Question: How does the intention for the sake of bestowal differ from an intention for the sake of receiving?

Answer: The intention for the sake of bestowal and the intention for the sake of reception only alter the importance of what impresses a person most. That is why Baal HaSulam writes that the difference between working for yourself and for the sake of bestowal is purely psychological. In spirituality, “psychology” is a crude word because here we are talking about change on an animate level.

However, a person has to work on this because there are advantages to the importance of one or the other. If the Creator is important to me now and everyone around me is talking about it, then no matter how many thousands of different things are offered to me that previously seemed unimportant to me, it will not help. I could have devoted my life to this, or I could choose not to.

So what is the difference? In all other things except those concerning the Creator, my body will support me. But in what concerns the Creator, the body will always behave like Pharaoh. And if I am truly moving toward connection with the Creator, then from the beginning to the end I need the Creator to help me build a connection with Him, whereas I can achieve other things on my own without His help and support. The group and I acting together can provide that for me.

In everything I do in life, the Creator must be my partner, my source of strength, the goal, the reason, the empowering force. If this sequence is absent, then it is defined as a material action.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

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When a person is standing on the street carrying a heavy load, and he is asking a passersby to help him lift the sack onto his back, everyone tells him they have no time.

But if a person is carrying a heavy sack on his back and the sack is dropping off and is about to fall to the ground, and people pass by him and he is asking for their help to put the sack on his back so it does not fall, we see that at that time, when the sack is about to fall off his back, no one will tell him, “I have no time; ask someone else to help you.” Rather, the first one next to him will immediately help him (Rabash, “Moses Went”).

Question: What compels any passerby to rush to help someone carrying a heavy burden?

Answer: The example of the burden that Rabash gives is very clear for one who intends to walk in faith above reason. Above reason means that I do not close my eyes to the obstacles, and I am even glad that they come. Even if I do not feel this way, I understand with my mind that it will ultimately be for my benefit.

When the Creator sends an obstacle, He is showing me precisely the point where I can find a connection with Him. I only need to begin working with this obstacle and, despite it, constantly strive to connect with Him.

At first, I try to connect with Him using my own strength. Then I see that I am unable to do so; I require the correction of Hessed.

After this correction, I want to reach a state where I am connected with Him and connected with the obstacle. Not only does the obstacle no longer disturb me or disconnect me from Him, but I already want to use it in order to receive for the sake of bestowal so that it will lead to an even greater connection than before it appeared. And then I demand His help.

But until a person cries out that his burden is about to fall and that he can no longer resist the obstacle that disconnects him from the connection with the upper one, the Creator will not help him. This is because the person has no Kli to receive the help and cannot properly use the obstacle.

The state in which he fears that the burden will fall from his shoulders and cries out is a very good state. For this, several factors are required: the burden must be very heavy and he must greatly fear dropping it. Although his body does not care whether it falls or not, for the goal, it is crucial. He understands that if the burden falls, he will not be able to connect with the Creator.

That is, first of all, a person must arm himself with a feeling of the greatness of the Creator; this must be extremely important to him. All these factors create a state called “standing in the middle of the street and crying: ‘Help!’”

Thus, from what seems like a simple situation (so what if the sack falls from his shoulders, what would happen?), he turns it into the most important matter in life. Then salvation truly comes; he receives help.

Moreover, he is given a feeling that it is not important, not frightening. He must increase the importance of the connection with the Creator from zero to the point where nothing is more important than this, and if the burden falls, it would be a catastrophe. Then the burden becomes the means by which he can reach the desired place.

Who needs this burden at all? The fact is that the will to receive was created precisely in order to build a connection upon it, to construct a screen above it and establish the coupling by striking (Zivug de Hakaa) with the light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

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As one ascends the spiritual steps, the descents become more profound. No spiritual renewal, deeper revelation, or ascent is possible without first falling. I detach from my previous state and feel as though I have never been spiritually elevated and never will be; I experience darkness, helplessness, and fear.

This fear is triggered by trivial, imagined reasons. I am frightened not even by people, but by shadows, like a small, scared child or animal.

This happens at all spiritual levels; the higher you rise, the more clearly you are shown that you are lower than everyone else. Everyone around seems to be fine, while you suffer from problems that are so trivial they are even embarrassing to speak about, yet at the same time, they are frightening. It is the feeling of a terrified infant who wants to hide in their mother’s arms.

One must value such states, understand their benefits, and try to work with them correctly. Then we will overcome them very quickly and return to the realization that “There is none else besides Him, the good who does good,” is the one who is playing with us. And so we unite and present our unity to Him as our response to this problem, and thereby rise above it.

Then the problem disappears and a new one appears, an even smaller and more insignificant one, yet one that frightens us even more. For the higher the ascent, the deeper the descent. This process continues until the final correction; through it we can increasingly clarity regarding the true nature of our states. There is no other way to understand our nature.
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From the Kabbalah Congress Preparation Lesson, 4/26/18

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Question: How can I determine for myself what state I am currently in: the right line or in the left line?

