The Creator is a singular quality of bestowal and absolute good. The creature, however, is created by the Creator as a desire to receive pleasure, which makes it opposite to Him. Hence, in order to become similar to the Creator, the creature has to undergo numerous contradictory states. The creature could simply replace the desire to receive with the desire to bestow and merge with the Creator. But to avoid this and remain independent yet similar to the Creator, the creature incorporates two elements within itself: the will to enjoy and the sensation of the Giver.

Our sensation of the world and existence is comprised of these two opposites: Yesh (existence) and Mi Ain (from absence). Only then is the creature able to feel that it exists. We can’t exist in either Yesh (the reality of the Creator) or in Ain (the reality of the creature), and therefore, we undergo gradual transformations in order for the Light (Yesh) that created us from absence (Mi Ain) to mold the desire (Ain) into the form of Yesh (the form of the Creator).

This Light leads me along the chain of cause and effect, where each previous effect becomes the cause of the following state. This goes on until I begin to sense His relationship with me, an outside force that created and is guiding me. Beside the sensation of being filled “within reason,” there is another force of the Creator that educates me by setting a model and a goal to follow. This is where I must act by using “faith.”

In my present state, I exist in my animate form and act according to what I have. At the same time, however, I am aware of my higher state, a degree that I haven’t yet achieved. I take the existence of a higher degree on “faith” because it is opposite to my present state of being. The nature of spiritual degrees is such that each higher degree is opposite to the lower one since it contains a greater degree of bestowal than the one below it.

In order to attain a higher spiritual degree, I must accept its condition of “bestowal despite my egoism” or “faith above reason.” If I don’t, I will forever remain at the present, animate degree. This means that I will continue to receive in the “old” will to receive pleasure and will not climb the spiritual ladder to bestowal. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare ourselves so that we willingly accept a higher spiritual degree and not push it away.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/2/10, Article, “The Matter of Truth and Faith”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: From The Garden Of Eden And Back Again
Laitman.com Post: How Do We Find Our Point Of Freedom?
Laitman.com Post: The Unification of Light And Desire

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work - 1 Comment →

Excerpts from my upcoming book, A Guide to The Book of Zohar

We exist in the reality which includes the Creator, the Creator’s communications system with the created beings, and the created beings themselves. Through this system the Creator governs us with the aim of bringing us to the goal of creation “to delight the creatures” and to make us similar to Himself. The Creator wishes to share everything He has with us.

Therefore, from the very beginning we need to view everything in reality as though it was created by a loving Father. However, He has to bring us to independent development so that we will grow and be independent. To do so He has to influence us from two sides: mercy and judgment. And even though they both stem from Him, from His kind and loving heart, they are divided into two opposite forces which we perceive as manifestations of good and evil, mercy and judgment, light and darkness.

When we perceive all the circumstances of our life “down in this world” we shouldn’t forget that we receive them from the kind Father, and even the worst and harshest of His methods of influence stem from His desire to delight us. As long as we don’t forget this and connect everything to Him, “There is none else beside Him, and He is Good that does good,” we combine these two lines back into one which is the same source. And because we combine them in our heart and mind, in so doing we merge with the Creator.

It follows that our entire work lies in constant attempts to relate everything that happens to Him.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Prepare A Place For The Light To Work
Laitman.com Post: The Unification of Light And Desire
Laitman.com Post: Is Concealment Hiding Within Me?

Filed under: Books, Inner Work - No Comments →

Question: It is written that a person who studies Kabbalah must free up a place in his heart. What is this referring to, a method of inner work?

Answer: While studying The Zohar we must be concerned with freeing up a place in our heart where the Light that Reforms will begin to work. I have to prepare the material on which the Light will do its work. What inside me is bad right now and needs to be returned to the source, to goodness?

