The difficulty lies in the fact that a person has to start feeling the need to turn to the environment and ask for the greatness of the goal; otherwise, he won’t reach it. This act is regarded as “Lo Lishma” (not for Her Name) that everything begins with.

A person wants to reach the spiritual world and, having no other option, turns to the environment and seeks in it the greatness of the goal; if not, he will withdraw from the goal for good. Then he begins receiving all kinds of impressions from this greatness, although he first turns to them egoistically and doesn’t feel the need for the environment itself except for the goal. A person only wants to use the environment to reach the goal and for now doesn’t link the former with the latter.

But gradually, he begins to realize that the environment contains all his Kelim, desires, within which he attains the goal, the fulfillment. As he studies and the Light works on him, he begins to feel that the goal itself exists in those very desires which he received from the environment by having united with them. In other words, his bond with the others is the place where the Creator is revealed.

Then, the force of bestowal gradually awakes in his relations with the others, and he realizes that they are that same very Kli, the property of the Creator, thanks to which one becomes similar to Him. There, within these relations with the other people, a person and the Creator meet and become one whole by achieving adhesion.

Egoism that the Creator created as His reverse imprint within the desire must stay! In fact, above and in opposition to it, a person holds himself in the equivalence to the Creator. If he didn’t possess this reverse form, he wouldn’t be able to reach the property of bestowal and recreate himself in the image of the Creator.

Thus, attainment of the greatness of the Creator is our Kli, the soul of each of us, which we receive from the environment and within which we experience our spiritual life.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/2011 on Attaining the Greatness of the Creator through the Environment

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Question: Is revealing one’s evil inclination the most important thing?

Answer: We shouldn’t try to reveal our evil inclination and it’s not important what states we experience. The most important and the only possible action we can perform is to attract the upper Light.

The Light will lead me through all the stages which are currently unknown to me: I will reveal my evil inclination, correct, and then fulfill it. Only the Light can help me along this path. I have to aspire toward the upper Light which will act upon me. The form and sequence of those actions are none of mine concern.

I shouldn’t be thinking about the Light revealing my evil inclination because I don’t know what it’s supposed to reveal. And even though it is written in the books about it, I don’t yet understand what the “evil inclination” really is. It’s not worthwhile taking your attention and concentration away from the essence: attracting the Light.

Otherwise, we start looking for this evil inclination within us and start thinking that each negative quality we posses is the evil inclination. But believe me, we haven’t revealed it yet.

The evil inclination is an angel. That is, when we reveal the evil, we discover that the Creator is concealed within it, and that this evil inclination comes from Him. This is why in order to reveal the Creator, we must think about unity instead of hatred! And while I aspire toward unity, I reveal that the evil inclination is what gets in the way.

I am always aspiring toward unity, while the upper Light acts upon me and ultimately reveals to me who I am. I have to go through all the stages: 0,1, 2, 3, and on stage 4 (Behina Dalet), I always feel that I’ve completed a certain step and received a new understanding. And then once again I go through all the stages, and on the fourth stage a new understanding is revealed.

This, however, doesn’t change my attitude toward the past, present, or the future. I always aspire toward unity without thinking about anything else. And it doesn’t matter to me whether I’m in a good state or a bad one.

I’m fine with whatever becomes revealed to me. Nothing can stop me from going forward: neither the good, nor the bad, nor any philosophical theory that I conjure up in my head, which only confuses me, making me believe that I understand what’s happening. All of my attention has to be focused on unity only. Then I can be sure that I’m attracting the Surrounding Light.

When you begin to over-intellectualize and decide for yourself what to do, you instantly lose the Surrounding Light. You must aspire only toward the Light which is whole and absolute. It is written that we must be ready to accept the mutual guarantee as one man with one heart. We should think only about this.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/2011 on the topic of “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice”

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In nature there is no freedom that has appeared from nothing. Nature is a system of laws and nothing in it can stand beyond the law.

We are being controlled by two forces: reception and bestowal. Freedom is when we are able to supplement the action of one force with that of the other and, standing between them, comprehend the reality that has unified them both within.

I always have to choose which influence to put myself under, under control of which force to be. It has to be one or the other: the force of bestowal or that of reception.

Moreover, in order to gain autonomy, I don’t want to be dominated by either of them. On one hand, Pharaoh tells me: “Who is the Creator to me that I must listen to Him?” But on the other, I have to preserve Pharaoh in tact, even if keeping myself at a distance. I flee from him so I may obtain the second force as well. Before, I was the Pharaoh’s slave, and now I become the slave of the Creator.