Answer: You can determine this by whether you feel joy. The sensation of joy should always accompany a person. This is a great commandment to always be in a state of joy.

Question: Even during the revelation of a Hisaron (deficiency)?

Answer: Yes, even during the revelation of a Hisaron. This is the primary test.

A person has to search for deficiencies in fulfillment precisely in order to advance forward. This means one must constantly be guided by the principle: “The end of the act is in the preliminary thought.”

First of all, I must keep the final outcome I wish to achieve before my eyes: attainment of a completely corrected state, union with the Creator. My first thought has to be: What must I do right now to achieve this?

If I advance in this manner, then my approach is correct. I can even search for a Hisaron: what else is not corrected in me? However, I will be searching for it from the perspective of that distant point, my final correction, asking: “What I can reveal within myself now that will pull me a little closer toward the goal?”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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I like lazy people; they do little harm to the world.

Question: So, they don’t really contribute much, but at the same time they don’t cause harm?

Answer: Yes. That’s good!

Comment: But that’s some kind of complete complacency, like a stagnant swamp.

My Response: So what? We’ll just stroll through a green meadow and graze on some grass.

Question: A sandwich in your pocket, and that’s enough?

Answer: Yes. You don’t need anything else.

Question: Just breathe the air and let nature take its course. But seriously? You actually like rebels and revolutionaries.

Answer: Inside yourself! Within yourself, do whatever you want. Stage all kinds of revolutions and wars, but do it inside yourself. And everything else, let nature live in peace; don’t disturb it.

Quietly move out to the countryside, buy yourself a little house instead of your city apartment, and live a peaceful life with a wife and children. What else does a person really need?

Comment: To see out their old age.

My Response: Yes, to see out their old age.

Comment: But at the root of all prayers lies an initial sense of gratitude, and inevitably it is followed by some kind of request. It seems impossible to have a prayer without a request.

My Response: To achieve one’s purpose. The highest, greatest purpose is to become equal to the Creator!

Comment: There is no peace in that. It is a state of constant movement.

My Response: Inner peace! Because I am absolutely certain that in this way I will reach the goal since I surrender myself to the Creator and in this I go with Him. And He can do whatever He wants. I remain in absolute peace.

Question: But this movement toward Him, isn’t that a source of constant anxiety, trembling?

Answer: It’s not anxiety. There isn’t even much trembling in it. If I am confident in Him, if I have faith that I am in His hands, then I am like an infant in its mother’s arms. I cling to Him, that is all, in complete safety, peace.

But each time I check myself so that I can remain in His arms and draw even closer to Him despite my egoism with greater fervor. I need nothing else. I am already enveloped in this cocoon, right now.

So what is there to strive for? Why engage in comparing myself with others and calculating who is greater, who is better, who is higher?

Question: But what about our constantly growing egoism? You speak about it all the time.

Answer: That is so we always have the opportunity to be in dynamic closeness with the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/20/26

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Question: By what means does the accumulation of the soul’s potential occur?

Answer: It happens through descents, moments when a new egoistic layer is revealed within a person.

Suppose I rose one meter, only to be cast down two meters into the depths of egoism. Then I ascend two meters into the quality of altruism, but fall three meters deeper into the ego, and so on.

Through these descents, I acquire greater egoism, and in this way I can rise higher, but never higher than the level of my ego. If I were at “minus two,” I rise to “plus two;” “minus three” to “plus three,” but no more.

That is why descents are so important. They must be respected and even cherished, even though the state is very unpleasant; it involves a disconnection from reality, a lack of any strength, etc. But, on the other hand, it is very beneficial; descents educate us.
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From Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 6/10/18

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Question: Are there instances when you, as a teacher, find yourself in dissonance with the group, and you tell the students: “You do not understand me,” and they respond that it is you who does not understand them? What does this achieve?

Answer: It leads to clarification of relationships. How could it be otherwise? That is how it must be. Nothing good comes from what is already “good”; it can only emerge from what is difficult or flawed.

Comment: So, as you put it, you need to put pressure on them, much like we put pressure on a child to help him or her develop.

My Response: It depends on what you mean by “pressure.” You must apply pressure creatively; only then will something emerge. You have to constantly introduce different exercises and small challenges, nothing too overwhelming, while offering help, providing explanations, giving gentle nudges, and continuously alternating between the left and right lines.

How else could it be? How do we play with children? Only in this way. They themselves insist on it.

Comment: But you constantly drive the group into a state of stress as you tell them that the whole world is suffering because of them. And they cry out: “So what are we supposed to do? Tell us!”

My Response: This is precisely how they will try to search for something. I cannot simply tell them what must be done, because the process is one of searching. If I just told them, it wouldn’t work; it wouldn’t be accepted, defined, felt, or truly internalized.

Question: But surely you know what needs to be done, don’t you? Do you have some kind of “vaccine” for this? Is it that you simply do not speak about it?

Answer: I have nothing of the sort. Do you think I am hiding something? Do you suppose that Kabbalah can simply be revealed to someone, and that is it? Through what sensations could it be revealed, if a person does not yet possess them? Through what?

