It says that the Creator created the evil inclination, but actually the point is that I have to discover my inclination by myself, discover that that my initial desire is evil and opposite from the Creator.

It isn’t that easy. Even if the Creator gives and I receive, what’s so bad about that? The point is not the desire; it stays the same, neither good nor bad. I determine evil by myself, by attaining it.

A person reaches the giving of the Torah when he needs correction, when he discovers within his desire an evil intention: for himself and against others, which means against other people and against the Creator. This is what he calls evil. It requires serious preparation in order to feel such shame when you feel “I would rather die than live.”

We imagine the giving of the Torah as a necessity, as compelling as the mountain of hatred looming over us that leaves us no choice. But a person has to feel a need since there is no coercion in spirituality. So how can this problem be solved? On the one hand, the Creator “pushes me to the wall,” and on the other hand, I need to feel a deficiency.

In fact, what the Creator dictates is only a condition, and if I fulfill it, I receive the Torah, which means the method of correction, but I have to stabilize this condition by myself and to agree to it: “If I don’t accept it, then I would rather die than live.” This is the preparation required of a person.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)

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Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 8: This is because there is a natural law that the receiver feels shame and impatience upon receiving gifts from the giver out of compassion and pity.

From here extends a second law, that never will anyone be able to satisfy the needs of his friend to the fullest, because ultimately he will not be able to give him the nature and the form of self-possession, as only with it is the desired perfection attained.

Actually the Creator can’t cover and compensate for the feeling of shame by Himself, without our participation. We have to go through different stages independently, thus revealing our flaws and correcting them; of course, we use His force in order to perform the correction, but the cycle must be as follows:

– I discover how corrupt I am

– The problem that is revealed is not in me but in my attitude compared to the attitude of the Giver.

– I determine what is flawed with respect to it.

– I look for how to correct the flaw and how to complete it.

– I ask the Creator for the force to correct the flaw.

This means that this action is very complicated and is made of many components; it’s impossible to manage without it. A person has to actually feel it; there is no other choice. He has to feel it and to go through the different states on the way, with the Creator’s help of course, which means with the help of the upper force, the Light. But he has to participate in every stage and in every decision.

It’s impossible to receive a present from someone, to enjoy it, and to feel that it’s yours. There is always the feeling of shame before the giver. In our world the problem is solved by the concealment of the Creator, who thus allows us to reveal Him only to the extent that we can bear the feeling of shame.

The Creator is concealed and the shame is revealed only to the extent that I am ready to resemble Him, to clarify the matter of my receiving. The more I advance, the finer and more sensitive my perception becomes, and then I am ready for the revelation of shame. In some ways it is similar to what happens in our world.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/12, “Matan Torah” (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: In what way is the ego good and how is it possible to beneficially use it?

Answer: The ego is good because it’s the only energy that exists in us. It’s what pushes us forward, raises us. Throughout evolution, it has been constantly lifting us from the beastly level to the present level.

And today we are at a meeting point where we actually change. We begin to understand that the previous form of ego that we used has exhausted itself. We’re not able to work with it any further, thus it shows us the present crisis.

This is the crisis of the former ego, when we used it and it seemed to us that all was well, everything was normal, and it was possible to continue in this way until the end. But suddenly it was revealed that it had closed, had encompassed us into a single system, to complete interdependence.

And if we are completely dependent upon each other, how can we use our ego? Gradually we become like one family in which everyone is dependent on each other, and I need to use my ego, calculating my dependence on others. This means that in this way I need to use it differently, meaning already in an integral manner, according to the ego of others.

It turns out that we need to begin to use the general ego that is shared by us: to connect it together and rise above it so that our unity, connection, and support will be higher than our personal ego, that is, so that our ego becomes mutual, social, and collective.

This means that our group needs to have a shared goal, and we need to attain this mutual goal by each one pushing towards it with his personal ego. Then everyone will be ready for a mutual goal, a mutual connection, and in the end we’ll begin to measure our success to the extent of our connection. That is very important. Thus our ego isn’t annulled, but simply is utilized in such a way according to how it’s revealed today to humanity, meaning in an integral way.
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From a Virtual Lesson 10/21/12

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We shouldn’t be afraid of suspending someone or even of taking him totally out of our circle of the global group if these friends refuse to follow our principles and who hold on to their opinions which are different from the ones determined by Kabbalists.

Kabbalists are people who are already on the spiritual levels and who pull us towards them from there. It is they that we want to follow and not any living person in this world who is after some goals of his own and whose ego is now burning inside him pushing him towards these goals.

It is very important to remember that. In fact it is typical of everyone and the only difference is the matter of degree, but there are many people in which the unrestrained ego is burning so strongly that it pushes them to determine a new direction as they see fit. If they cannot restrain themselves, the group must do it.

We can meet such people among those who deal with dissemination actively. They are burning with passion to do everything as they see fit and don’t let others participate in the work by keeping others away and protecting their “territory.”

