Question: What are the signs that we have made the first step onto the spiritual ladder?

Answer: When we arrive at the first spiritual degree, we feel a pressing need to unite because a common integrated system of souls becomes revealed to us there. This system is a tight network of forces of mutual love and bestowal, filled with the upper, unifying force, the Creator.

The more willing we are to become equivalent to the Light, the tighter our souls draw together under its effect, and we feel how it passes through us. The souls align with the Light more and more, removing obstacles (resistance) out of its way, and the Light travels through them without restriction, shifting from one soul to the other. The Light becomes whole and complete like in the World of Infinity. It doesn’t need to perform any actions or movements in order to shift from place to place; it simply and absolutely fills the entirety of the network evenly.

This network exists at every level of the spiritual ladder, from the first to the last. However, as we advance to a higher spiritual degree, we perceive a more integrated network filled with more Light. We perceive this because there is less and less difference between the souls and the Light in which they reside. This means that the Creator, who fills space between the souls, is revealed to them more and more.

We see the Light at the very first degree of the spiritual ladder, similar to how a newborn baby begins to perceive our world with his five corporeal senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. A newborn doesn’t know how to use his sensory organs yet, but is able to acclimate himself somewhat.

The same occurs when we attain the first spiritual degree. After having made it to the first spiritual degree, we exist in this world in our physical body and also within our soul in the spiritual world. The spiritual world is eternal, and while in it, we don’t feel the need for the physical body. We can exist without it, solely in the sensation of the Upper World.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, Article, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Question: What does it mean to strive toward unity and to try to “step out of myself” during our reading of The Book of Zohar? It sounds like fantasy. What am I supposed to visualize? What can I latch on to?

Answer: If I am sitting in a stuffy building and need fresh air, I open the door. Opening the door is all you need to do! When you open yourself outward, everything that is outside will enter you.

It is written: “You shall not bow down to a foreign god.” (Psalms, 81:9) If you do not want the Creator to be foreign to you (dwelling outside of you), bring Him in.

The entire Book of Zohar speaks about the Creator, as does the whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Above our world and everything else that exists is the Creator. There is nothing more to look for but the Creator. Beyond this world, there is Upper Light that is revealed to you in your corrected desires where you discover the properties of the Light.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/10, The Zohar

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Question: What should someone who is just beginning to study the wisdom of Kabbalah do when he is sitting in front of The Book of Zohar absolutely clueless about what is written in it?

Should he keep trying to hold intention for the entire 45 minutes of the lesson? It is so frustrating to sit in front of such an incredible book and get nothing out of it. What am I to do?

Answer: The only thing I need to get out of The Zohar is the force of bestowal, nothing else. If I have a minimal force of bestowal, I will start sensing The Zohar, my involvement with it, and the flow of text in it. I will start feeling how precious this book is to me. Gradually, through my reactions to its words, I will start feeling what it is talking about.

But all of this follows my desire above myself for the force of bestowal and my desire for an open heart. Only with such intentions should we open The Zohar. When you step “out of yourself” (out of your egoism), that is when The Zohar enters you.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/10, The Zohar

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Question: How can I prepare myself for the Mega Kabbalah Congress taking place this weekend (July 23-25) so that I come to it as if to the King’s feast?

Answer: By gathering together at the Congress, we can make an effort to experience spiritual life at least for a short time. Spiritual life is unity in building a spiritual vessel. It is the connection between us in which we experience the spiritual world. It is the oneness of opposing parts. These parts resist and disagree with each other, but above that we attain unity because we desire and aspire to it.

This desire draws Light. And even if we are not prepared to keep it forever, at least for a short period of time, we can hold the sensation of spirituality. It is okay if we descend later. It may or may not happen. We might not fall but instead could ascend higher, beginning at this first spiritual degree.

I think we can do it. We have all the necessary tools: knowledge, materials, preparation, the external system, and the connection between us. Everything is ready. Now we must use it! It all depends solely on us. We will be able to experience spirituality if we strongly desire to unite with each other and find spiritual life in this connection, in bestowal, above our individual egoism.

Most importantly, we must feel spirituality and not receive pleasure from it. If we do, we will definitely fall. However, if we feel it and continue to use it solely in order to bestow to each other, guarding ourselves against using it egoistically, then the Light will be revealed to us.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10,  “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: Is the whole process of the creature’s development and the measure of its bestowal predetermined?

Answer: Nobody is restricting you in any way! You have free choice and every opportunity. Even the prophets could not predict the way we will advance. In all the prophecies of the days of the Messiah and the war of Gog and Magog, the revelation was only in the left line, the line of natural development and not in the three lines.

Nobody knows ahead of time the extent to which we will be able to sweeten this path. That is, we cannot predict what may happen at the Mega Congress. It is entirely possible that we will cross the Machsom and continue our spiritual ascent!

Or we can rise over it for some time and fall again, needing to cross it several times so as to ultimately stay in the spiritual world. Everything depends on how we organize and realize our connection.

The other essential factor is how we will accept this revelation. If we have prepared ourselves to accept it only for the sake of bestowal, and do not yield to the pleasure it offers, then together through mutual guarantee, we will be able to use all the revelations, pleasures, and states that will come and continue our path upward in spirituality.

But everything is in our hands. Everything is ready!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10, Article “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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All the degrees of spirituality are “pre-cut”; they were predetermined in advance by the Light’s descent from Above downward. It is similar to a toy factory that manufactures Lego construction sets. The Creator created a completed picture in the World of Infinity, and then by descending from Above downward, “cut” or divided the picture into more and more parts. This went on until the “Lego pieces” were ready to be given to the “child” who exists in this world at the very bottom of the descent downward.

A “child” in this world starts assembling the Creator’s picture back to its original form. He puts more and more pieces together until the picture is complete. How does the child benefit from this “play”? While doing this work, the child experiences great changes during his ascension back to the World of Infinity.  He becomes more intelligent and mature because of his labor. The steps of ascension have no value of their own; what matters is how they affect a person. Namely, while climbing the spiritual ladder, the souls become more equivalent to the Creator.

The Creator purposefully threw us down from the World of Infinity into this world so that we can climb back up by re-assembling the image of the Creator within us. That is the object of the game!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, Article, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Question: Why won’t the Creator answer my appeals no matter how much I cry out to Him?

Answer: This is because it is not yet a correct plea but a “child’s tantrum” that nobody pays much attention to. A cry is a desire. When an adult is screaming and crying, it is a sign that something serious must have happened. To be an “adult” means to possess a clarified desire, to understand what you want. We need to clarify our desire. If our inner cry, the inner desire, will suit the Light, the Light will become revealed in it and will allow us to sense a spiritual reality.

Essentially, we are studying the physics of the spiritual world, the precise laws of the interplay between the Light and desire. The Light has built the desire with five parts; each part subdivides into another five, and another five. Altogether, there are 125 degrees through which the desire can become like the Light; that is, there are 125 steps to raise the desire up the spiritual ladder toward the Light until it becomes just like Him.

What does the cry mean? It is a desire for the attainment of an even greater similarity to the Light that I, myself, develop within me. Once I do the appropriate actions and bring myself to similarity to the Light, the Light becomes revealed! But if I do not perform the right actions, the Light will not reveal itself.

For this reason, there is no need to cry. What is needed is for you to change your desire until you reach the Light. In order for you to transition from one state to another, to change yourself to such extent that you ascend to the next degree, you need to prepare for several months, or maybe years, or even lifetimes. Everything depends on the environment, on your perseverance and pressure, and your efforts to accelerate time.

However, the Light does not “patronize” anybody. Nobody has any opportunity to scream in a special way for Him to help. These are strict laws like in physics: either you suit the next step or you do not. If you have enough strength to move yourself, then you move; if not, then you stand still. If I need to move a huge load, I will only be able to move it when my strength becomes at least an ounce greater than the load, but not sooner.

This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to attract the Light which will give us additional strength to become like it. I can attract the Light called the “Surrounding” Light or the “Light that Reforms” from the state that I want to ascend to. This Light will influence my desire and will elevate me. It will make me similar to that Upper degree that the Light comes from. Meanwhile, I am unable to change by myself.

The entire wisdom of Kabbalah is in learning to attract this Light from Above while remaining below. In regards to this, it is written: “I created the evil, egoistic inclination and the Torah as the means for its correction because the Light in it Reforms.”

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, Article, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”

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The Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 32: “And I will make you a great nation”…“And I will bless you”…By retiring from the right line that is not mingled with the left, he was rewarded with illumination of the right that is mingled with the left…

Because he retired from the illumination of the left that is not mingled with the right, he was rewarded with the promise implied in the words, “And [I will] make your name great,” which is the illumination of the left that mingled with the Hassadim on the right.

…“And you will be a blessing,” which is the illumination of the middle line.

The advancement along three lines is like walking with two legs: on one side there is the force of bestowal (the right line), and on the other, the force of reception (the left line). One uses these two forces or lines to advance, “stepping” on one and then the other. However, the direction he moves in, which also determines how he activates these two forces of right and left, is called the middle line.

Therefore, the middle line is not some kind of third force. There is no third force! The middle line is the correct combination of the left and right lines. The correct combination ensures advancement, first via the governance of the quality of judgment, and then mercy, first good, and then evil. One triggers the revelation of the evil forces, which push man from behind. The other reveals the forces that draw and beckon him forward. Man advances with the help of these two forces. They are like two reigns through which one controls and advances himself. There is an entire science on how to use them.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is called the third line, the “golden path.” It is the method of the correct use of these two forces of nature: the force of reception and the force of bestowal, plus and minus. Our entire corporeal sciences also amount to the ability of using these two natural forces: from atomic energy, which too contains “plus” and “minus,” to molecules that join and divide on the basis of positive and negative valencies. Everything is comprised of two opposite forces.

Therefore, the correct study lies in learning how to take these two natural bases (the Light and the desire, the plus and the minus), to merge them into a single whole, and to assemble whole systems up to the infinite universe which includes everything. We have to learn so that the “mechanisms” we build through this unification, such as “engine,” “refrigerator,” “air conditioner,” and so on, all work in the best and optimal way.

Essentially, the entire wisdom boils down to extracting the maximum benefit from these two forces. And we stand in the middle between them, in the so-called “middle line.”

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: Can one person with a correct intention affect the entire group that reads The Zohar without any intention?

My Answer: When we read The Zohar together, we strive to unite. We gather in a group so that there are no difference between an advanced student and a beginner, a prominent one and not. Together in a group we are all equal.

Each of us may be in a certain state: one just started and doesn’t fully comprehend where he is, while another has studied The Zohar for some time and has already gained a certain picture from it. Yet both undergo different states. Perhaps today a person feels especially attuned and inspired, but there are times when he is unable to tune in at all, as if unconscious. It may be that yesterday there was great clarity, and today that person is unable to collect his thoughts.

Therefore, everything depends on the collective mass of those who study together, and how well, through a unified effort, they are able to feel that this mass contains everyone within itself. It turns out that those who have sharp clarity today help those who are now lifeless. Moreover, both benefit from each other.

As a matter of fact, the person now inspired lacks the force of egoistic desire (Aviut), but receives it from those currently in the dead state and vice versa. In this way, when there is great inspiration and Aviut at the same time, then together in unison we help each other to receive an opportunity for advancement. Thus, when we connect and bring both together, it works and brings good results. Conversely, if only those who are burning with inspiration came to study today while those who feel lifeless stayed in bed, we would gain nothing. We would not have a sufficient force of egoistic desire to advance.

Our strong desire attracts the Light that Reforms. We burn with the desire to receive it and it comes. So where does the Light enter? Where is your egoistic desire that it can influence? Yet when several “dead” friends sit next to you, the Light influences them and brings them back to life. And tomorrow you will switch places, and everything will reverse.

We do not fully comprehend the unique potential of a group. Without it, spiritual advancement is impossible.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: If everything is prepared ahead of time, then where does the participation of the creature come into play in this process? It seems that we receive everything from Above and that everything is predetermined….

My Answer: Of course! If I give my son a Lego toy to build or bring him baby food, both of which were created by factories and labs, weren’t they prepared ahead of time? Everything is prepared ahead of time, but at the same time, a child grows and becomes independent through these means that were already prepared. He tries to grow, and because of this, he matures and develops his own individuality based on everything that was prepared for him beforehand. This is the way we develop.

Therefore, we cannot do anything new here, as it is written, “We will eat what has long lay in store for us.” Everything occurs according to the Reshimot (spiritual informational genes), which are already instilled in us. However, we draw Lights so that these Reshimot will become revealed in us. We draw the Surrounding Light in order to understand what we need to do, and to perform clarifications.

We participate like partners in the Creator’s actions. Therefore, our work is called the work of the Creator. However, from this work, we learn to be similar to Him and advance from the stage of “conception” to “feeding” and then to “maturing.”

And then, at the stage of “returning through love,” we already carry out actions like the Creator. What does it mean “like the Creator?” The forces are His, and we merely discern what needs to be done and how. When we reach complete correction (Gmar Tikkun), it means that we have revealed all the actions of the Creator above us as active partners in these actions and we desire their execution. That is it and no more.

And after the end of correction, when I become similar to the Creator in all aspects, it is possible that there exist other actions, which I carry out to a greater extent on my own, independent of the Upper Force. However, we have no understanding of this. The science of Kabbalah does not tell us about further stages.

Therefore, it is written that we correct ourselves. Through every action that is carried out, I correct myself, meaning I agree, desire, and merge with that same action with all of my heart. In this manner we achieve final correction.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, The Zohar

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