Kabbalists write about various states of the souls, which are states they have actually gone through. What matters is the extent to which we want to imagine these states and identify ourselves with them. They are all indications of how we give pleasure back to the Creator, and by virtue of this aspiration we reveal the same action from His end. That is how we enter unity with the Creator: He gives to a person and a person gives to Him.

These are the states that Kabbalists tell us about. The more we aspire to them, the more the force or Light from there influences us, bringing us closer to the states of unity and leading us into them.

This continues along the whole path. It doesn’t only happen now, when we are just getting ready for actually entering these states of interconnection, but also later on, when we will feel the spiritual actions better. One way or another, only our aspiration, only our raising MAN, a prayer for higher states of mutual bestowal and revelation of love, will help us ascend to newer levels each time.

This is the approach that the soul must follow until the end of correction. Only this kind of work will enable us to move forward.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Introduction, Chapter “Lock and Key,” Item 42: That carving that was engraved in Bina was engraved and hidden in her, as one who hides everything behind one key, and the whole of that one key is hidden in one palace. And even though everything is hidden in that palace, that key is the most important because that key closes and opens.

It is a great question and a great mystery: How is the spiritual system organized in order to correct the egoistic desire, which is opposite to the Creator in every way?

Two absolutely opposite forces, Bina and Malchut, united under the influence of a third factor, the intention. Thus, they built a system that really is able to facilitate correction with the help of the forces of reception and bestowal, producing an intention in the lower ones.

This mechanism is in the three upper Sefirot of the world of Atzilut, whereas the lower seven Sefirot are operated by the lock and key. The system is ready to be used: If we activate it, it will influence us. We do not feel how its Lights influence us, but in the meantime they descend, already organized in the right combination. They are what changes our desire so it reaches equivalence with the intention.

The Book of Zohar explains the secret of the upper system that connects the forces of the Creator and creation in order to make us similar to Him. We do not know how the process of change takes place in us, and thus we study its mechanism as a “miraculous quality” (Segula). More and more we come to understand that we do not understand anything. We grow more and more disillusioned with our own forces and not seeing any way out, we put our hopes in the upper system, and then on the contrary, we rejoice about this dependence.

Finally, we gradually begin to be included in the system. We are ready for it to make all the necessary changes in us in order to change us so we match it. If a person expresses willingness to do this, the system begins to influence him.

In this way, the first action from our end is to bow our heads. Then the upper system literally “engraves” its form in a person and he becomes similar to the Upper One.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/10, The Zohar

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 3, Part 8: Time and place in spirituality signify a renewal of form. Since a Partzuf grows only through a multitude of unions (Zivugim) and transfers of Lights that differ from one another, building it together, they are called "the months of the intrauterine development" or the period of embryonic development, which can last for 7, 9, or 12 months depending on the amount of portions of Light that are necessary to form it.

We study the changes that happen to the will to enjoy and count the number of these changes or renewals, which are called "months" (Hodesh, month, comes from the word Hidush, renewal). There is no time in spirituality. Time is determined by the number of changes that we have gone through, rather than the motion of the hand of a clock or the changes of some external factor. As much as I changed, that is how much time has gone by. This is how time is defined in spirituality.

Therefore, the period of an embryo’s development means that I go through one state after another ("I go through," Over, comes from the word embryo, Ibur). I have to go through a specific amount of changes in order to go from the intrauterine development inside the Upper One to development outside of Him.

Now I am also in the Upper One and He develops me. During this process of development I have absolutely no influence on the changes I undergo. I am forced to change by instincts and forces that I experience as suffering, and thus, I go through these changes against my will.

Then another phase comes: I start to feel that there is some kind of reason behind it, that there is a high need for it, and there is an Upper One who makes all these changes to me, wishing for me to start finding out about the system of governance, the cause and effect order of development, the beginning and goal of the whole path. That is how the whole world is beginning to awaken in our times.

After that we reach the realization that we have to evoke these changes ourselves. From a certain state onward there is no time that the Upper One changes for us, forcing us to develop. Now the Upper One only adds Lights for us, which we perceive as evil. However, this does not enable us to develop, but only to reach the realization that we have to demand development from the Upper One. That is, we must already participate in the development ourselves and demand it.

The Upper One does not force me to do the action itself, but only to request it so I would ask the Upper One to carry it out. My request has to be in the middle. For now this request can be expressed as a cry due to feeling bad.

After that I develop and am required to have this cry come out of the realization of goodness, when I understand that all of this is for my good. Even though I might feel bad in my sensations, I already realize that this is good for my development, because I have to ascend to the next level. Then the Upper One no longer demands a cry from me, but cooperation in development. This is called partnership.

After that we reach a state where the Upper One does not awaken me at all, but I have to search for an opportunity to awaken inside of me, using the environment. I have to awaken the Upper One so He would awaken me, and then agree with His action and tell Him exactly how to do it. It’s as if I understand and choose the best form of action for myself, and then the Upper One does it.

