Who is the Creator? The Creator is the general quality of bestowal and love. That is why He is concealed from you, since He is entirely bestowing, while you are an egoist, a receiver. That is why you do not feel Him.

Does He really conceal Himself? It is you hiding Him and not wanting to recognize Him! You say, “If only You would give me egoistic pleasure, which I desire right now. Then I would get to know You. Do you want to give me pleasure by bestowal? Well, I want to enjoy by reception!”

And that is the entire problem. No one conceals the Creator from you. You are inside Him and there is none else besides Him! But look at what kind of world you perceive yourself in….

Canceling your ego does not mean canceling your desires. It’s only the negation of the egoistic intention for your own sake. I don’t need to limit myself in any way. I must only limit my egoistic intentions and increase my intentions “for the sake of bestowal.” We don’t touch the actual desire.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/17/10, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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The Zohar, "Introduction of The Zohar," Chapter "BeLaila DeKala (On the Night of the Bride)": …at the great Zivug of the end of correction, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, as it is written, “When in the evening time there will be light.” Thus, her degrees are doubled, since during the 6,000 years in the state of the moon she was “and there was evening and there was morning.”

Eventually all of our descents, all of the dark nights join the Light of day, the revelation of the Light. Day and night become one whole. In reality this isn’t talking about "doubling" or even multiplying by 620 times, the way it is written.

At first the Creator gave me a small spark, and did not give me anything else. Then, by working on my desire, I turn to the Creator, the Light, and demand corrections. Thanks to these corrections I become similar to the Light with my qualities and the Light clothes into me.

Inside my desire the Light is perceived as infinite and boundless. Why? The matter is that when the desire for pleasure begins to grow inside us, it discerns and forms itself independently. The previous sensation was left to it from the Reshimot that descended from Above downwards, and they are completely different from the ones it now realizes.

As a person ascends, on every level he realizes himself according to previous Reshimot, but he adds his aspiration, efforts, and descents to them. He reveals the gap between himself and the Light, the gap which was never revealed before.

A person is separated from the Light and aspires after it. The Light comes, but then a descent comes; this happens again and again, and thanks to all of these experiences, which throw him from end to end, a person finds new details in his desire.

He discovers unprecedented depth, a completely new Kli, an independent yearning, an unheard of aspiration to the Light. Previously not one desire or Reshimo were recorded in his account, but now, when he makes efforts, even if it is done in a childish manner, it forms new Kelim inside him.

That is why the Light that now becomes revealed incomparably exceeds the Light that filled the desire before the breaking, before our work on the path upwards. The descent of the worlds and all the efforts until now were just a general preparation to the real correction. In it the smallest Light, the Light of Nefesh, is revealed.

Baal HaSulam writes that very small Lights were revealed before, but now, when our generation begins to correct itself, it attracts the greatest Light in all the worlds – the Light of NaRaNHY.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, The Zohar

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The question “What do I live for” is the inception of the desire to reveal the Creator. I want to know Who had begotten me, where my root lies, and Who governs me. Who created all this, and why did He create me “wrapped up” within this huge world? What does He want from me at every moment, giving me not a moment’s rest and pushing me toward some unknown?

When these questions come to me, they poison my entire life, and I can no longer live without revealing the Creator. This is how I am structured for I am created by the Light which had imprinted itself in me, in all my desires.

All my desires are like a cast, the Light’s reverse imprint, and until I draw the Light and fill myself with it, I will not rest, to the point where this life will feel worse than death. I will be ready to do anything for even a drop of this fulfillment.

Therefore, my task is to clarify how to reveal the Creator, the Light, and the form in which I can fill myself with it. Indeed, this is no simple task which is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is called “Hochmat HaKabbalah (wisdom of reception).”

It is not like in our world where I need only to open my mouth to slake my thirst. A spiritual desire cannot be quenched directly. Rather, it must be clarified first since the Creator does not give me a ready desire suited for the Light. He wants me to verify what is it that I desire, what is the Light, and to realize that it is the greatest of any possible fulfillments. He wants me to try all the desires and all the fulfillments, to verify myself, and to say, “No, I want only this!”

