We should clearly understand one thing: our success completely depends on the Creator and nobody else besides Him. “We are not the ones who will finish the job, but it’s not up to us to refuse it.” We must act applying maximum energy and at the same time staying confident that the result is solely in the Creator’s hands. We already know it very well. It has been proven dozens of times. We realize that we are playing a game the results of which are known beforehand, that everything comes from Him and that He is the One Who organizes everything with a divine “cunningness,” and that there is nothing at all we can do about it.

You can lie on the couch all day long and in the evening you’ll receive your salary as if you worked all day. However, we are obligated to accept the upper governance and work all day long. The same applies to our external dissemination. These two lines teach us the way that the spiritual realm is built: out of contradictory properties that look totally incompatible to our brain. It’s fine for now! Later, we’ll be given a different kind of mind.

Let’s hope that with each day we’ll need the Creator more and more. At the same time, we have to be cautious of weakening the other side of the coin and make sure that our own contribution in the process also has to expand day after day. Without it, we won’t have a need for the Creator. These two lines do not cancel or annul each other. If we manage to act so, we’ll accelerate creation of the first spiritual vessel.

We should apply our efforts as if we were “an ox under a yoke or a donkey to the load,” meaning that we should run faster and use our energy mechanically. As to our intentions, we should clearly realize that in every action of ours, the Creator is both in front of us and behind us, and that He “embraces us from the front and the back,” and that we work only together with Him.

Later, we’ll figure out that He works inside us also . Then, where are we in this picture? This is the point at which we start attaining a transcendent power, the spirit that dresses into everything around us. We understand that “There is none else besides Him” and that there is also a tiny point from which we look around and see that “There is none else besides Him.”

This particular point has nothing in it at all: It has neither volume nor width. It’s just a point that emerged “out of nothing” (Yesh Mi Ayin); it’s a point from which we observe that “There is none else besides Him.” Finally, we get to realize that the Light, the desires, and all states that we’ve been in throughout all of history, and in everything, there exists only one force, the Upper Force. “The Creator is the first and He is the last.” There is no other revelation that is greater than this one.

However, when we say that “There is none else besides Him,” it doesn’t mean that we don’t exist, since in order to make this statement, somebody has to be present in all places, in each and every property, in each of His actions, and then from that point, we have to decide (being on the opposite side) that in fact “There is none else besides Him.” By doing so, we completely merge with Him, meaning that we achieve cohesion and become equal to Him in all our actions, thoughts, programs, connections, etc.

It’s our duty to test everything there is in the Creator in order to comprehend that everything is about Him and finally arrive to a conclusion that ““There is none else besides Him.” All we have left is this one black point out of which we look around, but it’s a peculiar point from which the entire universe can be observed, from edge to edge, in all directions and ranges: the entire Malchut of the world of infinity.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/13, “Group and Distribution”

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In the News (from the University of Southampton): “Researchers at the University of Southampton have proposed an answer to the long-running debate as to how stable the Earth system is.

“The Earth, with its core-driven magnetic field, oceans of liquid water, dynamic climate and abundant life is arguably the most complex system in the known Universe. Life arose on Earth over three and a half billion years ago and it would appear that despite planetary scale calamities such as the impacts of massive meteorites, runaway climate change and increases in brightness of the Sun, it has continued to grow, reproduce and evolve ever since.

“Forty years ago, James Lovelock formulated his Gaia Hypothesis in which life controls aspects of the planet and in doing so maintains conditions that are suitable for widespread life despite shocks and perturbations. This hypothesis was and remains controversial in part because there is no understood mechanism by which such a planetary self-stabilising system could emerge.”

My Comment: Kabbalah studies the system of the universe, both in general and in the particular form. The laws of nature that Kabbalah reveals are immutable in all the worlds, which are the levels of the ratio between matter (desire, the property of reception) and energy (the Light, the property of bestowal).

Everything is stabilized primarily by the initial and final states of the system (the plan of creation). The system is static. The progress of the transition from the initial to the final state is only relative to the object that attains it: the human being.
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In the News (from Nautilus): “It’s an odd quirk of the human mind that we tend to think we’re less likely to be affected a particular threat—be it the flu, a car accident, or a flood—than anyone else. Like the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average, this is a patent impossibility: Everyone can’t be less likely than the average person to catch a cold. But we persist in what psychologists call ‘unrealistic comparative optimism.’ Even when we have actually encountered a threat, or been in close proximity to one, this warped sense of the probability field persists, as a report published last year shows.

