The desire to receive pleasure was created by the Light. This way the Light is primary, it is existence from existence, the primary cause. Whereas the desire to receive pleasure was created in it and is its consequence.

The Light created desire to make it absolute like itself. The Light can do anything with the desire. The desire is like hardware that can be programmed with different and even opposite programs. Depending on this, the desire will enjoy bitter or sweet, falsehood or truth, closeness or distance, and so on. The desire is only something that reacts to the Light. It will be what the Light programs it to be.

And so, the Light begins to work with the desire, showing its “changeable” attitude. It uses different methods to form a sensation of need in the desire—this is the first step. Fulfillment arises inside the need, the sensation of the Giver within the fulfillment, the attitude towards the Giver within the sensation of Him, and I discover who I am in relation to Him in my attitude towards Him. The Light in the desire manifests and fades in this chain of states—like a light bulb that keeps coming on and off.

From these concealments and revelations of Light the desire acquires a greater understanding, sensations, decisiveness, and analysis. Its inner reserve becomes refilled, and every time it reacts to the Light on a different level and in a different way. The Light has a simple affect on the desire, but thanks to this it becomes more complex every time and constantly undergoes qualitative changes.

We cannot characterize the parameters of these changes for we lack appropriate terminology. But one way or another, the desire operates based on what it feels at the given moment, and also what stayed in its memory from past sensation. It bases its actions on past experience. Moreover, the desire also has another memory, instincts imbedded in past states, which make it act in a certain way, even when there is no reasonable foundation for it.

Opposite forms must be present in the desire: the qualities of the creature and the qualities of Light, the Creator. Otherwise the Light would always directly control the desire. The purpose of creation is for the desire to acquire reason and feeling, become independent, and this is only possible in the conditions of opposition, clash, and separation into opposites that consist of different forces. And this is why the path always lies through ascents and descents in different forms and details of perception.

Instincts conflict with reason inside the creature. Animals that act according to the inner program do not make mistakes, but man constantly errs where he rises above the animal.

You also see this on human development: Some people develop certain habits and spend their lives living like soldiers, carrying out instructions they received back in their parents’ home. Their lives are quieter, standard; they have more balance and security.

On the other hand, a developing person has less instincts and more reason and doubts. He experiences frequent inner conflicts, learns and changes more, and acts like a child at an older age. He is always changing, full of life, and ready to be different.

And those who are closer to “instinctive” living feel more secure in life, knowledgeable, and stable. This is because they lean on stable instincts, and this provides them with an easier life.

Those who really want to rise to the Creator’s level experience changes, ascents and descents in different parts of perception. The degree of Pharaoh also lies along this path, who says: “The Creator is righteous, while I and my people are at fault.” This is a very high and important degree for a person who understands how great the difference is between the top of the ladder and its foundation. We are referring to difficult work within opposite qualities.

And this is why we must always try to see ourselves in our lives on the steps of the ladder we descend and ascend, over and over again. There is no need to fear this and wait for comfort—there is nothing worse than this.

On this path, changes are only realized through the environment. When a person is alone, he subconsciously wishes to remain in one place. He might not even be very happy or even be in very bad shape, but he still does not care for changes and constantly holds on to the routine.

It is hard to get out of a familiar swamp, and only the environment that constantly inspires man with other values will pull him out. And this is why we need to strengthen the group, to ascend and descend faster, understanding that every time we form within us the vessel for final correction.
[54533]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/9/2011, Rabash’s article

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Question: How do I choose a group in order to advance spiritually?

Answer: Today, for a person to advance spiritually, he needs to choose a group that disseminates. In our days, only wide dissemination can lead us into the spiritual world. This situation formed years ago, but it has only now manifested with full strength.

You need to choose a group where people do not deem themselves too important, that understand what they are doing, and follow the example of the central group. It is important that their actions do not lead to separation and that they spend less time settling scores. Instead, they rise and disseminate our message.

This is the group you should choose. Keep away from those who do the opposite and fight. A good group does not look within it, but only looks toward the outside.
[54441]
From the New York lecture #2, 9/12/11

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Question: It seems that circumstances push us towards unity, apparently in order to overcome the crisis, but in reality in order to correct our nature and rise to the level of “human.” What is the difference between unity in the group, the nation, and the world?

