Question: What should a prayer be directed toward in Lo Lishma and what should a prayer be directed at in Lishma?

Answer: All prayers must be directed toward the Creator, only to Him. He will respond to one of them, but we do not know in advance which one.

Question: I feel that the Creator hears my prayers, but often I do not know how to align my intention toward love for the Creator through the ten. How can I correctly set this intention?

Answer: Consult with the ten; they will guide you.
[339172]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/25, “Connecting to Lishma“

Related Material:
Attract the Attention of the Creator
Turn Only to the Creator
Constantly Turn To The Creator

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work, The Tens - No Comments →

It is a rule that it is impossible to receive anything without equivalence. Rather, there must always be equivalence.

Hence, when he evokes mercy on himself, it follows that he is engaged in reception for himself. And the more he prays, not only is he not preparing the Kli [vessel] of equivalence, but on the contrary, sparks of reception form within him (Rabash, Assorted Notes, 217, “Run My Beloved“).

To “cleave unto His attributes” means to become merciful and to bestow like Him, to acquire the same attributes He possesses.

It turns out that he is going the opposite way: While he should prepare vessels of bestowal, he is preparing vessels of reception. Hence, when he prays for the public, through this prayer he engages in bestowal. And the more he prays, to that extent he forms vessels of bestowal, by which the light of bestowal, called “merciful,” can be revealed. 

It is impossible to receive anything without equivalence. Rather, there must always be equivalence. That is, we can perceive something only to the extent that we are similar to the action, object, or state.

Therefore, in order to feel something, I need to be in a state of equivalence with what I wish to perceive. For example, if a person is crying or rejoicing and I want to feel their state, I must reach the exact same state within myself. Then from what I have modeled internally, I will understand the state they are in. Of course, my understanding will be relative because their attributes and mine are different. Yet there will still be some degree of equivalence.

Hence, when he evokes mercy on himself, it follows that he is engaged in reception for himself. And the more he prays, not only is he not preparing the Kli [vessel] of equivalence, but on the contrary, sparks of reception form within him.

Whatever I ask of the Creator, even with the purest intentions, my requests are always egoistic, and they will inevitably amplify my egoism. Does this mean I should refrain from asking altogether? If so, how can I manifest my connection with the Creator?

It turns out that he is going the opposite way. Instead of developing a desire to bestow, he is in fact developing the desire to receive.
[338967]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
Everything Is Attained By The Equivalence Of Form
Spirituality Is The Measure Of My Equivalence To The Creator
To Be Or Not To Be Like The Creator

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: What prevents a person from praying to the Creator from the depth of his heart?

Answer: What prevents us from praying from the depths of our truest inner, real desires? Egoistic desires themselves. They do not give us the opportunity to correctly address the Creator until, as a result of numerous efforts, we begin to feel them more acutely and are able to direct them to the Creator. Everything is done in such a way as to bring us to a state of adhesion with the Creator, not to separation from Him.

Look at yourself now: some of you are sleeping, some are half asleep, some are in a more real state, and some are even in an excited state. Through this, the Creator reveals to us our actual relationship with each other and with Him. This will continue until we start to feel this more deeply and begin to live within these states internally.

The entire surrounding world, everything we imagine, will begin to feel external to us. The world will be perceived as a means to deepen the internal connection between us and the Creator.

This process will gradually unfold within us, and it will happen. You listen more, feel more, and try not to fall asleep during the lesson, you resist that state. Through this, you will eventually begin to experience the next stages.

All of this is given to you deliberately. There is no such thing as fatigue or any other reasons from our world—nothing like that! These are purely spiritual causes. There is nothing physical here, only importance. And importance arises from going deeper into the search for the feeling of the Creator.
[338963]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
The Heart Is the Root of Egoistic Desire
Combine All Appeals to the Creator
Prayer Must Be from the Bottom of the Heart

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

We need to try to feel the collective that will be present at the congress and pray for everyone, including even ourselves. Rabash writes that a person must pray for the entire society, for the entire world Kli, and include oneself within it.

The essence is that when I imagine the souls, I must also imagine that the Creator is present precisely within them. And within me? Within me, He exists in a form that prompts me to relate to Him and to this collective in a special way.

In principle, He distinguishes me negatively, as if I am not like this collective: He is within them, but not within me. The Creator desires for me to awaken His revelation within myself in a specific manner.

The most important thing is to pray for others as if they were your own child. It is very simple. If you pray for them in this way, it means you are integrating into the correct relationship with the Creator because He also relates to everyone as to His children, whom He wishes to nurture and elevate.

Then you will form a connection with Him, similarity to Him, and an understanding of Him. Suddenly you will begin to feel His attitude toward everyone, through which you will come to understand yourself and your mission. This is the most reliable path.

