Question: Should we seek to change the shape of new desires?

Answer: Of course, after all, we have to resemble the Creator. If I resemble the Creator, I will be called a human being, Adam, which means that I am similar (Domeh) to the Creator. This is all my work.

But how can I resemble Him? After all, I don’t know Him. “Bring me a statue, an image, and accordingly I will be able to…” and then what?

I actually have to look for His form. In order to do so I must first soften my matter, my desire, so that it will be ready for changes.

But our ego is as hard as a rock, how can I soften it?

First I have to restrict (Tzimzum) it, to ascend above the egoistic desire and constantly be above it, and then draw the Light of Hassadim. The form of the matter is actually called Light. The matter becomes flexible, elastic, like plasticine or cotton wool. The size, the softness, and the flexibility of the matter is called the level of Hassadim.

“Make whatever you want of me to the extent that I am ready and that I can”; this is called Hassadim, and this is the level I must first reach.

We understand that this is possible only with the help of the environment, in it, I gradually exit myself and experience deep relaxation and freedom from my desire, only in order to acquire the ability to devote myself to the group. Then I go through all the levels of flexibility on top of the constantly growing ego. This means that I am not a partition or an obstacle in the way of the Light. I resemble the Creator, whom we don’t see or feel, and who doesn’t reveal Himself in anyway.

We call it: “Don’t do unto your friend what is hateful to you.” But one way or another, the essence of the correction is to transform myself into flexible matter on the upper level, which is so flexible that there is nothing like it in our world. Here we have to encounter some resistance, some reaction, in order to feel something. In spirituality, however, I reach a total lack of response. I am not even rubber or cotton wool and not something that is even softer. I am so airy that I am hardly felt at all.

This great softness of my matter, of my Aviut (thickness), allows me to feel the Creator’s form. This means the whole corrected form that is dressed in me, on my matter, and that lets me become acquainted with the Creator.

But how exactly do I know the Creator? After all, I constantly become softer and softer, as if I don’t exist at all.

The point is that this disappearance is part of my previous egoistic form. To the extent that I work on my egoistic form and make it as soft as possible, I attain the Creator. Everything is attained by the oppositeness of two forms. It is in the connection between two opposites and the clarification between them that I begin to feel His thought, the thought of creation. He created a contrast so that I existed, and I follow this opposition to the Creator. I will begin to attain His feeling, His mind, and His plan, His line of thought, according to the way He has created me.
[124490]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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There is a constant struggle in the group: to be together or not to be together. One member can be in a state of ascent and another in a state of descent, and one mutually influences the other. But we have to keep connected and to tighten and strengthen this connection no matter what, despite all the obstacles, whether internal or external, which make up the “flesh” of the next level.

The external obstacles come from people who are close to us or distant from us and from the whole world. On the whole, it comes from everything that happens on the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature and humans. All this operates on us as our external vessels, and it all belongs to us.

In order to adhere to our point in the heart, we take off our attires, the flesh, our individual characteristics and leave only the bare points in the heart, ignoring anything else, and thus adhere to one another. But then we to regain the forms that we previously rejected as well: this whole world.

There is no other choice. This is our vessel and we have to use it. At the end of correction, the whole world, the whole universe, everything that I see, feel, and perceive will become one body. All this returns to me in the form of different obstacles and I have to connect despite the interferences.

In a state of descent, which means concealment, the friends seem rude and coarse, and I have no desire to connect to them. In a state of ascent, which means revelation, they seem like perfect righteous and I want to hug them and not let go. Then I fall into concealment again and feel scared: What kind of a group have I fallen into? I have to escape it as soon as possible.

Thus I constantly ascend and descend. I see it this way through my attributes from inside my vessels. The movement between the ascents and descents determines my upper level. If I accept the ascents and descents equally, and don’t care about the state I am in, as long as I am adhered, connected, in mutual guarantee, trying to hold on as much as I can both during the ascent and the descent, my efforts build the next level in this amplitude.

When I want to remain connected to the friends during the ascent and the descent, it’s a state called yearning, or stiffening, since I really want to connect. When we complete the measure of our effort and overcome all the obstacles, the action of the Light takes place in the final phase that fulfills the connection between us and tightens our mutual guarantee.

Here we have to take the matter of distance into account: There is a reason for going out to work and for getting confused. All the actions in this world are very special. We should understand and realize that mutual guarantee is the point of connection from which we already find ourselves on the same ladder that comes from and rises to the world of Infinity.

