I am divided into two parts: GE and AHP. The important part in me is GE, and in it I am in a fixed state.

On the other hand, I operate my AHP only for the needs of another: It is as if I “swallow” his desire and begin to serve him. The Light comes from Above, and I pass on this Light to the other through my AHP, which is the only way I use the AHP.

If, however, the other doesn’t need anything, then my AHP does not exist. It is folded into my GE, and I return to the state of smallness, to the fixed state.

It is because I actually don’t need anything, except for my GE, and I need them only in order to be ready to bestow upon others. In every contact I immediately check what the other wants and when I find unfulfilled desires in him, I allocate and develop in me only the part that will provide what he desires from Above. Only to that extent do I operate my AHP.

This is called the spiritual world: I don’t exist. I exist only to the extent that I bestow upon others. As long as there are no others, I am nothing, a zero. It is because my GE are not myself, they are only the state of readiness, searching—who needs my bestowal?
[98785]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/13, Writings of Rabash

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Looking at the creation as a whole, in every object, in every part of it, we can recognize a measure of desire: desire to preserve itself, its properties, its state. This pertains to any part of inanimate, vegetative, animal, and human nature. Each one is characterized by a particular degree of desire since desire was the only thing that was created. On our part, we just add to it when we have a chance to work above it.

At the still, vegetative, and animal levels, we live within desire and don’t understand how it can be changed in height, size, and application. On the other hand, a human degree in a person acquires a capacity to comprehend this, start wanting to change, and apply the desire in a different manner, and this ability to modify the application and realization of desire doesn’t let us rest.

We see how people live today: society dictates the size and nature of their desire, and they, like soldiers, strive to carry out the orders they receive. After all, they are given an impression that it’s for their own good. However, those who receive an additional need to work above their nature, above their desire, which is, in fact, nature’s entire material, are deprived of rest. They wish to learn, desire to know how matter, nature, can be employed, how to re-direct and “deploy” oneself so as to achieve something above nature. This is a totally different approach: not to be inside nature, but namely above it.

This is what the science of Kabbalah teaches: to use desire living not in it, but above it in order to keep attaining the upper reality. “Upper” means above desire, above the creation’s matter. We must learn how to govern desire to remain above it without sinking to the bottom, but, rather, going with the waves and using the breath of the wind, the “spirit” breathing over the sea. We need to live by something that lies above these “depths,” to breathe air, inflate sails with the wind and use the water solely to glide over its surface.

That’s what we gradually learn in this study. We learn to use our nature, the matter of desire, to control it from outside of ourselves, to restrict and turn it in the required direction, to verify and modify it, not as our nature dictates, but as we choose. This ability we can obtain with the help of the science of Kabbalah by studying the systems we have to know and as a whole, the system of the worlds, 125 steps of changes, calibration of desire. We figure out how to use it each step of the way in order to achieve something above it.

In addition, above it, we reach the degree of the upper force that created this desire in which all of mankind lives. We use the matter of desire solely to “ascend” over it and form for ourselves a spirit, equivalent to the upper force. This is the spiritual equivalent called “Human” (Adam).

Thereby, we use the matter itself and the force that created it; we construct ourselves from both. This is how a person becomes independent from matter, meaning desire, and from the force, meaning the Creator who created this desire, and gets on his feet on his own. Now, he is comprised of matter and spirit, but in the form he has found by himself and has chosen freely.

This is what our goal is, and we won’t rest until we reach it. That’s how we are made. Some will select this path by necessity, as simple workers. However, they will have to comprehend their task, although not at high degrees, not at the level of the root cause of creation. They will follow us, whereas we won’t be at peace until we attain the equivalence that we are to create on our own, the image of Man, free from both the creation as well as the Creator. From Him, we only learn how to build ourselves in His likeness, but the Creator does not obligate us to it. On the contrary, it is the independent evolution that allows us to realize that His form is the most correct one, the best, most desirable, and profound.

Yet, we do not accept the importance of this form automatically, but rather, work by way of “faith above reason,” become unplugged from the conditions of our material and the upper force, and in this disconnection from everything, attain the value of the property of bestowal which is the highest there is.

