There are three states: the initial state after the creation of the created being, the process of the corrections, and the state of the end of correction. These states exist only with regard to the person who is attaining the spiritual world, but in fact we only exist in Malchut of Ein Sof (Infinity), in the desire of the created being who attains the Creator.

The attainment is achieved as the created being changes gradually and reaches an equivalence of form with the Creator. According to the level of the equivalence of form, he attains the Creator more deeply each time until he becomes equal to Him in all his attributes and actions. By that he fulfills the thought of Creation, which is to do good to His created beings.

So, the moment the desire to receive develops to such a degree that it begins to understand and to feel its existence by asking: “Who created me and what do I exist for?” All one’s thoughts and actions have to be aimed only at attaining an equivalence of form and the revealing the One who gave birth to him. Thus, we reach the fulfillment of the goal of creation.

The main thing is to constantly think about how to accept the movements that the Creator is operating on me now. I need to accept everything as coming from there is none else besides Him, from the upper force, and that there is nothing else but Him, and to understand that everything is in the hands of the Creator, and to decide that “if I am not for myself, who is for me,” in order to reach an agreement and adhesion with the one root that does everything.

The indication for such an attitude is joy. Its fulfillment is only by connection, in yearning to bring all of creation to its one common root.
[104969]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/13

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Question: Not too long ago the Israeli President Shimon Peres expressed ideas that are similar to the ones we have been speaking about for years: about limiting the workday, replacing the hours of work with studying, about education via the Internet, about education that is based on the connection between a teacher and the students…

Answer: We determine what the world will think about. The problem is that we are behind in correcting ourselves so that our good thoughts will penetrate the minds of the elite. They permeate slowly and people begin to speak to the point, but not enough, we have to hurry.

In any case, this is how things happen: Our thoughts, desires, and actions are revealed in others internally, and people begin to think in the same manner, not even knowing why.

When the nations of the world blame the Jewish people for bringing evil to the world and even for secretly managing the world, the claims that begin subconsciously are partly justified and partly not. The nations are wrong about thinking that Jews are evil, but they are right about thinking that reality is indeed arranged as a pyramid: It is from the level of GE that the Lights come to AHP and determine all its actions.

Freewill is only on the final level of the last phase, and only those who have attained it and whom the future of the world depends on have it. Accordingly, they are responsible for it and receive more blows than others. This is the form of creation.

The “exchanging of ideas” will gradually become more common and prominent, and so we have to try and establish our thoughts so that even the “greatest villains” will receive the good and correct “inner content” from us.

It is because we are responsible for them and what happens to them is also up to us. If someone expresses wrong ideas or harms the world, it is an indication of my flaws that I have not corrected yet although I had the chance.

We could have prevented all the evil in the world. The Creator is good and benevolent and He enables us to establish things correctly and to manage things. If we don’t, then unfortunately very undesirable things happen. So we have to be more responsible.
[104940]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/13, “The Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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“Israel are not saved unless they are all one bundle, and Zion was saved.”

The reflection of the goal of creation, of the shattering, is reflected throughout the history of the Israeli nation that conquers the land of Israel, and only afterward does it have the privilege to be called a “created being.” The desire to receive itself cannot be bad since everything is managed by the intention and it is the only thing that determines what happens with the creation.

The created being grows only by its intention and it can feel, understand, and expand the perception of its “vessels,” thus becoming an independent entity. The desire to receive and the Light are given to him infinitely.

When the created being begins to work and understand that it is part of the intention and not the desire, it is the beginning of Adam (a human being). This is the critical turning point in the development of all of creation. At that moment when a person begins to tie himself to the intention, he becomes a human being, which means that he transcends his desire and determines everything according to the intention: to whom and to what he wants to belong.

People who determine everything according to their intention, who develop it and ignore their desire are called Yashar -El (those who yearn for the Creator), Israel. By that they differ from people who want to develop and to determine the course of their life according to their desire and the size of its filling.

