If I do not yet understand what faith above reason is or how to attain it, it is not my fault; this stems from the very nature of creation. There is egoism in each of us that, does not allow one to rise above oneself and comprehend how it is possible to exist above the desire to receive pleasure and to turn outward, beyond the ego. That very state is called faith above reason.

I must make a restriction (Tzimtzum) on my desire to receive and rise above it toward bestowal.

To act for the sake of bestowal means:

• What is outside of me becomes dearer to me than myself.
• I accept it as defining and decisive.
• My entire life depends on the group and on the Creator.
• I hand myself over to them, dissolve within them, and wish to keep nothing for myself except for one single point—my root point within the system of Adam HaRishon.
• With that one point, I wish to exist within the friends, to be included in everything that is within them.

This means I have faith above reason, the power of bestowal I tap into and by which I begin gradually and repeatedly to build myself.

Ultimately, every person must perform this inner work because this is what spirituality means: the degree of Bina is higher than Malchut when we strive to think, feel, understand, and perceive according to the higher degree, above ourselves.

I do not ascend by abandoning my place but by building an additional level of perception upon it. It is not about becoming more intelligent or more sensitive; that would only be an inner, egoistic development.

Spiritual development means that I rise above my natural perception and wish to perceive everything through the importance of the friends.

We must remember that all the degrees and all the states already exist in reality; we need only make the effort to enter them.

I bring myself to the degree of faith, the degree of Bina, meaning that those who are outside of me, the group and the Creator, become more important than myself. In this form, I begin to see, feel, and hear what occurs within the friends and not within me. And this relation, this orientation toward what happens in others and not in myself grants me a spiritual sensation.

If I were to feel only what occurs in the friends, I would be an angel.

But if I feel myself and am also within the friends and within the Creator, perceiving and understanding what transpires with them, then I am called a Kabbalist, which is a far higher degree than that of an angel.
Here, one begins to touch the true spiritual qualities.

Above reason means to act according to the desire to bestow, for the sake of connection, according to spiritual definitions—not corporeal ones. In the material world, everyone exists separately; there is no connection. Each one acts for oneself and not for bestowal.

But I strive to establish the state of unity and mutual bestowal, to begin to sense such a reality and to view the entire world through it.

I want to see everyone through different eyes, not my own, but through the eyes of the ten.

And the same applies to my sensations, my heart, my mind; in everything I strive to attain collective perception, to see the world not as a single person, but as a ten.

Because the ten is a spiritual structure, a Partzuf, and whatever is revealed within it is a spiritual state.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/8/20, “Work with Faith Above Reason”

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At the outset of my words, I find a great need to break an iron wall that has been separating us from the wisdom of Kabbalah, since the ruin of the Temple to this generation. It lies heavily on us and arouses fear of being forgotten from Israel. (Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“)

“To break an iron wall” means that we, who want to understand what the wisdom of Kabbalah is, would not distance ourselves from the wisdom itself. This requires both internal and external work from everyone.

Question: What do we lack in order to break this wall and understand the concealed part of the Torah?

Answer: We must study both the revealed and the concealed parts of the Torah as much as we are capable of. And all of this must be accepted by us in unity with each other.

Let us hope that our study will definitely push us toward unification.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/5/25, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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Question: If the Creator spoils me like a kind father by fulfilling my deepest desires, should I restrict myself and not enjoy them? Does this in my indicate my poor progress? How should I regard this?

Answer: You must understand that the Creator gives you the opportunity to rise to His level through such small games with Him. This is why you want to participate in them.

Question: Should we accept and be grateful or reject these desires?

Answer: It depends on how you handle it. If you simply accept fulfillment, then you are in states opposite to the Creator—He gives, you receive, and that is all.

If you want to be in states similar to His, then you refuse to receive this way and connect, for example, only with a portion of the treat He wants to give you, so that upon receiving it, you truly feel pleasure. In this way, you become closer to the Creator, like Him.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/25, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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In corporeal life, we have no freedom whatsoever. But in the spiritual development, we can choose our environment, the desire that this environment will pass on to us, and our attitude toward society.

Although I still act within the boundaries established by this system, I can nevertheless choose the form in which I will advance between the two points of the spiritual path—the starting and ending points.

I cannot change these points themselves because the final goal lies in the root of my soul, the place from which I once descended and to which I must now return. It is clear that I cannot take a different path.

However, I can choose the nature of my advancement, seek means and opportunities for development, and in doing so, I attain the mind of the Creator and become similar to Him. In this, I gain a certain measure of freewill regarding my present and future states.

Within me today exists a part of my future state called the AHP of the upper one; it is my next level, “I+1.” It already exists in the spiritual realm, and its lower part (AHP) is in me now.

