Question: It is written that when you lose thought of spirituality, you should give thanks to the Creator. How can we possibly thank Him for that?

Answer: We know that all our work is solely on desire, and except for the right kind of desire, we need nothing else. In order to reveal the property of bestowal, the Creator, we only need to continue preparing ourselves for the next upcoming moment. All we have to do is just decode it correctly: From whom did I receive the sensation of living, and why did it come in the form that it did?

I know nothing about it. However, if I received it from the Light, from the upper force that is leading me toward the purpose of creation, then the only thing required of me is my awareness and the right response. That is, in each of the states I am going through, I have to be able to see Him and His kind attitude toward me, despite the fact that I feel the opposite.

Thus, a discrepancy arises between how I wish to view Him, as good and doing good unto me, and the world I am experiencing right now, which is not that nice and good. That’s where I am given room to work because the difference between what I desire and what is real, between the thought of how it is supposed to be and my present experience, is the foundation for prayer.

If I don’t feel perfection at any given moment, it means that I feel the gap separating me from it—my own inadequacy. Hence, I already know how to move forward since I sense my digression from the course, from the goal.

The right direction is where everything becomes unified: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator.” That is, the self, the internal meaning of the group and our unity, and the revelation of bestowal in it, all of this together is one whole. If I can’t tie it all together correctly, I view the Creator’s attitude toward me as bad.

In other words, I feel that I’m corrupted and living in a corrupted world. Judging from what the Creator gave me, I discover that He is not good who does good, and I am not living in the world of Infinity. Because of my flawed perception, I am unable to feel perfection.

Hence, I have precise information about how I am supposed to be (if I aim myself at the goal) and how it differs from what I really am. In each of the states, I have a complete set of data, and all I have to do is to use them correctly to assess what I really want. It will become clear that I am always deficient in bestowal, which would otherwise complete my perception and switch me from feeling bad to feeling the perfection that was given to me by the Creator.

The Creator offers me perfection, whereas I feel as though I am flawed and living in a flawed world. The difference between what He sent to me and what I feel is, in fact, my internal flaw. Right now, if I could add bestowal to all my desires, I would move from a bad state to a good one instantly. This deficiency I feel is the prayer with which I am turning to Him right now to ask for the property of bestowal, the force of Bina or correction.

As soon as the right plea is formed, I get an immediate response which actually can be an even worse state of being. That is, my feeling of how remote I am from authentic bestowal is going to become even more acute. I used to assess my remoteness with a rough measuring device, and now I am using a very accurate one, which is how I am able to see a greater deviation.

However, it doesn’t mean that my state has gotten worse in itself. I did change for the better, but at the same time, I have come to understand my state better. I have gained greater receptivity.
[43839]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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There is only one desire to receive, but it manifests in many different forms, including the present, final form that we feel today. All of our sensations are nothing but the desire to enjoy which has many different facets. I see a world full of people, myself in it, and many other things, actions, causes and consequences. It all amounts to the same desire to receive that exists in the spiritual world.

It’s only that in this case, it assumes a “material” form which we call a human body. The higher form is what we call a soul, but in any case, we’re speaking strictly about the desire to enjoy.

All the degrees are identical in their matter (desire) and fulfillment (Light). Only the last, lowest degree differs in that it imparts to man a feeling of separation from all other degrees or leaves him without this feeling altogether in the reality of this world. This degree has its own details of perception, but even they are perceived in relation to the desire to receive and the Light which exist at their lowest state.
[43883]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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In Kabbalah, we talk about a person’s inner work. One needs to go deeper inside himself and, there, build images of the friends, the group, himself, his inner world, and his impression of spirituality, paying no attention to external impressions which may even be opposite.

The impressions one receives from the external environment may not be true because these are feelings that result from the states (Reshimot, informational records) awakening in him. One can’t rely on these impressions. Rather, one must rely on the images that he has built within himself of the friends, the group, himself, the Creator, and the connection between us.

I don’t rely much on what I feel today and see around me. After all, who sees this? I myself see, and I’m entirely in deception. So, it makes no difference what I see now. I have to build inside myself a model of the future world where we are all connected by mutual love and bestowal, inside of which we reveal the Creator as if in Divinity (Shechina).

