Question: In TES (The Study of the Ten Sefirot) it is said that the true Kelim exist in the world of Atzilut. But we also study that at that stage there is still no separation from the Creator. At the same time, we learn that the entire system was created precisely to enable free choice and that the true Kli exists where there is free choice. So is there free choice in the world of Atzilut?

Answer: No, in the world of Atzilut there is still no free choice.

While on our level, we try to gather all the actions that belong to the lower and raise them to the higher, so that the illumination from a higher level would influence us and so we could gradually, step by step, reveal the forces of increasingly higher degrees.

Question: Then what is the true Kli? What parameters are included in it if it is not free choice?

Answer: Free choice is not yet a Kli. It is only a certain intention from below upward. Therefore, free choice takes place when the lower ones, that is, people in our world, feel some influence of the light upon themselves and strive toward their higher root.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/25, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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The main thing in spiritual work is constant care for the environment. The greater and broader it appears in my eyes, the more strongly I will strive to attach it to myself, to absorb it within me.

Each time, these external circles will enter me more and more, like rolling waves, until I cover the entire Malchut of infinity, meaning that I will perceive everyone as myself. This entire immense desire (Kli) will become mine, and within this unified desire the light, the Creator, will be revealed.

Everything depends on the intensity of the mutual work between a person and the environment, their influence on one another, and their mutual demand. By this, we determine the speed of our advancement. A person cannot advance by himself. The environment is the only means. Each time a person draws closer to it and rises with its help.

It is also necessary to fully realize the importance of the environment. After all, the entire structure of desire (Kli) originates from the division into an inner and an outer part, and all our discernments also take place between the inner and the outer, between a person and the environment.

So far we have not yet revealed this and cannot understand where exactly the correction of desires takes place. But when, with the help of the environment, we attract enough surrounding light and ascend to spirituality, we definitely feel that true spiritual work begins—between me and the environment.

Clarification and correction take place only there.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati 225 “Raising Oneself”

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Question: A person is faced with a choice of what to choose? If you were facing a choice, what would you identify as the most important thing and then follow through with this decision?

Answer: How I can detach from myself and only then make the correct choice. Only then will my choice be correct.

Question: So that my “I” would not command me?

Answer: Of course.

Question: How can it be done? It is a difficult question.

Answer: Detach yourself

Question: Meaning, I should not listen to my inner voice too much?

Answer: No, you cannot rely on anything here.

Question: What about examples? Let’s say other people tell me: “Look, I went there. I am already a scientist and I have a PhD. I am already a Nobel Prize winner. You should take this path.” And another person says: “I am already a businessman.” There are a multitude of various noises around me. Should I not listen to these people around me? You see, it is not an easy question, but it is there.

Answer: Then it is better not to choose anything. You rely on God’s will, as we say. You are not doing anything; you are just sitting, and that is all. As it is said: “Sit and do nothing, better.” What is next, God will give.

Question: Can I rely on Him?

Answer: You have to work; you have to do everything that is required. However, such important, crucial decisions are always difficult for a person.

I used to get questions from people about choosing a profession, college, or other things. I usually did not give advice. A person should figure out for himself where his soul or hand is pulling him.

Question: Still, I would like to follow your experience and ask about you personally. What do you choose when you have a choice? How do you make decisions?

Answer: I always decide for the maximum benefit of society because I know for sure that this is what the Creator wants.

I do not know whether I made a mistake or not. In general, we do not know whether we make mistakes or not.

Question: In general, we probably do make mistakes?

Answer: It does not matter. You do not know what would be in the other scenario. And so I imagine where would be the maximum benefit for the Creator. What would the Creator want me to do? And in general, that is for the benefit of society, for the people.

Comment: Perhaps there is something in this. When I make a decision according to what is best for me, then I will for sure make a mistake. However, if I am for society, then that is probably the answer.

Answer: You see, you have decided.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 9/24/25

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We are completely at the mercy of nature and are guided in all our actions, both in the body and in the soul. Yet Kabbalists say we have freedom of choice, otherwise there would be no point in creating all of creation if the upper force had predetermined everything that happens within it.

However, freewill exists above our current life, solely there, where we wish to rise above our egoistic nature, in a higher dimension, in the quality of bestowal.

Only in this ascent from one degree to another can we choose to rise under the blows of nature if we do not wish to use our freewill and do not make our own effort, or to advance of our own accord in the same direction, that is, to see it as the desired goal. When we seek the forces that can help us make this ascent, there we find our freedom of choice.

