Question: If there is none else but Him, does it mean that everything roots in Him, and everything that I see around me is also Him?

Answer: Yes, it does. And everything you are saying, thinking, and feeling right now is also Him.

Question cont.: Where is my “self” then? Who am I?

Answer: You are supposed to find this out. In other words, you are not discovering the Creator but your “self.”

Question cont.: In the end, I find out that I am also Him?

Answer: No. There is a certain point of separation that is regarded as “existence from absence” (Yesh Mi Ain). And this point is the only place where the created being exists, while everything else is the Creator. To the extent that this point desires to become similar to the Creator, it gets to know itself or it gets to know the Creator, which is ultimately the same.

Question cont.: If everything I say and think originates in Him, then what is this point that discovers that there is no one but Him?

Answer: It is the point that you are working on in order to find out what constitutes your free will. At the same time, you rise above the nature that the Creator instilled in this point. He created it as a will to receive pleasure and, furthermore, gave it the intention to feel pleasure egoistically. But when you keep trying to rise above this point, it means that you discover the Creator, His nature: to bestow and receive in order to bestow.
[23790]
From Kabbalah for Beginners, “There is None Else Beside Him” 7/29/10

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Rabash, “What does it Mean, The Torah is Called the Middle Line in Work”: A person sees faces of people, but he should trust that the Creator stands and acts behind them.

Question: So is this how I should treat people whom I encounter during the day?

Answer: No, you should treat people as your society, time, and generation dictate so as to not look strange. In your outer behavior, you have to be like everybody else and act as is accepted in the society.

But if you are asking about the internality, if you wish to reveal the Creator, then behind every internal or external action you should see that everything comes from “there is none else beside Him.” However, this analysis is for your internal discernments and not for your open reaction.

There are two dimensions of our behavior: the material world and the inner, spiritual world. In the internal, spiritual dimension, I wish to uncover the inner force of nature, “there is none else beside Him” for it governs everything, myself included.

I will keep seeing this picture as I do until I complete my correction, until I truly see that there is no one but Him. And then, this world will ascend and enter the point called the Malchut of the World of Infinity.
[23794]
From Kabbalah for Beginners, “There is None Else Beside Him” 7/29/10

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Question: How can we practically use a “prayer of the many” at the convention? Which thought and what kind of attitude toward others should I hold during the course of the convention?

Answer: 7,000 people will arrive at the convention. This is an enormous force! If these people begin to connect even slightly (certainly, to the extent of their individual abilities since there are “big” and “small,” experienced and beginners, among them), if they simply want to be part of this process, this is enough. This is because in spirituality, the quality of the force is more important than its quantity. When there is one guide who knows the way, everyone else follows him, and he brings everyone to the goal.

We already have a large and experienced group that has been studying for 15 years. These people know and understand what needs to be done. And even if another several thousand new students will join, this does not matter because the spirit comes from the top of the pyramid. This is why everyone joins one direction and “many” become “one,” “like one man with one heart.” We know that this is exactly what happens based on our experience at previous conventions.

During the convention, everyone experiences different inner sensations: Sometimes you want to escape, at other times return. This testifies to the strength of the inner work, the intensity of the corrections and analyses that come to the person. Over the period of these three days one attains results that he is unable to attain over the course of a year. For this reason it is very beneficial to be at the convention.

Every day I give three lectures at the convention, besides there are gatherings of friends, seminars, cultural evenings, meals, and other events. All of these measures are directed towards the creation of one from many since we must become one whole in order to reveal the Creator. From this we understand what the condition of “love thy neighbor as thyself” means.

We will necessarily achieve something by acting in this direction. We cannot reach the infinite connection, but its 1/125th part, the smallest spiritual level, is quite attainable. And then we will feel that there is a small Light between us which gives the sensation of a spiritual life. In this sensation we exist above the body and perceive a different field, a different dimension in comparison to our physical senses.

All of this is attained through the connection between us, the prayer of the many. The “prayer of the many” means that I ask for the ability to bestow to many people in order to only feel the Creator in this ability.

Question: During which part of the convention can we expect this sensation?