We strip ourselves of everything by our mutual efforts and leave only the points in the heart and begin to connect. Now we are trying to do that above all the obstacles, when we are together, and especially when we draw away from one another and feel that we are dispersed all over, separated by the distance and the lack of connection.

We have to do our best to overcome all these interferences. So we gather in conventions and special events in order to feel what it means to be together when there is no distance between us. We seem to be testing to what extent the physical distance operates on us and how we can establish the condition that doesn’t cause any changes in our feeling and in the mutual connection between us.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/13, Lesson on the Topic: Preparation for the Convention

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The Book of Zohar. Chapter VaYakhel (And Moses Assembled), Item 131: This is so because after the sowing off, ZA was established as entirely Hassadim, on the right line, and Malchut as all Gevurot, on the left line.

Hence, they are disputed as in the two lines—right and left of Bina—until ZA ascends in the middle line and establishes peace between them, uniting them with each other, so ZA and Malchut, which are also two lines—right and left—need a middle line to establish peace between them and unite them with each other.

It’s difficult to explain why we need the middle line and why Malchut cannot cling to Zeir Anpin. We come across a similar problem in this life when we want to draw other people to ourselves, as if they are “sewed” to us or belong to us. It happens in families and elsewhere.

Hence, we need to understand what the right approach really is; it occurs in the middle line where nobody annuls their personal natural qualities: Zeir Anpin and Malchut remain themselves, but they complement each other. And then they build and addition between them, a third component between them: the middle line.

The middle line includes both of them in a way that they complement each other. By no means do they suppress one another; rather, they act quite differently. They complement each other because each of them permits the other party to rule over them. They even fight about who should be more giving and who should allow the other party to rule over them, thus pleasing him or her. At the same time, each one of them is obligated to express themselves otherwise there won’t be a state of mutual love and merging.

This is a complicated system in which each consists of both male and female parts. When we study this structure, it will be clearer to us how people in the future will build their family lives, friendships, and general relationships. It doesn’t matter if it applies to interactions among men and women, since each of us plays either a male or a female role with regard to others: one either gives or receives. There is no third scenario. That is why there is no such thing as the neuter gender in Hebrew, only masculine and feminine. It is right, since because it doesn’t exist in nature.

A clear understanding of the system will be a good addition to the method of integral education. It will help establish peace in this world, in all its spheres: in politics, at work, at home, in family relationships… All kinds of connections among people can be understood from the middle line.
[124332]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/29/13, Preparation for the Convention

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“, Item 14: Even the souls of the righteous will not be able to rejoice in the Garden of Eden after their demise, but only after their bodies rot in the dust.

The body is a desire to receive and it must disintegrate and lose its current form. Today it is totally corrupt by the egoistic intention of in order to receive, and so it has to die, to get rid of the form of in order to receive, to rot, and to disintegrate.

Up until now, the cruel attraction to pleasures held it together, the desire to enjoy as much as possible. The body is made of many desires to receive which together make a “gang” that is strongly connected into one body and which is totally only in order to receive. It aspires to beat the Creator, to use Him to the end and to benefit from Him as much as possible.

Therefore, this corrupt body has to die and to determine that this state is death, but this isn’t enough either. It has to rot so that all the parts of the “gang” will disintegrate, be separated and rot in the ground. This is the crucial correction, the disintegration of the body into separate parts, into small grains of the previous desire that should be totally lifeless and empty. They reach a state of dust, which means that there is nothing left of their previous corrupt form.

Thus the desire descends through the worlds of ABYA of impurity along the left line to level zero, to complete disintegration, and then it begins to put on the form of the worlds of ABYA of holiness, which means the intention of in order to bestow. Now all the parts connect in order to bestow upon others and not in order to receive. This is already the time of correction.

So the body has to die and to be totally disconnected from the inclination of in order to receive, which means to restrict itself from in order to receive and then to rot to tiny particles of dust, which is the last level after fire, water, and wind, to rot completely, and then to collect and put itself back together again by these particles but with the intention of in order to bestow.

Where can it find this intention? From the Upper Light, the Creator shows you His form if you want to resemble Him. Like a guest, all you need to do is ask, and the host will do whatever you need. He will not impose His bestowal on you, He will be considerate of your state and will add His form a little each time, and thus you will acquire His form and at the same time receive the filling. But it will be His filling now and not the filling that you had before. You will feel what the Creator feels. This is what He wants you to feel; this is called to do good to His created beings.