You become the Creator’s partner. After all, each of us must become His conduit and similar to Him, which means that you act as you believe the Creator acts in the world.
[338999]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
How Can I Ask for Others
Prayer for the Many
Ask For Others

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: What is the difference between asking for the group of people physically present at a congress and asking for all the friends who are in the state of the congress?

Answer: Do not confuse these states. Each time we are in different states. And even being in the same state, I can feel myself either as a small child among the friends, as equal to them, or above them. From these three states called embryo, small state, and great state, I can turn to them and to the Creator.

Question: And what is the difference between asking for the friends with whom I am physically at the congress and for the friends who are not physically near me?

Answer: What difference does it make where I am with them? I ask that the Creator raise and correct us. What do distances have to do with it?

I turn to the Creator with a request, with my impression of the friends I am with right now. Wherever a person comes from, he includes everything in himself. That is, I ask for the entire Kli; otherwise, I do not appeal to the Creator fully.

For the Creator, all of us and in general everything that exists across all times, all events, everything that can possibly be imagined is just one single desire created by Him. There is nothing else here, and therefore, there is no need to complicate things.

What difference does it make to me how many of my friends stayed at home and how many of them are here with whom I feel physically closer now and with whom I am further away. It does not matter. It is enough to ask the Creator to help them, and He will help them.
[339002]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
Include Everyone in Your Prayers
The Prayer Of Many
I Am Asking For My Brothers

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

A prayer is work in the heart (Rabash, Article 24, “Three Times in the Work”).

It is because the heart of a person is the root of their egoistic desire. The heart here does not refer to the physical organ of the body, which is merely a pump.

It is specifically the desire located in the heart that must be transformed into a different form where its aim is to bestow rather than to receive. This means that the direction of my actions, my desires, and my thoughts should shift from focusing inward to reaching outward.

But how can this be achieved? I am unable to change my egoistic desire on my own. All I can do is perform certain actions that will draw the influence of the upper light upon me, which will correct me and adjust me to a different attitude toward everything outside of me.

Though I previously thought that the world outside of me consisted of inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, and people, I will begin to see that in reality none of this exists as separate entities. It is all but one Creator.

Thus a person has a significant task: to transform their heart, meaning their desire. Since this task is contrary to his egoistic nature, he cannot change himself on his own. A person is trapped within himself, within his egoism. No matter how he turns, acts, or thinks, his actions and thoughts remain self-centered. He cannot escape himself.

Baal HaSulam likens a person to a worm living inside a radish, feeling as if its entire life is one endless bitter radish. Only if the worm manages to poke its head out will it see the sun, greenery, grass, air, and singing birds, and realize that another world exists.

So it is with us. Hence, there is great work involved in transforming one’s desire, one’s heart. Since this work goes against a person’s individual nature, he must request assistance from the Creator, that is, he must appeal to an external force (and the only external force is the Creator) to help him escape his essence, his egoism, which the Creator deliberately created, and enter what is called a state “above nature.”

The state above our nature is called faith—Emunah, which means bestowal. This concept should not be confused with the notion of faith in our world. In our world, faith means closing one’s eyes and accepting something as true, simply believing in its existence.

In Kabbalah, however, faith refers to acquiring the quality of bestowal. It is not just believing in this quality, but actually possessing it within oneself.
[338765]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
“What Does My Heart Desire Now?”
A Prayer Is Work In The Heart
Work In The Heart

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

An appeal to the Creator must include an understanding of who we are today, what we represent, how we should ask, and what we should ask for. This is because our request is part of the realization of what we must do and what we must achieve.

The nature of the appeal depends on the level we are currently on. The higher the level we are on or aspire to reach, the greater our desire must be. This desire should be clearer, more conscious, and accordingly, we will receive a response.

It is said: “The Creator is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” This means that it is not enough to call upon the Creator in any manner; our request must include an understanding of our current state and the next one, the present and the future.

These states may be separated by only a short span of time. We simply refer to them as “today” and “tomorrow” because each state is described as a day. The difference lies in the fact that the desire to exit the current state and enter the next one must become an urgent plea from a person—a yearning to rise above oneself, above one’s current state, and reach the next, greater equivalence to the Creator. This means a greater degree of selflessness, a greater distancing from one’s ego, from one’s initial nature.

Each subsequent state represents greater separation from oneself, an acceptance of a different form of life—in thoughts and desires, in mind and heart.

Ultimately, all this manifests in an appeal to the Creator, which is called “prayer.” It is not simply a request to “make things better for me,” but a plea from the heart, even without words or proper phrases, formed in the heart as a necessary and true appeal.

This is how we must prepare for the congress, as, being together, our appeals to the Creator combine into one, whether we realize it or not. All the requests of all the people in the world ultimately reside within the Creator and merge into an appeal to Him.