All of this is done so that in the end, we can reach the middle point between them. It is regarded as the middle third of Tifferet, Klipat Noga (Noga shell). This is the place where the scales which hold good and evil come into balance. I stand in the middle and neither the Creator nor Pharaoh controls me: I rule over both of them. This state is described as “My sons have defeated Me.”

This is a subtle balance that a person must build at every spiritual degree. We align two forces, two lines, the right and the left, judgment and mercy, and thereby advance in the middle line.

Thus, my work lies in finding both Pharaoh’s force, the evil inclination, and the Creator’s force, the good inclination, in the present “animate,” “blind” state. I place them before each other since the Creator says: “Come onto Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart.” When the evil force increases, the Creator can also grow in my eyes and show Himself behind Pharaoh. Then they will both unfold equally in my point in the heart, and this point will receive freedom, the power over both forces.

That’s what I need to accomplish. In this point of mine, between the good and evil inclinations, in the middle third of Tifferet, I find my freedom at last. And this is my real Self. From the points that emerge at each spiritual degree, I construct the middle line, the line of the human within, until I reach Infinity.

In the world of Infinity, we create our autonomous state which is 620 times more powerful thanks to the fact that we use both these forces in full. This is the correct method for utilizing the forces of the Creator and Pharaoh that rule in nature. And man is able to accomplish this.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/2011 on The Principles of Global Education

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The Zohar, Chapter “Yitro (Jethro),” Item 199: His forehead is big but not so much, its lines are five—three across from one side of the forehead to the other, and two are not across. He is confrontational, especially in his home, all his actions are quick, he seems good but he is not so. He praises himself with what is not in him. … He is lenient in his speech, but nothing more, pushes himself where he does not belong, and one who collaborates with him should be careful of his greed, but will succeed with him.

The Zohar is telling us about how complicated we are inside. Every time we reveal new qualities inside of us, which may be good or bad and which constantly come to replace one another, we must use them to discern all of our opportunities to realize ourselves in the current state, to discover all of our weaknesses and limitations. That is how time after time, a person attains himself more, and that means he attains the Creator, as it is written, “I will know You from Your actions.”

When all is said and done, our entire path is the path of self-attainment, the attainment of ourselves. In essence, the entire science of Kabbalah explains to a person who he is—the Creator’s doing. Therefore, you don’t need anything more: To the extent you understand how the Creator created you, what He created in you, why, and in what form, that is how much you will attain Him.

Therefore, when reading the descriptions of these images of man, we have to understand that not one of them becomes erased. All of them complement one another through their qualities, which are similar or opposite to the Light, and in the end they attain the image of the Creator.

Besides, we have to understand that it is talking about a person who advances in spirituality and this is how he sees himself for now, with his positive and negative qualities compared to the Light, the Creator. But the person himself is judging himself, and he discerns these qualities himself. Another person would see them differently because “every person judges to the extent of his own flaws.”

If a certain picture appears before him now, it only seems to him, but does not exist by itself in reality. The only picture that exists by itself is the image of the Creator. But these images are depicted inside a person by his inner qualities.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/11, The Zohar

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The Creator created one desire that was initially in total oneness with the Light that conceived it, in adhesion sustained by the power of the Light. This is the first and, on the Creator’s part, the absolutely perfect state, only the creature doesn’t feel it. That’s because this state was created by the Creator, and it lacks the creature’s awareness of it. Essentially, there is no creation in this yet; there is only something which was created and exists because of the force that begot it.

Thus, the created being needs to undergo a long process in order to gain self-awareness, and there are several stages on this path. First, it seems not to exist at all, as “existence from absence” (Yesh Mi Ain). However, in the end, the creature is set to become “existence from existence” (Yesh Mi Yesh), meaning like the Creator.

The creature overcomes this discrepancy, from “Yesh Mi Ain” to “Yesh Mi Yesh,” gradually, by its step-by-step development, thereby finally acquiring a second nature: the nature of the Creator. However, to achieve this, it has to act independently in order to attain itself: what the creation, “Yesh Mi Ain,” and the Creator, “Yesh Mi Yesh,” are and how they differ.

It has to constantly assess these two states by either agreeing or disagreeing with them, that is, by declaring its wishes, having received free will. Thus, the creature moves ever closer to the form of the Creator and accepts it not because it is more pleasant and beneficial (meaning, not because of its natural egoistic striving), but because it does, in fact, acquire the Creator’s properties, the attributes of pure bestowal.