Answer: The entire wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to unite in the group. This was also the system during the exile (Galut), when small amounts of Kabbalists connected into groups. This is written about by the Ari, Ramchal, Rabash, and Baal HaSulam. The wisdom of Kabbalah is realized in a group, in unity. From within that unity, Kabbalists perceived the upper world, meaning that which is felt in the attribute of bestowal they mutually developed in the group.

Today, from within a state we reach in the group, we need to exit into a state where all our groups unite into one, and this general, common group is within humanity as its part. On the other hand, the time has come to unite inside Israel. This is what Baal HaSulam writes about.

But from where can it begin? It can begin from the Kabbalist group that works on its unity and based on it, explains to the nation about the need to unite. It’s because this need has already awakened not from within man, meaning from within the point in the heart, but through a push from nature, when everyone, Israel and especially the nations of the world, feel the pressure, the problem, the general integral and global crisis. Thus they push from behind via suffering to unity.

We see that nowadays a need for unity does not arise because an individual desire, the point in the heart, appears in us. Rather, the circumstances, a historical necessity oblige us to connect, to form one complete entity from ourselves, and thus to be an example to the world, becoming “the Light for the nations,” according to the Biblical command.

If so, we continue our movement from that same wisdom of Kabbalah, from Abraham, from his system, from the nation of Israel in ancient times, from his connection of mutual love. Gradually we comprehend that today we must attain that same state: return to our roots and continue this connection from us to the whole world that evolved from the ancient Babylon and didn’t want to receive Abraham’s system of connection back then.

Thus, the Kabbalist group that engages in the wisdom of Kabbalah is inside. It is composed of people who are driven by the inner demand of the soul. The nation that feels the crisis, the external pressure, gathers around it and involuntary takes the correction upon itself. And the world gathers around the nation, with the help of our groups all over the world, which belong both to the inner group and to the nations of the world.

The inner group is called “Kabbalah La’Am (Kabbalah for the Nation),” which engages in the wisdom of Kabbalah. The nation of Israel needs to take on the form of a group, not a Kabbalistic one, but as a unification into one family of Mutual Guarantee. This is our movement. The correction of the soul is for the group, and a connection of mutual guarantee is for the nation.

From within the need to advance the system of connection, we should turn to the government and any other institutions where we can promote our idea, approach the Ministry of Education, and engage in the education of the nation. We should do it through scientists who confirm the existence of the present crisis and based on objective social reasons and reality, see the necessity to unite. And thus, with the help of the scientists, we need to turn to those above and below: above, to the government, and below, to the nation. We must invite scientists to our discussions and awaken the interest of mass media.
[54353]

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A collection of tips and principles of spiritual work studied during the Daily Kabbalah Lesson

The Truth Only Comes Forth Through Difficult Work

Spiritual work consists of preferring the truth to everything else: falsehood and sweetness vs. bitterness. When I hold onto this truth, I start attaining perfection and eternity, which I did not previously know. When I place the truth above everything else, without preferring anything else, I ultimately learn that there was nothing but it.

When the desire to receive pleasure rises above the point of one’s creation, it becomes included in the thought of the upper one where it had not yet actually existed, but was only in potential. It disappears in the upper one to such an extent that it begins to perceive eternity. All the steps that we take to return to our root remain in us.

When we ascend them, we collect them and include them within us. This is why this entire process, our entire history, becomes the inner part of our existence. We experience all the states described in the books of Kabbalah on our path. We include them within us, and we feel as one whole with all the souls of the Kabbalists who have already completed the entire path of the return to the world of Infinity.

There is nothing but desire. The place of the spiritual world is desire, similar to the Creator’s desire. The place of the corporeal world is desire opposite to that of the Creator.
[Read more →]

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Question: Is there a difference between personal internal work and work in the group?

Answer: In spirituality, there is no separate personal and group work—it is all a single work. If I exist only under one authority, under the complete rule of my egoism, nothing can be done. Such a reality is called “this world,” and in such a state, I have no chance in changing my ego.

To change my state means to change “a place.” That is, I have to build a new place, new spiritual feelings and mind. And that is possible only by means of connection.

My personal work is to exert effort to connect with others. And for that reason, I select people who can help me—they are called “the group.” Thus, both my personal and group work take place, but essentially, this is one general work. It’s because I can’t be without them, and they can’t exist without me: This is the way we are arranged from the beginning.

