On the spiritual path a person discovers terrible egoistic desires which show him how deeply he is in receiving. Then his attitude towards others is described as mistakes. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the “Introduction to the Study of The Ten Sefirot“: “With this we understand the words of our sages: that one who repents from fear is rewarded with his sins becoming mistakes.”

First the egoistic desires are revealed to a person as sins, and now he passes them to the level of mistakes, to an easier level. On the whole, the correction is always gradual: First we raise the desire to the level of Bina, and then to the level of Keter. First, in the level of Bina, we neutralize the desire.

We cannot bestow with it yet, but at least we don’t let it cause harm. At the same time, we are in single concealment, while before we were in a double concealment: “that the sins one makes extend to him from the reception of Providence through double concealment.”

If both the face and the posterior of the Light are concealed, I am in a double concealment. Then I have to sin because I am under the control of my egoistic desire, the desire to receive in order to receive, until a Light appears from Above and corrects my desire.

But there are states in which the Light is concealed. It is present, but it doesn’t correct. This is single concealment. The presence of the Light still makes me fear to receive: it is as if it warns me, guards me, and keeps me on the level of mistakes, but not sins.

But if the Light is totally concealed and doesn’t deter me, then I lose control and am under the domination of my egoism, which does whatever it wants with me.

On the whole, I am between the force of bestowal and the force of receiving. The account is very simple: Which of the two forces pressures me more strongly? If the force of the Creator, the force of the Light, influences me more strongly, then I will undoubtedly bestow. But if the force of the Light is weaker, then I will undoubtedly carry out the orders of my egoistic desire and move on to the level of “sins.”

It is the same with us: If society, the police, or the family hold me and prevent me from doing bad deeds, then I am okay. But if there aren’t such restraining factors, I begin to “go wild.” One way or another, there is no choice: A person is under the influence of one of the forces.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: From the lessons I understand what I should feel, but in reality I don’t feel it. How do I come to this sensation?

Answer: The fact is that one cannot actualize anything within himself on his own. Indeed, every one of us is but a point, and any actions are only possible between us. That’s where all the corrections are made.

You may feel your own individual desire for correction, but you can only actualize it in the connection with your friend. That is the only way to perform all the measurements and tests.

Today all that you see within yourself are violations on an animate degree, both inadvertent and deliberate. Whatever may upset you about yourself, none of these things are real, as they pertain to the still, vegetative, and animate degrees. But have you revealed your blunders and malicious intentions in your connection with the friends, in the aspiration to unite with them?

If you remember how you mistreated someone in your life, this doesn’t apply to the domain of correction. Even if it was someone in your family, it still pertains to the still, vegetative, and animate degrees. This is not yours, but something that’s revealed to you in your desire to receive.

In contrast, we must correct only what becomes revealed as a result of our efforts to unite with the group. I reveal that I’m incapable of it and that I’m filled with hatred for the friends. By trying to weld together Israel, Torah, and the Creator, I reveal the blunders and malicious intentions, and then I correct them. I work exclusively on this “territory,” on the human degree.

Everything else is irrelevant. In all other ways I am simply driven by nature. Nature may drive me through suffering and unpleasant states, but I need not correct them.

Only to the extent of my correction in the group, with the Creator, everything that happened in the past will be corrected as well. And then the still, vegetative, and animate degrees will rise together with man.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: It’s difficult to put all of one’s energy into the request for correction and to come out “empty-handed” again and again. How can we keep from getting disillusioned in the path?

Answer: What are you asking for? To have the true request, or for something else? You don’t need anything besides this. If I turn to Him with a request, I must constantly check to make sure that my request is the best, most correct and precise one, that it hits the goal right on target and I don’t demand anything from it. Why would I need anything else? After all, any answer to it would already be a payment, and I don’t desire payment.

What do we aspire to?
– I aspire to unity, togetherness, bestowal, to give pleasure to the Creator!
– Please, go ahead, you’re doing it.
– I just want to know whether He likes it or not…
But if you find out that you are doing something pleasant for the Creator, that will be the greatest pleasure for you, and you will receive it for your own sake.

By going through all these states, where you don’t receive anything and keep going, and you do it over and over again, you thereby build a screen with which you receive a reaction from the Creator that you give Him pleasure, and this won’t enter your receiving desires, but will be above them.