Attainment, on the whole, is possible only by way of equivalence of form. Otherwise, nothing can be attained, and neither the Creator nor His qualities can be comprehended if one doesn’t possess the same. Therefore, in order for the created being to attain the Creator completely and become identical to Him, the Creator divides the state that he shares with the created being as one into multiple parts, consecutive states, and various desires and thoughts.

It could be visualized as construction blocks or as a puzzle, but not as one or three-dimensional, but rather as construction blocks of numberless dimensions. Any part of this puzzle has an infinite number of sides with which it links to all the others so that nobody has anything of his own, but always his upper part connects to the upper one and his lower part connects to the one below him.

They are all connected in such a way that nobody has anything belonging to himself except one: the very central point at the Tabur (navel). It is the place where everyone decides how he can participate independently, with his own attainment and awareness, and attains this interconnection where he unwillingly finds himself in order to give all his strength and desire to sustain this bond.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/2011, Writings of Rabash

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When I begin reforming my relationships with the entire world, with all other souls, and with the friends in the group that study with me, I suddenly discover that there is only the Creator and me, and nobody else. In other words, there are my friends, the world, the still, vegetative, and animate nature, people, and souls, and all of which are, essentially, the manifestations of the Creator as pertains to me.

After all, the Creator cannot show Himself to me as the Light without the vessel (Kli) since I will have nothing with which to perceive Him. Therefore, the Creator divides creation into two parts: the creation itself, its soul, and the other desires besides this creation which are properties of the Creator.

“The Creator” (Boreh) derives from the Hebrew words “come” and “see” (Bo and Reh). In other words, if the created being connects with the Kli that is seemingly outside of it, thereby it expresses its attitude toward the Creator, and in this vessel, the Light appears. All of this gives the creature an opportunity to perceive the upper (relative to itself) force.

Then, the creature begins to understand the Creator’s “language,” the conversation that the Creator is having with it. Sometimes, it seems to the creature that this “external” Kli is above it and at other times, that it is below it. At times, it views the world as an empty vacuum where there is nothing at all. However, if the creature realizes that it is the Creator who makes this empty space for the creature to fill with its desire to bestow on its own, it receives room for work.

In this void, there is a lack of the Light of faith, the Light of bestowal, Hassadim (Mercy). If the creature is able to fill this empty dimension with the Light of Hassadim, consequently, it joins the Creator and can find there the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) as well.

There are opposite states when the Creator allows the creature to feel itself fulfilled. First, you feel that you stand before an enormous Light that is outside of you for now. This sensation is given to us in the first nine Sefirot (Tet Reshinot). You have to make a restriction on it, lift your inner boundary so that you can receive the Light (in the Nikvey Eynaim), and work in the three lines in order to measure the fulfillment that stands before you with your screen, or to discern to what extent you can receive it in order to bestow.

Thus, we advance, undergoing various states, while not always being aware of them. However, they unfold only when we don’t forget that there is only a single Light and a single vessel that is divided into many parts for our sake, which we have to gradually incorporate into ourselves with the intention to bestow.

On this path, there are two stages for us. The first one is the rung of Bina (Hafetz Hesed) where a person cannot really connect with the others for now and only learns to resist his or her egoism, rise above one’s desires over one’s “evil inclination” that is being revealed to them, and obtains the Kelim of GE (Galgalta Eynaim).

Later on, a person starts working with the “unification of the property of mercy and the vessel” when even one’s desires to receive that are included in him are used solely to bestow.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: During the lesson on The Book of Zohar, millions of viewers look at strange letters, hear strange words, and expect something they can’t define. Is this what you call a scientific method?

Answer: First, a regular person lives according his instincts and understands everything naturally. This is how he was taught in his parents’ home.

Second, a person who studied the sciences of this world knows how to relate to nature based on scientific knowledge he obtained. This is an engineering approach. For instance, a mechanic, an electrician, or a specialist in any other area received appropriate education, can do manual or intellectual work, has a set of tools for the job, and thereby forms his attitude toward nature.

He isn’t allowed to work with something unfamiliar, but only after his knowledge and experience have been checked is he accepted to a job in a specific field. Suppose a person studied mechanics and now can repair engines or more complex devices. He uses the acquired knowledge in his work, but he is more or less aware of what he is dealing with.

Third, a scientist is a person who discovers something which was previously unknown, phenomena that couldn’t be predicted in advance. Sometimes, he may feel, guess, and be prompted about something, but he has no clear internal definitions for it. This is what we call discovering new phenomena in nature.

