Question: A lot of newcomers mentioned that on the second day, they had neither the strength nor the desire to come to the Convention. However, having arrived, they felt that a warm wave of love suddenly engulfed them. What happened to them?

Answer: That was a so-called “sweetening” which occurred even though we have not yet reached a perfect state. The fact is that each line also consists of three lines. Although we have revealed only the left line, it, too, has the left, right, and middle lines within it. That’s what swept through them. In other words, the second day of the Convention saw a revelation of the right side of the left line.

Question: Many people told me that they felt something special on the third day of the Convention. They don’t know what it was, but it completely changed their inner perception of the event.

Answer: True. Although the middle line belongs to the left line and despite the fact that we have not yet attained revelation, this line still brought us a certain illumination from Above. That’s why many people felt so.

However, we shouldn’t overestimate what happened; it was, after all, a very small illumination. Together with our core group, a lot of new people also attended the Convention, so it was a bit difficult. Nevertheless, we reached a very significant change in the way we are progressing. That, by the way, was an actual entry onto “Jacob’s Ladder,” just its left side, however.

After all, we have only come to the recognition of evil, realizing that we are unable to attain spirituality in our own selfish desires, that it goes against our nature, but we do not know how to break it yet. Still, that was already a beginning, and from now on, we will be able to use completely different concepts.
[26435]
From the Lesson on the Weekly Torah Portion 11/12/10

Related Material:
A Subtle Inclination Of A Sensitive Soul

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

What is the end of correction for which we are striving? It is a special and constant state that the Creator has initially created.

We exist in this state even now; nothing else was created, only the World of Infinity. However, in order for us to perceive and realize that we exist in this state, the Creator has prepared an exit from this state into the sensation of “this world” and the consequent return to it.

The path downward is referred to as the descent of the worlds, which has also translated into the breaking of the Kelim (vessels) and the formation of the 125 spiritual degrees. All of this is the preparation which manifests for us from Above downward, and then we return home.

Initially, each one of us is a point (like a drop of semen) in the World of Infinity. In our world, each one of us is also a point. Simply, this point has become egoistic (an egoistic aspiration to the Creator, to the meaning of life) during the descent from Above downward, and it has become overgrown with egoism (the desires for this world).

We return to Malchut of the World of Infinity through five worlds of ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya) and Adam Kadmon. As we ascend, we grow in our desire for the Creator, the property of bestowal, and we acquire independence.

As a result, everyone becomes Infinity (with regard to size and quality). Then, unlike before, everyone’s Infinity becomes filled with the Light of NRNHY (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida) instead of the previous Light of Nefesh.

In this world, one has a spiritual Reshimo (spiritual gene, reminiscence), similar to the drop of semen which contains full information about the body and the entire process of its development. The point of Reshimo, too, contains all the information about one’s spiritual path and the way he will see the World of Infinity in his perception.

However, everything is predetermined. As I realize my Reshimo and push it to develop, I acquire the sensation of independence. Now I consciously exist, feel, and make conscious decisions. I acquire my spiritual “I” which develops from the Reshimo just like a grown, independent human being forms out of a drop of semen in our world.

We have one point and, with regard to volume, it needs to develop infinitely. Every person must become like the Creator. At the same time, every person ascends to their World of Infinity, and then all the infinities unite.

To find out what this process depends on, read the post, “You Must Be Ready For Me!”
[26156]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/10, Rabash, Letter #40

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - 3 Comments →

Filed under: Group Work - No Comments →

Question: What is the inner work in the group between circles (Igulim) and the “straight line” (Yosher)?

Answer: Before I was satisfied with success in the corporeal world, but then I suddenly felt that something was missing in my life, and I began to search for a place where I would feel better. Thanks to this sensation I have come to the science of Kabbalah, but who was it that pushed me to it?

My questions are called “the desire for fulfillment” (Hissaron). I (my “point in the heart”) had existed in some “round” place and suddenly felt bad. In other words, a certain tension had emerged between me and my environment, a difference, a “delta.” I felt this delta (difference) as evil, as I was tormented by the question “What am I living for?” because I do not feel satisfied and balanced.