The Creator is extremely jealous and captious. He wants me to love only Him and nothing else, and He verifies this by revealing in me every possible thing. I am supposed to reply, “No, You are still the greatest of all fulfillments, of all pleasures! You are the tastiest!” It is written, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” because this type of fulfillment is called taste.
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From Lesson 7, World Kabbalah Congress 2010, 11/11/10

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Question: Why do the descents make a much bigger impression in our sensations than the ascents?

Answer: It’s because we are egoists. We were created out of the will to enjoy, which experiences pleasure or suffering. There is no middle between them, and therefore even when I am in a neutral state where both pleasure and suffering are absent, I feel bad. I lack pleasure. I always demand a positive; zero is not enough for me.

That is why a person is dissatisfied. He has a home, a job, and plenty of food, but something is still missing. Either the grass is greener on his neighbor’s side, or life is devoid of meaning.

Our egoistic desire is not satisfied with what it has. As a result we suffer from the lack of an addition, and this addition must definitely grow as our egoism grows.

Besides, our source is the Creator, who created us. He is the only, single, and irreplaceable one, and every one of us feels the same way. So where can we find fulfillment for someone who is so unique?

That’s why it turns out that we never find satisfaction, not through pleasure, nor through the right self-realization. That is the nature of egoism. The smallest descent is enough for all of our heroism to vanish into thin air. We would agree to anything just to avoid feeling empty inside!

The desire for pleasure depends entirely on the Light. As long as it receives Light, it is full of energy, even though it doesn’t understand where that energy comes from. But as soon as the Light grows slightly distant, you feel helpless and would agree to anything in order to correct the situation in some way.

Look at the world: there’s terrorism, murder, theft, and lies. It would seem that if you gave every person what he wanted, no one would do anything bad. So who’s to blame? It’s the Creator, who does not reveal Himself and thereby evokes bad things. All that remains is to make the right conclusions from the above.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, Introduction to the Book of Zohar

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We forget that we mustn’t do anything besides asking the Creator to do it! Instead we think about how I should force my heart to open up, how I can connect with others, or how others can connect to me. However, we shouldn’t think about this at all! We imagine the connection inside our egoistic mind, yet it is nothing like what we think!

This is the level of the Upper World; we are revealing a new reality! We must only ask and that is all! We learn that everything happens by virtue of request. We raise the prayer, the MAN, and in response comes the Surrounding Light, MAD, and corrects everything, while we are simply present during the correction. Everything comes from Above, and on our part only a demand, plea, and aspiration are necessary.

The problem lies in this point: Do we turn to the Creator or do we try to do everything independently? This is the point where we make a mistake and get stuck for many years, unable to change the direction even slightly, to understand that there is nothing besides an address, a demand, a request!

In order to achieve this request we have to make efforts, but it is only to accomplish this. If we try to independently build the right social system based on love and friendship, this will be a lengthy path that will bring us to the understanding that we are moving away from the goal, that we are insincere, that we hate each other and do not move closer to unity.

Kabbalah has to bring us to a very precise analysis: Don’t try to connect to another person, you are unable to do this, you are an egoist and so is he. Only the Upper Light can do it; it has to come and meld us together – only it!

Therefore, don’t look for a connection with each other because it is written “husband and wife and the Shechina between them,” meaning there is me and my friend, and the Creator between us. “He who makes peace in the Upper will make peace in us” (Oseh Shalom BeMromav, Hu Yaseh Shalom Aleinu).

Any time we turn toward one another without the force that connects us together, it is a false address. When we hug, we do not want to hug or we do it on the level of our world. Do we really demand love, unity, or friendship from one another? It is only on the level of this world. Who of us can become a guarantor for another, or even for himself? Where do we have the strength for it? We can only aspire to each other through the Upper One, who fills all of the space between us.

If we demand for Him to fill the emptiness, to connect us together, and to always be present among us, then it will happen, and easily so. The science of Kabbalah is meant to bring us to this correct attitude, while we always run away from it, being inside our egoistic nature.

Let us not forget that “There is none else besides Him”! The Creator carries out the action, but in order for it to happen we have to precede His action with our desire. This is called “making a covenant,” where we sign an agreement with the Creator: We demand and He carries it out.