I can reveal it and desire this next state; meaning, I am free to realize it or not. I already have a choice between “today” and “tomorrow.”

But if I live only in this world, I know nothing about tomorrow, that is, about the next moment. So what can I truly choose if the choice exists only with regard to the future?
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/8/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Thought Is a Result of the Desire”

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The creation requires two sides, two qualities, without which it cannot distinguish itself from the Creator. It perceives only what exists within itself, and therefore, there is no Creator outside of creation.

Only the first act, the creation of something from nothing, was seemingly external, emanating from the eternal, perfect essence. This is how the Kabbalists reveal this message: the property of bestowal created the black point of creation, something outside of itself.

All subsequent actions occur within creation, within that very point. In it, the light begins to spread; the quality of bestowal begins to manifest, and in comparison with it, creation comes to know itself, it perceives the difference between reception and bestowal.

Having realized its nature, creation naturally feels an immense yearning for correction, for attaining maximum equality and resemblance to the original quality of bestowal.

Part of this process occurs forcibly. Two opposite qualities acting upon each other cause the descent of the worlds until their interrelation gives rise to something special—an intermediate quality, neutral, that belongs neither to reception nor to bestowal, neither to the quality of the Creator nor to that of creation.

Within creation, between impurity and holiness, Klipa Noga arises—a neutral part. This new reality gives the creation independence, the ability to express itself. Moreover, now the creation is not only able, but obligated to decide what it is and to what it relates.

This requires special work because creation must accept both opposing forces equally. But then how can it determine what is good and what is bad?

This dilemma is reflected in us; it manifests as light and darkness, as confusion of feelings, as faith above reason, as something that appears and slips away. This middle quality expresses itself in our thoughts and desires until ultimately we attain an independent position to reveal our independence in it by our own decision.

This is very difficult. Nature prepares us to become independent outside of itself, outside of creation. Then we will view both the Creator and creation, the entire universe, from the outside. This is what the two opposing forces prepare us for.

Based on the middle quality, we incorporate both holiness that lies above it and impurity that lies below it, in order to build ourselves as a complete spiritual Partzuf. In it, the Creator and the creation merge into one through our proper use of both forces and embrace the entire creation within ourselves.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/27/2011, “The Principles of Global Education”

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All the preventions and delays that appear before our eyes are but a form of nearing—the Creator wants to bring us closer, and all these preventions bring us only nearing, since without them we would have no possibility of approaching Him [the Creator]. This is so because, by nature, there is no greater distance [than us from the Creator], as we are made of pure matter while the Creator is higher than high. Only when one begins to approach does he begin to feel the distance between us [between him and the Creator. And let him not think that this abyss has only appeared now. Absolutely not! It was there, and only now is it revealing itself to him.] And any prevention one overcomes, [it – only in connection] brings the way closer for that person.

(This is so because one grows accustomed to moving on a line of growing farther. Hence, whenever one feels that he is distant, it does not induce any change in the process, since he knew in advance that he is moving on a line of growing farther, since this is the truth, that there are not enough words to describe the distance between us and the Creator) (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 172, “The Matter of Preventions and Delays“).

Initially, we need to accept the condition that we are extremely, polarly, maximally distant from the Creator, and that every new state of ours—whatever it may be, according to a module, in absolute value—is always closer to the Creator, although it seems to us to be further away. After all, I reveal my true state and then correct it—left step, right step, and so on.

We see that only the environment can help a person to hold on and not to stray away from this path. How, when feeling worse, can he convince himself that in reality he is now closer to the Creator? Everything  inside them tells them they are further away and worse. They curse and condemns themselves.

But in fact, what has been revealed to him is simply what was there before, only he saw it now in order to correct it and thereby draw closer to the group and unite with them despite other calculations.

Therefore we need the habit of walking at an increasing distance. After all, if we become great specialists on our path, then every little twist and every small obstacle will appear as big to us.

When we are small, we do not see these obstacles, we do not notice them, and it seems to us that they do not exist at all. And then every small deviation, every minimal change, will be felt as a huge barrier. This is the difference between a specialist and an ordinary person.

Therefore as we approach the Creator, we will repel each other more, and hate each other more, like the students of Rabbi Shimon.

We will not want to get closer; we will begin to condemn the ten, to believe what we feel and see: “How can I be around these people?! They used to be different! I need to get away from them!” And so on. Only mutual help, mutual support, mutual guarantee can save us.

How many friends we have had along the way who fell off our “wagon”! Is it a pity? Of course, they will come back. But we need to think about how every time, with each step, to create such a ten, such a Kli (vessel), that no one would fall from it.
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From the Congress in Moldova 9/8/19, Lesson 7 “The Matter of Preventions and Delays”

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Those righteous that have been rewarded with wholeness, raising MAN for that sublime coupling, no longer have any reception for themselves. Also, the MAN that they raised was to bestow, and not to receive.

