Entries in the 'Spiritual Work' Category

Creative Pressure

938.03Question: 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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On the Threshold of Unification

944Today 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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The Goal as Fuel for Attaining a Result

213Comment: 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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Ensure the Revelation of the Creator Doesn’t Cause Harm

276.02‘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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Don’t Stop until You Reach It

760.4Question: Why were we given this point of impatience, this evil?

Answer: It is so that we accomplish a great deal in life, so that we elevate this desire more and more, higher and higher, up to the level of the Creator.

Question: Which desire?

Answer: The desire for everything.

Question: You mean raising these egoistic desires to the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And what is the highest desire? What will we grow into from this point of impatience toward others?

Answer: To desire the Creator with the greatest passion.

Question: Does He want that?

Answer: Yes, that is exactly what He desires.

Question: So He wants us to have a passion for Him?

Answer: Yes. “Shuvu, bnei Israel, ad HaShem Elokecha” — “Return, O children of Israel, to the Lord Your God.”
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/27/26

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Adjust the Ego to the Right Program

238.01Question: It is written that a person cannot lift a finger if it does not lead to pleasure. How can we do something without any pleasure?

Answer: We know that in no way, no matter what, can one make the slightest move if they do not benefit from it. Neither our spiritual body, i.e., the desire to receive, nor our animal body can move without food, without fuel.

The Creator does not need fuel, because His “matter,” if you can call it that, is the desire to bestow.

Our matter is the desire to receive, which is our foundation. This desire can be either with the intention to receive or with the intention to bestow. Both intentions are additions, like a cap placed atop the desire to receive that determines how it works, what drives it, and what motivates it.

In order to make any move with the desire to receive, you must give it the strength to do this action, i.e., energy, fuel, which is motivation, so the next state will be better than the current one.

You can plan for the importance of the next state compared to the present, and the ego will agree with this. You only need to tune it to this program.

We see people who run from morning till night over something they consider important. It may depend on upbringing, advertising, fear, or other factors; it doesn’t matter what, the main point is that a person can be programmed and trained, and one can acquire an inner program according to which he will work, because this will seem to him the most important.

But if the desire to receive does not regard it as important, it will do nothing, like a car without fuel. Thus, before we start working with it, whether for the sake of receiving or for the sake of bestowing, we must define its value system: what is more or less important.

Right now, for example, it is more important for me to go to sleep than to read a book. Even though I was interested in the book just half an hour ago, I decided I feel tired now, and it is more important for me to rest. But suddenly, in the middle of a dream, while I am reveling in it, I remember something more important and jump out of bed.

A person is constantly choosing what is preferable. Only what is more important at the moment draws strength from the ego.

When I am asleep and told to get up for the lesson, even though I got up yesterday, the day before, and for the last five years, I just do not have the energy or fuel to get up. But if I perform all sorts of “operations” on myself and convince myself, then suddenly I see that where I had no strength to get up, it appears, and I suddenly get up with ease. That is, I did some “brainwashing” and prepared my ego for this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

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A Means of Exiting a Descent

962.7For this reason, when a person comes into a descent, he should not be startled and escape the campaign. On the contrary, this is the time to make a heartfelt prayer (Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”).

Question: What kind of advice is this? If I were able to offer a true prayer from the depth of the heart, I would not call it a descent.

Answer: I do not know how you define ascents and descents. A descent is characterized by your distancing from the Creator; an ascent is your drawing closer to Him.

So what is a descent? It is when you see your true state: your Kelim have become coarser, your desires have worsened, and your mood corresponds to that. If you weigh all this, you see yourself as such. And this is the time for prayer.

And when else can you ask? Can you really turn to the Creator in a state of ascent?

Comment: When I am in a descent, I cannot ask Him for anything.

My Response: Why? You feel yourself in a descent, but Him, you feel as exalted and powerful.

Question: But it is said that when I fall, everything around me falls together with me?

Answer: That too is a kind of descent. And when can you raise a true prayer?

Comment: When I am just beginning to descend, maybe something can still be done, but not when I have already reached the very bottom.

My Response: If you are at the lowest point, then nothing can be done. In the lowest descent, a person has no strength at all. He must go through this point as if by inertia.

