All of reality except for us is found in a state of rest and waits for our work. Everything is seemingly evolving and changing at every moment, yet without any free choice. The result of the cooperation between the Light and the Kli that is found opposite to it, is projected, extended, and evolved downward, and influences the world more and more.

 

 The link between the Light and the Kli in the meantime is created without our participation, without an attempt to establish a proper link between them. And if we don’t link them correctly, then these two lines of force will evolve further and further downward, in parallel to each other, and will influence us who are found between them.

The entire world is found in a field between these two forces, plus and minus: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking (humanity) and within it also Israel. The positive and negative forces evolve further and further from above to below, meaning they are revealed one against the other with greater and greater intensity, where the minus and the plus are made more opposed to each other.

And if we, with our free choice, cannot link and complete them in the right way, then they will descend to an even lower level and cause more and more trouble. As if there was a -10 tension opposite a +10 tension, and this becomes -100 opposite +100; that is, the opposition between them is made much greater. Therefore the troubles grow and become greater, and then we have no choice, and they oblige us to make some kind of link between the plus and the minus.

If we create a link like this, then the entire nature of the still, vegetative, animate, and all the nations of the world, also merit a more balanced supervision, which is to say a quiet life. There is no longer such strong opposition between the minus and the plus, rather the opposite; there is something that links them together. The positive force supplies intention and the negative force supplies desire, and if we combine intention and desire correctly, then all of of creation will enjoy the fruit of this covenant. That is how it works.

All of the negative egoistic forces, all the wicked (Nebuchadnezzar, Amalek, Hitler), which collectively are called “Pharaoh,” have no free choice. Therefore, there is nothing to curse or blame them for; rather, it is necessary only to understand that nobody can correct the situation except those who have free choice, that have a natural inclination towards correction of the world.
[115563]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/20/13, The Zohar — Introduction

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Evil forces have no free will. It seems to us that some people or nations intentionally cause us suffering, having committed crimes in history. But all of this is a direct consequence of the system’s work, which in addition to the Creator has only one element able to influence the system—us, the ones who have the opportunity for independent work, free actions, thoughts, and intentions.

So, don’t blame anyone. The Creator is good and brings good, and the laws that He has established work in the world and cannot be transgressed. It turns out that in the whole system of worlds, in the entire universe, just we alone have the power to change something in reality.

We are in the vast ocean of Light, reason, wisdom, and the program of creation, like on a tiny raft. And we can influence this ocean so that we would feel confident in it, safe, and calm, but we can also cause a violent storm in this ocean. Everything depends on us!

All the other parts of creation, except us, do not change. The Light is in a state of absolute rest, and the vessel, desire, is completely dependent on the Light. And only we in the middle between them have freedom of choice. Therefore, apart from us, no one can change anything because they fully obey the higher management. It is the system through which the Creator influences us in order to straighten our paths and bring us closer to Himself.

It is said that “Pharaoh brought the children of Israel closer to the Creator.” Each sacrifice (Kurban) brings closer (Karov) to Him, and it depends only on how we use our own free choice.

So, we cannot wait and waste a moment; we are obliged to do our work as much as possible. In reality nothing will change, except what we change by our own efforts.
[115567]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/20/13, Introduction to The Book of Zohar

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The Creator has created the desire to enjoy and prepares it for adhesion with Himself, meaning for the final state that this desire has to reach, to want to become similar to the Light. Inside, it remains the same desire to enjoy, but externally it takes the form of the Light, the property of bestowal.

In order for the desire to enjoy wanting to become like the Creator, that is, wishing for adhesion, it needs to have the properties of the Light in addition to its property of reception. And it also has to explore its property, to understand, feel, and become aware of its attachment to it and want to get rid of it, that is, to comprehend it in the direct and opposite form. Besides that, it also needs to understand and feel the desire of bestowal, and compare them with each other.

It turns out that the Creator created this desire to be versatile and combine many shades of these two properties: the desire to enjoy and the desire to bestow. On the basis of inclusion of one property into another, it begins to understand every property, and after all the scrutiny, it obtains the mind, the head, that is, intention, the ability to make conscious actions.

But with all this complexity of the desire to enjoy, consisting of a clever weave of properties of reception and bestowal in the mind and heart, that is, in intention and action, in the thought and feeling, in essence, there is only one important point—the point of freewill. And the rest is managed by this point.