I have to prepare an empty place for the Light, the area of the breaking, evil, so the Light will turn all of this to goodness. Therefore, I must first discern: Where is this area of evil inside me and what does it mean? And what does it mean that it will be turned to goodness? This state has to correspond to the action of the Light since otherwise the Light will not do it.

If my desires, intentions, and expectations do not correspond to what the Light does, then it will not influence me. It will only influence me in response to my true desire, the correct plea. Therefore, I have to feel in what regard I am bad (in my opinion) and change my notion of evil in order to make it the same as the Creator’s (the Light’s) notion of it. To the Creator, evil is an egoistic action where you think at the expense of your neighbor and hate others. You have to desire for the Light to correct you and make you bestow, feel love for your neighbor, and a connection with others.

If I define my current state as bad and discern which state I consider good, and the transition from one to the other precisely corresponds to whatever the Light has to do, then the Light will do it. However, if I still don’t have a very good understanding of what is evil and what is good, and what kind of change the Light has to perform in me, then it won’t do anything!

I have to obligate the Light to do this! I have to desire this transition so much that I will enact the verse, “My sons have defeated me!” I have to force Him to correct me. I have to tell Him, “You have to do this! You promised it to me!” My desire must hit the target exactly.

This is the clarification we must be making during the study and before it, during the preparation. Then the correction will happen very quickly.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/3/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: My Sons Have Defeated Me
Laitman.com Post: The Light That Brings You Back To The Creator
Laitman.com Post: The Main Character In The Kabbalistic Book

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: In work with three lines, the left line looks big, heavy, and thick since it embraces our entire evil inclination. In contrast, the right line looks very light and works only as a “spice.” Is this only my personal sensation?

Answer: Of course, a person sees himself as an important “substance” that “owns” the whole material world with all of its egoism. This is an extremely heavy weight. On the other side, there is spirituality, some lightweight, insubstantial “spirit” (Ruach). One wonders: “What power can it have if it is totally elusive?”

Quantum physics investigates elementary particles that cannot even be “caught,” but rather detected only by the deflection of a needle. We know from this world that the more invisible a force is, the more powerful it is. Likewise, spiritual reality defines and retains everything in its “network” by applying its power. Everything that happens originates from the inner forces; their actions materialize and thereby enable us to see elementary particles as well as our entire Universe. Spiritual energy gives birth to the whole material world.

Hence, it is unfeasible even to compare the powers of Light and matter. The Light has created only one black point, “Yesh Mi Ain” (existence from absence). This point never changes, it always remains a point. Within this point a process of apprehension begins: “I am black. I am different from the Light. How different am I? Can the difference be that big?” Afterward, this enormous divergence that, in fact, is represented by just one black point widens to the extent of the realization of its evil nature, thus creating all the worlds. This one point is the essence of everything there is; all of its power comes from the Light.

Due to the presence of the Light and its small desire, this point is able to produce the Returning Light. It is similar to an amplifier that produces a weak signal at the entrance, but by applying an outside power to enhance the weak initial signal, it  intensifies it and thereby turns it into an extremely powerful signal at the exit. That is how you use “outside” energy of the Light, apply it to your tiny desire towards spirituality, and thus make huge changes.

By using your desire to produce the Returning Light and give bestowal back to the Creator, you engage the whole power of the Light, the strength of the Creator, and apply it to a small desire of yours. That is when a huge Reflected Light emerges and equals itself in strength with the Direct Light, the Creator’s influence.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Light That Brings You Back to The Creator
Laitman.com Post: When The Point In The Heart Awakens
The Point In The Heart: “The Point And The Light”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →

It is written: “I created the evil inclination and the Torah as a remedy for its correction for the Light in it Reforms.” On one hand, I collect my egoism, my evil; on the other, from the Creator, I take the force of bestowal, the Light. From these two components, I construct my new form called “man,” Adam, who is “similar” (from the Hebrew word “Domeh”) to the Creator. Inside this form resides my egoism; however, on the outside, it is equivalent to bestowal. In other words, I am reception on the inside and bestowal on the outside.