Answer: This depends on the preparation for the convention. If we prepare properly, if we know the materials and the lecture topics, learn the songs, take part in writing the questions, and answer them, then nothing will prevent us from experiencing the mutual connection and the Upper Force that unites us towards the end of the first day.
[23542]
From Kabbalah for Beginners, “Prayer of the Many” 10/11/10

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Rabash, “Hezekiah Turned His Face to the Wall”: And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and cried out to the Creator.

First of all, we need to strive to correct the collective Kli, and then everything else will fall into place. Every day the Shechina once again becomes a virgin, and once again we need to turn her into a vessel. It is written in the Tractate Sanhedrin: “A woman enters a union only with the one who has made a vessel.”

Every day we rise again deprived of a connection to bestowal, the group, Shechina, the Creator. This is a natural and proper way: We keep discovering vessels, and this is why every new day begins with a blank sheet of paper. We need to continue by raising faith above reason, never expecting that the property of bestowal will become important for us on its own. Of course it loses its value, and it is a good thing.

I need to be prepared and rejoice in it, rejoice in the fact that I have not forgotten that I have the strength. After all, this is a sign of the influence of the group, which immediately gives me the ability to react to my state in a proper manner.

Reception is important to me, but I realize that I should value bestowal instead, which means that I must go above reason in order to increase the importance of bestowal. So I look for the force to rise above the egoistic calculations in the external means, not inside of me.

One must not wait until egoism realizes the importance of bestowal since it will never happen. Every day and every moment a person can resume the prayer turned towards the “wall” or Shechina, the group, and advance this way. If he were to test himself and evaluate his state according to the constant search for the true direction instead of his sensations within the egoistic desire, then his joy would be purposeful and would help him advance quickly.

Everything depends on how fast a person awakens for the proper prayer every coming moment. And this is determined only by how he has built his environment.

If the group gives him strength every time he falls, he adequately sees what is happening. The egoistic desire is boiling within him, but the Surrounding Lights that come through the group are influencing him from the outside.

Due to this, man always sees the importance of the goal and raises the proper prayer.
[23427]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/10, “Hezekiah Turned His Face to the Wall”

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We clarify everything that takes place not from the outside, but within ourselves for there is nothing outside of us. The Upper Light is simple, and we reveal it only when we equalize ourselves to it in our qualities.

Therefore, only attainment can expose all the details of perception. The realization of importance and lack thereof, our desires, high and low, exile and redemption, ascents and descents, creation and the Creator, all this is revealed only in relation to us.

Our reality is initially arranged in such a way that spirituality is unimportant to us. The Creator and the Shechina, as the place of His revelation in us, the quality of bestowal, the group in which we advance, everything that pertains to the Upper One has no importance to us.

Our desires are purposely created this way. They present us with an opportunity to create effort on the path to an opposite quality so that bestowal would become important in our eyes. Why is this work necessary? It is needed in order to reveal all the qualities of the Giver from the opposite state. And for this we need to acquire and to incorporate these qualities into ourselves.

Thereby we will change our external form from reception to bestowal. Our ” material,” meaning our initial desire will manifest externally as though it wishes to bestow. Whatever it does in regard to the group and the Creator, it will always display itself as giving. Otherwise, it won’t act at all.

Consequently, we need to ask to raise the importance of bestowal in our eyes, which is called bringing the Shechina to life from the dust. The Shechina is a Kli (vessel) in which the quality of bestowal is revealed. Shechina is unity of souls. Everyone unifies the souls in spite of the rejection, and then this place acquires a screen and the Reflected Light, the quality of bestowal, intention for bestowal. As this intention grows, we reveal more and more that the Light, the Creator, dwells in our vessel.

Thus, our whole work is conducted between two states: exile and redemption. In Hebrew these words are similar, only the word “redemption”  has the additional letter Aleph (א) which means the Creator, Light, the quality of bestowal that fills creation and ascends the throne in its desire.
[23439]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/10, “Hezekiah Turned His Face to the Wall”

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We assign the Lights the names of the vessels: NHY, HBT, or HGT. Why can’t we just refer to the Lights with their permanent names: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida? The fact of the matter is that there is no Light outside of the vessel! We cannot say anything about the Light on its own. The Light is an impression inside the vessel. I feel happiness or fear from it, and this happiness does not exist without me.

Therefore, the Creator is called “Bo-Re” (“come and see”); He is perceived only within the vessel (desire). We can only talk about matter and form clothed into matter, while abstract form is unattainable for us. Therefore, the vessels (desires) and the sensations in them are of the utmost importance.

