If I transfer my inner yearning, my cry, into an appeal through the friends to the Creator, then it turns into a prayer. The prayer should come from a few people together, from at least two people but preferably from the ten (from the Minyan). Then the Creator will surely hear it and answer it.

The prayer from the ten means that we all feel this demand, but of course each in his own way. We want to connect because in this connection we reach the quality of Lishma, we reveal the Creator, and through our connection we connect with the Creator. Then into this connection He can give us the necessary force of unity, the feeling of unity and connection with the Creator.

All this is attained within our connection; therefore, this word should be like a guiding beacon for us.

Each of us has his own prayer from his own state because none of us is similar to the other. But all of our prayers are connected in the Creator. He is the source for all of us, and therefore He understands us, connects us, and fills us. Everything is done by the Creator; this is His work. This is why whatever we are engaging in is called the work of the Creator.

We connect our prayers because we understand that none of us will achieve anything without a common connection with the help of the Creator. Therefore we turn to Him and ask Him to connect us and raise us to a higher degree in order to become bestowing like He is. When everyone becomes included in this, we reach complete bestowal, which is then passed on to the Creator.

We begin with a common prayer with our ten; we feel how far away from each other we are, then we come closer, again we move away, and again we come closer, as if waves are passing over us.

The ten is our foundation, but around it we begin to feel many other such systems that want to connect with each other like star systems that connect into one galaxy. The galaxies connect into a metagalaxy, and so we connect more and more, and each time reveal details deeper into each individual and broader into the general connection.

This is how we discover the work of the Creator; we delve into the particular and into His essence and greatness inside the collective, and we feel how He fills and controls everything.

We are searching for connection by depicting it in all possible forms and by asking the Creator for it. I want to embrace and include everyone, to understand and feel everyone, and to connect with everyone. Through that I begin to feel like I am filling the entire universe. This means that little by little I am beginning to attain the general Malchut.
[304496]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/22, “On the Verge of Lishma“

Related Material:
The Prayer The Creator Hears
True Prayer
Pray For Everyone

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work, The Tens - No Comments →

Question: How can you check if you are in a state of Lo Lishma from which we come to Lishma?

Answer: Lo Lishma means that a person strives for the truth. He has heard and theoretically has an idea of what it is, but at the same time, he is still in the intention to receive for his own sake.

If we measure Lo Lishma on a scale from 0 to 100%, in a case of a friend who borrowed $1,000 from me, then 0% Lo Lishma is when a friend is obliged to repay the $1,000 to me.

1% Lo Lishma is when he returns $999 to me and I accept it as a repayment of the entire $1,000. And 100% Lo Lishma is when he gives me back $0, an empty envelope. I check it with my senses, I see that there is nothing there, and I accept it as a debt repaid in full. That is, it shows how much I can go above my desires to receive.

But of course, all this progress is possible only due to the influence of the surrounding light. When we move from Lo Lishma to Lishma, the direct light begins to act.

Baal HaSulam gives such a definition of Lo Lishma in the article “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 12: Indeed, practicing Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma means that one believes in the Creator, in the Torah, and in reward and punishment, and engages in the Torah because the Creator commanded the engagement, but associates his own pleasure with bringing contentment to his Maker.
[120659]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/13, Shamati #64 “From Lo Lishma to Lishma“

Related Material:
From Egoism To Bestowal In Faith Above Reason
Lo Lishma: Having Something To Correct
The Great Value Of Lo Lishma

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Teacher, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

There is no escape; after all the twists of history that may still happen, we will all the same come to the decision that we must rise above human egoistic nature and come to bestowal (Lishma). And only this goal stands before us—unlike the material ideal of getting rich and becoming the king of the world.

It is impossible to pursue two goals at once. The desire should always be big and unique. It is either a spiritual ideal, the desire to get closer and unite with the Creator, or a material ideal, to master all the riches of the world.

Although, there have been many Kabbalists in history who were rich people, this was not their goal; it was just the way life turned out. And at the same time, there were Kabbalists who lived in poverty.