Kabbalists explain that freedom of choice exists only in building the right environment. In any case, I advance under the influence of the environment; only I do not usually choose it myself.

But I can choose my environment consciously and thereby accelerate my progress and change the nature of my ascent. Instead of being tossed about under the blows of fate like a beaten animal, I can rise by a beautiful path, by my own desire, full of feeling, understanding, and inner strength, as befits a human being.

If I examine the goal, wish to draw closer to it, and understand that to accelerate my development I must draw more light than comes to me naturally, then I make use of the means given to me, which is called Torah, the upper light that draws me and returns me to the source.

Regarding this work, it is written that if we leave it even for a single day without realizing our freedom of choice, we are stopped for two days in our development, and prevented from advancing independently. The natural upper forces begin to act upon us.

It is not enough simply to lose the amount of effort we did not invest; this would not teach us anything. Therefore, we must receive a punishment slightly more than our fault, so that when a stronger obstacle arises next time we will be careful not to stumble over it.

Thus the spiritual law states: “If you leave Me one day, I will leave you two.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam “If You Leave Me One Day, I Will Leave You Two”

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Comment: All this propaganda and gaslighting penetrates every nook and cranny. It is the psychological manipulation of a person that makes him doubt the correctness of his own thoughts and leads to a loss of confidence and dependence on the manipulator.

My Response: This gaslighting wants to explain to a person that they are being controlled. In general. And a person should feel that he controls himself. And then there is a single combat between a person and someone who encroaches on his independence.

Question: Is this really an attack?

Answer: Yes! What else! This is enslavement. Well, what can you do? Such is the world.

Comment: Basically we see that almost 90 percent or more are subject to enslavement.

My Response: And they want it!

Question: So a person should resist this, simply not want it to the death?

Answer: He should not do that! He just needs to understand that he can be subjected to such an attack, and that he will no longer have freewill after that. And to avoid this, he must build himself up.

Question: Let’s talk about this a little. What kind of core is this in a person that he must build in himself?

Answer: To do to yourself what others want to do with you. That is, others want to impose their point of view, worldview, and attitude to the world on you, and you build it all yourself!

Question: So he is ahead of them and building himself up?

Answer: Yes. Moreover, he is so much ahead of them that he can fight them. He can put a wall between himself and them. That is what we need to understand.

Question: What does it consist of? What exactly is this wall made of?

Answer: This wall consists of confidence in my own method of building the world in me the way I want it to be. And everything.

Question: Which wall can withstand it? What kind of world should I build to make it stand?

Answer: It is as materialistic as possible, which will resist any attempts to crack this inner world of a person.

Question: Is this possible only for strong people, or is almost everyone capable of it?

Answer: No, I do not think everyone is capable of it. But in principle, this can be taught, and people can be pulled out of dependence, out of such a semi-underground, slave state.

Comment: You and I can see that the world is under it today.

My Response: Today, absolutely everyone is in a state where they are being controlled: thoughts, pictures, points of view, and so on, are being imposed. Humanity generally goes, of course… Crawls back into the caves.

Comment: Then still, if you say so, there is a possibility to build a wall.… And I will tell you something else; there is a very interesting observation. There are millions of views on the Internet about those who have gone somewhere, to some kind of hermitage. Someone went to the taiga and has been living there for 20 years, 30 years. One. One person leaves, and that is it, he leaves people. And people are watching and writing comments: “I wish I could.”

My Response: Yes, but it is not easy.

Comment: It is not easy. But this wall was built by some. And you are offering in an active world…

My Response: Absolutely active, without changing anything, only inside yourself.

Question: And yet, you do not say what it might be? Is that what it is? How to do it? Give me some practical advice.

Answer: I don’t know. I have built such a wall in me. It is as if I have fenced myself off from the world, from everyone. I live inside myself quietly, alone. No one suspects that I live like this.

Comment: It is interesting! Tens, hundreds of thousands of students, and you say, “This is how I live.”

My Response: That does not matter.

Comment: So, share the secret.

My Response: The secret is very simple. I build this world within myself, and therefore, even if I am in conflict with the world that is being imposed on me, this contradiction does not oppress me, does not fight with me. I just dismiss it and continue.

Question: Can you tell us at least a little bit about what it is like there, in that world?