“In the study, researchers had a chance to test how people’s comparative optimism changed after a low-probability, high-impact event: a tornado that ripped across Iowa City in 2006, causing $12 million in property damage. And their results were faintly comical: Everyone they polled, from students to randomly selected Iowa City residents to people whose neighborhoods had been damaged, felt both soon after the tornado and a year later that they were less likely to be affected in the future than the average person. In fact, six months after the events, people in damaged neighborhoods were actually more optimistic that they would not be affected again than were those living in intact areas. After a year, their optimism returned to the usual level—but still, as always, holding that they were less likely to be affected than others.”

My Comment: We are within our egoism, and we cannot objectively evaluate anything before we exit it. Until then, we will perceive the world through the prism of egoistic error.
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Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”: Philosophy loves to concern itself with His Essence and prove which rules do not apply to Him. However, Kabbalah has no dealings whatsoever with it, for how can the unattainable and imperceptible be defined?

Kabbalists do speak a great deal about His illumination in reality, meaning all those illuminations they have actually attained, as validly as tangible attainment.

Kabbalists attain an abstract Light when it dresses into vessels and turns from a theoretical form to a tangible structure by manifesting Itself in us as various features of ours.

It is said that “we do not define by name or word that which we do not attain.” We attain everything there is by analyzing it in our vessels of receiving. They are our “eyes,” our vision, the channel through which we perceive the world. Only on condition that we know a certain phenomenon can we explore it to the degree of our immersion in it. Thus, we advance. There is a rigid principle: “We shall know You by Your deeds.” That’s why we always rely on our perception within our vessels, desires. Our internal reactions to them are in fact the Light.

Similarly, we recognize electricity not by its essence, but according to its results. Something flows through wires and generates various phenomena. All we see are the results. Baal HaSulam writes about it in his article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah.” Actual things are found even in the corporeal reality set before our eyes, although we have neither perception nor image of their essence. Such are the electricity and the magnet, called “fluidum.” Nevertheless, who can say that these names are not real, when we vividly and satisfactorily know their actions? We could not be more indifferent to the fact that we have no perception of the essence of the subject itself, namely electricity itself.

We always explore the consequences of various essential categories, rather than deal with the categories per se. I have no idea what the subject that I look at is in fact, but I know how it acts.

All I do is check my sensations and reactions: Something looks black to me, other things feel solid, some are long, and certain things I can taste or smell. Reality is comprised of my internal reactions to outer impacts, rather than the factors that cause them per se. Therefore, phenomena that we differentiate are actually the effects that externality causes in us.

Why do philosophers refuse to admit it? The answer is that it will obligate them to become Kabbalists and study the Wisdom of Kabbalah in order to explore spirituality. Common sense prompts that they don’t know or understand a thing and have nothing to say. Really, what can one say if one doesn’t live in spirituality, nor does one sense It in one’s vessels, desires?

We shouldn’t approach Kabbalah with a regular human mind; we are not in the dimension that Kabbalah describes as of yet. We can fantasize about what’s inside the Earth and imagine life on other planets since these things are at least somehow interlaced with our sensations. However, they have nothing in common with spirituality. Moreover, we don’t have any connection with the spiritual realm: Our material reality as we see it is absolutely detached from the picture that is created in our minds. How can we deliberate about something that we have no contact with whatsoever?

This is one of the reasons the Wisdom of Kabbalah was concealed from humanity throughout millennia. Kabbalists were afraid of “smart alecks” who just tended to philosophize about the topics that are related to Kabbalah.

It also applies to the philosophers who valued Kabbalah, such as Reichlin, Goethe, Pico Della Mirandola, and others. Even these people did not understand a thing in the great wisdom, nor could they realize that the general universal knowledge that is beyond traditional disciplines originates from Kabbalah. What they proclaimed is in fact nothing but philosophizing. Some philosophers approach Kabbalah with critical analysis that is based on a subjective approach, others admit its importance, although none of them understand it. Their position lacks rationalism that is so much needed. Nevertheless, the truth will be revealed soon; we are very close to it.
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Question: Lately you have been advising us to “let go of the reins” and not to object to the spiritual process, “to flow with the current.” But the ego doesn’t let us do so since it constantly objects and refuses to. How pleasant and easy it would be to simply let go…

Answer: It is quite difficult since we can’t just do nothing, but rather we have to accept everything that happens in a totally open manner, gladly, and see that it comes only from the Creator, not to examine it, criticize, or assess it.