All people who have existed throughout history are divided into these two groups: those striving for the spiritual and those striving for the material. And although we all come out of the material world, out of the desire to receive, life gradually teaches us that we need to move on to spiritual development.

Nowadays we are experiencing a genuine revolution although we may not feel it yet. People are beginning to turn from material desires for food, sex, family, wealth, honor, and knowledge toward a new direction, to spiritual values. Of course, this does not happen to everyone at once but little by little, step by step, it is capturing new layers of the world’s population. Gradually, this change is taking place in the entire common desire of mankind.

According to the program of creation, the whole world must achieve Lishma, the intention to bestow, like the Creator. As it is said: “Everyone will know Me from small to great, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
[304400]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/22, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”

Related Material:
Evolution Of Desires, Part 1
The Evolution Of Desires
My World Is A Collection Of Desires

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Globalization, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: On one hand, according to Kabbalah there is only one soul. On the other hand, they speak of “the reincarnation of souls”; that is, there are many of them. How should one understand this?

Answer: The common soul was divided into parts. It is called Adam because in total it should be similar to the Creator, from the Hebrew word “Domeh” -similar. And then it must undergo all kinds of transformations and at the same time constantly draw closer to similarity of form to the Creator.

Question: Let’s say a person lives. He must die and be reborn, and again go through dozens or hundreds of lives. What is the benefit of this?

Answer: The fact is that these parts, which feel like people, eventually unite, achieve some kind of mutual merger of intentions and desires, and become like the Creator.

Question: There is such a thing as a male and female soul. What is the difference? What is this talking about here?

Answer: It does not depend on gender, but only on the qualities of the soul at the moment.

The soul is a desire with an intention. This is the construction of the soul. For every form of desire to receive, there is an intention for what.
[304313]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/9/22

Related Material:
Reincarnations—One Life Is Not Enough
Reincarnations—In the Vein of Bestowal and Love
Reincarnations—What Remains after the Death of the Body?

Filed under: Adam-The Common Soul, Body and Soul, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Thus, in our world, there are no new souls the way bodies are renewed, but only a certain amount of souls that incarnate on the wheel of transformation of the form, for each time they clothe a new body and a new generation (Baal HaSulam, “The Peace“).

Question: There is a certain number of souls in the world that have been constantly reincarnating for thousands of years. How many are there?

Answer: It does not matter, it can be five or ten thousand or billions. They are constantly dividing and connecting. We see that the number of people in the world is growing so there is a correspondence between the number of souls and the number of bodies.

Comment: But Baal HaSulam says that there is a certain number of souls (only a certain amount of souls that incarnate). Yet we see that over the past hundred years the number of people in the world has doubled.

My Response: They divided among themselves.

Question: Does it mean that a soul is some kind of unfixed state?

Answer: Yes, it is some kind of energy charge, form, and desire that can be divided into many different desires.

The benefit of the interruption between incarnations is that a person begins a new existence in order to change one’s nature and structure and, in general, his final purpose.

But one life is not enough for this. Tens or hundreds of lifetimes are required because the soul itself does nothing but communicate with other souls, and therefore it moves through various states.
[304270]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/9/22

Related Material:
Reincarnations—In the Vein of Bestowal and Love
Reincarnations—What Remains after the Death of the Body?
Reincarnations—Living in Others

Filed under: Body and Soul, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: If I understand correctly, the reduction of desire occurred due to the fact that the creation felt itself opposite to the Creator precisely in its intention and not in the fact that it has a desire to receive (Aviut).

Is the shame of creation not that it is opposite to the Creator (He is the desire to give and it is the desire to receive), but rather in how it uses this desire?

Answer: Naturally because creation cannot command what it can be, but it can choose a reaction to what it is. Therefore its reaction was: “I want to be similar to and as close as possible to the Creator.”

Question: Can this be applied to our lives? Should I not be ashamed that the Creator created me like this? It is clear that I have a desire to receive and I want to use everyone. But is the problem not that, but rather in how I use my desire?

Answer: Yes. It’s what is in your will, what your choice is.

Comment: That is, the fact that I will always want to enjoy is understandable.

My Response: This is not a vice.