There is no other work besides connecting and feeling new spiritual phenomena inside of that connection. To the extent that I want to attach their internal desire to me, I correct my desire. In fact, my spiritual vessel exists beyond my “I,” in all the others.

I have to connect what seems separate and remote from me in my consciousness, obscured by a wall of my egoism, envy, hatred, and ambition, meaning my desire to dominate the others, to disregard everyone, to rule and to use.

Thus my ego purposefully shows me different forms of my remoteness and neglect of a fellow human being so that I build the bridge of love towards him. And the further I advance, the stronger I will feel that I despise others, repel them, and want to use them for my own good.

I do that with pleasure or see that it is simply necessary, and I will suffer if I don’t use the other. We are being put through such states and placed before the need of using the other and neglecting him or her to save us from problems. Meanwhile, I have to realize that all of that is just an exercise or a joke that I have to rise above in order to overcome it and to connect to others, namely above it.

The egoistic force brings me to a state of total despair: “Look, if you don’t cause damage to others, you won’t be able to exist!” All our work is in rising above it. That’s why this principle is expressed in such general words: “Love the other as thyself”—above envy and hatred, above the desire to use others.
[54212]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/29/2011, Shamati #121

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Considering the world’s current state, our advancement will be quick. You can see by the news how quickly things accelerate. We will pass through this period quickly since the world also needs us to advance. This is why we must exert all our efforts to keep on our path and not stray off it.

Today the work we do locally and mass dissemination are extremely important. If you establish a connection with someone so as to bestow to them, all the necessary phases will flow through you quickly. I’m addressing all of our groups in Israel and strongly recommend for everyone to engage in dissemination work. This is what Baal HaSulam and all Kabbalists write about. Even without them we see that there is no other way. This is the only way we can reveal the upper reality.

The correction of 613 desires from reception to bestowal is our work. Everything else is a cover, customs that were necessary in the period of the exile. However, the actual method we had applied initially is inner correction. We applied it until we had fallen from the degree of brotherly love into unfounded hatred in the time of Rabbi Akiva. We have the Reshimot, spiritual genes, that have remained in us since those times, and it’s easy for us to return.

This is why we are presented with demands; this is why the whole world is pressuring us. They don’t even know what it is, but they feel that the problem lies precisely in us. Therefore, we need to act as fast as possible for this is how we can avert all the troubles coming to us. Our neighbors will come to our aid instead of bombarding us with rockets. That is exactly how things will go, and the Kabbalists write about it. In essence, our enemies are matched up to help us by pressuring us to reflect on life.

We must remember that everything comes from one Force, that there is none else beside Him. And we must react to what’s happening accordingly. What’s the use in shouting and bickering? Where is the correction in it? Our only correction is to unite and become “the light for the nations,” to light the way for the entire world toward correction.

Today the whole world is helpless, and the brightest minds don’t know what to do. Namely today our time has come. Upon completing our work, we will merit universal respect and gratitude. Hence, we must disseminate more, explain more, and lead by example. We are entering a period of practical Kabbalah, the entire essence of which is the correction of humanity.
[54151]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/9/2011, “The Nation”

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Question: Where do the upper world and this world come into contact with one another?

Answer: Our world and the upper world meet in the desires of other people, which I can connect to my desires so they become like my own. That’s why there is the condition of “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

My primordial desire is just a point. I can’t receive anything into it; it has no volume. If I can connect the desire of the other to myself and accept it as my own, I act in a very interesting way: I ask to be given the Light with which to fill it. The Light comes, passes through me, and I fill that desire. If I similarly connect myself to an even bigger desire, and more and more desires, I reach the world of Infinity.

The world of Infinity is all the points in all the hearts. Then all the Light of Infinity passes through me, and I feel this Light in all the others, in seemingly foreign desires that, because I connected them to myself, became mine.

This clarifies the meaning of the maxim, “Love thy neighbor as thyself”: “You” (an egoist) “love thy neighbor” (all the others so that they become close to you) “as thyself” (connect their desires to yourself).

Then, you’ll pass all the upper Light through yourself. You’ll receive it into the desires you have connected to yourself—they are yours. Thereby we reach eternity, perfection, the world of Infinity. This is what our work is all about.
[54220]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 9/4/2011

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The force of inertia that constantly prevents us from making changes by our own initiative, from awakening and approaching the Creator instead of the pressure of sufferings, and puts a cloud over us is called “Amalek.” In general, it works against the importance of the goal and is the cause of all the failures.

