There is an enormous difference between the broken world of Nekudim and the world of Atzilut which was created to correct the former. The world of Nekudim emerged from unification (Zivug) over the Reshimot (informational genes) “2/1” (Bet/Aleph), and the world of Atzilut over the Reshimot “1/0” (Aleph/Shoresh).

Therefore, the corrections of the world of Atzilut stand no comparison with the flaws existing in the world of Nekudim since Atzilut is a billion times weaker than the world of Nekudim. It was born with the desire force of the “zero” degree, relative to the “first” degree that Nekudim possesses. It is as the still level relative to the vegetative level.

How, then, does a mineral reform a plant? It "swallows" it into itself as if we planted a flower by digging its seedling into the soil. Similarly, the world of Atzilut draws the world of Nekudim close, stores it inside, thereby receiving forces for its growth: first, the vegetative ones, followed by the animate, and finally the human. All of this is due to the fact that it absorbs the forces from the others.

Hence, it is written, “Everything derives from the inanimate, from the earth.” In truth, it is not alive either and is incapable of any growth and development, but since it can contain the vegetative within, its value ascends to the level of the plant that will grow in it. Thus, it is regarded as fertile soil.

Fertile means giving birth to new life. But how can the inanimate beget something new? It can do so solely by helping a plant to sprout.
[36489]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: How can I keep trying to unify the world if I see an enormous amount of weapons and preparation for war in it?

Answer: We need to do what is up to us. The world has reached a threatening state and is rapidly moving toward undesirable events, but regardless, it still remains divided into groups, and no one is willing to yield their interests, even in the face of an imminent threat of explosion.

Every country defends itself and conducts a policy of protectionism, trying to separate from all the others. This tendency leads to war. After all, no one wants to unify with the others and take their interests into account. It is similar to children’s games where little proud egoists come into conflict, except that each of them holds a deadly weapon in their hands.

We need to accept this as conditions placed on the collective soul that needs to be reformed and try to instill the correction of all these phenomena. We ought to perceive everything we see in the world as a testament to our lack of effort.

All other people are deprived of free will and the ability to comprehend what is going on. How, then, can they correct anything? They are managed from Above. We need to make it so that on the scale of the world, the cup of mercy may outweigh the cup of guilt. This choice is in no one’s hands but ours.

All other people are blameless, and the states they are going through are merely the consequences of our actions. Their distancing from each other shows us how rapidly the flaws instilled in nature unfold in comparison to how quickly we make corrections on our part. We are lagging so far behind!

Those who are given free will and are shown to what degree the world keeps shifting toward the cup of guilt must be aware of what they are doing. It is written, “One should always consider oneself half sinful and half righteous,” and “if one performs a good dead, he sentences himself and the whole world to a scale of merit.”

So, where are they, our “good deeds”? It looks like we are able to do much more than we do. If you see that the world is experiencing greater problems, it points directly at you, all of us, telling us that we haven’t achieved that unification, dissemination, oneness, self-annulment, and guarantee that we were supposed to achieve. Let’s hope that we will wake up, as well as all our friends around the world.

We must think it over really well since the condition of the world is very threatening, and everything depends on us. I appeal to all who are listening and join us around the world. It is only we, our thought of oneness, who are capable of correcting the world and not letting this dangerous state grow to such an extent that it may enter confrontation and collapse.
[36501]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/2011, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: The more efforts we make for the sake of the group’s success, the more we feel how we are working for our own egos….

Answer: You should be happy about that because it is the revelation of evil. Without revealing evil, we won’t reach goodness.

I see that in the end, the only thing I want from my actions for the group’s sake is to extract personal benefit. What next?

The problem is that this “point of epiphany” alone is not enough. You cannot do anything with it. My action has to be aimed; it has to have a vector. Otherwise my inner force remains merely potential, like a muffled engine. It may even be a good engine with a capacity of 200 cc, but so what?

