Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 53, “The Matter of Limitation”: This is called the main part of the degree, which is a discernment of Katnut. This discernment must be permanent, and the Gadlut is only an addition. Also, one should yearn for the main part, not for the additions.

The main thing is the state of Katnut (smallness), Hafetz Hesed, “to bestow in order to bestow,” being ready to settle for less. At the same time I don’t need to feel that I restrict myself or that I lack something, but rather the contrary, I should feel that I am totally satisfied.

A state of Katnut should become very dear and honorable for me. Then the question is why should there be a state of Katnut in the first place and not one point? I don’t want to have any volume at all. I want to take as little space as possible. In order to exist and to do good to everyone for the sake of the Creator, I am ready to shrink into a point and not have anything of my own.

The truth is that this is the right approach. It’s from such a state that we start to perceive and to attain spiritual reality, but the moment we begin to think about this and how we can bring contentment to the Creator, we understand that in order to do that we need to receive all the discernments and the desires from Him and to change them from in order to receive to in order to bestow. Thus we become a spiritual embryo that begins to grow in volume in order to yearn and to adhere to the Creator and thus bring Him contentment.

Without this we don’t grow like an embryo in his mother’s womb. Every second, every additional movement, every gram the embryo puts on is only in order to bring the Creator contentment. He has to feel that he is making the Creator happy.

During the time of birth, during the labor pains, and the stage in which the embryo turns with his head down before the birth, he examines every step he makes to see whether it’s in order to bring contentment to the one who gives him birth. After he is born, during the time of Yenika (suckling) he continues to develop like a baby who is in his mother’s arms; in the same way a person is in the arms of the Creator.

He already begins to work with his desires and partly limits himself, but every action he makes for the sake of limitation or for the sake of growing is only in order to bring the Creator contentment; this is how a person grows. Therefore, the point from which he begins to grow when he doesn’t want to have more than a point, remains his center. He stands on it, not wanting more than basic existence, and everything else he is forced to add to this point is only in order to bring the Creator contentment. This is the only thing that motivates him in all his actions: in every limitation and joy.

He is actually happy about this, not for his own sake, but for bringing the Creator contentment. By that he attains adhesion to the Creator like between two loving friends who feel one another.
[102831]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/14/13, Shamati #53

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Reality is fixed; the Creator is good and benevolent and the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) is fixed. I, HaVaYaH, have not changed; the upper Light is in absolute rest, and everything depends only on the vessels, on our desires. So we shouldn’t wait for something to change in life.

Such an approach is only relevant for the general population who are under the domination of time. But the particular—who need to reveal the good and the benevolent upper force by themselves, that He is good and benevolent to the good and the evil, and that He is fixed and eternal—were given a chance to discover this not “in its time,” not in the natural course of the evolution of humanity, but above it by “hastening time.”

It says that “Israel is above the stars and the zodiac, by sanctifying (hastening) time.” Israel refers to a person who yearns for Yashar – El (straight to the Creator), for His revelation, and is already invited to discover the fixed, eternal end of correction that already exists.

In order to do that, he has to rise above all the interruptions that tie him to time, above all the states that are revealed in the chain of Reshimot (spiritual genes) in order to raise them all, to “sanctify” them and to transfer them to wholeness. He should see every corrupt state that is revealed to him as an opportunity to work in order to turn it into a perfect state in which there is none else beside Him, the good and the benevolent, and where everyone exists as one bundle in connection, in mutual guarantee, and in unity.

Imagining this reality and living according to this approach is called working in “faith above reason.” This is all our spiritual work. This is why we were given the study, the group, and the books in order to correct our perception through them and to see the real world instead of the fictitious world that intentionally seems to us as real so that we will have a chance to make an effort and to build the truth out of this lie.

If we take this mission and build the whole of reality from every state, it means that we are following a straight line to the goal, called “adhesion.” Every new problem makes us yearn for adhesion with the Creator in another point and then another. Then all these points connect into a straight line that leads to our end of correction.

So we shouldn’t count on time and wait for the changes. Every moment is an opportunity for us to add to the whole picture and thus advance.
[102779]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/14/13

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Question: What are “the Creator’s gifts?”

Answer: We give presents to someone we love, and we receive presents when there is no doubt that they come from love. I may feel that someone is giving me a present to repay me as a bribe.

This means that I must distinguish between a real and unselfish present that comes from the closeness that I already feel toward the giver who wants to make us both happy by the present and a present that is meant to buy me for a price and connect to me in order to use me later for one’s own interests. It turns out that the present can be because of the interests of the giver, because of my interests, or because of our common interests.