These things will unfold in us later on, but for now they already should be giving us a some sense of importance and understanding of the work that requires us to rise constantly above the mundane. We seek pleasure in part from knowledge, habits, and all types of values that have been planted in us. We strive to ascend just as high as possible and enjoy changes, even if it is not very pleasant for our matter.

We simply need to get used to it. Spirituality, or the new form, by way of small actions, time after time, pulls us higher and higher, a little more and then more. And spirituality should be something that we desire.
[98479]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/21/13, Shamati #213

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Question: I think that we proved at the Arava convention that everything is possible. What’s next?

Answer: The problem is this: In this world when I see a goal and it is important in my eyes, I have enough energy and vigor to attain it, but if the goal isn’t obvious or isn’t important, then I have no strength for the work: “Really, why should I work hard?”

In the end, our problem is recognizing the importance of the goal. This importance is deliberately diminished so that we will create new importance each time, so that there will be a new creation for us, a new spiritual world, everything new.

And we, with the friends, need to build this ourselves. They need to tell me how important the spiritual path is even though they themselves don’t feel it. But we are committed to each other, and this is called Arvut (mutual guarantee). This means that we constantly need to tell each other how important it is, as a mother or grandmother tells the same bedtime story to a child.

Tell me, what was so special at our convention? What were your deepest impressions? Was there something tangible there? No. Did you receive something in your hand? No. Do you feel, hear, see, or taste spirituality? No. Actually there was nothing there, simply “you were filled with hot air” like a balloon, and from your swelling, you began to fly upwards. That was your entire convention.

So what is stopping you from doing that now? Why can’t you rise even higher? Specifically now when you feel heaviness and lack of interest, when all kinds of calculations appear to you, and you begin to think in a more “realistic” way—specifically now begin to act.

Question: At the convention, we, as if, banged our heads against the wall in that we tried to attain something impossible until we discovered that it is possible, albeit at a minimal level. And that means that everything is possible.

Answer: Excellent. Now continue. But don’t think that a spiritual sensation was revealed to you to a small degree to give you a solid basis for further steps. The opposite is true, your heart will be burdened, difficulties will be added, you will be forced to forget it, as if it doesn’t exist at all. They will take back from you all the “advance payment,” otherwise it will turn into an egoistic basis for advancement: “It is worthwhile to go forward since it is pleasant and wonderful. I want that kind of life.” This isn’t spiritual anymore, but Klipot (shells). Previously it wasn’t there, and now it appears. It is also, of course, an attainment, but not the one you were waiting for.

In short, continue. It is especially now that we begin to work with spiritual discernments: a little virtue, a little self-annulment, importance… we passed the hardest period, and now each time there will be something real, concrete. You will feel these things, “in your hand,” you will “ taste” them, you will feel them as internal heaviness, as resistance. In a while, you will even begin to measure them.

We passed the hardest stage, where we didn’t know where we were, what is happening, like a baby who just was born and still doesn’t really hear, or see, or respond…. and now begins the new stage.
[98491]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/21/13, Shamati #213

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Question: During the convention, we made efforts to be born, but how can we synchronize them with the labor pains that come from Above?

Answer: That is why we are given exercises from Above: There is a time of descent, and a time of ascent; there are times when we get together and when we study. And the most important states are those when we unite with each other: during the lessons, other joint activities, and at the conventions. Now, we add our efforts to the natural labor pains in order to accelerate this process.

And in fact, our actions today speed up our birth both quantitatively and qualitatively. As a result, we begin to understand and better feel where in fact the most crucial point is, where we need to press, what a newborn will be according to our expectations.

A newborn is our next degree, like children going after their parents, that is, our next state. We pass all these states due to the concentration of our efforts, in addition to what is given to us from above.

We do not feel in our work what belongs to the preparation from the Creator’s side and what He does. We apply pressure, trying to annul oneself before everyone else in order to create one heart, one desire, and trying not to interfere. But everything else is done by the Creator. He awakens desires in us and we act, but it is not added to our own account. Only our effort that we apply in order to annul ourselves, our self-sacrifice, is counted.

Such actions are given to us with great difficulty and for a few moments. But nothing more is required; we can acccumulate these moments and very quickly reach the force of bestowal, and feel this force clothed in us. This is called the revelation of the Creator to the created being.
[98410]
From the Arava Convention 1/18/13, Lesson 5 

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Question: What is spiritual despair?