Moreover, the sensation depends only on the perception of the Kli (vessel) itself. We don’t know what actually happens; rather, we learn only our reaction to the occurrences. However, we don’t know what phenomenon occurs outside of the vessel.

Some Light flows through my vessel, and my soul quivers. Then a different Light flows through me, and I am overfilled with delight. So what’s the difference? The difference is only in the vessel itself. I don’t know what kind of Light flows through, and I will never be able to say anything about it; I can only speak of my reaction.

Meanwhile, it is the same Light flowing through me all the time. Doesn’t it change?! I don’t know this; I cannot measure anything in Him. I only measure my vessel, its impressions and changes. Yet what suddenly causes my vessel to change? It changes under the influence of the spiritual genes (Reshimot) and on its own. I don’t even know for sure how or due to what it changes.

However, I always talk only about my vessel, and this is very important since it determines the whole principle of perceiving reality which is inside us rather than somewhere outside. Therefore, “one judges according to his flaws,” and all clarifications occur in the desires, while the Light is the sensation within the vessel.

Our whole work occurs only within our desire, and our sensitivity to the Light depends only on us. If I raise my sensitivity, I ascend through the spiritual degrees from this world to the World of Infinity. The whole difference between the degrees consists of my sensitivity to what happens. In fact, I am in the World of Infinity even now, so why do I perceive this horrible world instead?

The only reason is my lack of sensitivity. I need to get sharper glasses, then binoculars, then a telescope, and I will see a different world. The whole reality consists of sensations within me. Therefore, Kabbalah is called an inner science since it reveals only what is hidden inside us. “Come and see” (Bo-Re) your Creator inside you!

All the religions, methodologies, and belief systems insist that we need to correct ourselves in relation to the outside world. Yet in the science of Kabbalah we correct only ourselves: The group as well as the entire world, everything exists within me. It is unacceptable to think otherwise since the above principle forces me to correct myself exclusively. I will not waste my energy and time on making mistakes while trying to correct the world and other people.

This principle acts in regard to all of humanity in general as well as in regard to the group in particular. Consequently, we gradually reveal the truth: A person needs to correct only himself, and thereby the whole world will be corrected, from the innermost to the outermost circles. “A human being is a small world.”
[23446]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that “the most important sensation is the noetic sensation, given to man alone.” Does he mean that the mind is a type of sensation?

Answer: No, he doesn’t. We evolve through sensations or feelings. Feelings change, and we study what we feel. We consist of the heart (Liba) and the mind (Mocha). The purpose of evolution of the mind is to help us understand what we feel.

Uniting the heart and mind is called the expansion of the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) in the Light of Hassadim (Mercy). This is perfection, the Light of AB-SAG. The Light of Hochma or AB fully expands in the Light of Hassadim or SAG, which results in the soul’s attainment of the Light of Keter.

This is a thought which expands within and understands the desires, and the desires understand the thought. They “intertwine” complementing each other. And then, with the help of the mind, the feelings unfold and evolve (intensify), and with their help a greater development of the mind occurs.

If I get a stronger impression, my mind evolves and studies the cause of impressions. Our bestowing and receiving desires and thoughts constantly undergo development, the Light of Hassadim and the Light of Hochma grow. By clothing in each other they acquire perfection. Elokut (Godliness) indicates the clothing of the Lights in each other.

The degree of faith is expressed by the Light of Hassadim, and complete faith and love are expressed in clothing of the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim.
[23478]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/10, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Question: Is there a difference between studying The Book of Zohar at the congress with the masses and studying it in our group at the morning lessons? What is more important, quality or quantity?

Answer: Quantity doesn’t demean quality. Within a mass of people, there always are those who can unite to a greater or lesser degree, and there are those who can’t unite at all or who forget about it. In either case, quantity has its advantage, as it is written: “I dwell among my people.”

At this point, we are not talking about some special group of people, meaning those who are bright, determined, capable of inner work, and well trained. The Creator dwells within the entire nation, not just in some small group of special characters that He Himself advanced and brought together into the tip of the pyramid. Regardless, He still says that He dwells among the masses.