Several types of bestowal come to us from the Creator, and we call one of them a gift. As it is written, “He who hates gifts shall live,” but it refers to gifts for our ego, for the desire to receive fulfillment for free, since this is what the ego considers a gift.

The real present is “I labored and found.” A finding is also a kind of present since it is given to me out of love although I don’t deserve it. This means that it is not a direct outcome of my work, but rather, “I labored and found.” It isn’t a payment, but a present, a finding.

It is a very slight difference that is only understood by whomever purifies his vessels of perception (his senses) more and who then discovers different attributes to which he gives different names.

You can receive a present only if it helps you in the work. As it is written, “Open for me an opening like the eye of a needle” so that I can put a thread through it and start “sewing,” start working. This is how we are ready to receive a gift from the Creator since otherwise, we will not be able to get close to Him.

Therefore, the Torah is called a present since the Light in it reforms. So, I receive this present although I don’t deserve it, but, through this gift, I can correct myself and reach adhesion with the Creator. Eventually, I return to the Creator with this present as if I have taken it as a loan from His shop and am returning it.

It turns out that one of the types of receiving and bestowal is called a present.
[102753]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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As one advances, a person begins to feel that everything spiritual is outside of his body, in everything that surrounds him in the still, vegetative, and animate nature, in humans. This is what the world is, the area we must learn to treat with love and care as a great treasure so that the world, which is outside of our body, will become very important to us.

The feeling of existence in the physiological body occurs only in our imagination through a combination of forces that are acting on us. That is why we feel as if we live in the material body, and, if a person has an aspiration to live outside of his body—in everything that surrounds him—this is already the need to feel the soul.

Having begun working on this, a person sees that he needs to concentrate all his work on the correct environment because only from there can he get help and support. Such an environment is the group, as a representative of the external world, which may respond to me, attract me, and help me exit myself.

Then, I view the group as my savior, who throws me a rope to pull me out as if from a well. I do not associate myself with the body and wish to get out of it, and thus I grab the rope. The group, friends who are outside of me, help me break away from my body.

Thus, working together, we take turns helping each other climb up and exit ourselves. After all, only outside of his skin, outside of his selfish interests, does a person begin to feel that the group is not a gathering of some people but the holy Shechina in which the Creator dresses.

The body consists of Klipat Noga, the part that gives me freedom of choice, and the “snake’s skin,” the most powerful egoism that pulls me back, so that in trying to get out, I am able to apply sufficient effort correctly aimed.

Due to my desire to get out of my egoism—self-love and thoughts about my own good—to break out beyond my skin and think about the group and the world, I awaken the force that comes through the group, the teacher, and the Creator, which saves me from this prison. All this is due to the mutual work in the group with the teacher and with the books, and thanks to studies and dissemination, which are all the means in which the force of the Creator dresses and helps me exit myself.
[102824]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/13/13, Shamati #36

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 10: …He has no interest in reception, only in bestowal, whereas the Klipot want nothing of bestowal, but only to receive for themselves, for their own delight, and there is no greater oppositeness than that. And you already know that spiritual remoteness begins with some disparity of form and ends in oppositeness of form, which is the farthest possible distance in the last degree.

In this world, pluses and minuses attract each other as do opposite poles of a magnet. For example, people who have opposing opinions usually are interested in talking with each other and comparing their points of view. This happens because our world is submerged in the egoistic nature of receiving.

As a result, we can get something from one another to the degree of our dissimilarity. If we were alike, what could we get from one another? Similarity doesn’t promise any benefits; we need others to receive “profits” from them whether it is money, respect, power, recognition, services, etc. One needs something that one doesn’t have, something that one lacks. This is why we bother dealing with others.

It explains why we are unable to understand relationships between the Creator and creation: The distance between them is tremendous and they have no chance to come closer. At the same time, we see numerous examples when opposites meet. This is a paradox: Two different people who have egoistic desires find ways to take advantage of each other; however two contrary desires (egoistic and altruistic) can’t unite because they repel each other.

Consequently, creation has no chance to approach the Creator unless it modifies its nature. It goes without saying that it’s impossible to change the desire to receive per se. So, the Creator made the intention far more important (basic) than the desire. Intention is something we can work with and eventually it can be changed. Spiritual distance between the Creator and us is delineated exclusively by the intention. Intention changes the essence of connection among us and makes us either similar or different.