Similarly to how small children walk and pull adults after them, we are pulling the Upper Force so it will correct the nature it created; then we will become equal to the Creator. We cannot attain mutual guarantee or even really desire it. As soon as we start to talk about unity, we have to remember the condition: “Israel, the Light, and the Creator are one.” Myself, my neighbor, and the Creator between us; only the three of us together will be able to achieve true conciliation and perfection.

Precisely the aspiration to unite in the group will quickly bring us to the realization that we have to turn to the Creator for all the help!

From Lesson 8 , World Kabbalah Convention 2010,  11/11/10

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From Baal HaSulam’s article “The Last Generation”: If all the nations of the world agree to that, then wars will no longer be in the world, for no person will be concerned with his own good whatsoever, but only with the good of others.

This teaching of equivalence of form is the teaching of the Messiah…It is then said “and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”

The Messiah is the biggest Light of Yechida that corrects everything when it descends. When we obtain a strong desire to reach the final correction (Gmar Tikkun), this Light will appear with all its might and will correct all desires.

Even much lesser Lights that we receive now create a connection between us and allowed us to organize a huge Convention which is the result of help from Above rather than our own achievement.

All that we see around us, our friends and the whole world, is the image of the Creator who stands in front of us and shows Himself through this picture. Even now, the power that we call “Messiah” is already here; it pulls the whole human race from its current state to the end of correction. These processes are called “the labor pains of the Messiah;” they represent the revelation of the power of the Messiah in the world, the very first state in the process of “birth.”

One way or another, by going through stronger affliction and wars or because of the growth of our understanding and desire to become corrected, this correction must be completed by the year 6000 according to this world’s calendar. This term is defined by six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin (VAK) and is divided into three periods, which are two-thousand years each, reflecting the influence of ZA (Zeir Anpin) onto the three worlds: Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. Thus, we are obligated to achieve the state of correction.

From now and further on, we enter the era of the Messiah, and therefore the wisdom of Kabbalah is being revealed. This gives us a chance to become corrected right now rather than continuing to wait for the end of the given term.

Egyptian exile continued for only 210 years instead of the “determined” 400 years; similarly, we shouldn’t wait until the calendar indicates 6000. In spirituality, we can accelerate time and bring the final state closer so that we can implement it right now. It means that “Isra-el” (someone who strives directly to the Creator) “accelerates” time and moves it forward. This is why we can already (as we speak) be present in the time of liberation, at the arrival of the Messiah; it all depends on us!

The preparation period has ended and the informational genes (Reshimot) of the final stage have begun to emerge, revealing the method of their use: the science of Kabbalah and The Book of Zohar; now everything is in our hands.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/10, Baal HaSulam “The Last Generation”

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No matter how tired we are from the efforts of reading The Book of Zohar, no matter how tasteless it may seem, during the reading we must all be united in one intention, one desire. This is our shared work in mutual guarantee against the inner disturbances of every person in our thoughts about unity.

We want to sleep and tune out, losing the thread of the narration. We wander around in a fog, and the text does not attract us or elicit any feelings. Yet this is the place that contains the Light, which has to make the correction inside us, bringing us to unity, to the spiritual form.

We have to yearn for unity from our side and wait for an action from the side of the Light so it will turn us exactly into what is necessary. We want to unite and focus on the single desire to be together when every person bows down his head. I make this effort and desire for the Light to perform its action from Above in response.

This is called “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” By means of the Torah we are trying to reveal the Creator. The Torah is the Light that Reforms and unites us, and the Creator will become revealed inside our unity. Let the anchorman keep reading. To me every word is a new drop of Light uniting us into one whole.

I am turning to all of our friends from all over the world: We lack this joint effort.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/14/10, The Zohar

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Question: I cried from joy during the opening ceremony when the representatives of all the countries got on the stage holding the flags; I felt connected with everyone; I felt the desires of other people, their love and care. What was this, a psychological sensation or was this spiritual?

Answer: This is a wonderful, kind, heartfelt emotion, but this sensation is not yet spiritual. A spiritual sensation is the attainment of the root: where everything comes from, the reason everything happens, and the place where we are.