Suppose you were supposed to start sensing radio waves. But you cannot. What can I do? If I were to lower radio waves to the level of the sound or light, levels that you can perceive, then you would see and feel them.

But in order to perceive the radio waves themselves, you must rise to that level, you need to develop some kind of sensor within yourself, a receiver that would perceive them.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Useless and Worthless People in the Group” 9/26/10

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Today we have approached a state where we can gather into one single unified whole. By doing this, we encompass the entire universe within ourselves; we begin to construct from within ourselves the model that really exists and to reveal the true model: the unification of human souls, which include the inanimate, vegetative, and animate parts of nature, and above all, the spiritual ones.

A person who begins to work with his friends in this manner draws closer to perceiving the universe as a single unified whole. Then, naturally, he sees all the worlds, including our own, interwoven and contained within one another.

He sees them permeated, integrated, and bound by a single force called the “Creator,” and amidst all of this, he sees himself existing eternally and ascending through the degrees of perfection. That is, he sees the universe in its true form, a reality not limited by our world, which is lost within this entire picture.

Therefore, the fact that we are approaching a state when my students can begin to work on the perception of reality described in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” is already a serious stage.

I hope that in the near future all the people who are with us to one degree or another, regardless of where they live, will be included in this picture of the perception of the world. This is liberation from egoistic shackles, from the limitations in which souls remain before contact with the spiritual, with the true creation.

This is the revolution in man, such is the most important moment of his existence, because after this, further revelation follows. He has entered into the sensation of the true volume, of the true universe, and that is all. And now there follow only 125 degrees of spiritual attainment.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Rise Up the Stairs” 9/27/10

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Comment: The desire to receive demands results, both in spirituality and in corporeality.

My Response: The desire to receive demands results. It means that, in addition to fuel, it requires a goal. And if the goal is important, that itself becomes fuel because a person knows that in the next state, they will feel better than in the current one.

For example, I want to move my hand from one place to another. Where do I get the strength for this? It comes from the fact that it will be more comfortable for me; otherwise, I cannot simply fill my body with energy. I cannot perform some extra action just because I have some extra energy. Those who do not make such calculations are called insane.

Egoism, from the lowest levels to the highest (even in spirituality) uses a goal as motivation, as fuel. It cannot be that fuel exists separately and the goal separately.

A person must know that in the next state they will feel better, that they will gain something. And the greater the gain, the more strength they have.

The problem is that our attitude toward the goal usually does not coincide with the goal itself. I am, say, in state A, and I must reach state B. So my problem is to convince myself that in state B I will always feel better than in state A.

Suppose I want to become a professor in twenty years. Have I already become one? No. I simply imagine, according to my current understanding, what it means to be a professor in twenty years. But when I actually become one, it will be completely unlike what I imagined twenty years earlier.

Right now, I imagine that a professor must be great and respected. But how, with my present mind and understanding, with what I have today, can I imagine a higher level I can aspire to? It will only be something imaginary. And the system of values that I currently have must give me the strength to strive toward it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

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‘When Moses went to heaven, he found the Creator sitting and tying crowns to the letters. He said to Him: ‘Master of the world, who is holding You back?

He told him, ‘In a few generations time, there will be a man whose name is Akiva Ben Yosef.

He said to Him: ‘Master of the world, you have such a person, yet You are giving the Torah through me?’ He replied, ‘Be quiet! Such was My thought’ (Rabash, “What Is the Difference between Law and Judgment in the Work?”).

Question: It seems as though the Creator gave Moses something he did not desire. Is it possible to have fulfillment without a Hisaron (lack)? Does it mean that the Kli receives something it does not want?

Answer: The discussion is about Malchut, about law and not about desire. On the contrary, Malchut stands against its own desire; it requires work in concealment in observing the laws as “an ox to a burden and a donkey to a load”; only afterward does it become like “judgment.”

Moses is the quality of faith. That is, the work begins with faith, with Malchut, and only afterward turns into the reception of the Torah.

When the people of Israel united and came out of Egypt, they became a Partzuf, and then were rewarded with receiving the Torah from the first nine Sefirot.

Question: Before receiving the Torah, does Malchut resist the desire to receive for itself?

Answer: Yes, of course. At first, the work is directed against receiving; initially, it is only Malchut, the observance of laws.

Until we acquire screens, we must work in the quality of faith. That is, we must not see the light.

Moreover, while in darkness, we must constantly try to mobilize our strength. Because when the image of the Creator appears before us, it becomes a problem: there is such a powerful nourishment of the Klipot! Working in such a state is very difficult.

There is a mandatory condition: the Creator is revealed only after you have the strength to withstand Him; otherwise, the revelation you receive will harm you.

You would “sell yourself” to Him and become like a madman, fixated on Him, you would no longer want anything else. There would be no other force in you to create a kind of “iron partition” so that you would not become an absolute slave, sold into servitude to pleasure, but would remain independent.

You would have no freedom of action, and the Creator would compel you through the full force of His revelation.

This is forbidden because His desire is to make of you a free being.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/17/26, Rabash, “What Is the Difference between Law and Judgment in the Work?”

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