Question: And the fact that I want to enjoy at the expense of others, can this in principle be considered a vice?

Answer: It is your choice.
[303750]
From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/2/22

Related Material:
The Difference Between A Restriction And A Screen
What Is Restriction Of Desire?
State of the First Restriction

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Can we say that inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature also prays on their own level?

Answer: Any creature, even the inanimate, not to mention the vegetative, animate, and human, prays. At the heart of all of them is desire, but only a person who is learning how to do this can correctly direct this desire. Then his desire becomes directed correctly and works for his benefit and for the benefit of everyone.

Every creation has Hissaron (lacks, needs), which the Creator created. Thus, the desire of inanimate matter is to preserve its form, and this, in a way, is its request.

A person, however, has the opportunity not only to preserve, but also to change himself, and to ask about it consciously.
[303883]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 9/25/22

Related Material:
Nothing Will Help But Prayer
In Common Prayer
Prayer—Turning To Oneself

Filed under: Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: What is the mechanism for activating the work of the upper forces in the system when many people pray? Let’s say that a large number of people are beginning to raise a request to the Creator, what mechanisms are activated in this case?

Answer: We proceed from the fact that we are one single spiritual object called the soul or Adam.

If we really want to engage this single spiritual object in which we are all included, to connect ourselves in it, and to raise the common desire of the object Adam to the Creator so the Creator corrects it, fills it, and brings it closer to Himself, then in the end this happens. And from this we feel positive consequences.

A person with his prayer triggers huge processes in the common organism called creation or humanity since he acts through the upper force, the Creator. Therefore a small human can launch huge forces of nature.
[303838]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 9/25/22

Related Material:
Nothing Will Help But Prayer
In Common Prayer
Prayer—Turning To Oneself

Filed under: Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Do you have any protection against physical attacks?

Answer: I do have spiritual protection. I am under the influence of the same upper force; what it wants, it will do according to its plan.

I am obliged to give out the maximum of what I can at every moment. The maximum! I consider myself to be authorized to do this by my teacher, by all the Kabbalists, and by all those sufferings that are coming toward us all.

Question: Have you ever been threatened?

Answer: I do not know how to answer this question, but for me it is not a threat.

I am facing the Creator! Each of us is in front of Him. But the fact that I entrust myself to Him gives me such peace that I am calm in the face of the greatest dangers.

This is constant work because you are constantly given all kinds of doubts, descents, and various events just to force you to work on yourself and to elevate faith above reason.
[304196]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Protection From Enemies” 8/22/13

Related Material:
How To Protect Yourself From The Evil Eye
The Effectiveness of Spiritual Work
A Lifeline In The Flow Of Life

Filed under: Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Comment: Kabbalists write that a person in this world in a biological body (not after death) can attain the state where he changes his nature.

My Response: Nothing happens after death. It is because the death of the physical body has very little, if any, effect on the condition of the spiritual body, which we call the soul.

Question: Still a person goes through various states in this world. Do they leave any record? Does anything remain?

Answer: There remains as much as a person gives to the world.

Question: What if he just leads a normal life? He has a family on some island, he lived there for a couple of decades, and that is it. Does anything remain of him?

Answer: What can remain?

Comment: But he had worries, he loved, he suffered.

My Response: Yes, he loved money and suffered from the lack of it. That is it. This is what he has left.

Comment: But all the same, a person does not just live like that; nature does not simply create some circumstances.

My Response: He has nothing worthy of remaining.

Question: Do you want to say that it is worthy only to take care of others? That is the merit?

Answer: Yes, because if he did, it was against his nature. In this he was similar to the Creator who acts only in the spirit of bestowal and love for others.

If a person acts against his egoistic nature for the sake of some goal, for example, for the sake of attaining the Creator, then these actions are imprinted and as if develop the soul, our desires.

If a person performs actions according to his nature in which everything is already pre-established, then nothing remains because there is nothing of him in it.
[304207]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/9/22

Related Material:
Reincarnations—What Remains after the Death of the Body?
Reincarnations—Living in Others
Reincarnations—What Is Left of a Person?

Filed under: Body and Soul, Spiritual Work - No Comments →