Baal HaSulam, “The Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” item 51: Thus, as we have said, if one purifies the still part of his will to receive, he is rewarded with a Partzuf of Nefesh of Assiya, and ascends and clothes the Sefira of Malchut of Assiya. 

This means that he will certainly be granted the permanent purification of the still part, in a way that he will not turn back to folly.

Question: What is the inanimate level in us?

Answer: In each level we contain all five vessels of KHB ZON, and all five Lights of NRNHY, therefore we need to actualize all forms of the work.

But in the world of Assiya, I work constantly only with the Light of Nefesh, here it is important for me, and all the vessels and the Lights that I work with are meant only to support the Light of Nefesh, so it will stabilize itself permanently in the Kli of Keter.

Question: And this still part remains with me until the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun)?

Answer: Of course, in spirituality nothing disappears.

Question: What is the role of the still?

Answer: The role of the level of still in spirituality is the same role as the nature of still in our world. Everything comes from it.

Question: Still, it means that something is not moving. What is its importance?

Answer: Try internally not to budge, despite of all the exterior influences, in spite of everything that happens to you.

Question: Is it connected to self-annulment?

Answer: Of course. By annulment toward the friends you build the inanimate spiritual level. It depends on your work in the scale of your current desires; in the next degree the still will become vegetative and then animate, etc. In general, the desires are categorized according to my ability to work with them. And if I can actualize some desire in the inanimate level, only in the simplist manner, then I activate it like that.

Later through the group I receive forces from the Upper Light, and the same desire becomes the level of vegetative. It allows me to work with it in a more qualitative form—now I cannot even grow and produce offspring.

Anyway, everything begins with the inanimate level, and finally reaches Ein Sof (Inifiinty) until the Light of Yechida.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 2/17/14

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The Torah, “Numbers,” 20:14, 20:17 – 20:18, 20:21: Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “So says your brother, Israel, You know of all the hardship that has befallen us.

Please let us pass through your land; we will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink well water. We will walk along the king’s road, and we will turn neither to the right nor to the left until we have passed through your territory.

Edom replied to him, “You shall not pass through me, lest I go out towards you with the sword!”

Edom refused to allow Israel to cross through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

Edom is a property of rigid egoism. “Israel passing through” stands for connecting with it.

The Edomite Hills are located in the territory of modern Jordan and can be easily seen from Israel. They represent a passage to the land of Israel that cannot be reached any other way.

For forty years the people of Israel were acquiring the properties of Bina in the desert. Their endless wandering in the desert are about spiritual combinations of Malchut and Bina that show how to prepare for entering the land of Israel (Malchut) and mastering it with the newly-acquired property of bestowal.

Only after this happens, can the Jews enter the promised land. But it is not yet the land of Israel because it under the authority of the seven nations. This is when the actual conquering begins, processing the land with the help of properties of Bina.

This explains why crossing Edom is actually a transition from Malchut to Bina. But it doesn’t allow them to do it because it is the last egoistic property before entering the land of Israel that must be forcefully overcome. Seven egoistic nations wait for the Jews in the land of Israel, seven huge impure forces: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. They also have to be conquered and corrected.

This is why the king of Edom rejects them so that they become prepared for the last journey, unite, and acknowledge that without the Creator they won’t survive. The passage is about the conquest of themselves, their victory over egoism.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/24/15

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The Torah, Numbers 20:9 – 20:11: Moses took the staff from before the Lord as He had commanded him. Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Now listen, you rebels, can we draw water for you from this rock?”

Moses raised his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, when an abundance of water gushed forth, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

Moses cannot be connected to the Creator in the way that he is connected to the people. Therefore, instead of speaking to the rock as the Creator had commanded him, he struck the rock, performing an action to evoke pity for the people, empathy with Malchut, that wants to attain the attribute of Bina (bestowal).

For example, if anyone, even the wisest sage who wants to work only with the intention of in order to bestow, had a son or a grandson that suffers terribly for no reason, would he be able to remain loyal to the attribute of bestowal, convincing himself that this is Hesed (Mercy), and not the attribute of Din (Judgment)? Blood is thicker than water.

