Question: What inside me resembles the Creator exactly?

Answer: The Creator gives us a very small desire. It isn’t even considered a replica of the Creator because our world is simply a fleeting shadow. It is just like being allowed to smell a bowl of soup instead of being able to eat the soup.

It is practically nothing, but still this is where we start.

The Creator only gives us the stimulus, the awakening towards Him and that’s all. Everything we receive later in addition to the initial stimulus comes from the group and the teacher. Without the group and the teacher a person has no chance of reaching any contact with the Creator and of fulfilling the connection with Him properly. The group is his spiritual vessel and the teacher is the upper level, and then there is the Creator.

The Creator only gives you the initial awakening: He brings a person to the right environment and says, “Take it!” But in order to take it we need to connect to the group, to the teachers, and to the books, and through them to the Creator. Before that we only have a point in the heart, a spark that the Creator awakens in us that forces us to search for Him.

Everything else in us belongs to the level of the animate and is not a replica of the Creator’s attributes but simply a developed desire to enjoy. A human being is only the point that yearns for the Creator. This is the point of the desire to enjoy that is connected to Bina, to the desire to bestow.

If there is no such connection between the desire to enjoy and the desire to bestow, if Malchut and Bina are not connected, the created being is not called a human being, Adam, who resembles the Creator. Such a connection can only be in phase four and actually not in all of phase four but only in its special part that is later clarified. Only the human level in our desire is designated to ascend towards the Creator.

Question: Why do we need the inanimate, vegetative, and the animate levels of nature in the first place?

Answer: The desire to enjoy has to develop through all these levels because otherwise it cannot be independent. On the first three levels there is the same desire to enjoy, but it operates itself according to the internal software embedded in it, while in phase four, the desire begins to ask “why do I have to operate this software?”

We need all the four phases for the desire to develop, since on the one hand, it has to totally disconnect from the Creator, and, on the other hand, it has to reach an equivalence of form with Him. Therefore, the Creator and the created being, which are the root phase and phase four, have to draw away from one another in all the other phases. An accurate calculation takes place on these levels as to which discernments are necessary for the created being in order to be opposite but at the same time similar to the Creator, in what exactly he is opposite from Him and in what way he is similar.

There must be an opposite part in the desire to enjoy that doesn’t change, but it has to be similar in his desire to bestow that is built above his desire to enjoy. These two forms exist in him simultaneously.
[129282]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Unnatural Mutation Of The Animate Level
Connecting The Entire World To The Creator
A Leap Across The Abyss

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” is a very important introduction that Baal HaSulam wrote to prepare a person for studying from The Book of Zohar with the Sulam commentary. With its help, a person can approach The Book of Zohar to a particular degree while without the Sulam commentary The Book of Zohar is not understandable to us at all. The “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” includes within it the entire wisdom of Kabbalah relevant to the descent of the worlds from above to below and what the ARI revealed in his book, Etz HaChaim (The Tree of Life).

Abraham was the one who revealed the progression of the worlds, and, after him, Moses described it in the Torah, but in a concealed, encrypted form, and now we are learning to realize the progression of the worlds in practice. So, we must discover it in an understandable and appropriate way for realization and usage.

Because of this, Baal HaSulam explained all of the wisdom of Kabbalah from its beginning, from the source from which the thought of creation is derived and how the creation was created and materialized according to this thought. The Creator, the higher power of bestowal and love, creates outside of Himself something that is His opposite. If the Creator is the force of bestowal, He had to create the force of reception. But after the force of reception was created, it disappeared within the force of bestowal, meaning that it was managed by it one hundred percent. So it is as if the creature doesn’t exist, for substance is not what is important. Rather, what is important is whether it is independent from the Creator or not.

One could ask, how could it be independent? How is it possible to create something that later will be completely independent if it comes out of the Creator? After all, everything that the creature has is derived from the Creator, and it is impossible to sever this connection. It cannot be that there is anything new with a creature because everything that is new in him is also derived from the Creator. Nothing exists in the world other than the Creator.

So, how is it possible to bring the creature to independence? It is as if he were to negate and conceal the unity of the Creator in the world contrary to logic because if there is one source from which everything is derived and other than that nothing exists at all, how could it be that a creature would be independent at all so much so that he could be against his Creator and not artificially, but actually, according to his desire?

A very great profundity is concealed here that is not understood by us. We attain this independence only after we finish the entire correction. However, in the meantime, we need to learn all the stages according to which the Creator created the creature to make it possible for it to have freedom of choice.