But for now, if you received a reaction in return right now, this would give you enormous satisfaction. Say you wrote a letter to someone very great, and that person received it and responded to you, saying, “I got your letter.” That would be enough, you would already be happy.

Therefore, as long as you aren’t protected from this kind of pleasure, you won’t receive any reaction in return.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, The Zohar

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Question: What does it mean to funnel your request “through the group,” through unity?

Answer: “Through the group” means that I funnel my desire through the integral system. And if it is able to become similar to this integral system, this is a sign that my desire is similar to the Creator’s desire. It is written, “Make your desire like His.”

If I cannot do this, then I still address Him through the group and ask for the force of correction. But this does not mean that I funnel my desire through the group to the Creator so He would respond to me and fill me with His force of bestowal so I could bestow in practice.

On the contrary, I turn to the group and see how much I hate others, don’t want to be with them, am rejected by them or reject them. And then in these discernments, in the struggles and collisions with everyone, precisely all of these corrupted states are what I raise upward and ask, “Correct them! I am waiting! I want to unite with the others!” Then it’s a wonderful prayer.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, The Zohar

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The difference between male and female, between the Creator and the creature, is their oppositeness. We don’t even understand these contradictions. Whatever is natural for the male, can be expressed in the nature of the creature only in the intention, which he gained through his efforts.

The nature of the Creator (Zeir Anpin) is bestowal, and in the creature (Nukva) bestowal can only be in the intention. And if this intention is correct, then the bestowal occurs by the fact that it receives, and the more the better.

That being the case, the spiritual Kli (vessel) that we must develop is found above the desire, in intention. Thus, we don’t understand how it is possible to calculate it.

When a person begins to study, after a certain time he sees that there is a mountain before him and on its peak is the temple of the Creator, the place he must reach. However, the more he advances towards this, the more he is rejected by it and the more confused he becomes. In this way, the knowledge of the Torah is opposite to the knowledge of the landlords. Indeed, whoever advances with the help of his ego constantly strengthens his powers, his knowledge, his security, his understanding, and he feels more support.

However, whoever really tries to climb the mountain of the Creator needs to detach more and more from the stable ground, thus he experiences more confusion and lack of understanding. He needs to accept this rejection specifically as assistance that he needs in order to build his spiritual vessel, the female, Nukva, to be similar to bestowal, the male, the Creator, making an example of Him.

The difficulty in real advancement is that it isn’t compatible with our common understanding, but demands from us to convince ourselves and to accept the conditions placed on man by the Creator. It is the only way to progress.

Therefore, on the way to the temple, uncompromising guards and police constantly appear with greater strength and power, and they throw a person from the height he has reached. Indeed, each time a person reaches some kind of change in himself, he begins to understand it. This understanding destroys his spiritual vessel because it lies entirely in faith above reason! Understanding erases it.

And in order to help us not to get caught up in our knowledge, but to advance more and more in faith above it, we are thrown from the mountain and are forced to begin again from zero. But each time we reach a greater height. This means that we are able to renounce our ego, in one way or another, with the help of the Light that reforms.

Thus, until there is nothing left for the person and he completely rises above his desire to receive, he will reach real devotion. Then his desire (feminine Nukva) will invert from its outer form to be completely similar to the male nature, to the inner attribute of the Creator, and will merge the male and the female. Our desire will externally clothe in the Creator.

The ascension is concealed with subjugating ourselves and receiving the form of bestowal. If I am prepared for anything that comes to me from Him and agree to annul myself, then I can become His outermost clothing. And then from Him will come bestowal in the form of the surrounding Light and will begin to build me anew. This is what is spoken about, when each day the Nukva becomes a virgin again, and the Creator builds from it a new Kli. This means that the form of bestowal builds from a person the desire that is suitable to it, the correct intention.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/17/12, Writings of Rabash

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Just think how much help we’ve received! We want to receive from the Creator in order to please Him, and someone has already fixed things so that until we really want to please Him we won’t get anything.

This is an invaluable aid. After all, if we received from Him not in order to do Him good, but simply to enjoy from Him, then we would never escape the egoistic use.

This is why there was a restriction, after which I can be absolutely sure that if I want to receive and to enjoy the Creator for myself, I won’t be able to do so. How good it is that someone has set this natural law for me, which cannot be broken.