This is very complicated. Apparently there is nothing special here, just live freely and rejoice at everything. But in fact there is nothing more difficult than this. It isn’t easy to go with the flow, since in this case you need to be in absolute unity with the Creator. Absolutely! While he puts you in such circumstances in which you find yourself in states that are contradictory to Him, disagreeing with the world, with this life, with the problems that constantly trouble you! You constantly disagree! There is always something that makes you feel bad.

This is done on purpose from above. How can you accept everything calmly and flow with the current? Only by changing yourself! There is no other way! This is the problem. This is how you attain a peaceful tranquil world—when a person totally annuls himself and adheres to the Creator.

This type of rest is relative since a person advances quickly above the speed of light by going through an infinite number of changes. At any given moment he goes through billions of changes according to the upper Providence, in total acceptance, thinking logically, engaging only in what suppresses his ego and rising above it, thus entering a state of absolute rest. This is opposite from the concept of rest that we refer to today.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 7/29/13

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The Torah, “Exodus,” Mishpatim, 23:6: Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

This is about looking at everyone through my attributes, and it seems to me that someone is wrong, poor, or weak. I do not see objectively what is really going on. There is no objective perspective! I see everything through my current attributes, and therefore I cannot trust them at all. If I relate to everything through them, I will never be able to ascend.

I have to examine things and reach a state in which I will have no way to judge something, but only raise it to the next upper level, to the Creator. This is why I am given different options such as the right line and the left line, which actually lead me to the middle line. So by engaging in integral education we don’t descend to a person’s problems, but rather raise him to the connection with others.

The Torah, “Exodus,” Mishpatim, 23:7: Keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay thou not; for I will not justify the wicked.

Shun falsehood and the truth too, since it’s all subjective and a person must examine this correctly. There is no truth or lie here, not righteous or wicked, and not rich or poor.

It only seems this way to you, and you have to raise it to a balanced state in order to see that everyone is equal. You have to see that you cannot judge since the answer is always on the next level. It’s the upper level that determines the lower level and which provides it with all the troubles, so ascending to it is the solution.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/24/13

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In fact, the Creator displays a “theatrical performance” before me in which everything, the actors and all, are puppets, except me. Therefore, trying to bring them closer to Him, I in essence correct myself. The whole world is part of my soul, broken and scattered vessels, desires that are split apart from me in different directions. And now I have to bring them closer together again.

If I were strong enough, the Creator would have let me feel their sorrows as my own. However, to ease my work, He sends me the feeling of “their” troubles so I will work on them. If, however, I neglect this work, I will feel that I am in trouble myself.

That’s why I still perceive the whole world “from the side,” so it is easier for me to work with. Indeed, if all the misery of people who are dying from hunger, wars, and other disasters would have manifested in me, if I had concentrated all my empty vessels even on the small degree of our world, I would not have sustained such pressure.

To prevent this from happening, these vessels were alienated from me and given to me to feel them as foreign so that gradually, as I become stronger, I would bring them closer to myself. Then, in the course of this approach, I find that they are not in trouble, that on the contrary, they are corrected and experiencing pleasure. Baal HaSulam writes about this in his article “The Creator’s Concealment and Revelation.”

There is no other way. I am not able to absorb all the ills of the world, although we are talking of my vessels, desires.

We just do not understand that higher mercy is truly hidden in the breaking of the vessels. In the end, due to it, I obtain a vessel capable of encompassing the entire reality, all the Light of the Creator; however, I never feel this empty vessel as it is because it is impossible to sustain this sensation.

A person can barely stand even on our small stage with his troubles. So, what can we say about the entire empty Malchut of the world of Infinity? Sometimes a person is given a drop of this state, the “illumination of Malchut,” a horrible feeling of a gaping abyss …

However, we were given the breaking of the vessels to help us, and now we are able to pass a series of states, gradually assembling them together. And when I bring any external part closer to me in the process, this bitter “fruit” becomes sweet, and as the result, I put it in my “basket” until it is filled with all the fruits of the tree of knowledge.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/23/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How can you love everyone? How can one subdue what is given to him?

