Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Influence of the Environment on a Person

Everyone has his own spiritual root, but its forces are revealed only through the environment one is in. This is similar to the wheat sown in the ground, whose forces become apparent only through its environment. Thus, only in the matter of the choice of environment is man’s reign over himself measured, and for this he should receive either reward or punishment.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

The measure of the greatness of the Creator and the goal does not depend on the individual, but on the environment. And even if one is filled with virtues but the environment does not favor their development, one will be unable to develop them.
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”
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We have to gradually bring our explanations to every person, in his language and on his level of understanding. The explanation has to come gradually, until people start being able to feel that precisely the connection between us gives us the sensation of a different life, as if we are on a different planet, in a different dimension.

It is impossible to talk about this right away. We always have to address separate individuals and groups of people on different levels of development, according to the desire that they are experiencing right now. Therefore, at first the explanation must be presented in a language that they understand: “You will feel good. There won’t be wars, terrorism, or drugs. Your children will be more successful, there will be fewer divorces,” and so on.

Different layers of the population have to be addressed in a form that’s suitable for them: some are more inclined to watching movies, others listening to music, others yet, reading books, and others can be approached through science, the economy, and anything else.

The environment has to be similar to a sphere that radiates many opportunities upon every person to understand what is “the global world” in which we exist. Just as the world is global, so the system of upbringing has to be global, meaning it must include all forms of influence, on every level, in all forms, and in every language—from the side of everything that surrounds a person.

This is the system of upbringing that we have to build. Without it humanity won’t advance. It will be affected by all kinds of problems and disasters, and it will be forced to build itself in this manner in any case. After all, by that it realizes its independence because by building an environment for itself in order to change and become corrected, it realizes its freedom of choice. And therefore, it builds itself on the Human level.

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Influence of the Environment on a Person

From the very beginning of one’s life, one has freedom to choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart to him good thoughts. If one does not do that, he is bound to fall into a bad environment, which is abundant and attractive and which will induce him to a misdeed. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in that there is definitely a choice.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

He who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of 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.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Does a Person Have Freedom of Choice?

We are all like machines, operating and creating through external forces, pleasure and pain, which push and pull us to their will, to where it sees fit. It turns out that no one here is free or stands on his own two feet.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

When we examine the acts of an individual, we find them compulsory. He is compelled to do them and has no freedom of choice. It’s because the upper governance has placed him between pleasure and pain. And there is no difference here between man and animal. And if that is the case, there is no free choice whatsoever, but rather the upper governance leads everyone wherever it wants, without asking their opinion in the matter.

Moreover, even the type of pleasure (what to eat and how to dress) is entirely out of one’s own free choice, but follows the will of society. Furthermore, in most cases, I do all of it against my will, which is to behave simply and dress comfortably. So you tell me, where is my freedom of will?
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”
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A person who begins studying Kabbalah and uses all of its tools eventually reaches a critical point when he must stop to develop by force, unconsciously. The first stage is intended to get him acquainted with his state, and this stage is necessary.

However, then he reaches a bifurcation point, a sudden change of a previously stable state, a breaking point when he must evaluate and reexamine his entire attitude toward development, life, his desire, the Light, and all the tools at his disposal. He completely changes his entire previous paradigm, his entire life philosophy, and his perception of the system where he exists.

Previously, this system controlled him because he fully operated within nature, and he only imagined himself to be above it from his lack of understanding. Now, he understands his full dependence on nature, its forces and laws, and he must take its governance into his own hands, as it is written: “My sons have defeated me.” Then, the person understands the special breaking point where he is.

Before, he only thought that he changed something in his life, but in reality, he obediently followed nature’s orders without any freedom of choice. Now, he is given freedom. He begins to see the world as something chaotic, without any order. He is given this sensation on purpose so that he, himself, would want to bring everything into order, connect everything, and control the world.

Here, he receives an opportunity to ask the Creator for strength, understanding, and advancement through faith above reason because he desires to be related to higher states. He wants to receive a new mind and new qualities from there and thus bring his world into balance. This is because the world is the reflection of the inner order in man, according to his inner perception of reality, and not the external perception.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/2011, Shamati #21

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In the News (Weizmann Institute of Science): (June 30, 2011) — “How easy is it to falsify memory? New research at the Weizmann Institute, Israel, shows that a bit of social pressure may be all that is needed. The study, which appears in the journal Science, reveals a unique pattern of brain activity when false memories are formed – one that hints at a surprising connection between our social selves and memory.”