[44027]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What is the difference between the Thought of Creation and the Creator?

Answer: Everything we say is in reference to us. We do not know anything except for the things happening within our desire. And even when we reveal the existence of Light, “existence from existence,” which created desire, “existence from absence,” we also base this on desire which reveals to us what supposedly happened before us in this way. All our attainments come from the sensation of matter in our desire.

For this reason, when we speak of perception, a sensation within desire, we divide our entire perception into three components:

• the one who perceives (I am the perceiver),
• that which is being perceived (what I perceive from the Creator),
• who it is being perceived from (the source of the sensation, the Creator).

As I learn my ability to change the perception of the Creator whom I feel in terms of what He wants from a connection with me, I start having a connection with Him and change the relationship between us. How do I know what I am changing? It comes from my sensations. How do I know what He feels and how He reacts at the same time? This also comes from my sensations. Everything is based only on my sensations; I do not have any other qualities of perception. Everything exists only within desire.

This is why we say that HaVaYaH (the four letter name of the Creator, “Yod-Key-Vav-Key”) is the four stages of the development of desire. The revelation of the Creator within man (Creator or “Bo-Reh” refers to “come and see”) occurs only after that.

The worlds also exist only in our perception in the form of revelations or concealments (“world” or “Olam” comes from the word “Alama” or “concealment”). The ladder of spiritual degrees exists within man as well. The group, humanity, the entire reality, the world of Infinity, everything is within us.

But what do I attain through all of my efforts in wishing to learn who and what I am, who the Creator is, what He wants from me, and what my connection is with Him? As a result of all these efforts and the long journey, when we realize all the possibilities given to us, we attain a single perception, a single understanding, a single sensation, called “the Thought of Creation is to bring contentment to the created beings.” This plan includes everything: Who the One who pleases the creatures is, what kind of pleasure this is, who these creatures are, everything.

The state when we attain the Thought of Creation is called “the point of adhesion” or “a drop of adhesion” because in our perception everything centers on one point of the Thought of Creation. We attain it through our efforts as we desire to unite with the Creator, and this is why we call it “a drop of adhesion.”
[43964]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: You said that man is nothing but a sensation and a mind, while whatever is happening around him is beyond his control and he merely observes the result. If so, what does it mean to look for what The Zohar describes within?

Answer: Right now, I am reading or listening to The Zohar. As I go along, I picture all sorts of images in my mind: angels, people, and landscapes.

Why do I perceive this as an external image, instead of responding to it in my feelings and thoughts, immediately switching to seeing it within myself? It’s because I am uncorrected and my will to feel pleasure, my ego, splits my perceptions into internal and external ones. It shows me this flawed picture, whereby everything that The Zohar describes is seemingly happening on the outside, not inside of me.

But on the outside, there is nothing at all. All reality is within me. Why, then, do I experience it as external? It’s because I cannot unify all of reality with myself yet; I don’t view it as my vital part. Why is this so? It’s because I relate to it egoistically, dividing all of its parts into internal ones, which are more important to me, and external ones, which are less important, totally meaningless, or ignored by me. Such is my egoistic, flawed form of perception. What do I do then?

This is what I should be telling myself:

1. The Zohar talks solely about my internal states and properties, and except for what is happening within me right now, there is nothing else. A person is a small world, and everything is in it.
2. Everything I see as taking place on the outside is determined exclusively by my own flawed perception. If I correct myself, I will see everything within instead.

In other words, the discrepancy between what I imagine while reading The Zohar as something happening outside of me and what I would be able to perceive as occurring within me demonstrates my flawed perceptions. Hence, I must strive to seek the correct form of perception inside, pray and plead for it to arise in me.

This is what we call to attain the content. As it is written in Baal HaSulam’s “Introduction to The Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 155, “Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround their souls.” I aspire to see this image in its authentic form and gradually draw it closer.
[43852]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Mishpatim (Ordinances),” Item 561: Even to the verse, “And I will send an angel before you,” …Moses did not reply at once. Rather, when it is written, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here,” he replied this to what is written, “My presence will go and I will give you rest.”

A person has to look within himself for all these properties described in The Zohar: Who Moses is, who an angel is, who the Creator is, what all of these inanimate objects, plants, animals, and people are, and how they exist and live inside a person. You must try to find it within, make an effort to move from the external picture appearing in front of us to inner contemplation of where inside me are all these qualities, forces, and desires. These efforts are very important.