“The Creator” is a giving desire; consequently, one has to “shield” one’s desire to receive with the intention to bestow. The desire by itself is only a “material,” whereas intention is a tool for transforming the very essence of our actions to bestow. Thus, we approach the Creator.

Still, how do the Creator and creation converge if they have similar poles? It contradicts the laws of physics in this realm. Why can’t those people who have points in the heart unite with each other in spite of the law of similarity of properties? What does convergence depend on? Is it contingent upon our qualities or does it depend on the way we are using them?

For example, two thieves can find common ground. On the other hand, today people are not ready to unite their efforts even if their cooperation promises obvious benefits. They prefer to earn less independently rather than receive more in somebody else’s company.

Now, it becomes even harder to unite since our egoism continues growing and we repel each other much more strongly. Each of us prefers detachment and isolation. There is a growing trend of working from home; it’s convenient both for employees and employers.

We don’t find pleasure in teamwork; it doesn’t appeal to us at all. At one point, women started to strive to get out of their homes and escape from their families. They wanted to find jobs and enjoy more freedom and now people of both genders wish for the opposite.

However, it’s not about returning to their families. Currently, too many people don’t have families. It’s not about going back to family life, but rather it’s a continuation of our path in reaching new levels of egoism that in their turn lead to even more detachment and loneliness. On one hand, we understand that our alienation is not good for us; on the other hand, it has become do difficult to establish contact with anyone. So, people choose to refuse the potential advantages of connecting.

It means that we have to give charm to the idea of unity. Our joint work has to be pleasant, interesting, attractive, and to bring us satisfaction. We have to work on creating these conditions, since nothing will happen on its own. In the end, who would mind working in a company of nice people even without being rewarded? If we enjoy somebody’s company, we would be willing to pay for this pleasure. The problem is that we don’t regard liaisons among us as attractive. It’s very hard to treat others well since our egoism is too strong and amicable relationships require too much exertion and energy.

We have to break many walls that separate us before others will believe that we are not lying to them, playing with them, or confusing them in some way, and that we are genuinely sympathetic. We are used to hypocrisy; our relationships with others are too “commercial” and are saturated in mutual contempt. We should really try hard to understand others more deeply…

In spirituality, similarity of properties brings us closer to each other and allows us to eventually attain revelation, whereas in the material world we take pride in “consuming” each other. In spirituality, togetherness is based on similarity of properties, although in this material realm our closeness rests on dissimilarities. On this material plane, two people unite only if they want to confront a “third party” or if they expect to obtain certain benefits from their association.

There is a law that states that without the intention to bestow, pluses and minuses attract each other; the intention to bestow reverses the situation and makes everything conditioned by the degree of similarity.
[102029]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/5/13, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: …although we see the bodies changing from generation to generation, this is only the case with the bodies. But the souls, which are the essence of the body’s self, do not vanish, to be replaced, but move from body to body, from generation to generation.

“The body” stands for a desire to receive. If the intention to bestow is present in it, then according to the law of the similarity of properties, the Light dresses into it. The Light’s tiniest elementary particle (the initial level of the soul) is called “Nefesh.” In general, the Light that dresses in a corrected desire belongs to a different level of the soul and is called “Neshama.” We will never completely reveal the highest Lights such as Haya and Yechida until we reach the end of correction.

In fact, the vessel and the Light are all that there is. It also happens that the Light cannot emerge in the vessel; therefore, it slightly “illuminates” the vessel so that it can stay alive. It also happens that the vessel becomes similar to the Light by acquiring the correct intention. The desire to receive and the Light by definition are antagonistic since the Light is constantly bestowing. However, if on top of the desire to receive there is the intention to bestow (meaning “faith above reason” or the “reflected Light”) then the receiving desire becomes somewhat similar to the Light and thus it may be filled with the Light because there is a connection between them. The Light that descends to the desire to receive is called “Nefesh,” “Ruach,” or “Neshama.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah talks about the corrected “body” of the desire to receive. On the other hand, there is no soul in our present desire whatsoever, not even at the level of “Nefesh.” We are not talking about physical bodies here, since bodies are a part of this “illusionary” world.

Books written by Kabbalists are not medical manuals, nor are they written as anatomy textbooks. They talk about spirituality and the soul. The “soul” is a particle of the Creator, meaning of the desire to fulfill and please. It’s the Light that dresses into a corrected desire to receive. It has nothing to do with our current desires that “nourish” this world and belong to the “animate” level. Not at all! It’s about our desire toward the Creator that belongs to the “speaking” level.