Answer: In that world, I am the king. And I serve the great Creator. That is all. Everything is very simple.

Question: It is easy to say, but it is not easy. But I really want to go to such a world. Do you have any advice on how to get into it, into this world?

Answer: To crawl through.

Question: How?

Answer: It needs to be built. A person must build it in himself. And when he builds it, he discovers that, yes it can be done, it must be done, and it will be forever.

Question: Is it both safety and peace?

Answer: It absolutely covers everything! This is the kingdom of the great king.

Question: The great king. But is He the king?

Answer: Yes, but you are building for Him.

Question: Are you building this for Him? And then you find yourself in it? For Him to rule there?

Answer: For me to rule everything for Him.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 9/17/25

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Question: The Creator reigns over me and other people by awakening desires and thoughts within me and in them. Does it mean we are marionettes in His hands?

Answer: We are marionettes in the hands of the Creator because we exist under His total influence. However, the reaction to His action depends on us. When we unite between us, we can collectively influence the Creator and force Him to take different actions relative to us.

The force of the Creator comes down upon us from above. If upon its influence we begin in return to act toward it, we can make Him act in the following way: (1) we receive, (2) we give our reaction, and then (3) we receive an answer that includes our reaction.

Therefore, we can always as though correct the action of the Creator upon us. It depends only on the degree of our connection between us (the sign ∑ on the drawing is the sign of connection).
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/17/2019

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What would I gain if I found out what will happen to me in a week, a month, a year, ten or twenty years? I think it is much more interesting to live when you do not know anything. You just don’t know! This is much more interesting; it is exciting.

When you know everything, it is as if you have come to a movie theater to watch a movie, sat in the chair, and suddenly realized that you remember this movie very well; you have already seen it. The whole thrill disappears.

Comment: Meaning, it is better to live the way as you say: tomorrow is tomorrow, whatever will happen, will happen. Everything is in the hands of the upper one. Hence, we should move with this flow.

My Response: Yes, the best thing is not to know anything and be the boss in your life.

As much as you are the boss, you are the boss, and as much as not, you will start figuring it out; it just does not need to be. I am moving forward according to the rules that the Creator has set up for me in order to come to Him. I am approaching Him precisely within those conditions that He has presented for me. I do not want anything more. I do not want to see more than that, even a tiny bit! I do not want anything else! I want to be exactly so, a devoted follower of the Creator.

This is the most wonderful of anything that can be! This is a great award to a person when he can act this way!

And at the same time, hearing them speak about your future? No way! We must come to the state of bestowal.

Question: What if around the corner of this movement, as you say, of giving oneself to the Creator, suddenly horrible things happen?

Answer: There is no horrible or non-horrible. It all depends on how you relate to it. If you give yourself to it with an open heart and soul, then whatever happens, happens, but this is from the Creator; there is nothing horrible.

Everything in the next moment just becomes simple, clear, soft. Your attitude to the Creator is what makes Him the Creator. That is all. Here also comes the correct connection between you.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/19/25

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Relax and realize that you are inside nature. And let it lead. The main thing is to surrender to nature.

Question: So I drop the oars? There is a current and I drop the oars.

Answer: Yes.

Question: But is there a current?

Answer: Even that is not important to me.

Question: And that does not matter? Just let go of everything like that?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is it possible?

Answer: If you believe in a wise, great, eternal, all-powerful nature, then in my opinion, this is the most reasonable decision.

Comment: Yes, it sounds very much like nothing is in my power.

My Response: And besides, everything you come up with in order to go against it on your own only emphasizes the insignificance, limitation, lack of understanding, ignorance, and disagreement with this great nature in which we exist.

Do not resist anything, do not invent anything. Try simply to understand what nature itself means, agree with it, cling to it, and you will find the most optimal component of your existence.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 7/30/25

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Our path is tied to the development of the desire for pleasure. Altogether we exist within this single, unified desire. The four phases of the expansion of the light, the worlds, the Partzufim, and the spiritual degrees are embedded within it. Everything is inside it.

In other words, this desire is a composite. Just as the human body is made up of various organs and parts, so too is this desire made up of many components.

Among the parts of the desire, some are more developed, some less. They also differ in their thickness, which we call Aviut. In addition, some parts are closer to reception by their nature and others are closer to bestowal. There are many such gradations. Thus, if we break this great desire into its constituent parts, each will reveal itself as unique in its details and ingredients.