I have to “wind up” my desire and aim it at a specific action. That means I need two points to make up a vector. The mind is what gives this direction to my force. That is why force and reason work well with one another. This is lawful.

So even if I have reached despair in my attitude to the group, this does not yet give me an opportunity to act. Now I have to connect my state with the goal.
I have just felt that I am opposite to myself. Egoism has been revealed in my actions or in one of my actions: I did it for myself and could not aim it at the friends.

First of all I have to remember that there is none else beside Him. The problem is not that I didn’t succeed at it, but that the Creator organized this situation for me, as well as its analysis. It becomes clear that I could not do anything because of my egoism, and that’s because the Creator wished to teach me, to show me that I am ruled by the ego.

So what should I do? Why did He want me to feel this? It was so that through it I would realize the importance of the goal, the quality of bestowal, which is opposite to what I have just revealed.

Where will I get this importance? From that very state. After all, there is no Light without a vessel, no sensation that does not include the combination of both the Light and the Kli. What will I compare myself to in order to feel that I am evil? It happens in comparison to how I understand bestowal, imagining that I could have acted better by treating the friends better.

In that case there are already two points! How then, can I now shift form the point of my own insignificance and nastiness to the point of bestowal? What do I lack? I lack force, and this is what I should demand.

But that’s not all. Why should I demand it? Is it in order to make myself feel good, to stop feeling repulsed by myself? After all, my egoism suffers from the recent “revelation.” In that case it would turn out that I am still an egoist, only having gone through a second “twist” and being on the next level of self-love.

Rather, I don’t want all of my work and its result to pursue personal profit. I want to perform an action in which I will reveal pleasure for the Creator. He corrects me and I want this to give Him pleasure.

That is how I try to advance forward a little bit more, and then a little bit more, as much as possible. These are my first attempts, which I must literally “chew up,” “taste” on my tongue, or more precisely, “break up” with my teeth.
[36595]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/28/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can I envision our common Kli (vessel)? What does the group within me mean?

Answer: The group within me is the place where the Creator exists. He organized such a place within me. This why when I enter the group, I seemingly come to my friends, whereas in reality, I enter my inner sensation of the “place.” If I continue to be connected with the group, it will serve me as the mother’s womb, the ark, the place of concealment, salvation, and protection.

This group exists within me. I only mistakenly perceive it as existing outside of me the same way I perceive the entire reality. In order to start sensing the true reality for real, I have to give up my pride, independence, and grandeur so I could become dissolved in the group, the ark, the mother’s womb. Then within it I will reveal the Creator—in my first spiritual degree of the spiritual embryo.
[36480]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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We are born in special, unique conditions: in the egoistic will to receive which is our nature. It permeates our mind and heart, meaning our thoughts and desires, and sprouts from the Reshimot (informational genes) that we received at birth. They manifest in the corporeal attributes we inherit from our parents and are instilled in us as the rudiments of spiritual properties.

This process contains various details which we will comprehend only when we have sufficiently evolved and realized what a soul is, how it circulates, and what transformations it undergoes from one degree to the next.

Thus, at birth, we receive a “package” of inner and outer attributes. There is no point in arguing with it. Likewise, we don’t choose the environment that we are born and will grow up in until reaching adulthood either. Thereby, we supplement our inherited properties with what we receive from the outside.

It corresponds with the development of the soul, which we study in The Study of the Ten Sefirot. At the stage of conception, a soul undergoes a period of “nine months” but doesn’t reach adulthood yet. It receives everything else from the outside only later when it is born from the upper Partzuf and resides next to it.

Having been born from the lower third part of Tifferet that is regarded as the “womb,” a soul rises to the upper third part of Tifferet regarded as the “chest” (Hazeh). And further on, all the Lights that it didn’t receive in the mother’s womb during the “nine month” period, the soul receives over the course of “two years” of nurturing.

We can say that being nurtured is the same as being conceived, but now it continues in the external conditions. And then, there comes a new stage of the outside development, the years of upbringing, the small state (Katnut), until maturity is reached, which is completed at the “age of 20.”