But you should be incorporated with these two opposite parts, the minus and the plus. Otherwise you will not be a real created being. You have to have something that the Creator doesn’t have in order to exist independently, and at the same time you should be like Him. It is as if the Creator duplicates Himself but this duplication has to be independent, since its inner form is in order to receive but the intention of in order to bestow is dressed on its external side. Although it may seem to be very simple, it is actually an ingenious invention.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/03/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The way to exit the crisis (our ego), which means the method of the integral education is made of nine phases, stations, or lessons.

Phase one: Introduction to the concept of mutual guarantee by which we understand that unity is a wonderful thing.

Phase two: Overcoming the resistance of the ego with the help of a strong environment,

Phase three: Clarifying the center of the group, the “raspberry ball.”

The center of the group isn’t just a positive attitude towards the friends and the readiness to help one another. The raspberry sphere or ball means that I totally stop relating to others personally. This means that we seem to be free of our external attires, of our skin, of the body, of the bones, of all the inner innate characteristics, leaving only the spark, the Reshimo (spiritual reminiscence). Only the Reshimo is left of each of us, which means the inner spirituality of each one, his yearning for connection.

I don’t see faces anymore. If I see them, I have to work on myself so that I will not see anything. My friends are their determination and their effort to reach connection. This is the only spiritual part, the broken Reshimo that is revealed and the efforts of the friend, to reach connection, which means to bring it back to the corrected state despite this Reshimo.

So we don’t see any faces now, no personal characters, no gender, no behaviors or habits that people may have. If I still identify the differences in the relations of the friends towards one another, then it isn’t a group. In the group everyone is equal, which means that I don’t see any difference between them. All the friends seem like Reshimot and efforts to reach connection.

This is where the third lesson of the raspberry ball begins. It ends when everyone connects into one concept, rising above themselves, reaching connection and discovering in it the solution that no one had before. This is called the upper “all inclusive.” It is already a step forward in which Keter of the lower becomes Malchut of an upper level.

This state is called the raspberry ball in which all the sparks, the Reshimot, have melted and merged like drops of water that connect into one big drop.

I saw a report from a space station once where there was no gravity and where there was a leak. The astronaut placed a bucket there and when he shook the liquid out, it fell out like one huge cosmic drop, half a meter in radius, which was held together by the surface tension and the forces of the mutual molecular cooperation that connects all the molecules.

We should see the same thing in our raspberry ball. We find ourselves in space by nullifying all our forces and by building one ball of unity. Of course, we have to constantly support it, since there are interferences that constantly come along with regard to the unity. We struggle for our unity, since we want to go on living because our raspberry ball is the beginning of the spiritual ladder.
[124588]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/02/14, Lesson on the Topic: “9 Steps”

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Question: There is a feeling in the circle that by the self annulment of each individual and the yearning for one point, we reach the border line of the material reality. But what should we do next in order to breakthrough to an inner level?

Answer: You will not be able to penetrate any deeper unless there are additional vessels around you. Only the unique could advance by such limited forces as they had in earlier generations without the connection to additional external circles.

Now everyone must feel what you feel. It isn’t enough for you to think about everyone and that something will be conveyed to them automatically. We have to make an effort so that hundreds and even thousands will join you. We are in a state of the end of correction, of the general redemption. The time of the small groups or of a single student studying with his teacher is over. We must have additional forces: all the groups in Israel and in the world. They should all be incorporated in the same process.

If we do that in the coming month, it will be a good preparation for the convention and then it will really be a great assembly!
[124743]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/02/14, Lesson on the Topic: “9 Steps”

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We start to build the image of a human being in the “raspberry ball” and we don’t stop. This is our correction. The center of the group, which is established by our exertion and our mutual participation and is called mutual guarantee, becomes the ultimate point on the spiritual ladder by which we begin to climb.

The moment we become stronger, we will be able to understand and to do more. Then we will be given more opportunities to perform the corporeal and the spiritual work in humanity, which means to be “light for the nations of the world.”

The most difficult thing is to attain this endpoint on the ladder from which we start our spiritual ascent. This is the point where the struggle occurs. From every level we fall down to the state of “Shimon from the marketplace,” which means to the corporeal level, to the animate level, and from this point we have to be born.

This state is not opposite the spiritual ascent, which is a beneficial state, the state of Pharaoh, which gives you a feeling of slavery and redemption. Rather it’s a fall to such depths that we feel totally disconnected from the right and the left lines, from the goodness and from evil, and deteriorate all the way to the bottom of the ladder.

This is the state we always begin from, and so we return to the notion of the raspberry ball, of the unity of the group. We can ascend to the highest level and still fall below the raspberry sphere and have to rise back to it.