Among these parts, there are those that are purer, less egoistic, and they awaken first toward the light because they are closer to it. These are our friends across the world. They possess a yearning for bestowal, for the light, for discovering the reason for their existence.

They seek freedom. And freedom from life in this world first reveals itself in the question: “What am I living for? What does this life give me? What is its benefit?”

This question arises from problems and suffering. But afterward, in trying to understand their cause, one begins to search for the essence of life itself. The suffering becomes secondary; after all, what can be done about it? The main thing now is to uncover the secret of existence.

This means that I have awakened and want to break free from the everyday routine and from the vain pursuit of egoistic fulfillment. I can no longer continue serving my desire to enjoy like a slave. To me, this is death. Day after day, I have to drag around my “donkey,” feed and water it until it dies. When it dies, I, its loyal servant, will die with it.

But those who begin to understand that this is not life, but death, those are the ones who move forward. If the donkey wants to eat, feed it. But let it carry you, not the other way around. During this life, as long as you feed your donkey, you have the opportunity to ride it to a higher purpose. If you are not dragging it on your shoulders, but riding on it, then you are a human being.

This is the first stage of liberation from the angel of death, from the endless concern with mere corporeal existence. If you care for it in order to find a solution, that is a different matter; that is already life. Because essentially, you are charting a course toward the source of life.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Freedom”

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Comment: A device was recently developed that can read a person’s thoughts and reproduce them in writing or artificial voice. The next step in this “utopia” will be a computer that can read both my and your thoughts and link us so we can share them. If we’re connected through the same computer, I can literally participate in your thinking. That is what experts say. They believe the prospect of this mass consciousness is quite terrifying. It completely destroys freedom of thought and individuality.

My Response: The same thing is already happening now, just through cruder schemes of influencing people through the media, etc.

Only this will be compact, quiet, and we will all stare at the world with square eyes.

Question: And think that those thoughts are mine?

Answer: We might not even be thinking at all. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

Comment: But I need to feel that there’s an “I.” That I made a decision.

My Response: Don’t worry, you don’t have an “I.” It’s going to be great? You will be floating in the clouds.

Question: Can they implant even that, that I don’t exist?

Answer: Anything can be done with a person. Life is one big joke. A small, silly one.

Question: Then what is “I”?

Answer: There is no “I” in anyone. It is a part of the Creator that a person acquires if he rises above his nature.

Question: Your advice for how we escape this?

Answer: My advice is very simple: wake up!

But this is possible only with the help of a special, higher energy that we can draw if we unite. That is what Kabbalah says. That is the whole secret of unity: Love your neighbor.

Why love your neighbor? To rise toward the upper governing system, to the supreme information. When you possess it, it is in you and you in it; you will be able to govern it.

That is what is meant by: “My sons have defeated Me.” That is, to reach a state where you, as a human being, govern the world, your condition, everything. You will understand what is happening and see the world from end to end.

Question: Is that the true “I”?

Answer: That is the true “I” of a person.

And if that is absent, then what is the point of anything else? We are completely dependent, trapped in a matrix that governs us. We don’t understand this and we don’t know this. So why should we obey and live by the laws of the animal world?

Question: What should I do?

Answer: Engage only in connection.

Question: What is the connection?

Answer: Connection is when all of us understand that mutual, kind relations will lead us to the understanding, awareness, and sensation of upper governance.

Question: Can egoists relate kindly to one another?

Answer: No, we start by asking: Who are we? What can I even do?

Question: So I must learn my own nature?

Answer: I can’t learn my nature if I don’t try to rise above it. This is how we begin to sense who we really are. And then, within ourselves, our new selves, we begin to feel the upper governance.

Question: So the sequence is: I realize I must connect with another person?

Answer: It is not just desirable, it is necessary! I don’t want to, but there is no choice.

Question: And I make efforts and more efforts and realize I can’t. What next?

Answer: I unite with others who also want to but can’t, and together we begin to ask the upper force.

Question: So in the end, we come to a plea to the upper force?

Answer: Of course! We have no other tool to change ourselves.

If we sincerely ask, from the heart, we receive. We compel this upper force to change us.

We change our nature and begin to see the world differently: through a different desire and different intention. In a different light, as they say. In the quality of bestowal. In the way the world truly exists. We are just trapped in our own qualities and that is why we don’t perceive it.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/26/25

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