Answer: Only the Upper Light corrects a person and nothing else. We cannot correct ourselves and attain a certain connection between us.

I am, for example, an ordinary person sitting before you and everything inside me is aimed inward. You look at me, but you don’t see my real face. I am focused totally inward—how I hear myself, how I see myself, how I feel myself. I feel this entire reality, the whole world inside me (we study this in the perception of reality).

Love is when I am in a state of turning myself inside out, but only under the influence of the Upper Light. I cannot do it on my own.

This happens when I feel whatever is on the outside as more important than what is inside me. This is called the revelation of the upper world that is external to me. A person suddenly discovers what is actually around him and sees that it is totally different from what it seemed to be. Now, he perceives everything inside him, while later, he will see the upper state. This is possible only under the influence of the Light.

Changing the vector from “myself” to “outside myself” is called integral education. This is what it exists for.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/24/13

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If we create a shared connection between us above our egoistic desires and nullify ourselves within it in order to bestow to the Creator and to give Him satisfaction, and we use all this for work with the public in that we want to bring them closer to us and through us to bring them closer to the Creator so the Creator will bestow to them through us, then we will discover all the higher “worlds,” the entire system. It doesn’t exist outside of humans, rather only among us.

And also the still, vegetative, and animate nature, we discover are within us. Suddenly we discover within us the giraffes, lions, all the wild animals, every plant, and all humans. All of this is just a copy of our properties.

We once had other properties, apparently there were dinosaurs living in the world then. And now the properties have changed and the dinosaurs have disappeared. In our times the properties in us are transforming very rapidly and we see that many species of plants and animals are becoming extinct. They say that in the world 150 species disappear daily, at such a rapid rate, our desire to receive changes, develops, and advances.

It seems to us that nothing has changed on the level of the vegetative and the animate, but essentially every day very great changes are taking place in nature because it is entirely included within a person. Nature itself is only a copy of our inner qualities.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/21/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “A Handmaid That Is Heir to Her Mistress:” Hence, the worlds have been divided into internality and externality, where each world contains illuminations suitable to operate in slow development. And these are called “the internality of the world.”

The system we are in is divided into internality and externality. This division relates to the Lights and the vessels, both to the direct and to the opposite correlation between them depending on if we speak about the corrected vessels or the corrupt ones.

Accordingly, we should understand what it means for us after the preparation in the spiritual system and the creation of the corporeal system. It is actually also a spiritual system, but we perceive it as the current fictitious world. I discover that I exist in a certain reality with people and the still, vegetative, and animate nature  around me. It is as if everyone lives on his own here, moving around independently, operating and influencing others. After I reveal all that, I must attribute myself, together with the whole picture that is depicted inside me to one cause, to one source, to one goal, to a simple reality in which there is none else besides Him, and that He is good and benevolent. The point that is created as “something from nothing” remains in me only in order to determine that everything else is Him.

We must connect everything that is outside that point to the perception of the upper, the Creator. This is our work, and everyone who feels that he has a point in the heart—”something from nothing” and who feels different from the eminent—participates in it.

The work is divided into two parts:

1. Strengthening the point in the heart by connecting the points that can be connected to it for the sake of the spiritual goal. These are the members of the group, my friends along the spiritual path, who actually are parts of my soul, of my point in the heart.
2. In addition, there are other parts that are not directly connected to this goal. They don’t feel “something from nothing,” but rather, “something from something,” and they don’t ask complicated questions that stem from the point in the heart, from the opposite form. They live their lives and don’t feel any deficiency but that. I also need to connect them to my work according to the type and size of the desires that are revealed inside them.

Eventually, I connect all of reality: the whole desire to receive that is before me—that is at my disposal, inside me, no matter how you put it—to the attribute of bestowal and love called the Creator. It seems that I correct the world, but in fact, I fulfill my private correction. This is because there is nothing in the world but one man and one Creator. A person is the point of “something from nothing” that operates in order to bring it back to “something from something,” everything that seems separate from it.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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