Independence is detachment of the creature from the Creator. It is only when the creature has its own power, emotion, and intellect—everything that is required to be independent—and this is not merely to exist, but to determine his deeds on his own, independently, to rise to the level of the Creator. This process and its results seem impossible to us. So, the desire to receive that was created by the Creator as His opposite and is managed by Him must go through a progression of changes as a result of which he will acquire independence, the power to determine his independence according to his intellect and emotion.

For this, the desire for pleasure becomes detached from the Creator and connects to Him numerous times, which means that it goes through ascents and descents. Thanks to this, we begin to compare states and learn from them. In the beginning, we compare every descent and every ascent, and then we examine the ascents and descents in comparison to each other.

As a result of the experience that is gathered from the comparison between the ascents and descents and the examination of the future states in comparison to previous states, we develop our intellect and feelings. From the comparison between countless ascents and descents and the various connections between them, we build the sensations and intellect that are developed, and we construct the various stages between them.

Ultimately, the study of the Creator brings the creature to independence, for, as it is written, “By Your actions we know You.” The creature learns how the Creator behaves with him so that he builds himself in regard to the Creator according to this. Apparently, the foundation of independence is detachment from the Creator!

From the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”, item 4: Hence, when they are bound together, the will to receive is annulled in the Light within it, and can determine its form only once the Light has departed thence once. This is so because following the departure of the Light from it, it begins to crave it, and this craving properly determines and sets the shape of the will to receive.

Subsequently, when the Light dresses in it once more, it is regarded as two separate matters: Kli and Light, or Guf and Life. Observe closely, for this is most profound.
[129273]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/2/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Wisdom Of Kabbalah—A Preface To The System Of Mutual Bestowal
The Wisdom Of Kabbalah: Theory And Practice Of Love
Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.12.15

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

Preparation for the Lesson

Writings of Rabash, “Rungs of the Ladder,” Article 44

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpts “Good and Evil,” “Expecting the Light”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence,” “Necessity to Study Kabbalah”

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

Baal HaSulam, Shamati #34 “The Profit of the Land”: All the torments that exist in the world are but a preparation for the real torments. These are the torments that one must reach, or he will not be able to acquire anything spiritual, as there is no Light without a vessel. These torments, the real torments, are called “condemnation of Providence and slandering.” This is what one prays for, to not slander Providence.

A person who advances towards the Creator goes through many unpleasant states that eventually teach him to ignore them and to know how to justify the Creator on top of them. We see that our life is full of fatal mistakes and we burn with shame for what we have done in every moment of our life.

We torture ourselves for being evil, for having missed so many opportunities to advance quickly and to attain a good life. Now too we cannot make good use of the time and opportunities we have been given.

It is wrong to think this way. We mustn’t attribute any importance to reality itself and to how we behave and take the opportunities we have, but rather, we need to justify the Creator for everything that happens both inside us and around us. We should not simply justify Him for everything He does, but also understand that behind this whole picture there is a different picture of the upper system to which we should adhere above all the ugly forms that appear before us at any given moment in the past and at present.

We mustn’t regret anything because we condemn the Creator who arranged everything! All these pictures should actually remain, and we should build the positive attitude towards the Creator above them by our efforts. This is a person’s main work.

We have to build the exact same attitude not only towards bad events, but also towards good events, since they come from Above and we have no reason to relate to the good or the bad ones differently. It makes no difference what the Creator presents to us and how it is depicted in our ego. In fact, what our ego finds attractive like success, achievements, and even acts of bestowal are all reasons to turn to the Creator and to attribute all these essential actions to Him. We had to undergo all that including the good, the bad, and the neutral events in order to build the right attitude to the Creator.

By changing our focus from the actual actions, from all the values and all the events in the past, present, and future to the providence of the good Creator, we turn the picture of the world from a negative to a positive one, from the fictitious form called this world to the form of the next world. If we want to see all the most horrible events or the most joyful ones as good, if we see everything only in the Light of the Creator as good, we thus reflect all these events in the opposite light, and by them build the first picture of the spiritual world.

Then we see that there is a great advantage to our desire to receive, which depicts everything to us in opposite forms as help against. Therefore it is written: “the profit of the land.” If we relate to our ego this way, we can build Heaven above it.
[129346]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/14

Related Material:
Measuring The Perfect World With Crooked Rulers
Justify The Creator In Fact
Considering Only The Goal

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

Question: How does our dissemination qualitatively develop our desire?

Answer: It is thanks to the dissemination that I become one who bestows. There is no other action in our world that can make me resemble the Creator except dissemination.

