Question: When can a person who has started studying Kabbalah be able to say that he is working with his desires?

Answer: When he starts going through “ascents” and “descents.” In these states we start studying how dependent we are on our inner changes. And that is only the beginning. This is how you are being played with by the upper force, even though for now it’s happening in the plane of this world.

That is when you will start being thrown from one world to the other, sometimes being elevated and sometimes being cast down. Then you will feel how inconstant everything is.

Imagine that your senses were changed somewhat so your eyes saw the world through X-rays and you had radars instead of ears. What kind of world would you feel? You would go crazy from the overabundance of information coming at you, from the entire range of waves because you would hear people talking here and there and everywhere at the same time, even thousands of kilometers away from you. You would see through walls and would be aware of everything that happens.

Accordingly, your brain would also have to be developed to the same extent in order to process this flow of information, as well as your nervous system. You would be a completely different being, and all that just if we were to slightly expand the range of our perception in the same world.

Yet in Kabbalah we talk about qualities which we currently lack entirely and a fundamentally different approach. For example, imagine that you started feeling the sensations of other people, dressing like a ghost into one person, then another, and then a third….
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/11, “The Quality of the Hidden Wisdom – in General”

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“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Donkey Driver,” Item 88: They said to him, “But you have not told us your name, and where is your dwelling place?”

He replied to them, “My dwelling place is good and of great value to me. It is a tower floating in the air, great and honorable. And those who dwell in that tower are the Creator and one poor man. This is my dwelling place."

It is a problem when during the reading of The Zohar we begin to enjoy the narration because the pleasure muffles our inner search.

Question: But what do I need to look for here?

Answer: Let us say that I am taking a walk with my friend, and we receive pleasure from it on the spot. We are walking and enjoying every step of the way: The birds are singing, the grass is green, there is a nice breeze, the sun is shining. This is called a stroll because we enjoy the actual walk.

But there is another way to walk. We walk covered in sweat, it’s hard for us, and we curse the entire journey. But why do we continue walking? It’s because we want to reach the goal, and it is impossible to make it there in a nice and pleasant way. The path is so unpleasant that we would gladly give it up if we were able to reach the goal in one jump.

Basically, there are different ways to treat the journey: as a walk or as a means to reach the goal. The walk is not a means; it is a goal in its own, which we immediately attain. Now you need to decide for yourself the process that you are in: Are you even moving? Are you taking a walk? Or are you walking towards the goal?

If you read The Zohar and enjoy the actual reading, you are taking a walk. You feel good and you are not thinking about the distant goal. “What a beautiful narration! I am enjoying every word!” This is a walk.

You lack the intention, the inner search, the aspiration of unity with friends. You will see it as soon as you think about connecting. And then this will no longer be a walk, but a journey toward the goal.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Donkey Driver”

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Question: How do I turn to the group internally?

Answer: Turning to the group is a search: In what way can I picture the whole of reality as existing inside of me, and not outside? Perception of reality is not a brain-twister with which you can interest and confuse others. We are talking about a state which we must reach in practice. I have to reveal that all the things that are seemingly outside of me are my internal parts.

For example, the Torah describes all kinds of different occasions from the lives of various characters, which have occurred in different places. It’s a real theater. I must apply all of this onto my desires, onto the details of my perception. There is no external world, so where is it inside of me? In which parts of me do these characters live and are these actions performed?

This approach builds the right relationship toward my own Kli (vessel), to the actions which the Creator performs within me, and to the states which I need to go through. That is why I must try to find the “external” images within me every waking moment.

I live inside my soul, and all of the "external" images are its parts: forces, actions, and elements of perception. Nothing else exists. Everything is in this Kli. This is the way I try to picture the entire reality.

So, who is setting all of this up for me? Who separates, deletes, draws closer, and connects all of the parts of my desires: the “men” and “women,” “animals” and “vegetation,” and so on? This is when I perceive Keter which builds the still, vegetative, animate, and human degrees within me: Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut.

I live inside of my soul, besides (outside of) which there is nothing. That is why first of all, I need to see the group as my integral part. This is what turning to the group internally is.
[31248]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/10, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World was in Donation”

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Initially, I have a mere material desire for “self-gratification” and a point in the heart, a seed of the property of bestowal, that yearns for the upper world. I raise this point above desire by increasing its importance relative to corporeal desires and then turn with it to the environment: the group, the Kabbalistic texts, and the teacher.

In response, I receive an increased and refined desire from them. It is increased in terms of its might and modified in the sense that I acquire the importance of the goal (to achieve the property of bestowal) and realize my inability to reach it on my own.

With this desire, I turn “upward,” raise MAN (a plea for correction). As a result, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif, OM) descends from “Above” and reforms me, brings me back to the property of bestowal.

The following are the mandatory stages:

1. Appeal to the group;
2. Receive a spiritual aspiration from it;
3. Appeal to the Creator;
4. Receive correction.

Consequently, there emerges a Kli, a vessel of bestowal, the sum of all factors.

Question: How do I know that my aspiration came from the group?