If the created being attains this point, then it is called “Yashar-El” (straight to the Creator), Israel. And everything else that the created being has inside of his understanding, attainment, mutual inclusion of desires, intentions, and thoughts, except for this point, does not belong to Israel, but belongs to its consequence, this point of freedom of choice, and everything else flows from it.

The Creator is the property of bestowal and treats both sinners and righteous kindly. No change ever occurs in Him. The desire to enjoy, except this one point Israel, is completely in the power of its nature. It can change, but solely due to the only free change that is possible in this system, which is called the point of Israel.

Therefore, we must understand that the upper force and the desire to enjoy are at absolute rest. The only element of creation that can change and decide something is Israel. Consequently, there is no need to look at those who have no point in the heart since they have no freedom of choice. Although they look like people, they are not those people, the sons of Adam, who are similar (Domeh) to the Creator, like the point in the heart.

So, no matter what happens in this world, regardless of how they attack and mock us or if they are for or against us, all this is the demonstration of the desire to enjoy in relation to us. It only shows us the need to make our free choice in order to bring it to adhesion with the Creator. That is our job.
[114886]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/13

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The environment is designed to pull us out of the grasping hands of the impure forces (Klipot). After all, we cannot escape them by our own forces and will always remain in their sweet captivity. Only to the extent of my connection with the group that evokes me, inspires, and pushes me, can I choose to move forward with the group instead of relaxing in the warm company of my Klipot.

From where does the group take force to influence me more than the force of Klipa? The fact is that the group acts on the same egoism of mine that the Klipa does. If the group persuades me that the goal is great, that this is the dream of our life, then it’s not even important to my egoism whether the goal is spiritual or material. If everyone around me insists that it’s important, then I will have forces to fight against my laziness.

We get this great help as a result of the breaking of desires. Thanks to this, I can play with my egoism, with my stony heart, with the help of the environment. Friends can pull me anywhere, even lead me to death, and I will gladly go with them.

If the environment knows how to affect me, I will be ready for anything. But the challenge is to ensure that our environment affects us only to the extent to which I allow it, giving myself to it! I pay the group for this special influence; I become integrated with the friends. Otherwise, the group will have no effect on me.

This is no ordinary society because I can be in the group and not feel any of its effects. We see these examples when a person studies with us for 15 years and doesn’t fall under the influence of the society because he doesn’t want to bow his head before others.

But here I have freedom of choice: If I bow to the group and join it, then to that extent it will begin to affect me. Thus, in this group I get the opportunity for free development. All this ultimately happens because of me! I have cancelled myself and thus the environment influences me, and I enter the spiritual world. I myself reach the spiritual world, having used the environment of my own accord.

At the same time, entering normal society, a person falls entirely under its influence, and nothing depends on him; the environment affects him and directs everything. In a Kabbalistic group, I have to cancel myself before the environment every second.
[114567]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/13, The Book of Zohar – Introduction

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Question: Is it worthwhile to understand that, essentially, there is no free choice now?

Answer: Indeed, in our times, there is no free choice. The world is deteriorating while we are standing on the side watching. This is not good. Humanity is apparently sliding downward and we need to try to hold them, to stop them.

I say this seriously. I feel as though I have gigantic hands or I have a gigantic net in my hands, and I must stop everyone because they are being drawn downward, and if left unchecked, they will pull us after them. This is not desirable. The program of nature, the program of the Creator, cannot be changed.

He is like a loving and strict father Who takes His belt in hand and begins to teach His rebellious son.
[114419]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Our problem is that we are “in shackles,” captured in the network that links us, closes us and determines all our values. We just have to dress in a certain way, eat certain food, work as prescribed, behave as accepted, and to adhere to the standard way of thinking.

We do not have our own tastes, but we have those habits that society “spoon-feeds” us. It gives us our beliefs and our actions; it affects us now through its channels, some of which can be neither recognized nor traced. We cannot block them by any protective mechanism that blocks the thoughts and desires of a large environment.

As a result, a person does not know who he is at all. After all, he is placed in the system, programmed and filled with messages that originally have no relationship with it. There is nothing you can do about it; you cannot eliminate or remove them from yourself. Even the desire to escape from these clutches is also implanted in us by this system. It turns out that I have accumulated thoughts and desires that are not mine, and I myself do not exist at all.