From this sensation the Surrounding Light had already begun to influence and move me since the preservation of balance is a law of nature. The Surrounding Light is what is pushing me to a state of balance.

I had begun to move and had transitioned into my next state; I began to look for answers in say mysticism, then came to some philosophy, and ultimately arrived at the center of the circle: the science of Kabbalah.

So who was it that has been leading me along this entire path? It is the Surrounding Light! I have always existed in it, only I didn’t always realize it. Thus I pass through the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th states.

In the 2^nd state, I was calmer with respect to the Surrounding Light because I felt less pressure than in the 1^st state. But after spending some time in that state, I was influenced by the Surrounding Light and began to feel that this state is not very good. That is, I increased my sensitivity to the Surrounding Light, which caused me to feel bad again! And again I began to search.

Thus I am pushed by the Light every time. In essence, I don’t do anything myself; it’s the light working on my desire, until I reach the very center.

At the center is a totally unique quality called a “group.” In this point the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) and the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi) cease to influence me entirely.

I exist in the central point of all the “circles” (Igulim) where they do not function and also at the end of the “line” (Yosher) where it does not function. So what am I to do?

And here is where I need to act independently, for I find myself at a point of free will. Presently Light does not act on me, but waits. To the extent that I can bring myself out of this state of balance, the Light will begin to influence me!

I connect to the group, and all the additional desire that I receive from it elevates me! This desire pertains to the line, for I have received it from the group.

When my desire falls within the line, I find myself once more under the influence of Igulim (after all, I do not yet have a screen [Masach] and do not belong to Yosher), and once more I feel a difference between myself and the circles.

This leads to the Surrounding Light influencing me. It is not the general Light, but one that belongs to the Light for I have received my desire from the group, which is the line. This Surrounding Light in the line wishes to elevate me for the two of us to be in balance.

Herein lies the Segula (remedy), the miraculous power of the Torah, for this light influences me and elevates me in this straight “tube.” I rise on account of the Surrounding Light, but this Light influences me to the extent that I actualize my freedom of will in the group, by connecting to it in collective study.

Herein lies our entire work! Baal HaSulam explains it in the book, Beit Shaar HaKavanot, which is the foundation of all our intentions to reach bestowal. Therefore, I can only ascend “in the line” with the help of an additional force, which I receive from the group. According to the desire received from the group, the impression of the goal’s importance, the Creator’s greatness and the paltriness of my own ego, the Surrounding Light begins to influence me.
[26489]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/14/10, Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Beit Shaar HaKavanot”

Related Material:
Floating In The Circles Of Light

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Evolution, Group Work, Inner Work - 1 Comment →

Question: I came to the Convention with an enormous desire to break my egoistic shell. I keep having thoughts that I am able to do something right now, yet I am not doing it. I am afraid that this Convention will go by, but nothing will change in me; only impressions will remain. What do I need to do right now, right this minute, right this second, at this precise moment?

Answer: First of all, all of us ask ourselves this question. Right now you are connected with everyone, you have the same aspiration, anticipation, and this is what will remain from your entire life. Nobody knows how your life will be spent, but this moment is inscribed on your “spiritual account” for good.

It is written that when a human soul lands in the divine court, two questions are asked of it: “Did you study the Torah (did you want to attract the Light that Reforms?)” and “Did you await salvation (to rise above your ego and ascend to your second nature)?” This is exactly what we are trying to realize here. And it is good if every one of us feels that there is something that he must do, but he is incapable of doing it.

This is very unpleasant and reminiscent of birthing contractions because we want to birth our next state, but we are unable to do it. But a new degree is born within us from Above precisely thanks to these efforts.

So what should we do? Open our hearts a little bit more, connect with others a little more, feel that the Creator must be revealed between us and manifest in us slightly stronger, thereby bringing us closer together and lifting us to the second nature.