“The experiment…took place in four stages. In the first, volunteers watched a documentary film in small groups. Three days later, they returned to the lab individually to take a memory test, answering questions about the film. They were also asked how confident they were in their answers.

They were later invited back to the lab to retake the test while being scanned in a functional MRI (fMRI) that revealed their brain activity. This time, the subjects were also given a ‘lifeline’: the supposed answers of the others in their film viewing group (along with social-media-style photos). Planted among these were false answers to questions the volunteers had previously answered correctly and confidently.”

Study results showed that under the influence of “public opinion,” the participants changed their initial answers and “conformed to the group on these ‘planted’ responses, giving incorrect answers nearly 70% of the time.”

“But were they simply conforming to perceived social demands, or had their memory of the film actually undergone a change?

To find out, the researchers invited the subjects back to the lab to take the memory test once again, telling them that the answers they had previously been fed were not those of their fellow film watchers, but random computer generations.

Some of the responses reverted back to the original, correct ones, but close to half remained erroneous, implying that the subjects were relying on false memories implanted in the earlier session.”

Comment: This experiment proves once again how much people depend on the surrounding society. According to Kabbalah, only by choosing the environment can we correct ourselves by becoming like it. Thus, through the choice of the environment, we can change ourselves to the point of similarity to the Creator. Please refer to Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom.”
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In essence, what we study in Kabbalah is the process that we have to go through. The science of Kabbalah explains to us what is the world, why and for what  it exists, and how we exist in it and realize the goal of creation.

Kabbalah points to the part we have to realize ourselves by setting it apart from everything else, which does not depend on us. We have to concentrate all of our forces precisely in the area that depends on us, making this victorious breakthrough and attaining success on the path to the goal.

Therein lies the entire Kabbalistic method: to show man this point, the tiny button among thousands of various buttons and switches that are not connected to anything. It’s like you are standing in front of a huge control panel to the world, but in reality it’s a dummy.

Only one button is connected to the system, and that button is lost among huge switches, bulbs, and color coded panels. Your whole life you press on buttons, click tumblers, tug at levers, shift sliders, spin wheels, and tune dials, but there are no results and you die as if you did not spin anything.

And moreover, all of your efforts accumulate into one tremendous negative charge, which you will still have to correct in the future. After all, egoism grows in every generation.

Therefore, at the end of the day, the science of Kabbalah explains to us where this secret button is found, which cannot be distinguished or recognized among thousands of others. This is precisely the button we must constantly press in order to advance.

Thanks to it, we begin to understand the system, to guess what is happening behind the panel, to surmise how the other buttons are confusing us and why only one of them works. In short, we reach the understanding of who we are, who is on the other side of the mechanism, and how this mechanism operates to connect the Creator with creation and creation with the Creator.

From everything there is in this world, we have to press one button called “love for the neighbor.” Only by means of this button will we be able to activate the system. All other buttons are a bluff, a lie. Together with billions of your contemporaries, you can press, spin, click, and nudge at these counterfeits, just like the past generations did just to pay their last debt in futile attempts.

Therefore, we have to understand how to find this special button and how to press it, how to use our free choice to act correctly, without letting anything go by us. We have to explain this to ourselves and to others so it will become clear to all of us: other actions, which are not connected to pressing this button that commutates (reverses the direction) love for the creatures with love for the Creator, are futile and useless. Moreover, they just increase the minus in our accounts and we will still have to return to them.

If your actions lead toward the goal, they get recorded in your account. Thanks to them, you advance forward, understanding and feeling more. However, if your actions are false, then you will have to become aware of this lie, of your mistake, and the harm you caused in order to correct it and then to keep moving further.

Thus, it turns out that we accumulate a highly undesirable addition, and therefore, we have to be cautious of actions that are inherent to the “correctors of the world.”
All the corrections that we have to carry out, meaning presses on the right button, are called “using the Torah and commandments.” I consist of 613 desires and by pressing on the button, I evoke a certain force that corrects me with its influence, turning my 613 desires into actions of bestowal.

If I restrict the desire, creating a screen and reflected Light above it by correctly interacting for the sake of bestowal, then this desire transforms from a transgression to a commandment. That is how I have to correct all of my desires on all five levels of Aviut of each of them. This is my work, which we have to perform by pressing the right button, meaning by establishing the right connection with the neighbor.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/11, Matan Torah

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Baal HaSulam “The Freedom”: It is said: “Harut (carved) on the stones”; do not pronounce it Harut (carved), but rather Herut (freedom), to show that they are liberated from the angel of death.

It is said: “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice.” What is the Torah? It is the tool that contains the Light that Reforms.