Only when I want to enjoy in order to bestow upon the Creator in order to please Him and to be equivalent to Him as we both please one another—only then will I be able to do it. This enables me to attain the condition; I won’t commit a sin and won’t receive egoistically. Before I am able to receive in order to bestow, I will remain in the dark. How wonderful!
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Can we perform any action in order to bestow now?

Answer: It can be done at any moment if you rise to the height of that action. But we advance towards it gradually; first I am ready to bestow upon others 1%, and then 2%, and then 3% and so on until I reach 100%.

When I am ready to bestow upon them 1%, it means that I want 99% for myself! And if I want to bestow upon them 2%, it means that I want 98% for myself! And so I gradually rise towards bestowal, towards Lishma (for His sake).

This is called the time of preparation; it lasts until my intention becomes 100% for bestowal. So far, this 100% of intention extends into one gram of pleasure, one portion of Light, one quantum of Light. Then I intensify my intention so that it will be enough for two portions of Light and then three portions, until I can restrain myself from receiving all the incoming Light, which means I am building myself a Masach (screen) of Bina, to bestow in order to bestow. After attaining this level I can even receive in order to bestow, after having developed the right Masach.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: During a convention or the friends’ meetings it’s easy to attain the feeling of love towards the friends and the connection. But why does the opposite sometimes happen during the lesson?

Answer: The morning lesson isn’t meant to fill the student. The lesson should shake him strongly and put him in his place, so that afterwards he will be able to choose the direction correctly, to exert himself during the lesson and also afterwards, and to continue living in it the whole day.

The morning lesson is the minimal daily portion that everyone receives and continues to process the whole day. From it he chooses several principles for his internal work and for dissemination. I remember that when I studied, I never missed a lesson except for one time when I was very ill. If you spend the morning without a lesson, you will only feel your corporeal body the whole day and will serve it the whole day.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: We are not impressed by external actions any more, and internally we fail to influence each other.

Answer: You won’t succeed in that because you need to connect and demand that the Creator be among you to teach you, to reinforce you, and fulfill your desires. Or do you want to reach something by yourself? Everything is attained only by the power of prayer.

Question: That’s exactly it; we fail to unite and to turn to the Creator with the demand. This is where we fail time after time, and then we are pushed from behind. How can we hasten the process? How can I oblige myself and the friends?

Answer: It is about the internal work. We should still speak about it a bit although it is all internal. It is written: “And the children of Israel sighed because of the work.” It can’t be without it. You should despair of your own powers and only then, unite and cry out for help.

Baal HaSulam wrote about this in letter 57: “And also whoever didn’t receive the Creator’s love, everything that he worked for on purifying his soul the previous day, seems to be totally burnt the following day. And every day and every moment one should start anew, as if he did nothing his whole life. And then “and the children of Israel sighed because of the work.” Because they saw that they are forever incapable of seeing the fruit of their own work. And so their sigh and their payer were whole, and so ” they cried out” etc.,  because the Creator hears the prayer and He only waits for a whole payer.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/23/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: What works while reading The Zohar: my intention, the text or the combination of the text and the intention?

Answer: The text doesn’t operate here. Were you impressed by the text now? Who can tell me without looking at the book, what we read about? The text doesn’t stay in us unless we have to use it in a certain way, to write something based on it or to teach someone else. But for ourselves, it doesn’t. As for now The Book of Zohar is like the surrounding Light for us, which comes and influences us from the outside. So while reading, we can aim our desires and thoughts towards correction, hoping that it will work.

What the authors of The Zohar write is so high that I cannot be connected to the text itself, but only with the “medicine.” I don’t know how the medicine works. It contains different materials that enter my body and join its chemical processes and lead to imbalance in it. But the imbalance is aimed at the disease and so it leads to balance.

It is called “the poison that serves as a cure.” What I swallow causes shifts in my body, but they are opposite to the direction the disease moved in that put the body in imbalance. Then one imbalance and the other imbalance lead to balance. It is written: “Each medicine is poison, but not every poison is a medicine.”

This is the work in the right and left lines, between which we create the middle line. Here the imbalance from the right line and the imbalance from the left line balance the middle line. If we are afraid to be in a state of imbalance, it isn’t the Creator’s work anymore. In short, you have to be a hero. The imbalance is a good state; it is a sign of advancement. After all, even when you walk, you move from one imbalanced state to another imbalanced state: You stand on one foot while the other foot is in the air.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/12, The Zohar

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