During all these stages, a soul discerns the Lights and Kelim (vessels) while evolving against its will, by virtue of the environment that obligates it to grow without its exercising freedom of choice. And choice, in its direct meaning, begins with the transformation of the soul as it reaches “20 years of age” and up.

This is how Kabbalists describe our spiritual evolution, the counterpart of which we observe even in our corporeal world.
[36270]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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I have to change myself in conformity with the upper world. To do this I attract forces from that world through the group and change by means of those forces. Thus I ascend up 125 degrees and reveal the upper world. That is how it opens up to me, becoming more and more apparent.

In the process I am not working on something external, but on what is inside of me. I attract the forces of change to myself rather than applying my forces to something on the outside, the way we do in our world.

This determines my interactions with the environment: I do not want to change it, eliminate anything in it, or conquer it the way I conquer the people around me in this world, controlling them, submitting them to my power, and using them to achieve my own goals. This is especially vivid in our world among politicians.

In spirituality, however, everything is opposite: I work in the environment of friends quietly, often even without having any special discussions. If they were all chosen by the upper force to attain the spiritual world, then by bending down before them, I absorb their forces. These forces accumulate in me and join the point in my heart, and then I change.

This way, my criterion of progress is not the external conquests, but inner changes that manifest as new qualities and sensations, new understanding in relation to the study and the objects described in the science of Kabbalah. It isn’t simple to re-orient yourself and shift to the approach that accords with the spiritual world. It takes a lot of time for a person to reach despair and to discover that there is no other way, to understand that he has to act differently, to begin hearing and realizing what he hears, and to build everything in the right order, placing himself under the influence of the environment.

In essence, this is the most important thing. Whoever has taken these steps and formed the right attitude to the group, has already gone through the first and most dangerous stage of the path without falling prey to his own egoism. It is extremely important to place yourself in front of the environment the right way. Rabash particularly underlines this in his articles.

We can even say that the subsequent steps are easier to make because I already have the right approach and focus. I understand that the Light is primary, that it is the only thing that operates in reality, and we have to give it the opportunity to do so instead of getting in the way with our egoism, as if we have the strength and reason to do anything ourselves. In fact, the only opportunity we have is to naturally bend down our head before the environment and then to receive the forces for change and correction.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/28/11, Writings of Rabash

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In our world we are used to acting independently. I use all of my strength, knowledge, energy, potential of being connected with my environment, my inborn abilities, as well as habits ingrained by upbringing and education. I am the source; I am the center. Coming from myself I act and pave my path in the world.

At every step of the way we see how effective this approach is. After all, we were born by the power of egoism, the will to enjoy. And since we are already using that desire to “succeed” and attain self-profit, we therefore use everything we have, both our inner capabilities and the external means.

I have strength, reason, drive, and audacity—all the things that are inherent to me, and I use them outwardly, in the direction of going from within me to the outside. But that’s not what happens during the soul’s correction. If my set goal is not to succeed in this world, but in the spiritual world, if I want to break through into that world and acquire it, then I discover that I am not fit for it from the onset. I do not have the forces, understanding, or qualities that enable me to come closer on my own and to attack, break through, and conquer the upper world.

It takes time to realize this. But afterward, seeing that my regular “instruments” are powerless here, I experience weakness, give up, and don’t know what to do. Usually this brings a person to a great descent. After all, he does not have any means to attain what he desires. So what should he do?

There are two things concealed here that one must realize:

1. I do not belong or correspond to the spiritual world in any way, shape, or form. Now this is completely clear to me. And this moment of weakness is a good beginning. After all, in essence this is talking about the realization of my own nature, which is detached from the spiritual nature and will not help me in any way. I do not have any inclinations, means, tools, or possibilities of finding my way to the place where I want to be. I cannot make heads or tails of it. I am spiritually immobile and inaccessible.