Thus, we can attract the upper Light, and it brings us back to the Source so that from the evil inclination we turn ourselves into the good inclination. In this way, we change from the receiving desire called “the angel of death” to the giving desire called “the angel of life.” This is freedom from the angel of death.

Indeed, in our receiving desire, we can perceive nothing but this world, that is, an animate existence. We live, suffer, and eventually die. We cannot even imagine how low and defective this life is.

Until we reach bestowal, all our life here is an escape from suffering for the sake of  such meager pleasures that they have no place in the spiritual world. The smallest spiritual degree is myriad times greater, fuller, and more whole than all the pleasures of this world at all times. It is impossible to imagine.

To sustain such a great spiritual pleasure, it is necessary to prepare the vessel with the intention to bestow. Be that as it may, we will be able to rise above the angel of death only in the property of bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/2011, “The Freedom”

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Question: We say that excessive consumption is consumption at others’ expense. However, in order to see the evil contained in it, do we have to peek at the end of the movie?

Answer: No. The Creator does not have a shortage of minerals, vitamins, oil, gas, water, or anything else. He arranges troubles for you in this world so you would begin becoming aware of your loss. You are losing out.

The Creator does not show you that in reality you are letting the spiritual world pass by because then you would lose the freedom of choice. Instead He puts you under the blows of this world, from which you begin to realize the evil of your nature. You don’t reveal the Creator as being the cause of your troubles, but your own egoism.

Then, unable to correct it, you begin to regret having it. That is how you gradually come to the realization of evil. So what should you do with it? How can you climb out of the trap? Slowly but surely, you come closer to the solution.

Lack of resources, natural disasters, and people stealing from each other are all artificial things at the end of the day. This is “small change” intended to help us eventually reveal the fact that we are stealing the spiritual world from one another.

In reality, why should I share what I have with you and satisfy myself with the bare necessities? It’s only in order to learn from this and acquire the desires that aspire to spirituality. This is the goal, and everything is structured precisely this way from the beginning. Otherwise every person would have gotten his own planet.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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We are in an unknown reality, and to this day, while existing in this world we still do not understand exactly where we are, by what program we develop, and what goal we are moving toward. We do not understand anything in our life, and being sheltered by concealment, we consider ourselves smart and intelligent, as if we have knowledge, our own opinion, and freedom of will.

But when blows and suffering catch up to us, we understand that we are incapable of anything, that we don’t understand anything, and don’t have any chance to behave intelligently. Especially now, during a time of crisis, we see that we do not have any chances of relating to reality correctly, that we are facing problems and don’t even have the slightest ability to understand them. Even if we sometimes understand something one millimeter ahead of time, this does not enable us to change our state or to behave differently. Even if we decide that we really do need to change and start behaving differently, we don’t have the forces to change our behavior. So what’s the use of these decisions if we can’t change ourselves, influence one another, and the whole world?

Even when we see that we only inflict harm and misfortunes upon ourselves, that we are, in fact, leading ourselves to death, we are still unable to stop ourselves. What insignificance, what ignominy! We would simply finish our lives inside of our will to enjoy, which completely kills us if we did not receive the Torah, the means to correct the egoistic desire so that starting from the lowest possible point, a moment before death, we could start raising it to the top, to the level of the Creator, the higher, opposite quality—the will to bestow.

This means, called “Torah” is more important than anything. Without it there is no chance to achieve anything. We cannot develop through suffering. The influence of suffering only makes the will to enjoy develop. Blows make it search for all sorts of means to get rid of the troubles, and in the end it leads itself to death in order to avoid suffering. When the desire feels unbearable suffering due to its absolute opposition to the Light, it is willing to nullify itself completely, anything but to suffer.

If so, then the Torah is the only means leading us to life, correction, and existence. That is why there is no path of suffering, no path without Torah. The Torah has to become revealed to humanity so people would be able to use it. And they have to reveal it in the right form—as the Light that reforms. But if they don’t use the Torah correctly, meaning that they don’t realize it, that means they are following the path of suffering. If they use it correctly, then they follow the path of Torah, the path of Light. And if they are in the middle between one and the other, they advance by “the earthly path.”

Therefore, Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)” is very important since it tells us about how we can receive the Torah. There is a giving of the Torah from above, and there is a reception of the Torah from below. All of the suffering comes to us because we do not use the Torah correctly, the Light that reforms, that brings us back to the source of goodness. Everything depends on our efforts to become good. Therefore, we do not have a lack for anything besides this means. So let’s find out how to receive the Torah and come to goodness!
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)

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