Answer: Spirituality is bestowal. There is no such attribute in our world. My job is to locate it from the opposite state. This means, to understand how far I am from that attribute and at the same time to feel how much I need it. If I attain such an understanding, then a strong desire to penetrate this attribute will be stabilized in me, and this desire will turn into my prayer, my request, my demand.

If I really want to attain spirituality, a force comes from Above and reveals this attribute inside me. Then I begin to feel the other part of reality that was concealed from me until now and is now being revealed. Now we are living in only one attribute, receiving, and because of this our lives are so miserable and short, made only of losses that don’t lead to anything good. But when I enter the attribute of bestowal, by annulling myself and overcoming the psychological barrier, ready to give up everything, I move to the other side of this inner psychological barrier (Machsom), and enter the spiritual space that is total bestowal.

It is like a person who stops breathing, and after actually having done that, he feels that he can live without air. Then a new space is revealed to him, a new world. It is just an example, since it cannot be conveyed more accurately, as there is no similar attribute in our world.

We feel despair since there is no way I can attain this attribute by myself. Through the group and the study, I finally come to the decision that I cannot do that, but I have no choice, I must have it. Then I receive this opportunity.
[98324]
From the Arava Convention 1/18/13, Lesson 5

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Question: What does the term “place” mean according the wisdom of Kabbalah, both on the part of the Light and on the part of the desire?

Answer: The Creator created a desire to receive in its initial raw form. Then the Light began to work within the desire to receive. It gave birth to the desire to receive and then began to appear in it more and more. Then the desire to receive began to change in quality, and went through the five phases of development and began to take on different forms, enriched with different attributes and facets.

Thus it reached a state called “place.” It means that it’s different from what fills it. The filling is not the first and not the Light, but the “place” it enters.

They should have separated because it is said: Unless the Light separates from the vessel one time, it’s impossible to determine anything. But when it separates one time, they are already two separate things, and now it’s possible to identify a “Light” and “vessel” separately and also to study the connection between them. This is how the “place” is created, but it’s not enough; it’s possible to pour some drink into a pitcher, for example, and fill it to the top. The Creator wants this “place” to feel Him and who He is.

Imagine that you have made a clay pitcher, and now you want this pitcher to feel who made it and for what purpose. What’s more, it wants to receive the exact filling: Suppose it doesn’t agree to receive water, milk, or wine, but rather needs oil. Then according to what it chooses, it’s filled and rejects all the other fillings. This means that the “place” should also differentiate between good and bad, or in other words, be a “wise egoist” who depends on his ego that was created by the Creator.

Next the Creator wants this desire to prefer the opposite nature by itself, and to choose it by its freewill. It has to “format” itself, to arrange itself so that it can operate for itself in an opposite manner as it builds itself anew. If the desire acquires this ability, it begins to act again and to fill itself and then it’s called Adam who resembles (Domeh) the Creator.

It’s as if the desire gives birth to itself anew by its own freewill, and chooses every step it takes, every filling, and every manner. On the one hand, everything comes from it and does not depend on anyone, and on the other hand, everything is whole and in bestowal. This is called a “place.” This is the deficiency we need. Until then we are not even aware of how many states we have to go through to reach these discernments…

Question: Is there a connection between the “place” and the environment?

Answer: In order for the desire to be independent, to act freely in its discernments, in its perception, it’s divided into two systems: me and outside myself. In the internal system, there is only a spark, and in the external system, there is the whole world. To the extent that a person uses the “world” correctly, he increases his spark. To the extent that he wants to use the world in an opposite manner, wrongly, he diminishes the spark. He checks himself and learns according to his attitude to the world, to the environment.

In addition to that, a person has the wisdom of Kabbalah (a teacher, books, and a group), and this is all to help him fulfill himself consciously and not only by feeling. After all, if we learn from our feelings, it will lead to a whole chain of failures, to a very slow and cruel way of the five phases of development. If a person develops by the environment, then for him the environment becomes the teacher, books, group, and the Creator. Then he develops by the “path of Torah,” by the path of the Light that Reforms.

The difference is that by the path of the Light, he brings his own component of development and by that develops the image of the Creator within him. He begins to relate to reality not like a created being but like the Creator: “How do I use the group, the teacher, the books, and the Creator, all the forces that influence me, in order to stabilize myself correctly?”