In the end we reach a state where I give the Upper One all the orders. In the beginning of the path He made all the actions upon me, from beginning to end, without my awareness. I did not know who is operating me, what He does, and where I am. But at the end of the path I determine everything from beginning to end, and only use the force of the Upper One.

Our entire path lies in that we acquire increasingly greater independence and self-sufficiency, becoming more and more similar to the Upper One.
[29951]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: There are always inner disturbances present by our side, the Pharaoh that makes us forget about the Creator. How can we fight him?

Answer: We have to love the disturbances! That is, we have to hate them, but with love! It’s as if you have revealed an illness and on one hand, you are happy that you have discovered it, while on the other hand you hate it.

Any disturbance is the Creator’s messenger, intended to direct you, to “mold” you, to set you in order, and to give you a specific form. Everything comes from the One who is Good and Does Good. Therefore, if I now receive any kind of bad response, reaction, or burdening of the heart, then even if I don’t love it, I should at least welcome it with joy.

Yet, we also shouldn’t delve inside all of these disturbances, but ascend above them. We have to accept all of them as help.

How else can we act? Imagine that you are an athlete and there is a coach standing next to you who tells you that you have to jump ten times. But you start to object and argue that you don’t want to jump.

Then he gives you more exercises and you once again refuse to do them. Do you think that this kind of athlete will ever achieve any results? But that is exactly how we behave.
[29811]
From the lesson on Baal HaSulam’s Letter on 12/10/10

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It is written that a person who opens up a Kabbalistic book desires to save his life, his soul. He asks the question about the meaning of life and looks for this meaning, wishing to be saved from the emptiness that is worse than death itself. We see that all of humanity is gradually coming closer to this state.

When a person cries out for correction from the bottom of his heart, then what is correction for him? This is the entire problem: Does he correctly imagine the salvation for which he asks? Is the meaning of it for him to ascend above egoism, to unite with others and with all of reality into one whole? Does he understand that he can no longer use the receiving desires, Kelim? Does he ask himself: What is the point of living by reception, by absorbing inside?

If a person really wants something more, it is possible only in the bestowing desires, in the Kelim that are aimed toward the outside. Then his cry for help means, “Save me from the desire that pulls everything to itself and gives nothing!”

If a person’s heart is already aimed to the outside, if he desires to come out of himself, to establish his connection with everyone and to find the sensation of life there, then his intention is correct, and then the Light that comes to him returns him to the Source.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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Question: Lately I feel very tired and fall asleep at the lesson. Does this mean that my desire for the goal is not strong enough?

Answer: First of all we must accept every state as coming from Above, from the Creator because “There is none else besides Him.” If I relate to every state as being constructive and coming from the Creator, and therefore advancing me toward the goal, then it is already a useful state that really does build me. In this regard everything depends not on the state itself, but on my attitude to it: Who is it from?

It doesn’t matter what state I am in – good, bad, intermediate, or one that lacks any motion, even if I remain in it for several months. If I always relate to it as the right state for making discernments, corrections, and advancement, then I do not worry about what is actually happening.

I always raise MAN, remain in the intention, and in response, from Above I receive MAD, the state that comes to me. The intention comes from me, while the state comes from the Upper One.

Therefore, we must look at everything that comes to us from the Upper One as a blessing. Whatever came to us is what came because it undoubtedly comes from the One who is Good and Does Good, and there is none else besides Him. I have to treat every state as being necessary on the path.

If I constantly change and delve deeper into the study, the group, and the intention, then I am not worried by what I receive from Him. On the contrary, it’s possible that each time I will receive a harsh treatment (Gevurot) from Him, but I understand that precisely this treatment is what advances me. After all, that is how a serious person is treated, one who is expected to make progress, in contrast to a baby who is treated tenderly and nothing is expected of him. Thus, everything depends on whether or not you’re a hero….

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Otiot de Rav Hamnuna Saba (The Letters of Rav Hamnuna Saba),” Item 31: This is the playing of the Creator with each of the twenty-two letters, by giving each room to show her governance according to His wish until they sort out by themselves—out of their own desire—which of them is worthy of leading the world. This is why it was said that 2,000 years before He created the world, the Creator was looking and playing with them.

The Light created the Kelim upon four phases of expansion. Then a restriction took place whereby a screen was established and Malchut decided to receive pleasure only for the sake of bestowal. That is how she interacts with the Light, the Creator, becoming similar to Him according to the law of equivalence of form.

Malchut wants to adopt the quality of Bina and in the process of doing this work, 22 forms of the desire for pleasure form inside her. It’s as if this quality is outlined and comes through by these contours, which accumulate to the degree that Malchut connects to Bina.

Initially the desire is formless like clay, but when it takes on the 22 forms of Bina, together they cause the desire to be similar to the Creator. So which of these forms is worthy of being the foundation by which the world is created? Which of them connects the beginning and end of creation? Which leads all the other forms after her? This is talking about the key intention, the main action, the calculation for making a striking interaction (Zivug de Hakaa) which is always done in the head of a Partzuf.