Therefore, my action is called “reception for the sake of bestowal,” and my work is in the three lines: right, left, and middle. The right and the left lines descend from Above, from the Creator, whereas the middle line ascends from below upward, from man to the Creator. The left line is represented by “I created the evil inclination,” the right line by “I have created the Torah as the remedy for its correction,” and the middle line by “for the Light in it Reforms.” Then, one becomes as good as the Creator. “I am good and do good, and so do you. Hence, you will be called ‘man,’ meaning ‘similar’ to the Creator.”

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman. com Post: Building An Instrument To Tune Into The Light
Laitman. com Post: How To Acquire The Upper Mind
Laitman. com Post: Kabbalah Moments: Through The Ego

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Zohar - 1 Comment →

Question: Suppose, I want to purchase a car. I will gather all the information about the model’s advantages and benefits, and I can easily understand all these facts. But if I want to reach bestowal in spirituality, it appears to be something fleeting and incomprehensible. Why is it so confusing and what should I do about this?

Answer: That is a fair complaint on the part of a beginner who has just embarked on the spiritual path: Why there is no simplicity or clarity in spirituality? Why don’t we see the future and its advantages?

In this world, at the time we apply to a university, it is normal to know when we will graduate, the kind of work we will find afterward, and how much we will earn. The examples of other people who have already completed the same path enable us to invest the effort required to achieve the same result. Why is it not the same in spirituality? Why is it so puzzling and never clear at the outset? Where are we going in the first place? If after a lesson someone on the street asks me “What did you get there?”, I will have nothing to say.

And yet, having no answers is a clear sign that we are close to revelation since this is the only way for us to uncover the concealed. We can only get it from the sensation of shortage and deficit. It comes to us out of absence of…I don’t even know what! The sensation of insufficiency is in and of itself preparation for revelation.

Therefore, this feeling of yours is very useful. It is not pleasant, but it is correct and happens right before revelation, which can only occur to us from the state when we ask: “Where is it? Why? What for?” That is, it occurs from emptiness. It will always be like that, at any level.

Don’t worry about the states we are going through. Most important is that they change quickly! We have to go through all of them anyway. That is why we don’t care much about our sensations at any given moment. The frequency of change we experience is what matters. Only that!

It does not matter if I feel good or bad, am confused, or understand more or less. What counts is moving forward. Those who scrutinize their inner conditions procrastinate; that is not good. Always strive ahead and don’t think too much. Rapid progress is what is important.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
Laitman. com Post: Desire It And “Hear” It!
Laitman. com Post: My Greatest Virtue Is My Deficiency
Kabbalah Moments: “Lack”
5 Minutes Of Light: “Effort = Acceleration”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: If a few people create a group and connect with one another, how can they spread this sensation of connection to the entire world?

Answer: It is enough for me to reach the property of connection, bestowal, and love through my small group. When I turn to the big world after having obtained this property, I see it as unified. After all, if I can step out of myself toward one person, likewise I can step out toward all and to the Creator. A sensory organ for the external world (the screen and Ohr Hozer) appears in me. As a result, the world falls into the range of my vision.

Without it, I only detect things that correspond to my ego. I simply do not see whatever my egoism does not like or has no interest in. There are plenty of things in the world that I am not able to perceive. There is a formidable and extraordinary universe, the spiritual world, but I am blind to it. I simply do not have the necessary organ of perception. I do not feel the spiritual world. It just flows by me. It is here and now, but I am missing it all!

I have to acquire a new sensory organ: a feeling of love and bestowal. Then, I will feel the bestowal and love that permeate the world. This is what is called the Creator. When I receive such sensations, even the smallest one, to this degree, I will feel part of the spiritual reality. This will mean that I have risen to the first spiritual level. Then, I’ll expand my perception, obtain the ability to love and bestow more, and will feel more.

