Suppose I wanted to steal something and I suffered because I didn’t know how to do it: “Why don’t I succeed? Where can I learn the art of stealing?” Then, under the influence of a good environment, I realize that my desire is bad. Thus, I find myself in a state of concealment; I don’t agree with my own attribute. My good image as a corrected “good guy” is concealed from me. “How can I be respected by others and myself, and not berate myself all the time?”

So, I progress and learn about the forms of concealment. As soon as I can see my perfect image, even though in a first approximation, my longing creates a prayer. Whether I want it to or not, the prayer emerges from my heart and I acquire the desired form. “Here it is; I don’t want to steal anymore! I don’t need anything.” And then I am fulfilled.

And it is the Light. So far, it is the Light of Hassadim, and even though it is much lower than the Light of Hochma, I prefer it now because it has another quality: I enjoy resembling the Creator.

Then comes the next phase of the correction: If I don’t need anything, can I bestow upon others? Then I get to work. It is divided into several parts. First I find out who I stole from in order to pay back the “debt.” Then I discover that I stole from everyone.

But on the whole, I begin to enjoy the fact that I am becoming equivalent to the Creator. I fill everyone with the Light of Hochma and that is the level of my resemblance to the Creator.
[66945]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/19/12, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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A person goes through phases of concealment and revelation on his spiritual path. Yet concealment is not an easy thing. Who is actually concealed? Where did He disappear to and where is He? After all, concealment is part of the revelation.

If I feel that someone is concealed, it means that I know him, I know who he is and how he should be revealed. In this case we already have something to talk about regarding concealment: After all, I already have an understanding, an attainment, a certain feeling, but they are the opposite of revelation.

So how can it be attained? First, I have to understand that at the moment I am detached in a state of unconsciousness. Then I probably have to feel that something is concealed from me. This is already a step forward. Then I go through a double concealment and a single concealment, followed by partial revelation and complete revelation.

So how do I go through all these phases? It all depends on the how the Creator is revealed to me. The question is: How can I hasten His appearance?

He wants to be revealed before the created being, and we too, at the moment, seem to want to reveal Him. But then it turns out that we actually don’t want that at all, because to reveal the Creator is to reveal the attribute of bestowal that rules the world, and to become one who totally bestows. This means that I become restricted; I lose myself, and totally forget about myself. My “self” ceases to exist. I can’t even think about this. So do I want the revelation of the Creator?

Here we begin to understand that it isn’t that simple, it involves very serious things, and they are all concealed inside a person. According to our nature, we hate the revelation of the Creator. After all, it is in contrast to the egoistic pleasures that we want. His gradual revelation is depicted as something awful to me: It is as if I rule the whole world and suddenly some monster begins to cut off pieces from it, one piece after another, until there is nothing left and it also swallows me. What’s more, I have to agree to that, to want it, to look for it, to beg for it.

So we see that the chain of these events isn’t revealed to us directly; we have to go through a preparation process that is not simple. First I enjoy the revelations, which may be pleasant or unpleasant for my egoism. Then I have to acquire a feeling that is above egoism, and then I see the opposite picture, that I am no longer being guided by the feelings of bitter and sweet, but by the criteria of truth and false.
[66951]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/19/12, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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We all are the consequences of the shattering of the first man’s (Adam HaRishon) huge desire. Adam HaRishon remained in the state of total perfection even though he was comprised of numerous desires and each of them wanted for itself. Desires always “think” of themselves; and yet the fact that the ultimate force ruled over them allowed the whole structure to stay within a condition that is called the world of Infinity. It maintained total adhesion with and stayed under the absolute authority of the power of bestowal and love.

It is similar to the sensation that we often feel when we are sitting and singing with our friends in a great mood, and hoping that this sensation of warmth and mutual love will last forever.

Of course, this is far from a spiritual sensation, but it gives us an idea of how the common soul felt before it was shattered. Then, some external force broke in and destroyed this sensation.

Where did this force come from in the first place? It was revealed within us; we never sensed it before and didn’t even suspect that it existed. All of a sudden we sensed hatred! It was always hiding within us and suddenly showed itself against our will.

The strength of hatred that hit us was so huge that each of us simply ran away from the beautiful assembly and thus ruined the connections among us. We all started to view it as something dirty and disgusting. We couldn’t tolerate staying within it any longer. This is how we happened to end up in this world and continue to live in it now.

Since then, this world kept developing under the guidance of the force of hatred. Throughout history, and to this day, we have been using the power of the shattering over and over again. But only today are we starting to realize that we have already reached the final implementation of hatred into our lives and that it doesn’t lead us anywhere anymore. Our hope to achieve the good life with its help has vanished.

The time of correction has come since we already understand that using the power of hatred and separation can only ruin our lives. So, our duty is to do something about it!
[66460]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/13/12, The Zohar

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Question: What does it mean that the Reshimot (informational genes) are incorporated in the Masach (screen)?