Therefore, a person is tested constantly in spirituality as to how much he is really part of the system of providence. At first, he cannot enter it and doesn’t see everything, but later everything becomes clear to him. It isn’t revealed in an egoistic manner, but only in the attribute of bestowal, the attribute of the ascent above his ego in which he feels the sufferings of more than his small child.

However, Moses cannot do it differently because if he had not sympathized with the people, he would not have been able to raise the desires of the children of Israel to the Creator. He is between them.

The question is, how could he have done otherwise? If he absorbed the sufferings of the people so much, it is likely that this justifies his action, and that this is the right approach toward the Creator.

The people cannot ascend to the Creator, and Moses actually raises their prayer: Here are our demands to You. Thus, he devotes himself to the people. Hitting the rock conveys the attitude of the people as to what is going on.

He absorbed the cry of the people, and thanks to that, they can enter the land of Israel and he cannot. This means that here he totally connects himself with both the people and the Creator.

We know of such cases throughout history. For example, Abraham asked the Creator not to destroy Sodom when its people were mired in sin, and Baal HaSulam asked to be lowered from his level so that the people would hear and feel him.

All of this suggests that the spiritual leaders always empathized with their people, with their anxieties and aspirations, because they are at the junction of the righteous people, humanity, and the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/24/15

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Question: When I am involved in spiritual work, why don’t I see what others see? Where is that point that I limit to myself?

Answer: That point is your desire. It is only yours, no one else’s. Around it we build feelings and perceptions: the mind and senses. Emotions are in the heart, the mind is in the head. And therefore each one sees the world differently.

Each one has his own collection of desires, even though in every person there are a total of 613, these desires are different in size for each one, and therefore in each one they constitute his own set.

Question: Are the desires for food, sex, and family the evil inclination?

Answer: None of these desires has any connection to the evil inclination. The evil inclination is something directed against “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), against connection and unity of people. There is no other evil in the world.

It doesn’t matter if I want to eat two lunches or have a big house; well, so what? But if at the same time I direct myself against connection with others, then these desires become harmful. Suppose that I want to build a villa for myself at someone else’s expense, then specifically “at the expense of others” I distance myself from the upper world.

To understand this, it is necessary to feel the system of management, and then it will be understood where you are behaving correctly and where not. It is specifically the yearning for higher attainment that necessarily brings a person to recognize and attain the entire network of forces.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 10/11/15

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The Torah, “Numbers,” 20:7 – 20:8: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and speak to the rock in their presence so that it will give forth its water. You shall bring forth water for them from the rock and give the congregation and their livestock to drink.

Moses was supposed to “speak to the rock” so that it would give water. Instead, he hit it with his staff. In other words, instead of praying or raising MAN, he sinned (the property of judgment). Each sin is always followed by a punishment.

“Telling the rock” means raising the prayer, correctly connecting egoism with the qualities of the Creator, Bina. In this case, Moses could have received the properties of the Upper Light and with its help, made new steps towards correction and elevation.

“Staff” (“mate” – derives from “Matah”) means “of higher or lower importance,” it is an indicator of human advancement. When one takes a staff and raises it above the earth, it means that one will act by “faith above reason,” will rise above oneself.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/24/15

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The Torah, “Numbers,” 20:2 – 20:6: And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying: “Would that we had perished when our brethren perished before the LORD!

And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.” And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.

Land symbolizes the nation and water; it is the attribute of Bina, the reviving force without which the land is dust and ashes.

Once again the people began to complain and to grumble because they didn’t have the attribute of bestowal and the source from which they could receive the force that would revive them.

The people demand water (bestowal), but where will the water come from if they don’t attain it by themselves. The spiritual awakening takes place only under the influence of the attribute of Bina.

This is the reason that the children of Israel remember Egypt because there they could at least work in order to receive for themselves. Here, on the other hand, they need to receive in the intention of in order to bestow, which means that they have nothing left. And it is a dry death.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/24/15

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In the spiritual world death precedes the birth of the next level. This previous step is fulfilled and like as in a rocket, totally separates from the system.