Thus we develop the human in us and advance correctly in the easy and shortest way for all. Then the deficiency to advance that we stabilize anew each time is called a real “place,” and it’s such a place that we should reach.
[98011]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/13, “The Peace”

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Question: What is special about The Book of Zohar?

Answer: First, it is special since Kabbalists wrote it.

Humanity climbed down from the trees and began to evolve until the first eruption of the ego during the time of ancient Babylon. Then the method of correction was revealed in this first egoistic wave. Because people couldn’t overcome the great ego by themselves, they began to look for means to do so and found the wisdom of Kabbalah that enables a person to overcome the evil inclination through connection.

Those who began to use this method in order to correct themselves are called “Israel” which means Yashar—El, “straight to the upper” (ISRA-EL).

In the meantime, the ego continued to grow even more and all the other nations went on as usual.

Then the ego grew in the Israeli nation and as a result they went down to Egypt. Some went a bit further down, and others received the Torah in order to overcome the separation. It is about the same Kabbalistic method, and the difference is that now it is adapted to the great ego that was revealed in Egypt, which is already specified and divided into different strange desires that have to be corrected under different conditions, in different events, connections, etc. In order to go through this process we need a method called “Torah.”

Abraham’s work in Babylon was easier if we may say: to rise above the ego to the Creator (Boreh) in love and connection and to do what is good for others, for strangers, since the ego wasn’t specified then.

Abraham gave the rest of the world religions (Dat).

By that he paved two paths, but the difference between them wasn’t so big yet. Yes, these are two opposite attributes, in order to receive and in order to bestow, but in a rather minor “thickness” of the desire.

On one hand, a great ego called “Pharaoh” was indeed revealed in Egypt, and on top of it everything that is in a person, everything he is made of internally: attributes, discernments, thoughts, and desires. This means that in the time of Moses (Moshe) the crisis of the shattered soul was revealed (Neshama), which was unknown before. This is already a totally different level and so accordingly the Torah was revealed.

Later as the ego grew, the children of Israel built the first Temple with the help of the Torah and by that attained their end of correction. After the destruction of the Temple they built the second Temple and then the long descent began.

Here, before the end of the descent, The Book of Zohar was written. On one hand, great discernments of the previous level were still kept here, but on the other hand, the last level of the ego began to appear. Therefore the authors of The Zohar relied on all the 125 degrees with regard to the destruction and with regard to the attainment.

This is why The Book of Zohar is very special: It includes all the Light that will be revealed in our times on the background of the biggest ego that will bring us to the complete end of correction. The Book of Zohar symbolizes this state and tells us about all the states of the end of correction. These are the states Rabbi Shimon’s son Rabbi Elazar especially speaks about.
[98164]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that while in the state of concealment we remain in the world of Assiya. How is it different from our material world?

Answer: In corporeality, none of us ever can tell the difference between giving and receiving. We never associate ourselves with either Lo Lishma (for one’s own sake) or Lishma (for the sake of others), nor do we feel the difference between good and evil.

It is said that the world of Assiya basically consists of evil, the world of Yetzira is half good and half evil, and the world of Beria is mostly good. When one is present in any of these worlds, one is able to differentiate between the giving and the receiving, whereas in our realm, we cannot see any dissimilarity between them.

At this time, we are at the lowest level of the world of Assiya that doesn’t have anything in common with the spiritual world of Assiya. We try to place our world on a general scale of spiritual worlds, since there is nothing except spirituality. However, our realm doesn’t have a place on the spiritual worlds’ ladder; it is an illusionary reality that is placed at the lowest level possible, at the very bottom of the world of Assiya; it is an illusion that produces the erroneous impression that it is possible to exist within the rigid boundaries of the desire to receive, in the pure egoism.

By no means is it possible. Although, the upper force maintains life in this corporeality to give us a chance to stay alive until a spiritual spark breaks out of us into spirituality.

In this world, there is a drop of spiritual semen, although it is “imprisoned” in this material realm and has no freedom to get out of it. Due to exertions applied by this drop of semen to free itself, it eventually breaks out of this world into spirituality. When it gets there, this spiritual spark begins to develop further in a new realm.
[97859]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/13, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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