The greater my spiritual vessel, my instrument of perception, the more I feel the spiritual world. In this manner, I climb 125 spiritual degrees and gradually achieve the full sensation of the attribute of bestowal. Thereby I reach the complete correction of my spiritual vessel and now I perceive the entire reality, all of the Creator, and all the force of bestowal and love there is. I feel this force, and it fills me. The Creator and I are now together. I now act with the newly obtained property, the new sensory organ.

Therefore, not having this property of love and bestowal, I cannot complain that I do not sense the spiritual reality which exists here and now. It is not concealed somewhere far away in a different place. I simply do not sense, discover, or see it. It is like I took my glasses off and lost the ability to discern objects: The whole world disappeared and doesn’t exist for me.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/25/10, Shamati #99

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Waiting For The Dawn
Laitman.com Post: I Will Reach Something Good
Shamati #12: “The Essence of One’s Work”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Perception, Q&A - 1 Comment →

Question: What is freedom and freedom from what? How do we achieve it if both the corporeal and the spiritual worlds are defined by rigid laws?

Answer: The only freedom that exists is freedom from our egoism. I want the Upper Light to descend, take me over, and replace my egoism. I perceive the power of egoism or altruism over me as necessary: It is either one or the other.

There are only two types of nature: the nature of the lower one (reception) and the nature of the Upper One (bestowal). Both are preset, and function in accordance with invariable laws. The only free action we are able to take is to rise from one nature (egoistic) to the other (altruistic). In other words, we can break free from the power of the laws of egoism (reception) and transcend to the “jurisdiction” of bestowal.

We will not be able to evaluate even our own initial nature until we acquire the second, altruistic nature. We are currently locked within a single dimension, and for as long as we remain in it, we cannot comprehend it.

Look how often we err! For thousands of years, we developed within our egoistic nature, and we still do not know it. This is because we are locked inside it, but in order to understand it, we need to have something opposite to compare it with.

If we possessed an opposite nature (that of bestowal), we would be able to compare it with our egoism and thereby comprehend what reception and bestowal mean. However, in our world, there is nothing but receiving. Whatever we do, we do it solely for our own sake and benefit. This is why we cannot understand our own actions and how this world operates.

You see that humankind continues making mistakes, and doesn’t know what further direction to take. And now that we have reached the peak of egoism, our complete inability to understand this world is obvious. This fact pushes us to the realization that none of us has a choice but to transcend our egoistic nature.

Moreover, in order to simply live well within the boundaries of our egoism, we need to step out of it and study it from above. It is impossible to learn about an object while remaining within its bounds. We have to be above it in order to be able to study it. Only if we rise above ourselves can we learn who we are and what the right way to live is, at least in this world. This is what today’s global crisis is pushing us toward.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/25/10, Shamati #99

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Recognizing The Greatness Of The Opportunity
Laitman. com Post: How Do We Our Point Of Freedom?
The Path of Kabbalah: “Freedom of Choice-To Operate Above Nature”

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Is a person’s soul connected to his body like a spiritual root and its branch?

Answer: The soul is not connected to the body. The soul contains 613 desires which I have to correct with the help of 613 Lights. These desires are not connected to our world in any way and they are not present in a regular person.

They surface only in those who study Kabbalah with the intention to create a connection among the students based on bestowal and love, meaning to correct the breaking of the single soul of Adam into parts, into separate souls. These uncorrected desires or mutual hate do not emerge in those who do not study Kabbalah and therefore they have nothing to correct.

The correction takes place in two phases:

1. Not using the 613 desires. This is called carrying out the "613 recommendations of the Torah (Eitin).

2. Reception inside the 613 desires for the sake of bestowal. This is called carrying out "613 instructions of the Torah" (Pkudin).

The desires that were corrupted and became egoistic have the intention "for one’s own sake.” When they are corrected, they acquire the intention of being used "for the sake of others." These desires are the fulfillment of a commandment, since the Creator commanded us "to correct our souls."