Hence, with the good deeds and the MAN, they correct the screen for the Nukva and qualify her for this great coupling where the qualification itself is reflected light that rises from the screen of the Nukva and above, since anything that rises from below upwards is bestowal and repelling of reception for oneself. At that time, the coupling by striking with the upper light takes place, and the upper light dresses in a garment of the rising reflected light (Rashbi, Zohar for All, Vol. 1, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” You Are in Partnership with Me, Item 63).

Question: What does it mean to raise the reflected light in our work with our friends in the group?

Answer: In our case, an ascent from below upward means that we awaken to greater connection between us, and wish that the force of mutual bestowal would reign among us, which will bring contentment to our Creator. It is like children who stop quarreling in order to make their mother happy.

To raise the reflected light means to elevate the value of the quality of bestowal in which we want to live, to become included in bestowal, and to correspond to it. It is as if we pour liquid onto a sponge and want it to be completely absorbed, to penetrate every pore.

In the same way, we want to absorb the quality of bestowal so that it enters all our capillaries and cells, all our atoms, and saturates our entire being so deeply that even the electrons begin to spin in the opposite direction. Bestowal must fully enter our mind, our heart, our sensations, our perception of the world and its analysis—all our decisions.

It is impossible to imagine how much everything will change. Sometimes a person changes drastically under the influence of certain events, but here we are talking about a much greater transformation. We want this quality to enter us and take full control over us in every respect, even if I am not aware that I am under a new authority, like a drunk who has lost his egoistic reasoning.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/23/14, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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Question: What should we do when in doubt? Who or what should we look up to in our generation?

Answer: We must look up to exactly what is between us.

There is a large group that attends classes, listens to, and studies the works of Baal HaSulam. Therefore, we must act in such a way as to try to bring everyone willing together.

Then we will be able to feel the meaning of the words of Baal HaSulam who asks five basic questions and answers them himself.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/5/25, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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In the entire general system of reality there are only two: the Creator and creation, the upper light and the desire that He created inside Himself as a black point that He develops. This point developed to a state where it began to feel itself as existing independently, that is, as a human being living in this world and left to his own devices.

It stopped noticing that it is inside the upper light that governs it, advances it, and constantly works on it. This black point, the human being of this world, has no idea that its entire existence: everything it does, says, thinks, feels, decides is dictated by the light, the upper force. We are in such concealment.

And all our work is in revealing this upper force and realizing that it acts inside us and leaves us no freedom in anything except for one thing: to wish that it would return and take power over us, as it actually does, only without our awareness.

Therefore, there are two worlds: the lower world in which we are supposedly left to ourselves and the upper world where we reveal that everything comes only from above, from the light, from the Creator. The main thing in this work is to determine the place of our freedom of choice, where we truly can, through concealment and revelation, find our freedom between them. Only in it do we truly exist as creation.

And outside of it, we are under the full control of the Creator, either unconsciously or with awareness of it. But somewhere there in the middle between one and the other there is a special point in which we can establish our independence. It can be found only by trying to walk with faith above reason. Then, gradually, the importance of the Creator is revealed, which is above the importance of the human being.

This is revealed from above, and a person begins, at least sometimes, to feel that the Creator is more important than himself, and he is ready to invest his entire life, all his strength, in Him. This feeling comes and disappears, and reappears. Such work is called faith above reason, bestowing above the force of reception. Before that everything was based on the desire to receive pleasure, which was revealed within a person.

It is called “the old and foolish king,” but it also constantly grows along with the force of faith, in opposition to it, in order to create an opportunity for a person between these two forces to establish his or her independence as a middle line. There, in the middle, in the middle line, the Creator and creation meet.

The realization of this work is possible only within the group, within the ten. Therefore, the attainment of mutual guarantee and unification around Mount Sinai is a necessary prerequisite for receiving the force of faith from above.
[227673]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/18, “Work with Faith Above Reason”

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Question: What is the connection between egoism one works against with asceticism and egoism revealed when trying to connect among people?

Answer: It is the goal. A person who works within his egoism, wants to stay in it and feel all that is in store for him for the future. While the one who does not try to get out of his ego, remains entrenched in his selfish desires.

Question: Baal HaSulam frequently uses the term “happy life” in The Introduction to TES. What is happiness in the highest Kabbalistic understanding?

Answer: Happiness is when you desire something and can realize it.

Question: How can we make our meeting with the Creator such that it fills our whole life?

Answer: It  is not easy. Try to prepare for this meeting. Read something about it, about how to open your heart before gathering with your friends, and you will succeed.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/25, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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