Even though I am not free and am “made” by the environment, only the point in the heart, if it emerges in me, gives me the opportunity to build in myself something that doesn’t depend on anything and anyone, something caused by another world.

In my world, I am already “finished,” “prepared.” Here, I will never reach my own feelings, reason, and independent actions. They initially cannot be mine because everything that I have, I have received from another, from the world.

Yet, this “ape” is able to take a different form – the form of the human (Adam), similar (Domeh), to the Creator. If the point has emerged in my heart, I can develop it by my own efforts in a special environment, I can build a completely different world. I create a “bubble” in the middle of our world and develop freely in it if only I realize my freedom of will.

However, I also obey—but obey on my own accord, according to my own decisions—surrendering myself before my new, unique environment with its unique values. This is the only way. I do not own anything.

Accordingly, by accepting the influence of the external environment, I am in “exile.” Conversely, placing myself under the influence of the special environment, I strive to get out of exile and ultimately get rid of the influence of the external “landlord’s” egoistic society.

It is understood from this that the exile for the people of Israel means retreat under the influence of the external wide world and the assimilation of foreign customs, external values, substituting for love of the other as oneself. On the other hand, trying to get out of exile, we build the environment that will be imbued with the values of love and bestowal. This is possible by means of the wisdom of Kabbalah or by means of integral education. Either way, there is only one means: the environment that puts unity above all.
[114392]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Nature never changes, rather our perception of nature changes the extent of its disclosure. Man is changing, becoming more intelligent, more powerful, and therefore he investigates nature more and more deeply. Nature itself is not changed, rather the person is the one who is changed and discovers in it new phenomena, new laws, characteristics, and connections.

Nothing is changed in reality; all the changes take place only in relation to us. The person doesn’t do anything by himself at all. Either they manage him in an absolute manner from above, without any participation from his side, or they manage him with his participation. But through this participation he can only hasten development.

And in that I hasten my personal development, with this I influence the whole world since I become an integral part of a large integral system. Therefore all its other parts also are changed together with me.

Suppose that now I advanced within a month what I  needed to advance over the course of a hundred years (with a speed like this we move forward), but can the rest of the world remain in place together with this? We draw the entire world after us and hasten its development. Likewise the picture is changed: our way of life, the way of advancement. We move rapidly, well, easily, softly instead of shaking with hard bumps in a cart filled with blows, bruises, problems, and sufferings like those that followed us throughout the entire exile.

It all depends on us! And this says that Israel (“Yashar-El” directly to the Creator) hastens the times. The state of the completion of correction is rigidly determined, it is a law. But all the rest of the states, although they come according to that same law of development, the person himself determines their speed, manner, and how he feels them. We need to believe that this is how it is at every point on the way, along with the fact that everything is determined by the Creator and that “There is none else besides Him”.
[112761]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/13, The Book of Zohar – Introduction

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Question: What should I do if in a moment I am thrown from merit to sin? If in one tipping point, suddenly, everything turns from white to black?

Answer: What merits and sins can you have? All your life you have acted according to your natural instincts like an animal. That is why all the complaints should be directed to the Master who has created you. You have no independence, and you cannot say that you, yourself, have done something bad. Everything is done by the upper force. Soon, you will see this and understand that no one is to blame, and there is no one at which to be angry. Then, you will see a completely different picture.

The problem is that there is no Creator in your life, and thus you attribute some freedom of will to others and yourself, as if you are responsible for your actions. It is like blaming the kids in kindergarten. Is it possible to say that one child is bad and another is good? These all are natural qualities: Some children are aggressive and others are crybabies. Thus nature moves us in order to bring us to the realization of evil, which the Creator made inherent in us.

We must go through many blows and then the Creator gradually will explain that He did so, so we would want to get rid of our nature with which we were created. The Creator plays with us because, as it is written, “There is none else besides Him.” Do you think that you act yourself, instead of Him?

People are used to what is written in books: “your sins,” “your merits.” Our task is to explain this in a more understandable way because the time has come when the true meaning of these words can be revealed. However, these are not your sins and transgressions. It is not you who made and caused them. You did not choose the qualities with which to be born. We are all puppets, from Hitler and to the greatest saints of the world.

However, these puppets get an addition at some point, a drop of the opposite property, and then they change their aspirations according to this new property: They seek bestowal and begin to study without understanding why they study. The study determines the goal for them and this also is established by the Creator.

