Question: You keep saying that you would like to see your students being more autonomous. How does this kind of independence tie with self-annulment before the teacher?

Answer: Independence is the ability to make correct decisions autonomously and to act correctly, feeling and knowing what I would do if you were me. As a matter of fact, it’s even easier to use this principle in a large society. After all, we need a huge system to manage it. And if everybody puts forth their best effort to see in the same direction as the spiritual leader does and starts seeking how they can contribute to the common cause, we can’t fail.

It’s impossible to manage each cell in the body from one brain center; it would be too complex. In an integral system, everybody manages everyone else. And each of us has to examine how his or her opinion matches the view of the rest, accept the society’s view above their own, and act accordingly. This is what it means “to love others as you love yourself.” I don’t do what seems best to me; instead, I do what is best for the other. I work to fulfill his or her desire. And that is the essence of adhesion, oneness.

There won’t be one man with one heart unless we accept the collective point of view above our own. And for most, it’s a huge problem, especially for those who are good organizers. They think that they know how to arrange and manage society, and they use only their brain.

And here there is a great danger in how they and the entire society will be progressing. In fact, it’s easy to switch to the direction opposite to the spiritual path. On the outside it will look like they succeeded on the material plane, but they will not advance spiritually.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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It’s the student’s job to seek how to cleave to the teacher. And it’s definitely not about worshiping and honoring him, but rather about taking his point of view. This is something totally different and relates to spirituality.

Yet, it is somewhat dangerous since you may think that you follow the teacher while, in fact, you listen to your ego instead. Therefore, you need to do an internal assessment: What is your opinion and that of the teacher, and how do you set and evaluate one against the other?

Then you scrutinize what you do and do not agree with it. And in the area where you clearly can’t agree with the teacher’s view, you happily grab this disagreement and start implementing it in your life. That’s what it means to accept the teacher’s point of view.

If you didn’t have something that differed with your opinion and which you had to suppress, it isn’t a real choice. You must be aware of what you are not in agreement with and what you would do differently!

If there aren’t these two versions, when you want to do something one way but are forced to do absolutely the opposite, there is no faith above reason. Only when you know for sure how the teacher would like you to act, but still wish to do the opposite, you receive a chance to act above your own reason.

After all, in order to come to equivalence of form, you have to know its opposite. Only then will you know for sure what this equivalence is like. In fact, the equivalence is always opposite to my form and goes against my perception. As for me, it’s as if while standing on my own opinion, at the same time I am above it. I am resisting myself and cultivate a new, higher mind within me.

There’s nothing we can do about this: This is the law of nature. The upper one stays on his rung and the lower on his. In order to ascend to a higher degree, you must accept the thought of the upper one by faith above reason. And of course you may think he is acting strangely and doesn’t understand it all. But does it really matter for your spiritual progress how well you understand what he does?

You don’t have any other chance to rise to the next degree other than with the help of the teacher, the upper one, whom the Creator has placed against you. And there is no room for any compromises or backstairs in it.
[43942]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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Question: What is the difference between the Thought of Creation and the Creator?

Answer: Everything we say is in reference to us. We do not know anything except for the things happening within our desire. And even when we reveal the existence of Light, “existence from existence,” which created desire, “existence from absence,” we also base this on desire which reveals to us what supposedly happened before us in this way. All our attainments come from the sensation of matter in our desire.

For this reason, when we speak of perception, a sensation within desire, we divide our entire perception into three components:

• the one who perceives (I am the perceiver),
• that which is being perceived (what I perceive from the Creator),
• who it is being perceived from (the source of the sensation, the Creator).

As I learn my ability to change the perception of the Creator whom I feel in terms of what He wants from a connection with me, I start having a connection with Him and change the relationship between us. How do I know what I am changing? It comes from my sensations. How do I know what He feels and how He reacts at the same time? This also comes from my sensations. Everything is based only on my sensations; I do not have any other qualities of perception. Everything exists only within desire.

This is why we say that HaVaYaH (the four letter name of the Creator, “Yod-Key-Vav-Key”) is the four stages of the development of desire. The revelation of the Creator within man (Creator or “Bo-Reh” refers to “come and see”) occurs only after that.

The worlds also exist only in our perception in the form of revelations or concealments (“world” or “Olam” comes from the word “Alama” or “concealment”). The ladder of spiritual degrees exists within man as well. The group, humanity, the entire reality, the world of Infinity, everything is within us.