Answer: You examine the degree to which you wish to unite with the friends, but are unable to do so. If you have put a great deal of quality effort into this need, you raise MAN with it. In other words, the sum of your desires aimed at unification creates a plea for help.

Question: What are the signs that I’m appealing to the group correctly?

Answer: If I do it correctly, I see how unified the friends are and how separated I am from them, how small I am and how great they are, how magnificent the purpose of creation is that they are seeking and to what extent I am unable to appreciate it. To me, the group is an ideal, a criterion by which I measure my flaws. I can’t take these flaws anywhere else except to appeal to the Creator.

When I address the group correctly, I discover such flaws in myself, such a lack, such unfulfilled desires that they immediately evoke the Light that Reforms. This Light doesn’t come from another galaxy; it lives in me, in my heart. I only need a deeper desire to experience it.

Note: The term “group” implies not corporeal faces and characteristics, but rather a network of the friends’ “points in the heart” connected into one system.
[31251]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/10, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World was in Donation”

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Question: If we advance only by virtue of the environment, then when will our choice come from our own altruistic intention, Lishma?

Answer: We have to attain perfection, and it contains two parameters:

1. On one hand, I am independent and equal to the Creator in every way,
2. On the other hand, I am similar to Him in every way.
In that case, I am independent and perfect.

It turns out that independence and perfection have to unite and bring me to the final state. But how can independence and equivalence exist together? How can I reach perfection by elevating both of these qualities, which are opposite to each other?

To enable this, the Creator had to add a third factor to the two already existing ones (Him and me). This third factor will be the place of our meeting, the place of revelation. It is where I will reveal my independent self and the Creator opposite from me.

It is necessary to create a “territory” where we will be able to be partners, opposite but equal and united. This territory is called the sum of the souls, the Shechina, Malchut. After the breaking, we as well as the Creator are outside of the boundaries of the sum of the souls, and now we must meet there. We do this to the degree we are able to participate in this process and reveal one another.

That is why creation was broken. It broke into many disparate parts, which are the degree of creation’s independence, meaning its separation and detachment from the Creator.

We have to use this situation, which is why Baal HaSulam writes that we have to keep every person’s uniqueness. After all, it will never be duplicated in anyone else. Every person must be independent and special.

But on the other hand, we must give every person the opportunity and help him reach equivalence of form with the Creator. By means of one’s uniqueness, by having an inimitable combination of qualities and desires, a person develops them in order to direct them toward bestowal. That is how he reaches equivalence with the Creator.

This similarity is actualized by way of uniting with others. Why isn’t it done through uniting with the Creator? It is in order to preserve independence. When working before the Creator, a person nullifies himself, whereas in relation to the group, he can play the decisive role, similar to the Creator.

The place of our meeting is the territory of the group, which was artificially created and divided into parts. We come there in the middle line and unite. There we actualize the Zivug of HaVaYaH and Elokim, the unity of judgment and mercy.

However, if a person does not think about these three elements: him and the Creator, uniting in the group, then he incorrectly imagines the realization of the goal of creation which awaits him.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can we increase the force of being able to overcome when a greater egoistic desire is revealed?

Answer: All of a person’s qualities, no matter what they seem like to him, from the best to the worst, become revealed in the framework of the common system of souls that advance toward unity according to the program of creation. Therefore, we cannot attribute any of a person’s personal manifestations to his own account. Like a cogwheel or an integral part of a system, he has to reveal a specific collection of inclinations, desires, and states inside of him.

No matter what happens inside a person, he should not place any bets on it. After all, he does not determine what happens to him now because it is determined by the common system which goes through different states. Thus, you can stop worrying about the current state because you cannot do anything about it. It is woven of thousands of factors that are outside of you. As for the future state, it’s also pointless to think about it because it also doesn’t depend on you, but is determined by the needs of the system that has to take a step forward.

In essence, the only thing I should think about is how I will take this step. What is it about this step that depends on me? It also contains things that are not actualized by me, but by the upper force, and that aren’t illuminated by me, but by the Upper Light. A person goes through analyses and reaches a point where he really can realize himself. Then he sees a very clear and precise action, like pressing a button.

This is a person’s task: At every moment in time to discern the only action that depends on him and to realize it. As he makes this analysis he also discerns many other things, and as a result, by pressing the button, he activates the system and starts to perceive it, accept it, and become part of it.

In other words, a person starts to attain the system as a whole. Therefore, he is not a lab rat that finds the button of the feed box in a labyrinth. On the contrary, by making efforts in different states, he attains the conditions, the causes, and the essence of what happens.

When reaching the button, he will undoubtedly press it. But the entire matter here is the analysis; this is the true asset.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/11, Writings of Rabash

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"Introduction of The Zohar," Article “The Donkey Driver,” Item 85: …The donkey driver who is leading the donkeys behind them is the assistance to the souls of the righteous, which is sent to them from above to raise them from one degree to the next.

…Hence the Creator sends a high soul from above according to the merit and degree of each righteous, and it assists him on his way…. This is called “the impregnation of the righteous’ soul.”