In this way, I correct my egoistic perception that makes me think that something happens outside, not inside. Then, I turn precisely to my inner properties and “implant” the Torah in myself, desiring to recognize it in its true place. That’s why we must constantly try to interpret what’s written in The Zohar as our properties.
[43855]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” Item 4: … Jacob, who was whole, brought love in both worlds, meaning he married the two sisters, Leah and Rachel, the two worlds, Bina and Malchut.

Question: Which of my inner desires are called sisters?

Answer: A person contains the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of desire. The entire world that I see is my desire, divided into many particular desires, each of which forms a certain earthly image in my perception.

We “see” our desires. We look inside ourselves, into our desire that is divided into parts, the objects of the world. We see the world in three dimensions, as if we are looking through 3-D glasses. And we don’t even feel that we are in this virtual reality because we don’t have anything to compare our sensation to. That is why it seems to us that we exist in the authentic world.

That is, we perceive something inside our desire, but it seems like we see it outside, in front of us. However, if besides this world, we would see a different reality, then we would discover that the reality of this world is relative. Parts of my desire depict images of inanimate objects, plants, animals, and people. However, these are not people who appear before me in this world, but my desire on the human level, which divides into many parts and I see each part of my desire in the form of an image of some person.

I also have desires on the animate level and therefore I see different animals in this world. Moreover, there are desires that are present in me now, as well as ones that were present in the past or that will surface in the future. This is why I see a developing world, extinct kinds of animals, or new species that suddenly appear in front of me. This means they surface in my consciousness and disappear. And the same thing happens on the still and vegetative levels.

There is no world. These are just my sensations inside of my desires when certain Reshimot (informational genes) come to the surface, replacing others, and by perceiving the realization of my Reshimot in this way, I feel that I live in them—in essence, that I live in the world. This is an internal movie that is projected to me by the constant Light, which awakens Reshimot that replace one another.

In the process of the Reshimot’s development (where a Reshimo [singular form of Reshimot] is an informational record in my memory), a part of them depends on my willingness to process new Reshimot, while part of the Reshimot awaken on their own. This entire process of development, which happens by itself, is called “Beito” (in due time). But if I want to accelerate it and am able to, this path of development is called Ahishena (accelerating time).

However, in any case we are only talking about Reshimot that awaken in me, which I perceive as the world, myself, and the entire process of development.
[43960]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, The Zohar

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Question: Kabbalah teaches that the Creator is good and does good, but how does this reconcile with life that is full of problems and pain?

Answer: The Creator is good and does good, but one has to come to this by reaching the similarity of properties with Him. However, if I am a bad, naughty child and don’t want to listen what my mother tells me, she yells at first and then punishes me. And I say that my mother is angry, as a scolded child usually would think.

Her yelling and spanking were purposeful because she wanted me to do well. How can I see that behind everything that happens to me, there is a good attitude towards me, even if I perceive it as bad, as does a child? How can I understand that namely there, where I feel bad, I need to complete myself and my attitude towards nature, humankind, and the group—to correct my ego in order to feel that it was good?

The one who strives to carry it out as soon as possible and is ready to localize the place within oneself that needs correction starts seeing that the world is actually created as good, and the Creator is good. Exactly in the same place where we now find this world, we begin to feel the revealed forces of nature which permeate everything and connect all the parts of creation: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking.

We suddenly begin to see the spiritual world instead of this one! We begin to reveal more and more forces: eternal forces that rule our existence. Then, this world seems to disappear; it becomes transparent, shaky. It’s “virtual” even now and exists in my mind, and it only appears to me that I see it outside. This is how we correct our perception.

It turns out that all your problems and troubles are an indication of your flaws; they point out the faulty spot, saying: “Correct here! And there as well!” If you do it quickly, you will certainly correct the imperfection.

If you don’t know whom to turn to, aim at the group. If you connect with them and are ready to give what they need for unity, are ready to be influenced by them, you will never make a mistake.
[43666]
From the 1st lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

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The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us about the entire reality. Starting from the very beginning of development, it takes us through all its stages to completion.