Desire (Ratzon) means earth, land, (Eretz), earthliness, which means connecting to the low corporeal desires. The loyalty to the intention, however, is considered upper. According to this criterion, the world is called upper or lower, apertures above and below.

If we develop according to our desire, it is a natural development according to the Reshimot (informational genes). The desire to develop is what forces us to change, which is called the natural development, but if we develop by the intention, then it is already up to us. It doesn’t happen naturally, in its time, as time goes by, according to nature’s plan. It is a development by the path of “I shall hasten it,” according to the pace that we determine ourselves.

Developing according to the desire is the usual animal development on the levels of the still nature, the vegetative, and the animate in which a person first develops in a state of unconsciousness. However, developing according to the intention is the real human development, and so he is called Adam since he corrects his intention and by that becomes similar (Domeh) to the Creator.

The intention that is aimed at the Creator is called Israel or the nation of Israel. The desire that is under the domination of this intention is called the land of Israel. The correction that we have to make is to bring our desire under the domination of the intention of in order to bestow. This means to conquer the “whole world” (the whole desire) of which the nations of the world are accusing Israel. It means placing all of the desire of the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) under the domination of the intention of bringing contentment to the Creator. This would mean that the land of Israel has spread all over the earth.

So, it is clear now that the land of Israel cannot be a ready made piece of land, like a geographic zone on the map, but everything depends on a person’s readiness to correct himself and accordingly to also conquer a place that is called the land of Israel, on the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, which means to receive it, to inherit it in the corporeal sense.
[105072]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Inheritance of the Land”

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Advancement is only possible through the gap between the inner Light and the Surrounding Light. The inner Light symbolizes the present and the Surrounding Light symbolizes the future. The more we can elevate the future in regard to the present, the stronger the force that pulls us forward, our yearning for the future will be greater. And according to the force of this absence, we attract the Light which penetrates the present state from the future.

For in the spiritual world all states already exist; everything only depends on our yearning to attain the future. If we want it, we feel it as good. But if we don’t yearn for the future, then its Light comes to us according to the developmental program “in its time,” and this causes us to suffer.

Everything depends on the manner by which we increase our yearning for the future and awaken ourselves towards it. This must become our main concern. For this, we need to describe it to ourselves, to draw its picture in front of us, and to play in it as if we already live in this future. We need to behave like children who play at being adults awakening excitement about this within them, helping themselves to grow.

A person can’t grow through trouble and suffering. Suffering, on the contrary, obliges him to gather into himself, to go into a corner, to hide in some shelter. In contrast, happiness opens the heart to grace, to mercy, to bestowal, to love and carries one forward, as if on wings.

Therefore if we describe a good and beautiful future to ourselves, we cause the whole group to be elevated by this, giving all the friends a feeling of hope, confidence and joy about the prospects for the future, from its greatness, the greatness of the Creator, the teacher, the learning, and the group; this will give everyone energy and desire, and will expand their perception. Thanks to this, we attract even more influence from the Surrounding Light to our expanded desires, receive even more power and illumination, and are drawn forward.

So through constantly turning toward the future and receiving illumination from there, a person advances himself. It’s as if I had a rope and were pulling myself upward with its help. Or as if I am sitting in a boat and with a rope, I throw the rope to someone on the shore, and then use the rope to pull myself toward the shore.

In this way, a person works with the Surrounding Light, awakening in himself a yearning for the future, praising the Creator and the future state and thereby gathering deficiencies for himself. With the deficiency that develops, he again thinks about the future and together with this learns that through this he attracts the Surrounding Light from the future. This works on his external vessels that are meant for the future. For they are not internal vessels yet; they have not yet attained correction and fulfillment.