Question: When do we merit the impregnation of the righteous’ soul?

Answer: It happens when we desire to ascend. There is no problem; the ladder of the degrees does not change. The forces that operate on the degrees are constant.

Everything is accessible; everything is waiting for the launch signal. And we are the ones who launch this system.

There is nothing we should be waiting for. Push the “buttons,” pull the “levers,” and everything will start working. You need to launch this mechanism. It is under your control, so go ahead!

This is why the “when” depends on a person. It is whenever you want it.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/11, The Zohar

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Question: How can we calibrate our attitude so as to aim it towards the goal?

Answer: You have to do it according to the principle, “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one.” “The Creator” is the root to which we strive. The “Torah” is all of the means that help us along the way, including the teacher, books, group, and study. And “Israel” is the point in the heart, the initial spiritual desire.

Question: In order for me to solve this equation, what needs to be concealed and what needs to be revealed to me?

Answer: You need to imagine the corrected state where we are all connected and every person perceives the whole instead of himself. It is written: “The general and the particular are equal.”

The common force of love and bestowal reigns inside our oneness and fills everyone in equal measure. This force is called “the Creator” or “Nature.” This is what you have to see as the final goal. At the end we must arrive at this image.

This is why we are working on discerning the notion of "the group." The group is essentially the same system in which we awaken the same force. That force is already present inside the system; we just don’t perceive it yet. We must reveal this force which fills the group, strengthens it, manifests in it, and corrects it. This is the force called “the Creator” or the concealed Light that hides in our unity.

When we strive to grow in our world, we essentially reveal the same force. This is because we have the same direction, although on a corporeal level. “The Creator” is the common force that unites all the parts of creation.

Question: Still, there are too many unknowns in this equation.…

Answer: You have to keep searching and trying, over and over again. That is how you will awaken new sensations. There is no other possibility for doing it.
[32484]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How does the revelation of truth relate to the revelation of the interconnected system of souls?

Answer: It is one and the same. Mutual connection is the truth. The network of our ties is called “the vessel” (Kli). The Creator imprinted Himself on the matter of the will to enjoy and placed His stamp onto its entire thickness. Now, inside me, there is a hollow space with a carved image.

This image is comprised of the connections between desires that the Creator fills in if they are corrected. In this case, their network becomes Him. The integral network of these points is called “Malchut of the world of Infinity.”

Gradually, the Creator conceals Himself and abandons the system of souls, which triggers the descent of the worlds. As He is disappearing, the souls feel more and more opposite to each other, transitioning to the reverse side (Sitra Achra) where the connection is corrupted, depleted, and takes on an egoistic nature. As a result, we find ourselves in the corporeal world, and instead of mutual connection, instead of the Creator who fills us, we experience void and detachment from each other.

In truth, I constantly feel the Creator. After all, there is nothing else for me to feel since there are only He and I. However, in the present reality, I perceive Him according to my current egoistic state of existence.

The purpose of the process is to find the truth, the authentic state, after having stripped ourselves of all the covers. Finding the connection between us anew, at some point, I will see that it ties not the people, but the souls or desires. It is in the nature of this connection, its essence, and might that the Creator is revealed to us. There is no other reality but integral, mutual connection. It permeates everything, and we are made so that we can feel nothing but it. We are inside it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/2010, “The Creator and Israel Went Into Exile”

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Question: We learn that the process of correction is internal and must be separated from the external world. But on the other hand, we live in a unified reality and I feel how Kabbalah influences my day to day life. I am a lawyer by profession, and as such I often have to be sly with people, yet I feel that I can no longer keep lying to them! So what should I do?

Answer: Well, what can you do?…If I am a member of a mafia that continues to steal, then how can I remain in it if I’m no longer able to lie?

There are many professions like this. If you are in the system of the egoistic society, then it operates by these laws. That is why Kabbalists usually chose simple professions and did not even think of rising to higher offices.

I understand the difficulties that arise if a person already has this profession and it is difficult for him to alter his living standards. Yet you should try to arrange your life so you will operate within the bounds of justice, more or less, even if it isn’t spiritual justice, but the simple human kind. Be in a position where you won’t have to lie, steal, and harm people because, indeed, you will feel that you are no longer able to do this.

Spiritual progress changes a person so he can no longer tolerate lies on such a grand scale as is customary in business among regular egoists. This is a problem in many professions that are related to human relationships.

On one hand, the method of Kabbalah is aimed only at a person’s inner correction, his attitude to the friends in the group. Yet, he can no longer act unfairly in the external world either. He changes entirely because he is an integral individual. He cannot lie to people with a selfish goal in mind and bring harm upon them. This is a consequence of correction.

Otherwise, why should the world correct itself if everything will remain the same on the outside? In the end we have to attain corrected life on this earth. By attracting the Light that Reforms upon us, we will all begin to feel this way, and in fact, will feel much more so. We will not be able to lie or cause harm to each other.

It’s true that loving your neighbor means loving his aspiration to the Creator. But when you start to change, you will also change in relation to the whole world. That is how the Light influences us.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/11, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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