It doesn’t seem to do anything in particular. It simply weakens a person, takes his desire from him, and calms him down, suggesting that there is nothing to be afraid of: “Just go on, and everything will be all right.” It is very clever and thus the strongest: It infects us with indifference. And therefore, this force “Amalek” is considered our chief enemy on this path.

We see that all the other enemies who want to prevent you, shout, show themselves, and reveal their qualities interfere. But Amalek is not like that: He lives quietly on the sidelines, like a cunning serpent. There are people like that, they know how to be invisible but never forget about themselves and always manage secretly, stealthily, to turn everything in their favor. And those people bring the most harm.

It is said that we have to erase the very memory of Amalek. This is the work of the importance of the revelation of the Creator with respect to the actions that we are doing for this purpose and with respect to our hopes that it will happen from Above.

We are in the world of action. And therefore, until we can do some actions in practice, nothing will happen. It would seem that the actions don’t decide anything because the main thing is the intention. But the true intention is Above in the Light, and we are in desire.

That’s why, until the possibility to carry out the actions of connection or mutual closeness presented itself from below, the wisdom of Kabbalah wasn’t revealed and didn’t come out of concealment. After all, nothing could be done if there was no opportunity to perform any correction practically.

Our intentions are always egoistic, but things could lead to changes, as it is said, hearts follow the deeds. That’s why when the world starts changing so much because the Creator is approaching us, we can carry out the same actions, going towards Him. And even if these actions are without the correct intention, they will still change and purify our desires, meaning, they will be helpful.

Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah is being revealed, and we can work and produce changes in ourselves through our attempts to unite with each other and through the dissemination of this message around the world. We explain the future to which humanity has to come and what awaits all of us. We explain how we should act so that the revelation of the Creator is kind, when we do not shirk it in every possible way, but rather desire to live according to His new approach.

New management, a new power, has been established in the world; a new network of forces that rules the world today is being revealed. And we have to understand and feel it, to come into compliance with it. If we do our best to accomplish this, we erase the memory of Amalek because Amalek works mostly on downplaying the importance of the Creator, the property of mutual bestowal, which is the whole essence of the new management, new government, now landing on our Earth and covering us like a cloud.

The reason for the crisis is that the Creator is getting closer; His quality of bestowal is coming to us, and we begin to feel it between us stronger and stronger. We “erase the memory of Amalek” with our explanations in practice, in this world, below. And then the Creator, the upper force, will complete this action from Above with the Light that Reforms.

If we try to perform these actions even in our old egoistic nature, but altogether, with the whole world, wherever possible, explaining and bringing people closer to the approaching Creator, we attract the Light of correction and begin to change. That is, first, we erase the memory of Amalek below, and according to this, the Creator later erases the memory of him Above.

Thus, we become allies with Him, fighting one enemy who stands between us and separates us: us from the Creator and us from one another. And by this measure, the misty cloud turns into a powerful connecting field, in which we discover our new vessel (desire) and there, the property of love and bestowal, which is called the revelation of the Creator to the created beings.
[53805]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What is the meaning of “to fall into despair from the work and cry out to the Creator?”

Answer: Usually in the beginning a person relies on one’s self and later, due to hopelessness, he has to rely on the group. Then also due to hopelessness, he relies upon the upper force. Ultimately, he’s left with no choice but to let go of asking only for himself and to begin to figure out the intention to bestow. This is how he’s led by his inner program, his inner HaVaYaH, until his appeal to the Creator takes a more correct direction.

This is called suffering that leads a person toward a correct goal. After all, “whatever the mind doesn’t do, time does” and “suffering softens the egoism.” This is the path by which we advance. Each time we make a “mistake,” it leads us to a revelation of a more correct state. This is how the chain of informational genes (Reshimot) operates within us.

This is how we ultimately reach a state about which is said: “The sons of Israel fell into despair from this work and cried out to the Creator.” This means that as a person moves along this chain of states connected as cause and effect, he gradually becomes more and more disappointed. He does so until he reaches a state of total despair, where he understands that he can’t do anything on his own and that “there is none else besides Him,” meaning that no one can help him but the Creator. This Creator isn’t some magical force, but a special reality that becomes revealed within a person.

This reality is revealed only when it is clothed in a person. That’s why a person begins to want the intention to bestow to take over him.