This is our first point of unity that will always exist in any state, even in the highest state. From the raspberry sphere we will enter the state of Ibur (conception) and the state of Yenika (suckling) and Mochin (mind).

Question: How can we imagine the raspberry ball?

Answer: The only thing we should know is that it refers to being together, in mutual guarantee, the condition for receiving the Torah, which means to summon the Light that Reforms in order to become as one man in one heart. This means that we should always want and demand it, and the Light will come.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/02/14, Lesson on the Topic: “9 Steps”

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Question: When the person begins his spiritual path, he must have some kind of desire, “fuel.” To the degree of attainment, does this type of fuel change or does it remain the same? In which stage does the giver of the gift become more important than the gift itself, or is this significance also egoistic?

Answer: That “fuel” we work with (i.e., the reason why I exist, live, move forward) is changed both quantitatively and qualitatively. This reason improves all the time, becoming more qualitative.

If previously only your “self” was important to you, now, even against your will, the group becomes important. And this is not because you require the group to attain the higher goal, but just like a child is important to its parents.

So gradually a state is created when this is yours and after that this is more important than yourself. Gradually the higher component, the higher power, truly begins to be discovered in the group. You will see that essentially this is not a group, but that creature that we call by the name of “Malchut” and in it the Creator is discovered. But this will happen when you begin to relate to it exactly as the Creator relates to you, even in the smallest way.
[124727]
From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day Two 12/14/13, Lesson 2

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Question: What is velocity and acceleration in spirituality and how can we use this?

Answer: The idea is that nature pushes us towards development through suffering, that is, through a feeling of lack of fulfillment in the present state and the possibility of fulfillment in the next state. And these are the forces of evolution: the negative force from behind and the positive force from the front.

The more that we advance, more negative forces are gathered from behind and fewer positive forces attract us from the front. We see that since we advance according to our egoistic nature, very little is illuminated for us up front. Therefore the world is in a state of apathy and depression.

And here we are reaching a condition where we must explain to people that all the negative forces are not driving us so that we would flee from them, rather so that we can understand the new way of our development, meaning, to change the intention, the relationship to the other, to the world, and in this way, to the Creator.

The main thing is the intention. The desires are determined and arise and are realized only to the degree that it is possible to do them with the right intention.

In our world, the velocity of advancement is determined for us from behind, in that it moves and pushes us forward through negative influence and we move forward at a constant speed.

Studying Kabbalah makes it possible for us to carry out a hastening or contraction of time, which is the same thing, with the help of three components: the group, the study, and dissemination.

Speed is that parameter that doesn’t depend on us; nature moves us towards the goal. And on the other hand, acceleration depends on us.

Velocity is not a contraction of time. It is known that the way of correction takes 6000 years, from the first correction that was made by Adam 5780 years ago to the last correction that we will reach in another 220 years, whether we want this or not. This is called the path of velocity.

But at the same time, there exists the possibility of acceleration. To the degree that we accelerate our way, we change it qualitatively because we want this ourselves.

For example, there is a difference between a small child who is required to learn and is constantly under pressure, and a child who is interested in everything himself and successfully studies. He can quickly finish the lessons at school and feels that he is in this process himself as if he were in an easy and good game. And that is how it is with us, too.

If we choose a group and within it like in a small world, in a small society, we create all of those conditions that will advance us forward, then we will reach the goal much more rapidly than under the steamroller and pressure of nature.
[124723]
From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day Two 12/14/13, Lesson 2

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Question: In the first semester, I felt that something was happening within me; in the second semester, I actively participated in work; while in the third semester, I discovered that in fact I didn’t understand anything and no feeling remained other than the fear of getting lost. And even though I hear the morning lessons, I don’t hear them.

Answer: You personally, together with several other students, are passing through a unique internal period of preparations for the new state. So don’t hurry, this will pass. Suddenly an awakening will come to you and you will begin to feel something completely new. This will not be entry into the spiritual world yet, but already some kinds of spiritual sensations.

The idea is that the inner program is changing within us. It is being perfected all the time and everything is happening like in a computer: You are uploading new software and after that you must do a “restart” to pass from one level of work to another.

This is exactly what is happening to you now. The inner perfection of the adaptation of the program to this and to the spiritual world is being realized in you and soon you will begin to feel more.

And the state of confusion, emptiness, lack of understanding, and messiness, will return quite often; otherwise, you could not advance forward. This is typical for everyone, but gradually you will get used to it.
[124644]
From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day Two 12/14/13, Lesson 2

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