The initial point is the upper force called “nature” or “the Creator.” Having no idea about anything preceding it, we come to know it as a mother. There was nothing before it. Our history commences from the moment when the upper force began to create the levels of matter: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking.

Firstly, it used its own force to form supporting forces that comprise and make it. These forces immediately divided into two: the matter of creation and the force of the Creator, in other words, plus and minus, light and darkness that affect matter to impart development to it. Under the influence of these two forces, matter started to react, respond, experience sensations, and thereby evolve.

One of these two forces called the “right line” is filled with the nature of the Creator, love and bestowal and as a result, is able to give life to matter. The other force is the force of egoism, opposite to the Creator and acting as if in spite of Him. However, in reality, both of these forces operate according to the upper program.

The Creator acts from above with His single force that is divided into two: the forces of bestowal and reception. Our matter is between them. Thus, these two forces put us into motion. They affect matter and stimulate its development on the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels.

In the beginning this development affects only the forces that gradually form matter, until matter doesn’t reach the final stage. Then matter explodes. Thanks to this explosion, a unique event takes place. The two forces, the plus and the minus, mix together. Previously, they worked on matter from both sides, and now they come to the breaking, become included in each other, and coexist in matter, blended together to such an extent that it’s impossible to tell them apart like in a big mess.

Until now, the process took place only at the level of forces, thought, and program. However, now the force turns into the matter of this world. Primarily, the place for our space appeared as a result of the Big Bang. Earlier, there was no room for our universe. Then, matter started developing from the spark of spiritual energy, from one small point of Light. This tiny particle of spiritual Light was enough to create matter for the entire universe.

Further, during its development, matter created galaxies, the Solar System, and the planet Earth where we are growing along the same lines, on the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels, parallel to spiritual development.

As a result, at the fourth level of development, the force of the Creator and its opposite force finally mix, and we find ourselves in the current situation.

Preparation is over. From now on, we have to check what to do next. We have two forces mingled with each other. They completed their development and bump into each other within us so much that we don’t know what to do. We feel bad.

Here, we find the wisdom of Kabbalah, the method allowing us to balance and unite these two forces, establishing equilibrium and harmony between them.
[43698]
From the 2nd lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

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We ask, “Why did the Creator make us so dark and egoistic, and not otherwise?” As if we understood how anything is possible otherwise…. Nevertheless, if this question arises in us, that means it has a place. Every question that arises in a person, even one that seems like the most stupid or accidental one, means that there is an inner reason for it. That is how a person is built: He asks this question and has to receive an answer or fulfillment to it.

But as long as we aren’t able to feel the answer inside of us, we will have to accept it as a hypothesis that “The advantage of the Light is attained only from darkness.” That is, the sensation of pleasure, the “taste” by which the Creator wanted to give pleasure to creation, can only be felt in us to the degree we have a desire or lack.

And it is impossible to hear about this lack from somewhere on the side. It has to be felt inside of you, as your own need for fulfillment. Then the pleasure will also be yours! You will feel it and enjoy it.

Therefore, this requires a special development of desires, the need to feel the Light in creation, and then the pleasure will dress inside of these desires. To the extent there was a desire, that is how the pleasure will be felt.

If the Creator exists, if He is good and carries goodness, filling everything with infinite Light, and His desire is to delight us boundlessly, it turns out that the only thing missing is our desire to receive all of that! All of the Creator’s abundance is already spilled all around us, but we are unable to feel it or to ask it to enter us.

We shout to Him, “Give it to me already! When will I receive it?” But we have to understand once and for all that we have nothing to ask for besides the desire. The Light is already there—as much as you want! The problem is only the desire, which has to be big and suitable for feeling that Light.

We have to somehow acquire, buy, or steal that desire, manage to receive it in some way, directly or in a roundabout way. It doesn’t matter how; we are obligated to attain it in any case! Without this desire, we won’t feel the Light!

It’s like there is an open book lying in front of me but I don’t have glasses, and therefore I can’t read it! Will I pray for someone to give me the book? No—I will ask for glasses! We only lack the “instrument of perception” (the Kli), meaning the “vessel” or desire.

Therefore, all the actions we are led through are not necessary in order to attract the Light. They are actions forming the desire for this Light in us.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/23/11, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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