Answer: After the first restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph), the Masach becomes the main part of the work. The Masach is my only concern. It is the place where I always feel myself. Everything other than the Masach are extra conditions meant to support the Masach and to determine its form, its character, and its accurate direction.

My concern is to focus only on the Masach. It doesn’t matter what desires I feel, what light there is, or what is going on in my life because the decision has been made that from now on, I constantly try to resemble the upper. The equivalence to the upper provides the Masach.

All other conditions, both external and internal, whatever they are, accumulate and concentrate into this one concept called Masach. I think only about how I can perform the optimal and maximal action of all possible actions in order to resemble the Creator at any state.

The state itself doesn’t concern me and doesn’t depend on me. Neither does what I feel inside. Nothing! It is only important to understand that I received this from Him. In this state that I was brought to, it is important to perform an action that will make me resemble the Creator; that’s all.

Whether it is in a state of smallness, a state of greatness, or in an intermediate state between the two, it makes no difference since it all comes from Him. I focus all my attention on the Masach.

The Reshimot that are incorporated in the Masach are the data I work with. This is the information about me, about the giver, about my previous state, and about the lower state, about everything.

The Reshimot are the records of all my impressions in the past and in the future. All the data is accumulated in the Masach. My work is to clarify them, to sort them out according to priority, and act according to them in order to resemble the giver.
[66801]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/12, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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This world enables us to be impressed by the group, the friends; they can be just like me, even worse than I am, or even if only like kids who are drawn to something sublime, not understanding anything yet. From Above they are given the urge and they come to the group with the enthusiasm and the excitement of beginners. It is clear that they don’t have powers of their own to advance towards correction yet.

On my part, however, I have to add my intention to their external actions: I want to be like them, I want to be incorporated in this excitement, instead of rationally predicting their imminent cooling. I should be impressed by their actions, from their high level of energy, to be incorporated in them, and to add that to my intention. I want to burn as they are with the importance of bestowal, even without any feedback, without any confirmation of any possibility of self-benefit.

Thus, by adding my intentions to the external actions of the friends, I can rise, learn, and be impressed by the group. No matter what level it is, I can always connect it to my state, to my intention, and thus advance.

The best and safest way to measure this is to ask myself, during The Zohar lesson, am I preoccupied and worried that it will help me? Do I really want nothing else but this? Is my concern really so great? We have been together for many years, and we are growing old together. So, are we advancing toward this?

A very important point in the development of the human part within us is when I sit in front of The Book and see in it, in its influence, my only rescue. I left all other sources that influenced me, having checked them, found them empty and dry.

It is only when I open The Book of Zohar that I feel the breath of a great force. However, it is as if I am separated from that force by a partition and have to perform different actions inside me to take the crust off my heart so that The Book will influence me.
[66798]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/12, The Zohar

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There is a rule: “if you leave Me one day I shall leave you for two.” This is similar to the rule of “to reveal a portion and conceal two”… it is a preliminary condition for the creation of the vessel.

A person is intentionally given the option to fail, which is called “if you leave Me one day,” and then he has to work to correct himself for two days. This means that he leaves the level he was on, falls, and sins. But he falls to an even lower level: not to the egoistic level that is the inverse of the level of bestowal he had reached, but to an even lower level. Not to minus one (-1), but to minus two (-2), and then he has to ascend to the second level, to plus two (+2).

When he finally arrives to +2, he falls to -3, and then he has to rise to +3. We progress in this way; all these actions benefit our advancement. When we fall, we have to work twice as hard.

The main thing is not to lose the persistence, not to stand still because you see that you are not getting any reward. Each time we need to find greater reward that is more and more detached from corporeal life. We should learn to measure the reward in relation to the common good: to what extent can I work and the others receive.

I have to make efforts that the reforming Light will bring me closer to this attitude in which I will receive more and more fuel to work for the benefit of all the others and not my own. This is how my advancement is measured.
[66837]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/12, Shamati #108

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It could be that a person works only because he gets pleasure from it. Suppose I come to the convention because it is a happy event for me and I enjoy meeting friends, connecting with people, the music and the dancing. I enjoy feeling the connection, the songs the lessons, everything

The question is: If all this didn’t bring me pleasure, would I still come? If I suffered from it, would I be there or not? To what extent?

Is it important for me to be with the friends although I suffer? Or do I stay because there is nowhere to run to or because I am ashamed in front of others, but inside I curse it all? Or could it be that I just arrived in order to enjoy such pleasant company?

Could it be that I feel that it brings me closer to the Creator and that I will be able to reach revelation and to attain eternity, wholeness, and something above this world in the future and so I make such efforts?

Am I ready to suffer in order to attain the spiritual world, even without feeling that it brings me pleasure? Am I ready to give up the corporeal world for the spiritual one? There are many calculations here.

If a person comes to the convention and gets pleasure: This is also good. But he should clearly understand that he is enjoying. Spirituality is measured by the ability to separate one’s self from the pleasure, to restrict one’s self, and to exit the boundaries of the egoistic interests.