In this way a person arouses his future desire; this attracts him to it so that he advances. He receives that awakening from the future, that fulfillment and power intermittently. With the help of the environment and the study, he creates a connection with the future, with the Surrounding Light that influences his desires that are not yet corrected, and finally he attains the goal.
[104903]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/12/13

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Spiritual advancement is according to the formula of “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” “Israel” is he who exerts himself in order to build a deficiency inside himself and to fulfill the Creator’s desire and allow Him to be revealed. In order to do that, the created beings’ vessel has to be whole. Whoever yearns to discover the whole vessel is called “Israel.” After all, the Creator, the upper Light, is in absolute rest and needs only the vessels.

The Torah is actually what we need to exert ourselves for to discover the love for the created beings and from the love of the created to reach the love of the Creator. We exert ourselves by yearning to love the created beings, to rise above ourselves, and to be incorporated in the environment by organizing it according to all the necessary conditions so that it will impress us and will evoke us correctly. It is impossible to reach the right awakening without an environment; it is only possible by external influence.

When we exert ourselves enough, we discover that we cannot do anything. Time and time again we discover that we cannot reach the love of the created beings and eventually we understand that we need the Creator’s help. Then a prayer bursts out by itself and it brings us to the love of the Creator.

It turns out that the three conditions: Israel, then the Torah, and then the Creator bring us to the goal; as it is said: “I have labored and I have found, believe.” It is impossible to immediately jump ahead without first exerting one’s self, that is, without the Torah, without a prayer, without a request, it is impossible to attain the Creator. It would be an egoistic request for which you will not get an answer. You will not have the letters of the prayer since they are created only by a person’s exertion. Only when their measure is filled will you know how to turn to the Creator with a request.

Before, you don’t even have a deficiency for what the Creator wants to give you, so you don’t turn to the Creator with the same request, and this is clearly why you don’t get anything!

If you want to save time and energy and to reach the goal quickly, you should act in the direction of “Israel the Torah and the Creator are one” so that eventually they will unite into one whole. It turns out that the right direction is the exertion on connection in the group in order to discover the Creator and to bring Him contentment. As it is written: “From the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator.” All the sages’ sayings refer only to these three stages: Israel, the Torah, and the Creator.
[104673]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/10/13

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Question: What does the effort beyond human power mean?

Answer: The effort beyond human power is what is not directed in the natural human direction, at personal benefit. It’s revealed within the group, in dedication to their environment, and this is beyond human, personal efforts. In addition to that when a person reveals this, he finds himself unable to do such things. That’s why he turns to the Creator with a request to help him make such an effort.

It’s said, “For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, ‘Peace be within you!’” It’s impossible to turn to the Creator with a request that is not aimed at the benefit of the Creator Himself but below Him. But the human being is allowed to turn to the Creator for help in building his vessel. This is the only justifiable prayer.
[104604]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/13, Writings of Rabash

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A mature approach to problems is when you know that you can reach the goal only by overcoming the problem. You overcome the unpleasant feelings in your desire to receive, above the darkness, and there you ask for connection with the group, with the Creator. Even your prayer is false, and internally you only wait for the problem to go away, for the darkness to dissipate at least a little, so that you will be able to rest, to relax, and to feel secure to some extent.

But you hold yourself and look for a connection and adhesion with the group, with the books, and with the teacher. You are like a baby who wants them to hold you in their arms. You look for all the support you can get that allows you to ask not for the darkness to dissipate, but rather to rise above the darkness and to think about the Creator, and not about your own feelings. Your concern is to bring Him contentment and not yourself.

If you can think this way, then to that extent you already feel joy. When you can yearn for bringing the Creator even greater contentment through the group and all the other means, then you feel even greater joy. If you cannot, then you should ask for that so that you will feel life in the external vessels, in the foreign vessels, which means “outside your own skin,” where your soul is.

The symptoms of the “illness” will go away since you will stop thinking about them and will adhere to the Creator and not to the bodily symptoms. You will come out of your skin, as if you die, and adhere to the Creator, to the soul and not to the body. This is called living in faith above reason, coming out of yourself, the transition between life and death, at least to some extent.