We should perceive such trends as destructive for our work. On the one hand, a person should be free to work and to advance successfully. But on the other hand, if he aspires to do this work alone, without drawing others to it, without giving them equal opportunities next to him in the same territory, then it will gradually begin to have a destructive effect both on him and on others.

We should constantly check whether there is equality among us and openness in our relations with one another so that there won’t be cases of someone trying to keep a certain territory for himself, a certain niche, a direction in which he will be untouchable. Everything should be open to everyone and a person should be especially happy when he dissolves among others everywhere, in every job, in every goal and in every success.

If this doesn’t happen, such people will eventually cause great harm to the group, although for a while it may seem that they are doing a good job. We should be very careful of them.

If a person cannot work by really subjugating himself and only feigns modesty, as in a theater, he will eventually cause terrible damage. So we should be very careful of such people.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Conversation About the Group”

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In all the groups there are sometimes problems, and there are people who do not agree with what is happening and believe that they have to advance differently. There are those who act that way simply because it is their nature to be altruists or philosophers. It has nothing to do with the path of correction and they have no point in the heart. They arrive and they begin to decide how things should be run and think that everything should be done in an opposite manner because naturally it is against their egoistic nature.

There are different cases in which a person sometimes acts this way because he likes to be dominant and cannot restrain himself until he acquires some knowledge and understands the method. It takes years, sometimes 15-20 years, and until then a person is unable to give the “half a Shekel” that he should, his half of the work, so that the Creator will complete the other half, but thinks that he can turn his life around by himself.

It is foolish pride, but we usually don’t perceive it with our corporeal senses since a person in this world does everything according to his corporeal feelings and mind. But if he begins to approach the spiritual work with these feelings and mind, then it is a totally naïve and childish approach. He tries to work with systems that are opposite from his from which he is totally detached and doesn’t even know in what way he is opposite from them.

If at the same time he also begins to feel proud, then sadly he causes harm not only to himself but also to others. Eventually it comes back to him like a boomerang and hits him whether in this life, if he is still alive, or in the next life.

A person should take into account that all the harm he causes the environment will be many times greater and will come back to him! So the group has to guard itself from such people the moment such deviations appear. Usually it happens if the group has no strong leadership or if for different reasons it doesn’t want to share information with other groups. Then other groups don’t know what is happening in that certain group and cannot help it and support it.

Such people have a strong ego and being foolish they assume that they know and understand what should be done and begin to drill a hole in the general boat, thus endangering the whole group. This can eventually lead to great problems in the group’s advancement.

So all the groups should openly share among them what happens in every group. Everything should be known, like in one family, in one body. We should organize and establish a committee that will fulfill the ideological leadership of all the groups as one group. The committee should be above all the local groups and should always know what is happening in every group and be able to decide what and how things should be done in every group according to our criteria and our principles.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Conversation About the Group”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah”: …we must understand that the rest of the 612 Mitzvot (precepts) in the Torah, with all their interpretations, are no more and no less than the sum of the details inserted and contained in that single Mitzva (singular for Mitzvot), “love thy friend as thyself.”

There are 613 “commandments,” that is, 613 actions that lead to correction. We should alter intentions that are associated with the desire to receive from egoistic (for the sake of receiving) into altruistic (for the sake of giving). When we do so, it means that we have “fulfilled a commandment.”

The number of commandments is defined by the amount of individual desires to receive which the vessel of the soul encompasses. It is divided into two parts:

Top           Galgalta Ve Eynaim (G’E), 248 desires
Bottom      AHP, 365 desires

The intention to receive is called the “evil inclination”; whereas, the intention to give is called the “good inclination.” The action per se remains the same. We can differentiate between good or bad actions only by intentions that stand behind them. Thus, a process of correction is in fact a modification of intentions. If it is self-oriented, then it is considered to be the evil inclination; if it is focused on our neighbors, then it is good.

Eventually we have to correct 248 and 365 desires; all together they comprise 613. However, in reality we only correct 612 desires, since the last commandment (the one about love) remains “problematic.” As Kabbalists say, by improving 612 desires, we will attain love. In other words, from love of friends we come to love the Creator.

In the overall system, there is a special part of desires, of course interconnected with the rest of desires, the group that must correct itself. I am not there at the beginning. But as soon as I start working with the group, with friends, wanting to connect with them, and doing so in reality, I will find that in my nature everything is against this: “I cannot, I am not able, I don’t want to, I will not do this.” This is what the evil inclination is, that I do not want to unite, and it hinders me.

Then I call it my “hater” and demand correction from the friends, who are near and far, from anywhere. I discover where correction is, how to realize it, how to overcome my inclination. And I do so until I feel the need to turn to the Creator.

It will not happen immediately. I can scream now, but then the egoistic desire grows, and the thought of the Creator becomes unbearable. I hate Him, I am ready to destroy Him, anything but not to turn to Him. I think that I am required to do the impossible, as if instead of destroying the enemy, I have to love him and help him. It is very hard. And then, feeling hopeless, desiring to achieve bestowal in spite of everything, I turn to the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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The Creator is a universal and the most general law of nature. He is called “The Good that does good.”