Following the reverse order, meaning from the side of the Kelim, all the letters appear before the Creator, or in other words, they raise MAN, a request. In reponse each of them receives MAD, an answer, telling it whether it is possible to create the world with it or not.

If no impurity latches on to the answer, it means that this is that very form. If, however, in response to the request from Above a force comes, but next to it Klipa awakens as well, then the world cannot be created using that form.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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Question: What should every person’s concern be at the lesson: The purity of his own spiritual work or just unity?

Answer: It’s not enough to be schematically concerned about unity in general. As Baal HaSulam writes, we have to build the unity of Israel, the Torah, and the Creator.

We are in a state where every person and all of us together decide everything. Every person adds his “penny” to the group’s common desire and from it receives the right aspiration to prayer. Then his personal prayer once again pours into the unity of the common prayer.

The individual work always combines with the common work: A person completes the whole, and also completes himself with the whole. As a result we form a single prayer, about which it is written, “The sons of Israel cried out from the work.”

In order to achieve this, the goal must be extremely important to us so that we wouldn’t trade it for any “achievements” or theoretical knowledge. We are not satisfied by the calming rhythm of the daily routine because at the current rate we can keep “advancing” for another thousand years. We are not satisfied by success in dissemination because this is obviously just a means. No matter how great our achievements are, we cannot consider them the goal of our lives, not even a temporary, intermediate one.

We cannot calm ourselves by the results of our work and efforts, hoping that they will do the job with time. Instead, a person must immediately shift his gaze to the most important thing and place the true goal in front of him: the revelation of the quality of the Creator, the quality of bestowal inside him. We should demand this unequivocally and tirelessly. Any break harms the person and his connection with the Creator. Therefore, this is where the common prayer is necessary, which is able to be constant.

We have to understand that it takes very great efforts to enter the spiritual world, but they are not so difficult to make in the group and depend only on our agreement.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/10, The Zohar

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Every morning before the lesson we get up on our feet again and start with a clean slate. The same thing can happen over the course of the day as well. It is written, “Let the old things you have already heard become new for you every day.” A person must constantly feel that he is a new creation, again and again establishing contact, starting the spiritual work, and coming closer to the Creator.

Every time he makes this renewal, he realizes Reshimot, until he acquires a sufficient amount of them. This number is not known in advance, but the timer is ticking and the wheels are turning, changing the numbers after the point, and at some point in time the main wheel on the left will jump from one number to the next.

The same thing happens to us. That is why at every moment in time we must renew the contact, the intention, and the aspiration to the goal. It is written, “The end of the action lies in the initial thought.” I must already keep the goal in mind now, which I hope to reach at the end. Where am I going? What do I want exactly? Each time I must imagine this anew, but more precisely, clearly, tangibly, and perceptibly.

In the final goal, all of my hopes, efforts, desires, and disappointments come together, fuse into one, and are fulfilled. My work is completed in the point of the final contact, the point that is called “the drop of unity.” In it, I, my entire perceivable reality, and the Creator (the quality of bestowal, the Upper Force) all become one whole. This is the state I must already imagine now.

Baal HaSulam puts it this way: A person must aspire to the unity of Israel, the Torah, and the Creator. Say it however you like. The most important thing is for us to think about the final point of unity. The more distinctly I imagine it in my feeling and mind, the more joy this should give me. Then I will unquestionably realize the current Reshimo and will successively advance toward the end of the action.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/12/10, The Zohar

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Question: During the lesson, we are constantly trying to build the same plea, which makes it less acute. How can I renew it every day and plea as if for the first time?

Answer: This is the key, and if you succeed, you don’t need anything else. But I don’t know how to help here for this is exactly what is described by “Whatever is in your power, do it!”

No work is more important than preparation to the lesson. Dissemination and everything else you do in this world, everything must revolve around one point: to build an inner plea during the lesson, the anticipation of the Light that will descend and reform us.

This must become our obsessive thought, an internal ache, a feeling that without it I will die, and it will be even more frightening than to die in the corporeal world! It is impossible to arrive at such powerful desire on your own; a person needs the group, support, and collective inspiration. We need to feel despair which accumulates over the years of effort….

It is the most profound point around which everything revolves. If you reach it, you will succeed in everything. There is nothing more; this is the point where you connect with the Creator. Through it, from below upward, the prayer, MAN, is raised. His response, MAD, arrives through it from Above downward, for now as the Surrounding Light.

This need, the aching point, must stand out clearly and conspicuously as the most meaningful need. We need to constantly care for it and think how to enhance it, how to come to the studies with a broken heart so we may bond together during the lesson.

The rest is not important; what you know and what you’ve done does not matter at all. The final outcome of your entire life and all your effort is contained only here, in this point. If you come to it, you will attain everything; if not, nothing else is worthwhile.

Nothing else is taken into account but this point for only it is called the "human" within me. It determines whether I do exist or not.
[29053]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/7/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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