So there is a condition: First I need to receive great pleasure from the connection with others, to love them, and to enjoy the action itself. But I sacrifice all this pleasure and I am ready not to receive it.

Suppose I have a great descent and don’t get any pleasure from the meeting, and I even suffer. I hate the group and the friends; I hate the connection, the songs, the dances—everything around me. But I am still impressed and I still have the same attitude, with the same fuel, and take part in everything, only because by that I please the Creator or the friends. [Read more →]

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A person lives only by the desire in the heart. It makes no difference what he says out loud, or whether before reading The Book of Zohar he suddenly begins to think about what he should pray for or what he should think about.

We are before a system that can give us anything we want. We only have to clarify what we can receive from it. I can receive from it something that can harm me by bringing me all the goodness and corporeal pleasures and thereby keeping me away from the goal and “shutting me up.” This is called the “potion of death,” which will fill me with pride and make me receive everything that I lack in this world, meaning to fill my ego.

Or I can ask for something that is detached from this world, which is opposite to it and is not so real—and I will actually receive that. After all, this force can do anything: He created the evil inclination, and He can also create the good inclination and perform the shift between the two worlds: both from top down and from the bottom up. It all depends only on me, only on what I ask for.

So a person has to think, and to take into account that he always raises a prayer because there is always a desire in his heart. This desire either says: “I want to sleep so leave me alone,” or it can be a desire for different nonsense that is in his subconscious. After all, the Reshimot (informational genes) are always evoked and fulfilled in some form.

A person can also take things seriously and want to find out what to ask for; it is all in his hands. A person must know that he is always under the influence of the Light, but now that influence is more intense and strong, and he has the opportunity to advance even in the opposite form of the created being.

It all depends on his deficiency. If he has a deficiency, if he is really somewhat part of the special actions of the Light, which can raise him—then it is fulfilled. And if not, then the Light works on him in the opposite manner.

If people don’t pray with the right intention, meaning if they don’t ask some purposeful action of the Light, they still are under the influence of the Light. This is because the surrounding Light operates on everyone and the Reshimot are constantly evoked in us. The Light operates on the Reshimot and so humanity advances. [Read more →]

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The work we do is called the work of the Creator because the Light is the only thing that ever does anything: It originates, changes, corrects and fulfills desires. The Light does everything: It is the only creative force.

Beside Light, there is desire. Desire wishes for something, but when the Light doesn’t fulfill it, it starts to sense affliction. Next, the Light begins to play with desire: It fills it a little bit, then leaves it unsatisfied; then again fills it up and again vacates and leaves it empty; it allows the desire to go through various stages of fulfillment and deficiency.

Because of such elaborate work of the Light, desire gets smarter. It begins to detect what kind of fulfillment it lacked previously and which one it has currently; it also begins to recognize various forms of the Light. This is how desire develops an intellect, which is arranged very simply and wants to know only one thing: how to get maximal fulfillment.

In other words, instead of letting desire simply wish for something, the intellect begins to work with it. It directs desire and teaches it to rise above its transient demand. Intellect prompts desire to suffer a little at this time in order to get much more later on. This applies to a worker who gets paid at the end of the day, to a businessman who invests millions in the stock market intending to gain more in the future, and to a patient who is ready to undergo surgery for the sake of the future recovery, etc.

Plain desire is not capable of such things! However, intellect that grows next to desire is able to contribute to it, thus bringing the future form of fulfillment closer and making desire ready to suffer.

This is how the Light acts: by developing desire and growing intellect next to each other. This “pair,” desire and intellect, unite and start working against the Light. By complementing each other, both of them become more sensitive and smart and work jointly in relation to the Creator.
[65650]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/12, The Zohar

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According to your attitude to your body, your desires, you can evaluate your progress. Only relative to this work can you measure your ascent to the spiritual degrees. But we know that the body can’t make the slightest movement if it doesn’t bring pleasure, which would offset the expended energy, justify the costs, and provide fuel. How is it possible to force the body without it? The mind wouldn’t even begin to think in that direction and calculate. No inner motion emerges in the desires of the heart.

The human body itself can’t move because everything is determined by the desire that must see fulfillment ahead. How can we make the movements that do not bring fulfillment to our egoism which are called “giving” (Lishma)? It’s impossible!

How can we get at least closer to this? It’s impossible to get closer except by cheating! To do this, we can use the influence of the environment or other external influence, which stirs in us “envy, lust, and honor which take a person out of the material world” and brings an egoistic fulfillment to the body. Thus, it has no choice, but to move.

However, any change is possible only through the surrounding Light. This Light comes to us even when we act for egoistic motives. It’s clear that we can’t move otherwise. But if nonetheless, I want to act supposedly for the sake of my pleasure, then the surrounding Light comes and brings me closer to that.
[66840]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/12, Shamati #108

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