During a descent, when you cannot pray, you must try to do something, seek some means of exiting it. For example, when I work on a book, there are periods when I cannot write. Then I edit existing texts. If I cannot work with the text, I answer questions, do some simpler work. If I cannot do even that, I go and engage in something distant, unrelated to writing the book.

In order to find a means, one must use everything possible. Any means by which you wish to advance is called a prayer.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/26, Rabash, 1988 “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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Expand the Point in the Heart

258A person consists of two systems. One system is the nature of the person, the desire to receive in action. The other system relates to the point in the heart. If you can step out of your desire and operate from the side of the point in the heart, you will see yourself in a true light, and, upon discovering concealment, you will begin to perceive it differently, understanding that it is beneficial for you and does not hinder you at all.

The point in the heart is given from above, just like your natural desire to receive—the heart itself.

From above, you are given both, both the heart and the desire to receive, and you are not able to distinguish between them. At times, certain “tricks” are orchestrated for you where you are tossed from side to side, through which you begin to distinguish between them a little.

However, to truly transition from the heart to the “point in the heart,” you can only do so by expanding this point. You can expand it only by receiving some inspiration, an awakening from outside, and by drawing the light during study with the help of this awakening.

You have no choice; you need a teacher, the Torah (that is, the primary sources) and a group, so that, having received an impression from it and becoming inspired by it, you can draw the lights during study to the point in the heart. Then it will grow, and you will truly be able to attach several additional Kelim to it.
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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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Don’t Disconnect from the Connection with the Creator

221.0If I currently feel an attraction in a certain direction, my challenge is to ensure that in doing so, I do not lose the awareness that the evil inclination (a special force, a messenger) is working on me; it is a force that actually wants to direct me toward the Creator. Am I in sufficient connection with the Creator or, let us say, with the group, so that my friends can help me not to stray from the correct direction? The rest is internal clarification of a person.

The main thing is, if possible, not to allow yourself to disconnect from the connection with the Creator in each specific state. In this way, we, together with the evil inclination, are already performing work in the right direction. It pulls you in all possible directions, and against this background you remain connected with the Creator.

Question: By “connection,” is calculation implied?

Answer: There is a connection even when we are unable to make a calculation. It is enough to remain in connection. That is enough for now.

And the group should provide you with a sufficient awareness of the importance of constantly remaining connected with the Creator so that this sense of importance along with the fear of becoming disconnected truly gives you the strength to remain connected, in thought and adhesion despite all the disturbances, as you hold fast to the principle “there is none else besides Him.” These are not simple matters; they take years for a person to go through them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/26, Rabash, “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person”

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A Mutual View with the Creator

427.01Question: Why does a Kabbalist, who sees reality from the Creator’s perspective and justifies Him, hold such a firm view that we must defend ourselves against enemies, both internally and externally?

Answer: You are essentially asking: “If you are a Kabbalist and are on the other side of the Machsom, then you see how everyone relates to each other with love, and that the enemy does not kill me. On the contrary, he is ready to kill himself in order to relate to me correctly. But if such an enemy actually comes to you now, what will you do?”

In which reality do you exist? Is it the one you perceive in the spiritual realm or the reality of the physical body? Can you combine the spiritual world with the material one or not? You cannot. In the material world, you must behave according to material laws, the laws of bodies; and in the spiritual world, according to spiritual laws.

This confusion will still continue. The world has not yet reached the state of final correction, and therefore there is a difference between the behavior of the body and spiritual behavior. That is why Kabbalists, despite already being on high spiritual levels, still fall ill and sometimes die terrible deaths. In this world, they also suffer greatly from attacks and slander against them. One is not connected to the other, because the world itself has not reached final correction.

When the whole world, that is, the collective awareness of all humanity, crosses over to the other side of the picture, aligns with the Creator, and merges with Him… What does it mean to merge? It means that from your own viewpoint, you move to His viewpoint. And this means that you have drawn closer to Him, merged with Him. You have corrected your attitude toward reality, and now you are like Him.

If everyone does this, then the two sides of a single embroidery (the front and the back) will merge. They will become as one with respect to all the souls of Adam HaRishon, with respect to our shared perception of reality.

And then all of us will have a common view with the Creator; we will be together with Him, in other words, in the state of final correction. Then there will be no difference between the spiritual and the material, neither in bodies nor in souls.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/26, Rabash, “What It Means that the Generations of the Righteous are Good Deeds, in the Work”

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