However, after these two opposite properties are determined in them, one against the other, reception and bestowal, they begin to find the opportunity for independent work in the middle line, between them. It is a special feeling that you soon reach, and then you will know how to build yourself from these two properties, the left and right lines. You will understand that both these lines are required.

The Creator will help you to connect them together, to understand what the drop of the semen of bestowal is and how to add to it more, cell by cell, a new understanding, sensing the concepts, teaching us how to grow this material.

It is clear that the Light does all the work, working on new material. The Light and desire meet and their mixture rises like dough, but I cause this myself. I understand and feel how it happens. This is my creation, like from a piece of dough. I take a handful of flour and add the exact amount of water to it, no more and no less. At first, it seems that there is not enough water and I must work hard kneading my dough, but, in the end, it will be ready to be put in the oven and baked!

Thus, these two ingredients, flour and water, are turned into the “poor man’s bread” (Matzah). From the point of the desire to enjoy, it is simple bread, and nothing more is needed, and above it, everything is open. Freedom is opened.
[112755]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/13, The Zohar

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Shamati #225, “Raising Oneself”: One cannot raise oneself above one’s circle. Hence, one must suck from one’s environment. And one has no other counsel, except through much work and Torah. Therefore, if one chooses for oneself a good environment, one saves time and efforts, since one is drawn according to one’s environment.

This is in the power of man: Either he gives himself to the power of the environment or nature, the Creator, rules over him. It’s one or the other.

Why am I called a man if I choose the power of the environment? It is because it is my choice that I make in spite of all the obstacles, in spite of my inner resistance, problems, and troubles. I determine who reigns in me.

Thus, I choose only the force that will act within me and I have no control over it. Either I am driven by the Creator, the individual force, or a good environment, the integral force, behind which He stands. And then, the integral force will become the head of the Partzuf that we depicted on the drawing as a “car.”

In fact, a person realizes nothing but this choice. If he chooses correctly, the group affects him, if he chooses incorrectly the “body” reigns over him, meaning the direct dictates of the Creator. One way or the other, the Creator acts in everything, either through the environment or personally.
[111716]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, “Principles for Building a Better Environment”

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 4: The Creator Himself puts one’s hand on the good fate by giving him a life of pleasure and contentment within the corporeal life that is filled with torment and pain, and devoid of any content. […] there is no greater placement of one’s hand by Him than this.

And one’s choice refers only to the strengthening. This is because there is certainly a great effort and exertion here before one purifies one’s body to be able to keep the Torah and commandments correctly, not for his own pleasure, but to bring contentment to his Maker, which is called Lishma (for Her Name). Only in this manner is one endowed with a life of happiness and pleasantness that come with keeping the Torah.

However, before one comes to that purification, there is certainly a choice to strengthen in the good way by all sorts of means and tactics. Also, one should do whatever his hand finds the strength to do until he completes the work of purification and will not fall under his burden midway.

How can we understand this? In fact, these words paint a terrible picture: The Creator holds me “by the ears” or “by the shoulders” and directs my every step through pleasures or suffering, that is, He can do with me whatever He pleases. And besides that, there is something in which I have to “strengthen” myself above that which He sends me.

As a result, I have no choice in everyday life because I am relentlessly driven by pleasure and suffering. My nature automatically obeys their dictates, and there is nothing I can do about this. Some mechanism in me always turns my face towards pleasure and my back towards suffering. The “car” can only dodge evil and turn towards good.

In what can I strengthen then? How can I gain power over the “body”? How can I resist the “orders” of the Creator Who directs me from above on the “animate” degree? Is this possible?

The fact is that apart from the will of the Creator, there is another factor that I can use: the influence of the environment. Thus, I go against the Creator, against His nature, obtain something above the “animate” degree, and become something greater.

Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”: Therefore, he who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. But here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts and deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment, which brings him these good thoughts and deeds.

Hence it is clear that we have freedom to build, above the “animate” level, the human degree—the human being, who will saddle an “animal” and will manage his nature. To do this, a person will also use two forces, but they will be different: Now he will define good and evil by means of a good environment that fulfills him.

Thus, the Creator controls a person at the level of “reason,” but self-management is realized “above reason.”

The key here is the extent to which I become integrated in the correct environment and absorbed by it. My good future depends only on this.
[111719]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, Preparation for St. Petersburg Convention, “Principles for Building a Better Environment,” Lesson 4

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