This is a spiritual action that does not depend on the physical body. A person may have no arms and legs, or may even lack the whole body, but he can still carry out these actions. The correction of one’s desires is in no way connected to physical flesh. One’s presence in the spiritual world is not connected to this world.

Everything is felt inside the desire. Matter is desire. The sensation inside the lowest desire creates the picture of our world for us or the reality in which we live. The lowest level, called "this world," is impossible to correct. It is the still level which is not subject to correction.

However, besides the still level of desire called "this world," I also receive a small desire of the next level, a "point" of the higher level which is in no way connected to the material level. This desire is called a "point" because in it I perceive only an aspiration to something beyond this world. I can develop it by drawing Light that will connect it to the points of other people, or stated differently, it will connect my soul with other souls. Inside the connection that emerges, I will begin to feel the spiritual world.

When more points connect to my point, then a system emerges and the Light brings it to life. Then all the participants feel life!

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/1/10, “The Matter of Root and Branch”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Body Is Transient, The Soul Is Not
Article : "From the Mouth of a Wise Man – Foreword"
Kabbalah Moments: "Nothing To Correct In This World"
Kabbalah Moments: "You Are Parts Of My Soul"

Filed under: Body and Soul, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Spirituality - 3 Comments →

Question: Is it possible to transition to bestowal without any pain and suffering?

Answer: Yes. It is possible to make this transition without suffering if you do it under the influence of the environment.

The environment is able to imbue me with an aspiration to any goal, even the most unrealistic one. If everyone around me thinks about it, I will also start to aspire to it. Then it won’t be at all difficult for me to value the quality of bestowal. I will see it as a great reward instead of my current egoistic reception. However, the condition for this is that others around me also think and act this way.

A person is much like a computer whose old program can be erased by society and a new, more advanced program with new data can be installed. I advance to the degree this happens.

The only reason I need a mind is to follow those who show me the spiritual path. However, following them is not that simple because you don’t do it by turning into a robot, but on the contrary, you grow!

You constantly receive interferences on all levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human, which impede you from following the spiritual path. You have to lower yourself and come down from the height of your enormous egoism in order to be able to follow the spiritual teacher. That is why you have to have a great mind in order to decipher all of the shrewd tricks of your egoism. Then you will avoid following your egoism and will advance by faith above reason, by following your teacher.

We receive states that are so confusing that we start to look down on the teacher and even to hate him. However, if you are able to ascend above this and turn yourself into “nothing,” to “dust under the feet of the righteous,” it means you are following a righteous person on the spiritual path. This causes you to be great like that person because you receive everything that is in his mind. You receive this through him from the Creator.

When it says that the nation followed Moses like a flock follows a shepherd, it doesn’t mean that they walked like animals. Rather, it is talking about a special form of advancement where you nullify yourself before the teacher, Moses, and through him you nullify yourself relative to the Creator. In the same exact way we go from love for the people to love for the Creator. Otherwise, we cannot change.

You change your previous form and acquire a new one, which is similar to the Creator. This does not belittle you in any way. If you nullify yourself in the spiritual world against the Klipot at the height of the Worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, and Atzilut, and you follow your teacher, then you rise to the height of those worlds. We are talking only about the height of your opposition to the interferences that are sent to you (that emerge).

This is called “walking by faith above reason.” I don’t have the knowledge that my spiritual teacher does, and thus I nullify myself in relation to him. I cancel my mind and receive new knowledge from him. It is knowledge of the Upper Level, “faith.” The lower part of his spiritual Partzuf, AHP, becomes immersed in me and I accept darkness as Light even though it appears dark inside my egoistic desire. That is how I can advance along the spiritual path.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/1/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Where To Look For The Reward For Bestowal
Shamati #25: “Things that come from the Heart” – Lesson
Kabbalah Moments: “To Follow Moses”
Kabbalah Moments: “Restart Your Computer”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - 1 Comment →