However, if people remain at the degree of animal, they do not evoke any special reaction in the Creator, nor do they unite among themselves.

Our efforts combine only to the extent of purposeful action when we desire to influence the Creator.

This means uniting in our intentions, actions, thoughts, and desires, rising above our current state—each one above their own—and as if drawing within ourselves the image of the next state.
[338759]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
What Is a Common Prayer?
A Common Desire Is a Place for the Creator
Prayer from the Entire Universe

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: In order for a request to the Creator to be correctly formulated, should it include our current state, a vision of the future state, the effort of my inclusion in the group, and the changes that this group must undergo?

Answer: Yes, a request to the Creator must include all of this. That is why it is called MAN, (Mei Nukvin), where “Mayim” (water) is a quality of Bina, and “Nukva” is a quality of Malchut.

In other words, we should have a sense of our current state and a desirable vision of our future state, my capabilities and the capabilities of the group, in what way we should be united, and in what way I wish to reveal the Creator, the quality of bestowal.

Do not confuse the revelation of the Creator with anything else. This is the quality of bestowal, love, and connection. This is the only way the Creator manifests in us; otherwise He does not exist at all. We do not know what the upper force is in itself, we only know its manifestation in us.

Let’s say we are talking about electricity. How do I know what it is? We only know the manifestation of this property, this effect in some of its actions. It passes through a conductor, is heated, its voltage is changed, and so on.

That is, we study any quality by reaction. For example, we do not know what the force of gravity is, but we know that it is a quality that is inherent in matter, and nothing more. We always study reactions.

We do not know ourselves, the group, or the Creator Himself, but we study only the external manifestations of these forces. Therefore, when we turn to the Creator, the most correct approach is to envision His influence as a consequence of our changes.

And what could our changes be? Only group changes. The Creator is a quality of bestowal. Where can I observe this quality? Only in my connection with the group and in no other way.

Therefore, if I turn to the Creator, I must envision my current state, the one I am with the group, with the world, and in what state I will be after some time when the Creator’s action is realized.

How is it implemented? In a greater closeness between us. And then, to the extent we get closer, His quality will manifest itself—the quality of bestowal and love. We will begin to feel it as a quality of the upper world. This will be the highest spiritual attainment. There is no other way.
[338801]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
The Common Work Between The Person And The Creator
If There Are No Requests, There Are No Changes
The Components Of A Correct Prayer

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The most correct way to turn to the Creator is when He is close to you. Close is when you feel you can be in contact with Him. But if you are in contact with Him, what is left to ask? After all, you have nothing more to ask than to merge with Him. Here, we have an internal contradiction, and as always we advance on two lines: the right and the left.

On one hand, I feel the Creator is close to me; otherwise, how could I turn to Him? He should be directed at me in some way, and I should be directed at Him. On the other hand, I have to feel like I am distant from Him.

Overall, there is no problem here. We always perceive the Creator in two ways: One, He is close to us, and we must accept and feel Him as our ruler, and two, we should feel Him far from us because we are not yet similar to His properties.

It is like a child and a mother. A child may feel very close to its mother. On the other hand, if he were smart, he would understand the difference between them is vast because his mother has everything in her hands, and he has nothing. Through understanding his mother (her capabilities versus his own), he can firmly demand everything from her; these are the states, only more corrected, of course, not on the animal level, but on the human level, that we must build with the Creator.

This is the only force in the world that will do everything we ask if our requests are aimed at our development, at becoming more like it, because the Creator intends to make man a man, Adam, similar to Himself.
[338794]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
Between Two Lines
Don’t Nullify Your Ego
Under The Protection Of Wings

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Why is it so important for us to turn to the Creator? Because we have nothing besides a relationship with the only upper force in the world, which includes everything and controls everything.

Moreover, this is not an unfounded statement but something we must reveal explicitly and clearly. We reveal this from our conviction that “There is none else besides Him.” That is, we attain Him both from His presence and the fact that it is the only force, both from His positive as well as negative components.

If this is the only force that created us and gave us unique properties not only to exist, but also to attain the Creator, then, of course, it is very important for us to know what these properties are, how to develop and realize them, to truly understand this force, attain, value, draw near it and, possibly, do some more actions on yourself: for your sake or His it doesn’t matter.

It turns out there is no way to distance yourself from it, to isolate yourself from it, on the one hand. On the other hand, there is no way not to affect it. We are created in such a way that we act on it anyway, we are in it. It turns out the most critical question is not just how this force treats us and what it wants from us, but how we influence it in general.

This topic is the most important in our lives because we and this force are the only ones that coexist: we are in it, and it determines our lives in everything.
[338695]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “Turning to the Creator”

Related Material:
So that Only the Creator Appears before You
The Uniqueness Of The Force Governing Us, Part 1
Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work, The Tens - No Comments →