At this point, a question arises: How can I find new phenomena? I need to tune myself to them, but what does “to them” mean if they are new? Should I anticipate certain results, discoveries, and events that may take place, or should I not?

Hence, science has two parts. There is theory where hypotheses are made and are later explored through research. Thereby, new phenomena are revealed. This is the major part of science which is built on the examination of the ideas scientists have regarding expected discoveries. Without this, it is impossible to advance.

However, there are also scientists who search in complete darkness. They have no preliminary theories, hypotheses, and ideas about possible findings. Kabbalah is a science, and we utilize it in all the above-mentioned forms: as regular people, the specialists who study it, and as scientists who in some way can visualize phenomena that may be.

Herein lies a problem: In all our studies, beginning with regular people as in our world and up to great scientists who don’t know where they are going and what they will find in nature, and at all of these levels in the science of Kabbalah, there is an unpredictable part you know nothing about.

What is unknown? You don’t know which property, what phenomenon you actually will find within because you don’t have this property. You can’t even imagine it.

After all, you will discover it in the Kli (vessel) of perception that you build, while the phenomenon is the vessel itself. You can’t pre-experience what exactly will unfold within you since you have never felt it before, don’t possess any intuition, and can’t even guess at it. It is a new Kli. The impression, the sensation, is totally new.

This is how we advance in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Even in something small and simple, there is nothing that we might know in advance. Therefore, our approach when we read The Book of Zohar is correct. I expect the Light that Reforms to come and reform my Kelim, my desires. For example, I can’t see anything without my glasses. There is something before me, but I need a device to see it. I put my glasses on and see something new.

Hence, while reading The Book of Zohar and looking at the “dead” letters and text that doesn’t make any sense to us, we must approach it as scientists of the highest degree who are about to discover something unprecedented to them.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Question: Michelangelo said that he didn’t sculpt, but rather chiseled away all that concealed the true image in the stone. What image must I reveal in the boulder of the “environment” so that I may chisel the spiritual bond out of it?

Answer: Pure bestowal. Ask the upper force to come and draw the contours of pure bestowal for you since it is only the upper force that sets boundaries to you. Like Michelangelo, who could sense the contours of beauty within a stone, I must know where my contours, my boundaries are: to what extent I can use the matter of desire in order to bestow and what the limit is beyond which I am unable to do so.

All that is suitable for bestowal becomes a masterpiece of creation, and what is not, I discard for now. Thereby, I beget the image of the authentic world.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/2011 on An Integral World

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Kabbalists, who explore the upper reality, explain to us that we started our entire evolution in the world of Infinity, Ein Sof, where we were all tied together as one man with one heart, into one point—that’s how strong our bond was. This bond was initially sustained by the force of the upper Light that controlled and fulfilled us.

But later on, we started to descend from this world of Infinity since our connection began to weaken. Between us, distance was formed, which kept growing (the worlds of Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya in the drawing below), until we fell to the level of our present existence, the lowest degree of the world of Assiya.

This descent signifies that under the impact from Above, we gradually lost the Light that filled the space between us. The Light kept decreasing intentionally, on its own, and in the end, distance emerged between us. While in the world of Infinity we were all tied together, by the time we reached the world of Assiya we became withdrawn from each other at a great distance. Now we experience ourselves as two separate realities: yours and mine. Our ego, which rules us, is responsible for the gap that divides us. This is how everyone of us feels.

Now there are seven billion of such alienated egoistic-individualists in our world. But it’s true that in the world of Infinity we existed as one man! And in accord with our sensation, reality has changed as well since we experience it as the sensation in our desire, in our properties.

But we have to understand that we are dealing with two big discrepancies: the reality we feel and the reality where we, in fact, exist. We feel very alien from one another, far from perfection, eternity, and endless fulfillment, somewhere on the outskirts of the entire creation, in this transient world. And yet, the connection between us remains, and it is very strong. We are still tied by the mutual guarantee, as the same one man with one heart.

We simply don’t wish to follow these conditions, and that is the only problem. But nature mandates for us to be connected nonetheless. It’s just that this connection is revealed to us not at the level of the law in the world of Infinity, but in the extent that we have withdrawn from it.

In other words, we are not presently expected to meet all the conditions of guarantee that govern the world of Infinity in which we were absolutely connected with all our desires as one whole and there was only one soul in the center of all creation. We only need to understand that we remain tied together, you and I, and that there is a connection between us.

These ties exist between all of the souls who in the past were together but are distanced today. But we all have a need to return to the center we came from.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/14/2011 on Mutual Guarantee

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