relation to us, and although we don’t perceive it, it does exist. We create energy circles around us and attract people.
This is how the field of desire acts, which is the authentic circulation of Kabbalah. These circles permeate all souls, the whole of mankind as one singular force that awakens everybody to the purpose of creation.
[25696]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/10, “Exile and Redemption”
Question: What do we lack before the Convention?
Answer: I don’t think we lack anything! I heard that you “sold everything and decided to put everything at stake.” So what else is there? Now, when everything you have is in your hands, you must only decide where you are placing it. Everything depends on you.
This is the choice we have to make. For a start, take part in the preparation that is infinitely important. Don’t see or hear anything unrelated, don’t think about anything but the goal. We are leaving everything behind and going “va-banque.”
In spirituality, just like in corporeality, a child asks for something, and the adults have to give him what he desires. This is what happens with animals and with people. This is the natural order of things in nature.
We shouldn’t be too smart. We have to be ourselves and that’s enough. Don’t try to jump out of yourself, trying to fine-tune your desire until it is crystal clear. Rather, we have to unite in the place we are in and ask for help in a childish way.
The Creator doesn’t need anything besides simple readiness. He will teach us everything else in a wonderful way, step by step, caringly, gently, and lovingly. Only simple things are required of us, without any special wisdom. We just have to desire, and that’s enough.
Let us hope that in the hours we have left before the Convention we will warm the hearts so as to correctly welcome the guests and attain what we desire. After that we will begin doing completely different kind of work. We will see a new picture of reality, and behind it the Creator. Then it will become clear that all parts of the picture are governed by a single Force, the all enveloping Nature.
This Force is a common field that permeates and fills everyone. We are inside an inseparable net and it moves every person in every regard, down to the final detail. Then we will work in a different way, trying to join this Force and pour into the dynamic development, the harmony, the range, the flow that is called unity. On this path a person’s soul teaches him.
In any case, we are moving in the right direction and are already standing at the threshold. I really hope that this time we will be successful. I also feel this by the desires of the hearts. Even those who have joined us in the last year or two are also ready. It’s amazing how quickly a person grows in our time.
[26225]
From the lesson on Shamati on 11/5/10
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