There were times in history when the death of a leader led to the destruction of the whole nation, as was the case after the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of The Book of Zohar that was concealed from humanity for many years.

The righteous one had fulfilled his mission, but did the following generations continue his work? That already depended on the general state of the world and on its willingness to advance.

The same thing happened after the death of Baal HaSulam, who died in 1954. He was survived by a small group of students headed by his son, who continued to study in seclusion. It was only about half a century later, a long period of time, that new students began to join them.

In principle, all this is a very complex system, which cannot be understood in advance.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/24/15

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Question: In the workshops, I try to carry out all the rules, to raise the friends in my eyes, but at some point very negative thoughts come about stupidity and worthlessness. How should I deal with such manifestations of egoism?

Answer: In spite of everything, try to cherish your great friends. In response to these attempts, the Light that Reforms will come. And when it shines, you will see that they really are great.

This requires inner work. I look at the friends: they came to the lesson at night, then they go to work, they have families and children, each has many problems, everyone is tired, exhausted, run down at the end of the week.

Therefore, I appreciate my friends very much. And here I see that I am far from their level of effort. Each of them puts forth enormous extraordinary effort. How can I, not respect them after all this?  It is only with them that I will be able to sail to the spiritual shores, to the new world.

It turns out that it is not difficult to perceive them as great friends.

Question: Over time it becomes increasingly harder to convince myself of this—until I reveal that I simply cannot.

Answer: Of course, one is unable to. I am a zero, a rag (smartoot), nothing. And from this manifests one thing—what King David felt when he stood naked before the Creator and made a covenant with Him. If I descend to the bottom in my eyes, there I reveal my connection with the Creator. And then I can immediately turn to Him and receive an answer.

Question: Does it mean that the flow of the negative thoughts needs to erode so far that I will cry out for help?

Answer: We don’t aspire to this state purposely. On the contrary, I work on connection with the friends, wanting to reveal the unity with the Creator in them, and then I reveal the opposite. But I cannot aspire to that, I must strive only for perfection.

Question: If I feel like a rag, if negativity takes over, how does one move over to the correct aspiration?

Answer: With the support of the friends and without departing from the timetable (schedule) the group follows.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 2/17/14 

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Question: Can you give at least one example of how you can adhere to the Creator in our world?

Answer: A person has to feel it by himself on himself. This is the reason that the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the secret wisdom; it is impossible to convey it in an abstract, theoretical, verbal manner. You can only teach a person to reveal it inside him and then he will be able to understand what this wisdom is.

There are no secrets in the wisdom of Kabbalah. The secret is only the fact that it is concealed from our current senses and is revealed by each one according to his level of correction. It is very simple! In our world, for example, we don’t give a small child sharp instruments, things that could be dangerous for him, we make sure he doesn’t get hurt, or doesn’t drop anything on himself.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is about even sharper and more dangerous objects and forces. Therefore an intentional “blackout” was created so that we wouldn’t be able to touch them. Imagine you exist in a dark cloud and only if you work properly will this cloud gradually begin to fade, once in one place and then in another etc., but only according to the distance and the direction you can operate without harming yourself and others.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 10/11/15

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Question: I currently watch and listen to [your Kabbalah] lessons in Hebrew without translation, without understanding anything; and I feel immense pleasure and joy. This bothers me, what am I enjoying? Could it be that this is the way my ego is disguising itself?

Do I need to make an effort to listen in Russian, to understand what you are talking about? I enjoy listening to the sounds, identifying the vocal emphasis (the intonation), the unknown words and language, yet I feel very close.

Answer: Besides feeling the music with the heart, it is necessary to understand the meaning through the intellect, and the main thing is participating in a group.

Question: We study Torah and draw Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light) upon ourselves, arousing our Kelim to attainment. What would you advise your students: to fulfill deficiencies or to search for deficiencies?

Answer: They should enlarge the goal in the eyes of their friends.
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