This is exactly what the Kabbalists write about. Today we are in a state when all Kabbalah material has been revealed to us, everything has been explained dozens of times. We need to do a little more, but not in studying or circulation, but specifically in unity like the one we have now, at this Convention.

Try to feel everyone in your heart, and let the Creator do this job! Pull Him where you feel that you are incapable of doing it! The Creator tells Moses: “Come to Pharaoh!” same way we take a small child by his hand. This is because Moses in us, the point in the heart, is afraid of Pharaoh. Naturally!

We are incapable of doing anything against this monster, our ego. I feel that I want to conquer it, but I am unable to. But a moment after I do not want to conquer it at all for he rules over me. And this goes on over and over.

This tiny spark that remains in me from the previous spiritual state is unable to do anything. I must grab on to the Creator with the help of this spark, and then I will be able to resist my ego. Our ego is such a monster that we are unable to do anything against it.

I just hold on to the Creator’s hand and want to be with Him like a child who pulls the adult by his hand and asks him to get him what he wants. This is how we should advance: “I want to connect with others! I want to achieve our unity! I want to achieve the desire where the Creator will be revealed!”

I grab on to the Creator through this tiny spark, but it is merely a spark, while I must catch Him entirely, unite with Him. And then suddenly the ego, Pharaoh, begins to gradually vanish and disappears… Yet I stay with the Creator united with other points in my friends’ hearts, and this is how the spiritual degree becomes revealed.
[26363]
From Lesson 4, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/10/10

Related Material:
Transforming Through Spiritual States

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Filed under: Group Work - No Comments →

In order to acquire a new perception, we need a big desire that will allow replacing the tendency to consume with the aspiration to bestow. This transition towards an inverted perception of the world with an aspiration to bestow is extremely difficult. It is similar to birth, and birth is always an extraordinary phenomenon, even during the age of modern medicine.

The infant breaks away from a special place that he was attached to. Here he used to receive special nutrition and protection; here he was subject to special laws of development. The environment did not reject him; rather, it nurtured him. Now he enters a hostile world, a new environment, where he must struggle to live and grow. This is an unparalleled revolution in his life.

The same happens during the spiritual birth. A new universal sense becomes revealed, a sense of external sensations (outside of the womb or this world) based on bestowal, and thus, we begin to perceive a new world in it.

At the Convention we took a big step ahead in this direction. We really wanted to be born, we slightly experienced contraction and saw that we are unable to do it. We felt something stopping us and throwing us back right away. In combination with the good force that draws us forward, we felt a bad force that pushes us back into the mother’s womb, does not let us leave its boundaries, this world, and does not let us feel the new world.

We need to feel several contractions like this before we are born. The quantity and the frequency depend on us. Anyway, the birthing process will not end without them, and we will not make it outside.

Two forces collide during birth: our pressure from within and the opposite snatching from the outside. Their confrontations beget a new strong desire in us to end up in the spiritual world. We cannot do it without this desire.

Birthing contractions in the Torah are referred to as the “plagues of Egypt.” Our egoism must experience ten (the full dosage of) afflictions, which become imprinted on the desire and turn it into the shape of a vessel, a Kli. This way a shapeless “piece of clay” becomes a vessel ready to receive the Upper Light, the spiritual world.

We must experience the contractions in order to take the correct shape, without which it is impossible to perceive anything spiritual. We entered this process at the Convention. With regard to the Light, it is around us and is waiting for a place to enter.
[26394]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/10, “Come unto Pharaoh – 1″

Related Material:
The End Of A Film In A Dark Hall

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →

No matter how tired we are from the efforts of reading The Book of Zohar, no matter how tasteless it may seem, during the reading we must all be united in one intention, one desire. This is our shared work in mutual guarantee against the inner disturbances of every person in our thoughts about unity.

We want to sleep and tune out, losing the thread of the narration. We wander around in a fog, and the text does not attract us or elicit any feelings. Yet this is the place that contains the Light, which has to make the correction inside us, bringing us to unity, to the spiritual form.

We have to yearn for unity from our side and wait for an action from the side of the Light so it will turn us exactly into what is necessary. We want to unite and focus on the single desire to be together when every person bows down his head. I make this effort and desire for the Light to perform its action from Above in response.