The Upper Governance cares most of all about the still level (in humanity), less about the vegetative one, less so about the animate, and the least about the speaking level. The weaker the created being, the less free will it has, the less autonomously it can work for the correction of creation (according to the Plan of Creation and the common system), the more the Upper Governance gets clothed in it, and this is a sign of revelation of Godliness (Elokut).

In other words, we are not talking about revelation of the Creator in some exalted souls such as Rashbi and all the great Kabbalists. The revelation of the Creator is measured with regard to society, not individuals. Therefore, we should not neglect large quantity but value it. The power of the masses lies in quantity, not some individual characters that have personally attained spirituality and perform personal spiritual work.

It is the common work which matters the most because by doing it, we allow the Light to be revealed and attain the revelation of the Creator. As to the personal, special work of some individuals, our group, or several groups, it is necessary solely in order to connect to this huge mass (several million people into billions of them) and through us, bring to it the spirit of life.

Therefore, the aim, intention, and goal are namely the society and the people. Hence, we need to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah in the masses.
[24423]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/10, The Zohar

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During the convention, a person goes through various states; he experiences mood swings, all kinds of thoughts pass though his mind, some of them "in favor," some of them "against." But we will try to explain to beginners that all of that is inner work which develops us very quickly. These discernments save us years of life with needless suffering.

What you go through in three days of the convention is more than all what you experience throughout your entire life, and all of it is preparation of your inner, spiritual vessel by the power of the Light drawn by such a huge mass of people. It is because the Creator is present "within the nation." Unity contains the Light and that Light acts upon us!

Some understand this more, others less, yet everybody is influenced by the Light according to his or her level. There is no risk in it. A person scrutinizes his states, and it’s very beneficial. We will discuss it there.

You can invite anyone. A person will feel absolutely free at the convention. He will always have an opportunity to go outside, sit down, have a chat with others (there will be stands with tea, coffee, and cookies), and then return to the convention hall or even go home and return the next day.

A person has come in touch with his inner work, and it leaves a mark in him. You can’t put any pressure on him; just give him a chance to come in touch with the Light, with spirituality.

Don’t be afraid; a calculation is made from Above concerning everybody as far as how much force one needs to receive from that human mass in order to advance him. It can’t have any adverse effects.
[24148]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/10, "The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence"

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We study Kabbalistic texts about the Upper World, the concealed part of reality. The Kabbalists describe this reality, this world, in a poetic form, and we don’t understand what they say. They seem to take the words from this world to tell us about the Upper World. Why is this so?

It is because the Upper World is the world of forces that descend into our world and perform actions in it. All events that take place in our world we already see as deriving from the forces that trigger them. We don’t perceive the forces, don’t know or feel where they come from. We see only the effects of their action: our world and ourselves.

We are given an opportunity to read and hear about the Upper Forces, how they descend and bring this world into motion. Kabbalists describe this to us so that on our way back to the source, we can rise from the actions that these forces perform here in our world to their roots. If we read the books written by the Kabbalists with this intention, then these texts affect us, and, gradually to the extent of our efforts, we start approaching them more closely, like a child with the help of the game that gradually helps him to develop and grow.

But there is one more condition: The forces that we wish to ascend to are not ordinary, as in our world. The Upper Forces are opposite to us; they are the forces of bestowal. And we are the receiving matter, the desire to feel pleasure, that is affected by them.

In order to attain the nature of bestowal from the receiving one, we have to organize ourselves in a group prior to opening The Book of Zohar, and, while reading in the group, try to keep thinking about our unity since this is the nature of the very same Upper Forces that are affecting us. Then, they will be affecting us not only through their governing action as they do in relation to all humanity and the world, but also with their property of bestowal.

Everything occurs in accordance with our desire. If we wish to not only be affected by the Upper Forces but to also become as they are and attain the property of bestowal, then gradually we’ll change and become part of these forces as bestowing as they are.

This means that we gradually ascend from this world to the level of the Upper Forces. Clearly, we don’t ascend and descend physically, but we start being organized within, realizing and agreeing with that very force of bestowal which affects us more and more; we identify with it.

This force fills me ever more, and I act accordingly. This is regarded as “spiritual ascent” that takes place under the condition that I am in the group and wish, as all the others do, to feel how this force of bestowal fills us.

Let’s think about this while we read The Zohar, and we will succeed!
[24181]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/19/10, The Zohar

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