The law of nature is comprised of numerous parts: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels. In general, it’s all about desires to receive, which the Creator strives to satisfy. He wants them feel their absolute best.

What can fulfill them? Nothing less than the state in which the Creator Himself is. Anything less than that cannot be considered “The Good that does good,” since it means that something is missing.

So, the goal of creation is not to “melt” or dissolve in the Creator. On the contrary: The creation has to preserve its identity and at the same time become similar to the Creator.

The ultimate benevolence that the creation can get: “Great! You gave me the best you could; now, I don’t yield to You in anything at all—not in the form, in how I express myself, in the mode of operation, nor in the states I go through.” This is the state that we are supposed to reach.

It is possible for the creation to perceive perfection only if it remains being the creation, meaning something that is opposite to the Creator. At the same time, the creation should become similar to Him without giving away its “autonomy.”

For that, the creation has to experience a state that is opposite to the Creator; it has to stick to this state, meaning internally retaining the evil inclination, maintaining contrary desires, and building a benevolent attitude above them. Only if the creation manages to “keep” both poles, it remains as the creation; but at the same time, it becomes similar to the Creator.

This process has to be implemented in the group, that is, in a small part of the desires that belong to the speaking level, which is called “Israel” It is the group that needs to initiate the process, go through the flaws, and make corrections. After this work is complete, the group has to transfer the results of their work to all of humanity, in its turn, by self-correcting, the human level will eventually modify the animate, vegetative, and inanimate levels. This is the sequence of events to follow.

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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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In the News (from BBC News): “The debate came after Greece…announced that unemployment in Greece hit a record 25.1% in July, with the level among young people reaching above 50%.

“And the nation predicted its economy will shrink by 6.5% this year, much more than previously estimated this year, worse than a previous estimate of 4.8% in March suggested to its bailout lenders.

“Greece also said its economy will shrink for a sixth year in 2013.”

My Comment: How can new jobs appear if they are not needed in the economy? This suggests only one solution: to produce as much as necessary, instead of producing unnecessary goods, which harm the environment.

The calculation of production will have to start from “the bottom”: What goods and services in what quantity are needed FOR EVERYONE. And then production and services need to be built according to this calculation. The pursuit of fulfilling one’s ego will be shifted to the right leisure: integral connection, which gives the feeling of higher contentment.
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Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 7: One who eats and enjoys the labor of one’s friend is afraid to look at his face because by doing so he becomes increasingly humiliated until he loses his human form. And because that which extends from His wholeness cannot be deficient, He gave us room to earn our exaltedness by ourselves, through our work in Torah and Mitzvot.

The creation is opposite from the Creator in its internal attribute, in the egoist desire of “I shall rule.” The only thing that can stand opposite it is the shame that stems from the defect in your own “self.”

In fact, these two discernments merge into one, and it is quite sufficient in order to bring the created being to correction. This is because a person is ready to do anything so that he won’t have to feel the defect of shame in his desire to receive. We can stand shame only if it is possible to cover the desire to receive so that it won’t actually be hurt. Even if the desire to receive may be hurt on the first levels, we cannot accept it on the fourth level, since then it will immediately force a person to put an end to the current state and to stop the feeling of shame immediately in every way he can.

Usually we compensate for the defects by learning from our environment. The whole system is built that way, so that in the opposite three lines we will somehow cope with the shame. But in fact, it is a great feeling that was prepared for high souls.

Question: How is shame related to adhesion, which we have to attain?

Answer: Shame and adhesion, fears and anxieties, whatever you want, are all components of adhesions. In adhesion each of them participates fully in the highest, most open way.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Opinion (Vince Cable, UK Secretary of State for Business): “Europe could be plunged into war if the euro collapses, Vince Cable warned… .

“’We tend to forget, until we were reminded last week of that Nobel Prize, the European project was constructed in order to rescue Europe from extreme nationalism and conflict. There is no automatic guarantee that won’t return.’ The Business Secretary described the euro as ‘very valuable’ and said the UK would ‘be heard very loudly if it does unravel.’

“He added: ‘My sense is that the Germans in particular realise how much is at stake. A series of sensible measures have been taken in recent months.

“‘I think deep down there is enough common sense and a sense of survival to prevent this getting out of control. If it does, I’m afraid the consequences for us will be awful.’”

My Comment: The problem is not in the euro and not even in Europe, but in the general program of human evolutionary development. Humanity must move to the next state, similarity to Nature, meaning unity and reasonable consumption. Unity, because in this we level our egoism and become like all parts of nature, interconnected with it. Reasonable consumption, because in this we are in equilibrium with the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

Through this change in ourselves, we go out of our egoism and begin to feel the next level of nature, the sphere of bestowal, besides the sphere of receiving in which we exist for the time being. So, the euro plays just a small role, pushing us towards the change.
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