But what do I attain through all of my efforts in wishing to learn who and what I am, who the Creator is, what He wants from me, and what my connection is with Him? As a result of all these efforts and the long journey, when we realize all the possibilities given to us, we attain a single perception, a single understanding, a single sensation, called “the Thought of Creation is to bring contentment to the created beings.” This plan includes everything: Who the One who pleases the creatures is, what kind of pleasure this is, who these creatures are, everything.

The state when we attain the Thought of Creation is called “the point of adhesion” or “a drop of adhesion” because in our perception everything centers on one point of the Thought of Creation. We attain it through our efforts as we desire to unite with the Creator, and this is why we call it “a drop of adhesion.”
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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A person who opens The Book of Zohar, opens it in order to reveal the Creator. By definition, the science of Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to creation in this world. Otherwise why would Kabbalah and all of Torah be given to us? The Creator becomes revealed in the desire to bestow and love in a person. This desire is equal to the Creator in qualities, and the Creator becomes revealed in it according to the law of equivalence of form.

Thus, the Creator is the quality of bestowing and loving, the force of bestowal and love, “the Good who does Good.” How, then, can we achieve the desire to bestow and love, the Good who does Good? By connecting with each other in spite of every person’s egoistic forces that mutually repel one another and by building a net of good connection between us above the net of hatred. By building a net in which every person is good and does good, bestows and loves in relation to others.

But how do we do this if each of us is just a small egoist? We read The Book of Zohar, which talks about our corrected states in which we are connected by a good connection between us, and we desire for this to come true inside of us. In that case we receive an impression of those good states, which already exist in infinity. This impression, the influence of forces from our corrected states upon our current state, is called “surrounding Light” or “the Light that returns us to the source of goodness.”

Then, according to the formula, “I created the evil inclination and I gave the Torah for its correction, because the Light in it returns to the source,” we return to the source—the Good who does Good. Thus, we reveal the Creator, the Good who does Good, our root.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/11, The Zohar

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It’s impossible to advance correctly if you are guided by your own opinion because you are entirely in this world. You will be able to grow only if you discover the existences of two distinct opinions: You will hear your own opinion and the teacher’s opinion, will understand the difference between them, and will compare them with each other so as to always go by faith above reason and accept the teacher’s view.

You need to choose and advance all the time, preferring the teacher’s opinion to your own in spite of your increasingly greater egoism and all your inner doubts and arguments, regardless of the supposedly obvious facts and common logic that tells you that you are not going by your reason, but below or above it.

If a person can cope with all these problems, he will be able to advance. If not, he has no chance of success. Thus, only a few reach the spiritual world.

In order to survive such inner struggle and go against our logic all the time, we need the support of the group which always strengthens the teacher’s authority. This means that it’s necessary to lower ourselves before the group to receive from it the strength to defeat our personal opinion and accept the teacher’s.

There are three participants in the work: the person, the teacher, and the group. All this is necessary to reach the revelation of the Creator (who can be revealed from the opposite side as well) so that the opinion of the teacher and that of the Creator unite into one. Then, a person will be able to advance, having understood that the group and the teacher are the representatives of the Creator in relation to him. Thus, the person has to figure out all his concepts, evaluations, and choice only relative to them.

If you are lucky, you will do this and move forward; if not, you will not even feel that you are not making the correct choice and are not moving in the right direction. You will not have any scale on which you could measure this.

When do “words that come from the heart enter the heart?” If you correctly establish your opinion in relation to the teacher’s, you will begin to hear what the teacher is telling.
[43945]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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Question: If I need to nullify myself before the teacher’s opinion, is it correct that some friends say that they are only willing to do what the teacher, but not any other management, tells them?

Answer: A teacher shouldn’t be anyone’s personal manager. He shouldn’t be explaining to everyone what it is he wants from them. He can be almost as concealed as the Creator and not say anything at all. Whoever is willing can nullify himself on his own and reveal the teacher’s opinion.

This can be observed from the behavior of the Kabbalists of the past, the group in Kotzk or Baal HaSulam who only gave a lesson to his students once a week or even once a month. A teacher reveals his opinion ever so slightly, and the rest is the student’s work. If the student understands what to look for, how to reveal the teacher’s opinion to help aim himself toward the goal, he will be able to do it. Otherwise, he will not.

Spirituality cannot be expressed in words. How could you possibly explain how to direct your heart toward the goal?
[43952]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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Question: What should I do if during the reading of The Book of Zohar I cannot focus on the text as I am bombarded by all kinds of irrelevant thoughts and images of past events?

Answer: Before a person undertakes studying, he must try to see it as more important than everything taking place on the outside. All that occurred yesterday and today, and that will happen tomorrow is nothing compared to studying because right now, I am getting in touch with the upper force that arranges my entire life for me, and I ask for it even egoistically, on the corporeal level.