I go somewhere in the evening and have a workshop there, a lecture, talk to people and gradually bring them closer to one another, encouraging them to think about the meaning of life, and telling them how we can improve our corporeal life.

Our corporeal life is only an excuse to participate in mutual bestowal. After all, the whole world is just an excuse, the internal motive to start building the right relationships above it. I tell people how we will be able to get rid of all our troubles and problems thanks to the right relations between us.

They care about what will happen to them in this world. They want me to draw a picture of the wonderful tomorrow for them and I have to draw for them the wonderful future we will have if we are more connected to one another. Having no other choice, it is a compromise for people, and the means to improve their corporeal future, while for me the corporeal life is temporary and only the stimulus, the excuse, the reason, to ascend to spiritual states.

This means that our goals and means are opposite from those of the public, but this is the difference between the levels: for me this is the state on the upper level and for them it is different on the lower level. But I perceive their corporeal desires and in order to fulfill them I suggest that they establish better relations between us and people already begin to think about improving the relations between them since without this our corporeal life will not improve.

I use their desire to correct the relations between everyone and actually raise them to my level. From my level, I already raise these desires to the level of the relations between people that belongs to the thought of creation and ask the Creator to give us the power to overcome the obstacles so that the connection between us will heal the painful wounds of humanity. After all, the fact that they feel blows is a sign of the lack of connection between us. Thus everyone reaches a state of harmony. An ordinary person reaches a certain level of connection with others and a corporeal filling. I get a chance to bestow unto them and thus to bestow unto the Creator, and the Creator enjoys! This means that all these three levels have advanced in the right direction. Thus I intensify the glory of the Creator in the world.

So let’s disseminate! But before we subdue ourselves before this action and delve into clarifications in order to understand exactly:

• Why we do it,
• What people want,
• Why we have to absorb their desires,
• How we can make sure that we will provide them with a good life only if we are connected,
• How I begin to feel that I have to bring people the right filling,
• Why I need the group in order to do that, since otherwise I will not be able to fulfill my role in dissemination,
• How we need the Creator in this matter.

I actually go out to ordinary people who complain about their corporeal problems and finally I feel that without the Creator’s help I am totally lost. The people format this deficiency in me—the need for the Creator! After all, I see that I cannot give them anything by myself if the Creator doesn’t help me.

Thus we actually connect to the upper force by the people, and therefore, we have to really appreciate our work in dissemination since it actually gives us an opportunity for a spiritual ascent.
[129330]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Promise Of Light
Like A Net, Teeming With Fish
Looking At The World And Empathizing With The Suffering

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Dissemination, Group Work, Kabbalah Dissemination, Spiritual Work - 1 Comment →

Shamati #1 “There Is None Else Besides Him”

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Souls,” “Why Is One Alive?” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence,” “From Above Downwards”

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

Question: Can you please tell me how the daily morning lesson at 3:00 am in Israel affects a person?

Answer: New spiritual attributes are developed in a person when he systematically participates in the lessons, which he then needs to develop in the group of friends parallel to the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is impossible to grow spiritually without the daily participation in the lessons.
[164637]

Related Material:
A Cement Mixer
Everyday Miracle
Following The Teacher Step By Step

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

Preparation for the Lesson 

Shamati #1 “There Is None Else Besides Him”

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 16, Article 110

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Preparation for the Lesson 

Writings of Rabash, “Rungs of the Ladder,” “Love of Friends”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Article 20

Lesson on the Topic: “European Convention,” Lesson 6

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Question: If the Creator controls both my heart and my mind, then how can I choose and change direction?

Answer: Me, I am just a part of the system, something that is included in the group, and with the help of the connection with it, am able to participate in the general prayer, MAN.

It’s not my body and not my present feelings and mind. All of that isn’t taken into consideration at all, thus this world is called “imaginary.” It is possible to completely erase everything that we feel since there is nothing real about it. Everything is fictitious. So what do I have left? The Reshimo (reminiscence) isn’t me either, since it also comes from above. Only my efforts to be integrated into the group are taken into account, with the goal to return the system back to what it was in the beginning. And this is called MAN.

Question: When I work in the group, do desires of another kind awaken in me?

Answer: Of course it is another kind of desire. My desire to be integrated into the group and the efforts I make in order to connect to the friends is already my effort to reach bestowal since when I do this, I must annul myself.
[129437]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/9/14

Related Material:
My “I”
Where Does The Real Me Begin?
I Am Disappearing And Growing

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →