Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 33: If one’s faith is incomplete, and he does not engage in the Torah or in the work only because the Creator commanded him to study, then we have seen above that in such Torah and work the Light does not appear. This is because one’s eyes are flawed, and like a bat, turn the Light into darkness.

Such a study is no longer considered a maid of Kedusha, since he will not acquire Lishma through it. Hence, it comes to the domain of the maid of Klipa (shell), which inherits these Torah and work, and robs them for herself.

Hence, “the earth doth quake,” meaning the Holy Divinity, called “earth.” This is so because those Torah and work that should have become to her, as possessions of the Holy Divinity, that evil handmaid robs and lowers them to be a possession of the Klipot (shells). Thus, the handmaid is heir to her mistress.

At some point in life a person living in this world asks himself: “What is the meaning of my life?” This question gives him a certain connection with the Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah, and he starts studying it, feeling that this can give him an answer to the question about the meaning of life, its secret.

If he studies the Torah specifically for the sake of this, it is a correct attitude. But if he does so only because “the Creator commanded it,” it is called Klipa, an impure intention. It would seem why is that, if he fulfills the Creator’s order? But the fact is that we are egoists by nature, motivated by the desire to receive pleasure, to fill ourselves, and to win. If a person says that he studies the Torah only because it is the Creator’s commandment, it means that he doesn’t have a real desire for it and his approach is erroneous. The true desire that could lead him to the purpose of creation hasn’t awakened in him yet.

However, if he studies because he wishes to find out why and for what purpose he exists, what the meaning of his existence is, what the purpose of life is, then it is a useful, natural, inner desire, need, to reveal the secret of his life. And hence even by studying with the egoistic intention, being confused, and mixing in various other goals, he nevertheless can come to a result. Most important is that he has an inner, true desire.

Even if the correct intentions and pure desires, the aspiration for bestowal and love of the other, of the Creator are non-existent, it’s not terrible: He is already on the right path. The Book of Zohar calls this state a handmaid who tends to her mistress.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/2012, “Introduction to TES“

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Baal HaSulam, the article “ Exile and Redemption”: A secular ideal stems from humanness and hence cannot raise itself above humanness. But a religious idea, which stems from the Creator, can raise itself above humanity.

We always need to see this test in front of us: Whom do we wish to please? And the opposite, before whom do I fear being disgraced? In the eyes of the public, the surroundings, my relatives, or strangers? Or I only take the Creator into account, although this calculation may be the opposite to everything that happens to me on the level of this world. Usually this is how everything is arranged for us, one thing in place of the other.

For example, I am shamed in this world and through that I am brought closer to the Creator, or I prefer to refuse to approach the Creator only not to feel the shame in this world. Here a person always checks himself, to what extent is he able to suffer.

This is a very painful point. It is a major moment since shame is at the core of our nature. Thus it isn’t enough to just to restrain or to justify yourself with one’s own exclusivity, that we inherited unwillingly. No. When all the shame is revealed to me, I need to agree and so via this concession to invite one gram of bestowal to the Creator, which He doesn’t even know about.
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From the 4^th part the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/12, “Exile and Redemption”

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Before a person approaches the study, he must form a certain intention within him, so that all of his study will be directed to attracting the upper light to himself, so it will bring him to ascend above his nature.

How can he see this? Precisely according to this, that everyday ups and downs, and serious, qualitative and quantitative internal changes will occur in him. He will feel how much he is being shaken all the time, to what extent he is in states of eye-opening, understanding, ascent, and then suddenly the opposite, in states of descent, bleakness, lack of strength, depression; and then again ascent, and again everything illuminates and everything is comprehensible and joyful. And then again the opposite.

But, as far as a person goes through such states, he will become used to them more and more. He will begin to understand that all these states have to take place, that they are natural and desirable. He will begin to disengage from them. On the one hand, these states will occur in him. But, together with this, he will follow them by some point outside and will understand that now he is in one state, later in a different state and so on. Meaning, he won’t completely be immersed in depression or joy like a small child. No, he as an adult towards this small child will be able to understand and grasp his state and draw some conclusions from it.

It’s the same in spiritual development. A person begins to understand clearly in what states he is in, what for, why, and how. He is already not submissive to changes in mood, understanding and recognition.

But sometimes he absolutely doesn’t grasp anything. Generally, he goes through all sorts of states! A certain period of time is required in order to get used to them.

Besides this, we must begin to go through these states from the “side”: I go through them, and I should go through more and at a higher frequency, but I will nevertheless go forward. Meaning, they should not knock us off course. In any case, I come to the lessons, study with the friends in the group, engage in anything that is just possible, it doesn’t matter that together with this I don’t have any feelings towards them: not love, not hatred, nothing, in any case I do it! In each degree, mechanical or more emotional, positive or negative, I must sign a precise agreement with myself: that I in any case am going forward, crawling forward. It doesn’t matter how, but I am inclined only forward.

If a person studies like this, then after a certain period, he really begins to feel all sorts of changes within him, the ascents and descents, suddenly begin to change at an astonishing speed, literally every minute, and then every second. He is going through some inexhaustible storm that carries him. This storm is going in its path; it processes inside all sorts of Reshimot (spiritual genes), informational records, and at the same time the person is in the group, in the study, and doesn’t pay attention to this.

Therefore, the main thing in our advancement is to get ourselves used to this, so that no emotional, intellectual, and psychological interferences will divert us from the goal. They will certainly toss us from side to side, but nevertheless will not remove us from the goal. And here the relationship with the group is very important, everything that Rabash writes about the connection with the group.
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From a Virtual Lesson 11/25/12

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Question: Why is the question about the meaning of life considered more pure than just its performance.

Answer: Because this question is coming from within the point in the heart, from within the most internal desire that a man has. Everything that was created by the Creator is a desire, and in each one of us there is a part from this big desire. The innermost point of this desire is the point of truth, the question “What do I live for?” This I need to reveal.

If a man asks for what he lives, this is a sign that inside his heart exists all four levels of the desire. And the fourth, final level wants to reveal Keter: to clarify who manages me, why and for what, and what is going on in general? I want to find out if it is worth living? Because if I will not reveal this Keter, the reason, then any other fulfillment that I can receive will not satisfy me. And although I am still getting confused and I’m turning to other goals, the main thing for me is to reveal the cause and effect of all that.

I want to receive a direct and honest answer: Does this life have a purpose or not? And if there is not, then any other compensation will only worsen my despair, because I don’t need all that.

If a man reaches a question like that, meaning, that he asks from within the point of Malchut about the point of Keter, because he must reveal it! It means he is already ripe for the revelation of the Creator, to Dvekut, and the other not yet.  They still need to wait, to receive illumination through us that will speed their development. If they will join us, we will be able to take care of them. Everything depends on the desire of a man, and one needs to wait that it will ripen, because it is forbidden unripened fruit.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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The upper Light is eternal and constant. Rest is a consequence of His creation that He wanted to create. Thus, everything that is not the Light represents a garment that is put one on top of another and covers the Light that is inside of them.

Each covering, from first to last, is called the desire to receive, except for the internal Light that is the desire to bestow, the Creator.

This is why we are talking about multiple stages, worlds, Partzufim, Sefirot, and so on, although all of them are only the garments of the Light. Each cover is like a screen that simply receives a certain type of impression from the Light, within which it’s possible to differentiate between things that come directly from the properties of the Light and things that are originated by the coverings.

So, the same thing can be explained from the side of desires,vessels, and from the side of the Light: relative to an action and an intention. The Light at the zero phase (Shoresh de Shoresh) decided to create something that is opposite to it, something that would want to receive from it, enjoy it, and consume it. It is called the creation, the act of birth.

Everything that evolves in this world originates from the authentic impulse that is the desire of the Light in correlation with the desire to receive, that is, the desire to create something that would take advantage of the Light and be delighted by it. The Creator has built in such a desire in the very root of the creation, to create in order to bestow good.

This instinct is in the depths of our desires, otherwise we would not be able to have children and care for them. Although in the end, it is distorted by our selfish desires and takes a completely different egoistic form.

The so-called four phases of the Direct Light are the garments on the upper Light, which develop from it by the chain of cause and effect and thus conceal it more and more. If the Light decided to create and created something opposite to it, then now this opposition develops more and more: starting with the zero stage, where everything was permitted, and to stage four, which prohibited all egoistic pleasure.

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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/26/12, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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From Baal HaSulam’s article “Thou Hast Hemmed Me in Behind and Before”: …who connects the two worlds, discovers His clothing in the present: everything that is done is a clothing for the revelation of divinity.

If a person believes that any change that happens to him is caused by the Creator and every moment of his life he keeps building an adequate attitude and regards everything that happens to him as a manifestation of the Good that comes from the Creator, then he becomes similar to a “horse that is subordinate to the bridle and headstall of the rider.” This means that he stays constantly aware of his unwillingness to change the world, but rather he stays alert to his desire in order to change his attitude towards it.

He clearly realizes that he’s not the one who rules and makes decisions, but rather everything is defined by the Light. A person needs to acknowledge this fact every single time, thus “turning himself” correctly towards the events that happen to him. Any situation is presented to a person to the extent of his desire to receive pleasure. He has to behave “as if” he feels and realizes everything around him from the level as if he already is in the desire to bestow.

The only emanation of the Creator is “the good.” When we want to hear the Creator’s voice, every single moment we become subject to a constantly increasing impact: impulse after impulse. Our task is to stay alert, tune ourselves to them, and set up the correct attitude at each given moment. This will allow us to advance correctly in accordance with the genuine state of affairs, which means that it isn’t the horse carries the rider where it wants, but the rider leads a horse and brings him to the right goal.

The Creator will lead us by sending us various situations. Our part is to relate to our life circumstances as good and recognize that all of them come from the Creator; this is how we can straighten the route and turn our faces directly towards the Creator. If we apply effort and ask the Creator (the Light) to help us understand things that happen to us this way, He gradually will change us and give us a chance to build the right attitude.

Baal HaSulam writes in his article “Thou Hast Hemmed Me in Behind and Before:” Hence, that way there is contact, as well, but it is back to back, meaning not by the will of the dresser or that of the dressed. But those who follow His will discover for themselves the royal dresses in the present, connected face to face through the will of the dresser, for that is precisely His wish.

We don’t reveal Malchut per se, but rather divulge Her dresses; we take off Her concealments and coverings and turn Her around so that we see Her face, as if we are lifting a veil that is covering the beautiful face of the bride. So, it means that the external shell (Klipa), our egoistic attitude, helps us invert and amplify 620 times our connection with the Creator that is gradually revealing.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Rabash, “Self Love and the Love of the Creator”: There is self love and there is love of the Creator. And there is the transitional phase, which is the love of others, and by the love of others one arrives to the love of the Creator. This is why Rabi Akiva said: “Love thy friend as thyself; this is the great rule of the Torah.” And as Hillel said to the convert who asked him, “Teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” And he said to him, “Don’t do unto your friend what is hateful to you. The rest is commentary.” Since by the love of others one comes to the love of the Creator, and then all the Torah and all the wisdom are in a person’s heart.

It is very difficult for a person to agree internally that the road to the Creator goes through the love of others and that it is true that it is the same love, but in two different vessels.

The others don’t exist, but it only seems to us that way so that we will have a chance to perform actions in order to expand our vessel. Later, it will be revealed that there is nothing but a person and the Creator.

He corrected, fixed, and connected to himself the desires that he previously thought were the others, all the huge world that surrounds him. First, he found more and more connections in this world. He has seen that he is increasingly more connected and, eventually, he understands that this is all his vessel, and, thus, he connects to the Creator.

So, “From the love of others to the love of the Creator” isn’t just a nice slogan, but the fulfillment of the desire, which is the only place where a person can reveal his upper world.

This path is a result of the “shattering of the vessels” that took place especially in order to allow us to expand our feeling and, at the same time, to be independent and loyal to the Creator forever.

“Love thy friend as thyself” is the great rule of the Torah, which includes the entire general desire in which all the Light is revealed. We can study it “on one foot” (in brief), which means that by just one action, we can acquire the whole attainment. We discover that behind what seems to us, like the others, there is the whole reality.

The only problem is to perceive it internally. This is all our work, and, here, we need mutual guarantee since we can hear about it for many years before we even begin to get close to it. Then, a few more years are needed in order to decide to implement it. Thus, many years go by, and only mutual guarantee, mutual responsibility, pressure, envy, lust, and using all the means a person has, can help him become committed to and to internalize this principle as deeply as possible into his heart.

We have to measure how deeply it enters us and brings us to internal agreement and by that to value our advancement.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/12

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Through the discovery of the upper world, we begin to understand what the Kabbalists wrote about. All the texts we study become absolutely clear. They are grasped by us as some kind an incredible novel of great feelings and great attainments, a great revelation of the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). We acquire sensations and intellect a billion times greater than what we have today. Thus, we begin to feel the upper world. Our world isn’t considered as existing at all according to the upper states.

On one hand, there is no other possibility of attaining the purpose of creation except through the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

On the other hand, there are no previous conditions required in order to study this wisdom. Therefore, anyone can study it, regardless of one’s previous education, character, or origin. None of these have any meaning at all, including the knowledge of the Hebrew language.

In principle, this wisdom reaches a person from such a level that he needs only to invite its actions upon himself. This means that the wisdom itself is found in the upper Light. It reaches you at a certain frequency. It works and influences you. You need to place yourself under its action and influence, and, then it will create in you the needed vacancies. It will begin to fill these vacancies with sensations and intellect.

Thus, all the corporeal characteristics that we have today don’t mean anything. You can be a clever or gifted person, in Kabbalah, it won’t help you.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, only one thing helps, and that is naivety, when you go straight to the goal and don’t make any other calculations. That is the primary thing for me, and all the rest is secondary. If you are directed in this way, then you will attain the goal.
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From a Virtual Lesson 11/25/12

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The rising of Malchut to Bina is called “the sanctification of the moon.” This means acquiring the faith by which a person has to sanctify his work above reason. He understands that he mustn’t work with his desires to receive, but that all his work should be within the vessels of bestowal.

But in the meantime he has no desire to bestow, and he doesn’t even understand what it means. Therefore, the Creator points by using a “finger”: “Look, this is the form of bestowal!” That is, a person gradually begins to discover the form of bestowal and understands that this is the desirable form.

Before that, he couldn’t discover it, appreciate it, or imagine it. After all, what we call bestowal in our world is not bestowal but latent receiving, false altruism. Undoubtedly, as long as a person is managed by his egoistic desire, he must feel some pleasure in his actions, since otherwise he wouldn’t be able to move.

Even when he fills others, he must feel some profit, or that the other is dearer to him than himself. Then he feels natural love towards him, like a mother who is ready to give her baby everything. Another option is that we are so closely connected that the wellbeing of another is inseparable from my self-benefit, or that I am managed by fear!

The motive can also be benefit, an additional profit, or a desire to cut down my sufferings. It is also felt as an egoistic profit and usually even a greater profit than the pleasure.

I can feel a profit from the addition and also a profit since I don’t lose. In that case my joy is even greater.

A person can find 100 dollars on the street, feel happy and quickly forget about it. But if he loses 100 dollars, he will regret it much more than if he found that sum of money, since it is like cutting something off oneself.

Therefore, we have to understand that the power of faith is above the desire to receive and is acquired in two phases: first in the vessels that work for a profit and then in the vessels in which we feel the loss. Our whole desire is divide into two parts: levels 0-1-2 (the thickness of the root level, phase one, and phase two) that are called GE, and levels 3-4 (the thickness of phases three and four) AHP. First bestowal is performed in the vessels of bestowal and then in the vessels of receiving.

Clearly, it is much more difficult to work in order to bestow in the vessel of receiving, since a person feels an immediate loss then. He could have received a direct pleasure in those vessels, and now it is the opposite, he intends to bestow with these vessels, and so it turns out that this is a double loss for his ego.

But he “sanctifies himself,” which means that he acquires the attribute of bestowal and thus advances until he is rewarded with the “sanctification of the moon,” when the attribute of bestowal becomes holy for him.

He himself cannot shine like the moon, but he illuminates to the extent that he is adhered to the upper force, to the source of the Light, to the sun, with the help of the power of faith. Thanks to that, the moon is sanctified.

Just like the earth, the moon cannot generate any light, but it loyally adheres to the sun above the earth and thus begins to shine. It isn’t its own light, but it shines thanks to the fact that it doesn’t receive anything for itself, but only in order to illuminate for others.
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From the 1^st part the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/12, Writings of Rabash

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If the spiritual path were felt as pleasant and beneficial to our nature, our egoism, who would reject it? The entire world would run to us to study and sit at the desk. Everyone would come if he felt joy and sweetness in this.

No one would refuse such a tempting opportunity to reveal the future before him and obtain all the knowledge. Our ego would have pushed us forward, pulled us, not giving us a moment of rest. Envy, lust, and ambition would be burning in a person, promising him all sorts of fulfillment in this world and the upper world, the Garden of Eden. All this would have inspired and attracted him more and more.

Of course, this is not so, and it is difficult for us to understand and impossible to agree that all of reality, except ourselves, is opposite of what we see. It is full of contentment and pleasure, the revelation of the upper force. All this is revealed to the extent a person acquires the property of bestowal.

It is impossible to achieve spiritual fulfillment, the degree of the Creator, in any other way. So, true management is hidden behind its opposite form, and we are not able to appreciate it, to understand and taste what the intention to bestow means. We do not have the tools to enjoy bestowal.

Please give to anyone! However, you will not feel any pleasure from it because your desires are opposite. And only one in whom the spark was lit in the darkness of egoism, forcing him to seek bestowal, and one who cares about that spark, trying to increase it through studies and the environment—advances. Indeed, there are few chosen ones, of all the thousands.
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From the 1^st part the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/02/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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