Where do we find these desires? They can be found only in the group of friends, never in our physical sensations. This explains why we should “skip” physiology and everything that pertains to the body. Kabbalah doesn’t talk about these things. It explores the desires that emerge in us when we seek the Creator, whether those are “good” bestowing desires or “bad” ones when we “steal” from Him.

These relationships are described very well in the example of the guest and the Host. When I sit at the table that is full of delicacies, it’s not about what is in front of me, but rather who the Host is. The rest refers to the “animate” level and should be left behind the scenes. The thing is that I am sitting across from the Host! How do I relate to Him? How does He relate to me? What is going on between us? This is the wisdom of Kabbalah, and it’s all about spirituality.
[102245]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/13, “The Peace”

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Our spiritual growth and development begins from the restriction of the desire to receive, which initially dominates us. The moment we try to restrict ourselves, we enter the state of spiritual Ibur (gestation) about which is said: “An embryo in his mother’s womb sees from one end of the world to the other. There is a lit candle above his head and he is taught the whole Torah“.

This means that he is not limited in any way since he has totally restricted himself—the small egoistic desire he has at that moment in which he feels the corporeal world. It’s because he hasn’t felt the spiritual world at all, but only this world, the fictitious reality, like a person who is unconscious and is hallucinating. But when he restricts his desire to receive, he becomes unlimited, he doesn’t need to receive anymore since the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity) illuminates for him like the Surrounding Light, which is like being in a mother’s womb. Thus he goes through the stages of Ibur.

After he is born, he already begins to work with the first Aviut (thickness) of the desire instead of the root Aviut, and then he is limited again. The Light of Ein Sof that doesn’t grow weaker in any way, doesn’t reach him since he doesn’t try to totally annul himself and adhere to the upper. He builds Masachim (screens) of his own and increases his desires in order to actually reach the Light of Ein Sof by his own work and to dress it in his vessels.

There are different limitations in his work now, and the Light illuminates only to the extent that he can receive it in order to bestow in his corrected vessels. Therefore it says that “the Creator hates the bodies,” which means the desires to receive. The desire to bestow, however, is not called a body anymore, but a soul, a Godly part from Above.

Thus, there is a state in which a person restricts himself so that the Light of Ein Sof can reach him limitlessly. But the wholeness is in allowing the Light of Ein Sof to be revealed without any restrictions on a person’s part. A person has to discover himself with the help of a Masach and to work on the level of Ein Sof by himself, in order to attain full adhesion with the Light that is not limited by any restrictions.
[102517]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/12/13, Shamati #15

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Question: We have to yearn for the changes that the Creator sends us along the spiritual path. But these changes involve unpleasant feelings, how can we want them?

Answer: When a person’s ears get clogged, he has to listen more carefully, “Has anyone said anything? Did I understand correctly?” This is the inner effort to hear the one who turns to you.

We have to feel the same about the Creator. Something happens every minute: someone is looking at me, someone is talking to me, something happens in the world; inside me, I have had different thoughts, I have had different desires, different problems come up… All this is the Creator’s language. He is the one who sends me these messages.

Let’s take a certain object, for example, that is being bitten on all sides by particles in the air, by atoms. I am also constantly under the influence of the Creator. I only have to increase my sensitivity, and then through my “skin” I will actually start to discover Him; I will decipher his “conversation” and understand how and what He does.

It is all about my inner sensitivity. Even if I grow tired of paying endless attention to everything that happens, I have to ask for such sensitivity. It comes thanks to the mutual exercises I do with the friends, and with their help, I discover that at any given moment I am given different opportunities to have a dialog with the Creator. If I don’t miss them, then there is no room for thoughts, everything turns into feelings, and the feelings don’t go back and forth between us, but rather become common feelings…

We have to apply simple, direct psychology here and as little “accounting” as possible: eventually it is the Creator turning to me through different “garments.”
[102482]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/13, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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At any given moment the Creator kneads a person like dough, and the question is to what extent a person feels that and is ready to feel it and to accept the Creator’s ceaseless work on him.

There are different periods, since on every level we have to go through all the discernments: the still nature, the vegetative, the animate, and the “speaking.” And there is a certain time that we are asleep. This doesn’t depend on us, but is rather part of the general work on all of creation that also includes us. We feel only a small part of what is happening with us, so there are many periods in which we are unconscious of what we go through.