2. I am able to obtain a force that will help me and a mind that will direct me at acquiring the upper world through the environment. After all, the environment is the means of attaining the upper world, and it is present right beside me. It is the group to which I am brought from Above and through which I can receive upper forces in order for them to influence me.

I do not acquire the spiritual world by aspiring to go from within myself outward to it. I do not buy it, absorb it, or break into it. Rather, in order to conquer the upper world, I must only adapt myself to it. Then I will discover that I am in it.

This way, the approach to the work and its result, as well as the reconciliation of myself and the upper world are completely opposite to what we work with in our world. Here I must attain, acquire, or conquer what I desire, while the spiritual world, to the contrary, is ready for me initially. I am already in it and all I have to do is change in order for this to become apparent.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/28/11, Writings of Rabash

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The purpose of creating man is to have him transform himself from being opposite to being similar to the Creator, meaning to have him acquire the property of acting solely for the sake of others instead of acting solely for his own benefit. This transformation of nature can be achieved by studying The Book of Zohar because in the degree of a person’s need, a force that reforms man’s nature becomes revealed during the reading.

Even though a person may not have the slightest desire to change and thinks solely about his own good, nevertheless, being under the influence of the environment, he gradually agrees that the ability to bestow is the most vital asset in his life. Thus, he studies with the group so he may enhance his aspiration to get reformed.

If the friends present themselves as one whole, their study evokes an impact of the concealed force which then manifests as mutual love and bestowal. And despite the fact that nobody takes their transformation seriously, eventually, under the influence of the environment and the force hidden in the collective studying of The Zohar, everybody experiences authentic changes—everyone acquires the Creator’s nature and feels the upper world.
[36281]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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“Light” by itself does not exist. A certain phenomenon occurs within the creature, and the creature calls it “the Light.”

As the creature awakens to sense this phenomenon, it means that the Light spreads within it. However, in reality nothing spreads, nor does it come from anywhere! A desire simply awakens within me and I call its character, form, shape, and color “the Light” which spreads within, enters, and exits me.  It exists in a process.

Yet, other than my inner desire there are no other processes that are occurring. I call part of these processes “the desire” and part “the Light.” In other words, my desire changes, and as a result, I call the phenomena that occur within it “the Light.”
[36327]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/2010, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to transition from the material world to spirituality, from the current perception of reality to the authentic one. We need to explain to ourselves that the reality we perceive right now is illusory, transient, and accidental, depending on our internal qualities. Reality only seems stable to us, but in truth, it can be altered, corrected, and transformed.

Suppose you receive a computer and assume it doesn’t have any additional features besides those you are aware of. You look at the same picture all the time because you have no other. Suddenly, an expert comes to you and says: “Look at this keyboard I brought you; try it.” And you start pressing keys and suddenly discover a lot of new things.

You are shown pictures where you recognize yourself. And so you enter them and start programming the world you are living in. You give commands, and indeed, everything changes around you. At this point, you start to realize that the world functions according to a certain program called “the Creator.” But to the extent you become similar to Him, you gradually acquire His functions as a commander.

And later on, you arrive to the state when you overtake this keyboard with your own hands, with all its commands and programs available to you, with all that is taking place, and essentially, with your own fate. And thus, picture by picture, you start organizing all of those images that come to you and continually change. Now you can plan on your own what to be, as it is written: “Israel is above the stars and the signs of luck.”

Suddenly, you observe that the past life is left behind, and you have already moved far ahead from the first image. You realize that you are not in it. But where are you now? You discover that you are in a certain reality and are engaged in it, programming it. It is increasingly open to you, beyond time, motion, and space, outside of the previous perception of reality, and your animate body is no longer there.

You already feel that the entire world of matter has dissolved since it didn’t exist in the first place; it was simply a sensation accompanying that very first image. That’s why our world is called a “make-believe world.” And the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to view reality correctly, or how to reveal the Creator.
[36375]
From the Introductory Lecture Series 1/4/2011, “What does the Wisdom of Kabbalah Revolve Around”

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