Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah”, Item 9
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Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”, Part 1
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”, Part 2
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Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah”, Item 7
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Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”
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Lesson Preparation
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Writings of Rabash, Vol. 1, Article 3 “Love of Friends – 1” (1984)
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Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”
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Why can’t we know the spiritual path in advance and move along it just like in corporeality, by acquiring strength, knowledge, and intellect? This is how it works in science and in any material matter—everywhere except in the spiritual. Spirituality requires of us to perform an action before we understand it and even before we are able to perform it.
That is, we do not have the power to unite, but we try to do it; we have no power to understand the action, and we still act as if we understand. Only in this way is advancement possible.
It is a huge difficulty that in the absence of strength, reason, understanding, and any sensation of spiritual action, we still have to realize it. This is a serious obstacle. Any instruction given by a teacher or written in a Kabbalistic book until it is perceived in our current senses, does not correspond to our understanding and power, and therefore, we cannot perform anything.
But we do not need to perform anything; our task is only to try to perform, to become convinced of our inability, to accumulate desires, and with these desires turn to the Creator and ask Him for strength, understanding, and feeling. More specifically, we ask Him to help us perform the action. I do not ask for anything more than the ability to perform what is placed on me.
The problem is that one has to go against one’s mind and heart, above reason and feeling. I feel rejection from my friends, but I must unite with them. In my mind I understand that I should do the exact opposite of what the teacher is talking about, but at the same time, I am ready to follow his instructions like a small child who instinctively obeys his parents.
This is called faith above reason. The difference between corporeality and spirituality is that in spirituality we have absolutely no opportunity to be guided by our own mind and sensations. On the contrary, you need to rejoice in going above reason and feelings. After all, if you act according to reason and feelings, agreeing with your mind and heart, it will be a material action from which nothing spiritual will ever grow.
Let’s try to understand this unique principle. Baal HaSulam wrote: “There is a difference between corporeality and spirituality: in corporeality, the force precedes the act, as it is written, ‘before they call, I will answer.’” That is, we act according to logic, mind, feelings, and understanding. And if we do not understand, we do not act. It is “arranged according to the end of correction, where nothing is done before they have the strength to do it.”
This will happen at the end of correction because our Kelim will be ready to accept everything. In our world, we make a new discovery only when our perception is ready to accept it. And so we live in a tiny area of the entire huge universe, which is called the imaginary world, because we do not do anything until we get the power to do it.
In spirituality, without any strength to act, you must try to act. You will try, realize that you have no strength, and you will know exactly what strength you lack and for what purpose. From this, your prayer will be born through which you will connect with the Creator.
This is the whole purpose of the spiritual reality: The force does not precede our action, but our action is necessary in order to receive the force. “In spirituality, however, where it is still not arranged according to the end of correction, but by the order of scrutinies, the work must begin before the attainment of the strength, as it is written, ‘that fulfill His word, hearkening unto the voice of His word.'”1
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/18, Baal HaSulam. Shamati #164: “There Is a Difference between Corporeality and Spirituality”
1 Minute 3:00
Related Material:
The Path Of The Soul And Corporeal Life
What Determines The Path Of The Souls?
How Can One Hasten Advancement Along The Spiritual Path?
Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Mutual Guarantee”
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The Ten
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The spiritual path is based on opposites: ascents and descents, both of which are equally important and lead to the same goal. Opposite times, states, and created beings that have inverse qualities but nevertheless unite—the entire spiritual world is built on two opposites acting as one whole. Inverse qualities neither cancel each other out nor do they alternate. Instead, they act in parallel simultaneously.
One who is able to endure such a split, constructs himself so as to enter the spiritual world. One who cannot endure this will be unable to build a Kli for spiritual attainment.
Regarding the Creator, of course, there is no contradiction and everything connects into one. Contradiction exists only with regard to the created being, consisting of matter and spirit that are opposite to each other. We have yet to understand and feel how much their contradiction is irreversible, irreconcilable, incomparable, and absolutely insoluble.
When contradiction arises in our world, we look for a compromise, an interim solution that reconciles one with the other. In spirituality, however, we do not seek a compromise. On the contrary, the more we advance in spirituality, the stronger we feel the contradiction between matter and the form dressed in matter, between the desire to receive and the desire to bestow, egoism and spirituality, the screen (Masach) and the Light.
It is necessary to study the contradiction and wait for the Light to form the ability to withstand this opposition and include two increasingly polar opposites in ourselves. From this, it becomes clear that spiritual attainment is different from corporeal attainment because it exists in a completely different dimension. It is impossible to understand it without testing it first.
Two opposites acting together are the formula, the foundation of the spiritual Kli, its whole essence. This is an extremely delicate, piquant, and interesting thing—incomprehensible, and at the same time, attractive. It allows you to feel some taste of spirituality even for those who are not in it, like quantum physics that reaches the very boundary between matter and Light.
This is why the spiritual work is in faith above reason, above our animalistic mind; after all, it is built on the unfamiliar to us, opposite qualities. A person consists of two forms: a human and an animal. A human advances in faith above reason, accepting both opposites as equal parts of one whole. The animalistic body, however, is guided by its corporeal mind and feelings. Of course, it goes without saying that a person must saddle his animal by sitting astride it.1
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/18, Lesson Preparation for the virtual Convention 2018
1 Minute 0:20 – 8:00
Related Material:
The Spiritual Breathing: Ascents And Descents
The Difference Between Depression And Spiritual Descent
Rise Up And Pull the Others After You
Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “The Work Within Reason And The Work Above Reason”
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 16, Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words, Item 26
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”, Item 28
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