Then you gradually add to this transition and thus beat death. We have to at least understand the pattern of this transition, and then everything will be according to the same principle, in the same manner.
[104528]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/4/13, Shamati #36

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Question: I know that I cannot ask for myself even if I want to please the Creator myself. Instead, one can ask only for the friends. So, how can I ask for help from the Creator to give me the strength?

Answer: You need to ask for help to be included in the group and to bestow to the friends in order to bestow to the Creator through them. Specifically this is the right request that attracts the Light that Reforms to us. Here, a closed circle, a ring, is created. I ask the Creator for the ability to bestow to Him.

And it would seem that everything depends on Him—how much I receive so that I can bestow to Him? But it is not so because all the preparations that occur in this cycle depends on me. It is impossible to go through this without feeling the anguish, the evil, and the pressure that ultimately require me to turn to the Creator.

All my efforts are not to be rid of the bad physical sensations, the beastly anguish, but rather, what I invest is not in order to be released from the bad physical emotions, from the beastly troubles, but to give to the group and add to it for the good. I can advance only like this, not like a beast that flees from the blows.

If we suddenly find ourselves pressured, frightened, and confused, we cannot want just to flee from this state because it is unpleasant. Rather, we should want this condition to advance us toward the Creator who arranged this for us. If all of us feel like this, then we will advance.

I don’t ask the Creator to take all the unpleasantness, all the evil, from me, but I ask for the evil to be transformed to good. So, the person needs to pray: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.”
[104228]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/13, Writings of Rabash

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Rabash, Shlavei Hasulam, 1984/1985, Essay 19, “Come to Pharaoh – A”: The Secret of the Pursuit of the Evil Inclination and the Other Side Is to Cause the Tzadikim to Err and to Adhere to the Sacred.

The evil inclination is an “angel” that rightly carries out its work. It constantly shows us how weak we are and not ready for anything and thus obliges us to turn to the Light that Reforms. And then we receive a power from above that carries out what is necessary. So, if the ego were not to show us our complete failure, we would agree with what is and would never turn to the Light.

The evil inclination is not the sum of evil tendencies; it awakens in me not despair from failure in these or other things because I am an egoist. The evil inclination is a unique force that stands against the Light and points at It by its opposition: “Here this is what you need.” So, darkness awakens us to search for Light, to awaken the dawn. This is not just the ego with its constant lusts and desires: jealousy, lust, honor, control, and so forth. No, instead, the evil inclination is the “bad” tendencies thanks to which we feel the need for help from Above. So this is saying that it is essentially also good.

Question: But you sometimes talk as if we have the power to advance…

Answer: Without wasting these powers, you would not realize that you need to ask for help. It is not enough here to know only that you are powerless—you must also have the experience. Look at a toddler: No matter how many times you explain something to him, he needs to try everything himself, and not just once. He doesn’t believe your words: “What do you need to do this for if you don’t ever succeed?” No, he must go through everything on his own.

Question: But in spite of all this, isn’t it terrible that we have to waste all that time?

Answer: This is exactly why we need it. You see, by trying to act independently you are correcting the Kelim, your desires. From time to time, when you reach despair, you are gradually purifying and arranging them. Understandably, you want to jump immediately to the final correction, but you must learn a little first.

All the Lights and all the Kelim, vessels, descended from the perfect world of Infinity to an absolutely imperfect and shattered state. Thus a system was created—from opposition between the Light and the vessel—you cannot improve upon the already established sequence. After all, there is nothing superfluous or peripheral here. The Light bestows in an absolute form and the vessel receives in an absolute form, and we build the appropriate connection between them. This is not something arbitrary or someone’s whim; this is the inevitable consequence of conditions that were originally set.