This is called “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” By means of the Torah we are trying to reveal the Creator. The Torah is the Light that Reforms and unites us, and the Creator will become revealed inside our unity. Let the anchorman keep reading. To me every word is a new drop of Light uniting us into one whole.

I am turning to all of our friends from all over the world: We lack this joint effort.
[26483]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/14/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
When You Open The Zohar And The Zohar Opens To You

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spirituality, Unity, Zohar - 1 Comment →

There are two parallel systems of connection between us:

1. The egoistical system, which is the one we experience at the moment.
2. The more internal, corrected system hidden behind the egoistic one. This is our next stage of development. In this system, pre-existing but concealed from us, we are in the intention of Lishma (for Her Sake), and it contains the Light, the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi).

If we, to the best of our ability, connect to the next state, desiring to attain it, then we draw upon ourselves the influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that affects us from afar. How do we reach the connection between these two rungs, the present and the future, so that the Surrounding Light will affect us from there? Between them there is a difference, a transition from “Lo Lishma” (not for Her Name) to “Lishma,” and I need the Ohr Makif to perform this transformation in me.

How is it done? We do it by reading The Book of Zohar. This is why Kabbalists wrote books for us. If we strive to reach this Upper system, our more internal, corrected, and close connection, we read about it.

It is irrelevant that while reading it, we understand nothing. This is due to the difference between the rungs (states, worlds). How can I comprehend the Upper World if I am not in it and don’t even exist in relation to it? Of course I’m unable to feel it, and therefore have no understanding of it. But I am reading about it.

Kabbalists wrote about the Upper World in a language I cannot understand, and I look at these letters without any idea of what they say. But I look with an effort, like a child who is trying to understand this world, and through my efforts and desire to know the Upper World, I draw the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) onto myself. This is the whole purpose of reading The Zohar.

Today at our lesson, our friends, representatives of 50 countries, are present with us. Let everyone look at these unfamiliar letters and desire to attain spirituality, and let them hear the words of The Zohar without any comprehension whatsoever. With their desire to learn, to live in it (we are talking about the soul in its more exalted state), by their efforts and yearning, the Light that Reforms, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), affects them.

In other words, while reading The Book of Zohar, we have to connect together and wish to feel (as opposed to understand) what The Zohar describes. Then The Book will reveal the screen within us, and on it we will see everything that takes place in the Upper World.
[26163]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, The Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Zohar - No Comments →

It is a known fact that our efforts and cries alone will not help. They are like a cry of a baby, and there needs to be someone Who will hear it: a mother, Bina, or the Creator.

A cry can only be heard when it is the correct cry, that is, when it is directed towards the true goal of uniting, acquiring of the force of bestowal. This is why we need to connect together in order to create specifically the desire to bestow among us, and then we can scream for the Creator together.

And this is why we read The Zohar together, wishing to connect with one another, even if it is over the Internet, television, or other types of communication. It doesn’t matter that for now our connection is egoistic because each of us is driven by the desire for our own sake (Lo Lishma). We are ready to connect, yet still want to benefit from it. Such is our nature and there is no use in lying to ourselves.

We are egoists, and each one of us understands that he is connecting with others in order to somehow benefit from this. Otherwise, none of us would be able to make the slightest action, and we would not have the energy to connect with others.

But this physical connection (gathering in one place or virtually at the same time in one thought) is the only action allowed to us. This is because for now we are only able to perform physical actions (the so-called actions performed in our egoism).

Besides this action, we need for the Upper Light that Reforms, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), to influence our egoistic connection. It is referred to as surrounding (Makif) because it shines from afar, from our next state, from the corrected desires (Kelim), in the “Lishma” desires that have the intention to bestow.

So if we really to try to strive toward it, we will evoke its influence over us because we exist in the world of physical laws of nature (the Creator). We evoke this Light over us by reading The Zohar because we unconsciously connect to our next degree.
[26168]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, The Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Zohar - No Comments →