Hence, it’s worth it for me to be focused on reading The Zohar and stay in contact with the upper force since I depend on it. It’s a purely selfish, external approach; nevertheless, it works.

When you experience various foreign thoughts during the reading, at that point, they are obstacles related to your ego. They are obstacles on the path, and you are supposed to work with them.

However, the narrative itself shouldn’t worry me. First of all, I must remember that everything The Zohar describes is taking place only within me. Even though I don’t understand a word of it, it doesn’t matter. I need to strive to find them within.

The key is that I experience them as external images, while I must see them within. And it makes no difference what exactly that is. What’s really important is to move from external observation to the internal one and correct the flaw in your sight.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Question: You said that man is nothing but a sensation and a mind, while whatever is happening around him is beyond his control and he merely observes the result. If so, what does it mean to look for what The Zohar describes within?

Answer: Right now, I am reading or listening to The Zohar. As I go along, I picture all sorts of images in my mind: angels, people, and landscapes.

Why do I perceive this as an external image, instead of responding to it in my feelings and thoughts, immediately switching to seeing it within myself? It’s because I am uncorrected and my will to feel pleasure, my ego, splits my perceptions into internal and external ones. It shows me this flawed picture, whereby everything that The Zohar describes is seemingly happening on the outside, not inside of me.

But on the outside, there is nothing at all. All reality is within me. Why, then, do I experience it as external? It’s because I cannot unify all of reality with myself yet; I don’t view it as my vital part. Why is this so? It’s because I relate to it egoistically, dividing all of its parts into internal ones, which are more important to me, and external ones, which are less important, totally meaningless, or ignored by me. Such is my egoistic, flawed form of perception. What do I do then?

This is what I should be telling myself:

1. The Zohar talks solely about my internal states and properties, and except for what is happening within me right now, there is nothing else. A person is a small world, and everything is in it.
2. Everything I see as taking place on the outside is determined exclusively by my own flawed perception. If I correct myself, I will see everything within instead.

In other words, the discrepancy between what I imagine while reading The Zohar as something happening outside of me and what I would be able to perceive as occurring within me demonstrates my flawed perceptions. Hence, I must strive to seek the correct form of perception inside, pray and plead for it to arise in me.

This is what we call to attain the content. As it is written in Baal HaSulam’s “Introduction to The Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 155, “Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround their souls.” I aspire to see this image in its authentic form and gradually draw it closer.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Mishpatim (Ordinances),” Item 561: Even to the verse, “And I will send an angel before you,” …Moses did not reply at once. Rather, when it is written, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here,” he replied this to what is written, “My presence will go and I will give you rest.”

A person has to look within himself for all these properties described in The Zohar: Who Moses is, who an angel is, who the Creator is, what all of these inanimate objects, plants, animals, and people are, and how they exist and live inside a person. You must try to find it within, make an effort to move from the external picture appearing in front of us to inner contemplation of where inside me are all these qualities, forces, and desires. These efforts are very important.

In this way, I correct my egoistic perception that makes me think that something happens outside, not inside. Then, I turn precisely to my inner properties and “implant” the Torah in myself, desiring to recognize it in its true place. That’s why we must constantly try to interpret what’s written in The Zohar as our properties.
[43855]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Before reading The Book of Zohar, we have to prepare ourselves so that this reading benefits us. The Zohar talks about the correction of the soul, that is, about the correction of the connection between us. Thus, while reading The Zohar, we should strive to realize in us the corrected states described in the text. This means that we desire to reveal what The Zohar talks about.

Revelation isn’t understanding in the mind. How can I understand what I have never seen? It’s possible to see only on the condition that new models of sensation form within me because vision is a sensation in our desires, the vessels of reception. A sensation may occur only when my specific internal state matches that described in The Zohar.

This can be achieved only if I ascend to the degree of the giver as The Zohar requires. How is this possible? It’s possible if I connect with the environment, in relation to which I can express the extent of my bestowal. Thus, even before we open The Book of Zohar, we have to strive to join together in such a state, on such a level, with such a force that is suitable for the revelation of The Zohar in the connection between us.

To the extent one cancels himself and we connect together in mutual bestowal and guarantee, to the same extent we can achieve the condition in which we’ll feel what The Zohar talks about, at least to the smallest degree. All this depends on the force of unity between us that has to be at the level of the first spiritual degree. Then, we will feel what The Zohar relates to us.

Baal HaSulam writes about this in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 155: A person striving to know what he studies draws upon himself the Light that Reforms. In essence, all our work is to aspire to be in this state, to sense it. Thus, we are required only to have the desire to feel the need for revelation.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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