It is said: “You will not have other Gods.” That is, we need to determine that everything, both externally and internally, is ruled by one Creator. We determine this as a result of adhesion to Him and through the contrast of contradictions that became revealed to us. This is the most difficult moment because we discover a new reality with two ruling forces, but they come together into a single force. And this is what all of humanity must do.

Until today, “I” considered myself the only authority, standing against society and the still, vegetative, animate, and human nature, and tried to control them as much as possible in order to benefit myself. I took them into consideration, but only to determine whether I could handle them, similarly to when I see ahead of time that I can’t handle lifting a heavy suitcase.

I was the main link in this system, and everything ultimately ran through me. Even when I obeyed some external force such as the government or society, these were my decisions, thoughts and desires.

And now I’m in a state of disarray because I see that these aren’t my thoughts, aren’t my intentions and desires! But the decision can be mine only if I know how to work with my environment. I have a small area of freedom called the “middle third of Tifferet.” Everything existing within me and outside of me, with the exception of this subtle relation towards the environment, I have to attribute to the Creator.

It is not by their own will that these people before me want to beat me or hug me. These actions aren’t theirs, but the Creator’s. And my own behavior, whether I act correctly or incorrectly, whether I am a sinner or a saint, isn’t determined by me but by an external force.

For the first time in the history of our development we are discovering the existence of an external force, and we have to work with it in a very special way. The faster we try to discover this governance and begin to collaborate with it, the more we’ll gain and spare ourselves the suffering.
[53913]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/7/2o11, Shamati #109

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We do not reveal all the things we wish to reveal with our own strength in our current vessel of perception, meaning the desire to receive pleasure, but rather, in the qualities of bestowal. The corporeal world is revealed in the qualities of reception, while the spiritual world in the qualities of bestowal.

We are not able to see or sense anything in the spiritual world because we do not have the property of bestowal. We perceive everything we experience in our desire to receive pleasure directed “toward oneself,” while the spiritual world is perceived in the desire to bestow when exiting the desire to receive pleasure, “outside of oneself.”

How can we come closer to this when these two forms of perception are opposite to each other? Kabbalists say the following: Try to play at bestowal, practice it, doing the same action with the others, when every person, together with everyone else, tries to come “out of himself,” of his ego, towards the others. Imagine this aspiration as much as you can.

In this aspiration, when you think that you are coming out of yourself towards the others, you begin to attain, perceive, and understand what the spiritual world is. You do not understand anything in it, you are not able to analyze or test it, or evaluate your actions. But these efforts gradually build readiness—(“muscles”) within you, which you already have but simply don’t use.

Different parts of your future, your soul’s big body, are instilled in you, in your point in the heart, like in a drop of semen, and this body of the soul develops through you constantly exerting effort. Why is this so? Since your efforts to exit yourself towards a fellow human being combine with the strengths of everyone else, united in one common aspiration, this activates these “muscles.”

When every person in the group thinks about coming out of himself towards the others, he adds the strength of his special “muscle” to everyone else. This way everyone begins to increase his “muscles” with his ability to develop and come out of himself.

It follows that every person only has one point of exiting oneself: the joint aspiration. But all the rest who also think about coming out of themselves, they are the ones who, by including themselves into him, build the structure of the future Partzuf in him (and every person does this in everyone else). This does not mean that they give him anything from their “muscles.” They give him strength for the development of the information gene (Reshimo) called his point in the heart, a drop of semen.

It follows that none of us is able to develop on his own in any direction, in not one “muscle” of our 613 forces, desires. We can only develop through mutual inclusion in one another. The Creator sends us friends, haters, conflicts, wars, problems, and pressure, all these different situations, to provide us with this kind of mutual inclusion. When we work correctly on the basis of these problems, then the more acute and dramatic the sensations of these situations are, the higher and steeper degrees of ascension they become.

This is why we need to add all the different situations that arise in the group and in every person’s life and the difficulties in their inner spiritual work to our study, and see how much we can advance specifically on the basis of problems and complications. We see this in the Torah tales: More problems get revealed every time, and ever new ascents occur above them. And this goes on until we achieve complete correction (Gmar Tikkun).

For this reason, when we read The Zohar, we need to concentrate on the fact that all of us together desire to come out of our ego towards the others. This way every one of us grows his vessel (desire)—the spiritual Partzuf built specifically from everyone’s mutual inclusion.
[53813]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/2011, The Zohar

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