First we have to yearn to acknowledge that there is none beside Him. Second, you have to nullify yourself and try to be objective. An “objective perspective” is looking through a “lens” and not through your own eyes; it is looking through some independent tool that is external to my subjective sight and that can enlarge or minimize different details and sharpen the focus artificially, regardless of my feelings and preferences. This is called a subjective perspective that photographs the situation like a camera.

We have to feel many inner subtleties and discernments in order to become such a camera lens. What do I want to photograph by using my camera? I want to photograph the Creator! So what kind of camera do I need for that?

My desire to receive is a photographic film in a camera on which I take a picture. This desire has to be independent of me and under full restriction, free of my subjective approach, of my attitude. I have to rise above it, and then it will reflect the true picture and not the picture that I have made and retouched Adobe Photoshop. This is the first phase of the work.

Everything depends on how sensitive I can be with regard to all the figures and the relations the Creator displays before me, which are constantly changing, to what extent I am ready to start a dialogue with Him according to what is happening to me and to detach from myself as much as I can. This is very difficult, since to detach from myself actually means that I carefully examine myself in order to constantly see what ties me to my ego.

To the extent that I do this kind of work, I can identify the Creator’s image more clearly. To the extent that I neutralize myself at any given moment, I allow the Creator to imprint Himself in me, to be revealed in my photographic film, on the layer that is sensitive to the Light.

This sensitivity depends on the “silver coating,” the material used in photography, and it depends on how much I cover and conceal myself. Then internally, the Creator’s image in its opposite form can appear in my matter, like a negative.

I can receive such a coating only if I subdue myself before the environment. I have no such coat, no Masach (screen), behind which I can hide my ego; I have nothing to cover myself with. The only chance is to place myself under the care of the environment, like a baby who wants to hide in his mother’s arms.

But a baby does it instinctively because of his ego, the desire to do good for himself, whereas we have to do a great deal of work against our ego in order to annul it, to subdue myself before the teacher, the group, the study, and the dissemination. This will provide us with the coat.
[102477]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/13, Shamati #15

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How can we be taught what bestowal is? In order to do that nature has planted a desire to enjoy in us through which we learn about bestowal by its oppositeness, by its opposite attribute.

Our desire to enjoy receives certain impressions that evoke different responses in it and imprint different holes, cracks, pits, and dimples in our desire. Thanks to that, the desire begins to feel to some extent that these impressions are different in size and character, and that there is a certain connection between them that we don’t understand.

We suddenly discover that our desire to enjoy is versatile, multi-layered, and very complex, and accordingly it receives different complex impressions. Thus we learn about our nature. The more we know about it, the more we attain the opposite attribute, the opposite nature. After all, all our study is based on the clash between two opposite attributes: receiving and bestowal.

It says, “And they shall have no other Gods before Me,” which means that by studying precisely about these “other Gods,” we study about the Creator and can form His image in us. Otherwise, He has no image and no form allowing us to somehow imagine what it is, who He is, and how to discover Him.

How can we discover that which is impossible to discover? Only by negative impressions that are perceived negatively in the desire to enjoy can we gradually build an opposite attitude so we begin to imagine what the attribute of bestowal is. We cannot attain it any other way: not by using our imagination, not by our feelings, or by any action on our part that can be directly adapted to Him.

Everything takes place only due to some special force, the Light that operates in different states and evokes different responses in us. Our work is to attribute everything to the one upper force as we determine that there is none else beside Him. This, however, encounters great resistance on the part of our desire to enjoy, which until then thought that there is none else beside itself and now has to settle for this. One annuls the other, which means that an argument begins: Who will rule?

Both of these claims nullify one another: it is either Him or me! This conflict is the basis of all our states. We shouldn’t be afraid to stand between these two opposing sides and to deal with the two insoluble dominions, to endure it, to accept, and to surrender, but to attain and justify, to understand and resemble the force of bestowal. If a person doesn’t escape this clarification, but can work under the conditions of this split, the conflicting opinions and the feelings, if he doesn’t count on his animal mind and doesn’t escape from the battlefield, he receives a new mind and feelings from Above. In that case he acquires a form that is similar to the Creator.

Until then, it is impossible to understand what bestowal is. When a person finally attains it, it is called the Creator’s help, a finding. A person who accepts all the forms of work that are given to him and who lowers his head, not following his own mind, which seems to understand everything and determine everything, then he succeeds. The main thing is, as it says not to believe in yourself until your dying day, which means the death of your ego. After that you already acquire faith.
[102425]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/13, Shamati #15

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