Between the two desires—bestowal and reception—another system of relationships cannot be created different from what is in the worlds of Adam Kadmon and ABYA. There simply cannot be. Absolute laws are at work here; so there is no reason to be sorry about “wasting time.” You cannot skip to Infinity in one leap. You need to pass through all the stages; otherwise, the will to receive will not succeed in acquiring the intention to bestow.

On the way to final correction, you require the Creator, the Light, more and more. Call Him whatever you want, but there is only one force that acts in reality. And within your great will to receive there is a small point. It needs to understand where it is found, to identify its desire and turn to the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif – OM) with a request that all parts of this desire will be corrected. There is nothing other than this. All of our work relies on this: that from this point in our desire we turn to the Light.

Yet for this many tests and attempts are required. You see you are working with the ego, a force that wants to establish its dominance and won’t allow turning to the Creator. On the contrary, the Creator is concealed to the degree that you establish yourself; we must decide: “It’s either me or Him.”

And therefore, (1) we first need to make the first restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph – TA) on our ego. This doesn’t say that we destroy it; we only recognize that with its help one is not allowed to reach bestowal. You don’t want to use the ego, even if you want to. So you cause it to “atrophy.”

After that, (2) you turn to Bina; you want the force of bestowal to rule in you. This brings you to a particular discovery (3). It is true that you only discover the Light of Hassadim, but this is already something. Thus gradually you remove the coverings, the concealment, from yourself…

Imagine this from an example. There are two people in front of you: me and a young man who is energetic, smart, handsome, and whose accomplishments are obvious. Next to him it is as if I dissipate, fade from your field of vision. So, all of your work now is to move the focus from one to the other. He conceals, covers, and hides me. This means that you need to “nullify” him from your eyes. So you “restrict” him and then start replacing him with me. It turns out that I am worth something; I am important to you, and so you are ready to enter under my authority instead of his authority….

Thus, many actions are required, steps on the way to bring you to revelation. Nothing is done by itself. From the start, you are under the authority of the egoistic desire and need to pass to the authority of the altruistic desire. You see, your desire cannot remain “not associated with anything”; either the intention to receive or the intention to bestow must dominate it. And this transition requires some time.
[103986]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/31/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What is prayer?

Answer: Prayer is a request to the Creator to give me the power of bestowal. The general power of bestowal, upon which the world is based, dwells within the world; it is the foundation of the world. This power is called the Creator, the Emanator, and it is the foundation of all of reality. If I turn to it, I can only ask for the power of bestowal. What else could it give me?

I ask this power to approach me, which is to say, to influence me more with its power of bestowal. But when the Creator begins to affect me with His bestowal, I can hold onto this in various ways. If I am ready for it and have similar characteristics, I feel His approach as good, good for me. But if I have opposing characteristics, then I perceive His approach as something bad.

So, there are two forms of grasping the Light: like a “rooster” or like a “bat.” Why does the bat ask for light, that it will be like the darkness?

A prayer is called the raising of MAN, “Mei Nukvin.” The feminine desire, Nukva, my will to receive, wants to rise to the level of Bina; it is asking to be given the characteristic of bestowal.

What is called prayer is when we turn to the Creator, to the Light, to the characteristic of bestowal, asking this bestowal to dwell in us and become our own characteristic. I cannot be like the Creator, “a part of the divine above,” but I want His characteristic to begin to dominate in me.

As long as the Creator illuminates me through His bestowal, this characteristic is found in me and to that degree I have that characteristic. But if the Creator takes His bestowal from me, I fall immediately. It is as if a magnetic force is holding me in the air like a piece of metal. It acts on me all the time, and so I am suspended in the air. The moment that this influence stops, the moment that the magnet stops streaming its flow, the force that holds the piece of metal, and its field disappears, then immediately this piece falls.

So we also receive the force of bestowal. We don’t receive it directly within our nature; instead we always remain with the nature of the will to receive, like the piece of metal suspended in the air. It can be suspended in the air only due to the influence of the Light. Therefore, prayer must never stop; we depend on the Creator all the time.
[103929]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/13

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