This sensation must bring us to a state where we exist in an ocean of a certain force, which connects us above time and space, and supports us. Then one loses the sensation of a body. He still associates himself with the body, but he considers it to be of a lower nature than him. Then we perceive that we belong to that same force, we are part of it, and we become diffused in it.

What you experienced at the opening ceremony is the step before the spiritual perception. Let us hope that we will reach it very soon.
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From Lesson 4, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/10/10

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When spirituality becomes revealed to a person, he or she begins to feel that a certain force fills the entire space around him, that it exists in this world. It is as if the air becomes more dense, thick, and gentle. This is the Creator’s force, the force of bestowal, the force of love that fills the entire world of a person.

We must evoke and demand it so it would reveal itself to us as a force that connects us together. Through it we will begin to perceive us all as one whole.

We just need to pay more attention to it, search for it lovingly and sensitively. Let us begin to feel it!
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From Lesson 4, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/10/10

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An e-mail I received: Dear Dr. Laitman, I think I speak for many when I say that I am overcome by great disappointment. What should I do with it?

Answer: On the last day of the Convention I often heard that many people had hoped to make the breakthrough into the spiritual world at this Convention and now they are overcome by total despair!

I will say it up front: Personally I am astounded by the result of the Convention that just passed. And it’s not because of the record amount of participants or the positive reaction in the press, but because of the inner changes and maturation of every participant and the whole world group. For the first time ever people went through states that they would not be able to go through individually. Extremely important inner discernments took place inside them.

And now about your expectations: If your desire was for true spirituality, for bestowal and love to your neighbor, then you would not experience any despair because you always have the opportunity to bestow and love. No one gives it to you or takes it away.

The first spiritual quality, Bina, is an aspiration to Hafetz Hesed (being above your egoism), the sensation outside of your desire. If you aspired to this, then you wouldn’t care what state you are in at all because everything comes from the Creator and only He decides, according to His plan, what will happen to all of you and to every one of you. Your only reaction to everything should be joy and the desire to be under the power of the Creator, the quality of bestowal. The Machsom is overcome by those who run away from their egoism and agree to any conditions in order to be freed from it, agreeing to take on the condition of “everyone as one” (as one man with one heart or desire) and the mutual guarantee, “one for all and all for one.”

None of us has the power to tear away from one’s egoism. Until now we have talked about it, but were unable to precisely discern it inside us because this is precisely the quality that does not let us get through to spirituality, the quality of bestowal. We are unable to distinguish what it is and where it is inside us. It hides inside us like a snake and we cannot identify it exactly, always confusing it with other qualities.

Just like pain during an illness, only the pain of disappointment helps us to recognize our egoism and to find out that it is not good, but is our evil ruler, Pharaoh. We have to grow so disappointed that we will hate it inside us and desire just one thing – to detach from it. However, in order to come to this state of despair, we must first aspire to it with our entire egoism (Lo Lishma). This is what I talked about before the Convention, that “we are coming out of Egypt.” And everyone was sure that this has to happen. If we did not have this confidence, then we would not be able to become disappointed and discern precisely this evil (Pharaoh) inside us, which does not allow us to ascend to the quality of bestowal.

In order to awaken this evil immediately, I declared at the very beginning of the Convention that we are obliged to attain unity, that all of our work at the Convention must be done by way of deep research of ourselves and our attitude to all of the friends. However, instead of the “revelation of the heavens” that we expected, it immediately brought about a descent, cooling us down. With my entreaty to search for unity and to ascend above us, above one’s “self,” I wanted to show the participants of the Convention that we are not ready for it yet, and as a result of this feeling, the participants entered a trance.

On one hand I was very happy about this state of the “realization of evil.” But on the other hand I started to fear that the group would not be able to come out of this state in such a short time. It’s similar to how a sick person discovers pain and has to understand that it indicates an illness, and then starts treating it with the help of a doctor, the Creator. Besides, 30 to 40% of the Convention participants were people new to Kabbalah and did not understand what is happening to them at all. Therefore, it was decided to stop with one blow to Pharaoh, your egoistic hopes to ascend above them.

However, precisely these processes that we experienced are what prepared us for the passage, one that isn’t egoistic, aspiring to reveal fulfillment, but that desires to reveal the opportunity to bestow, to unite “as one man with one heart,” agreeing to the mutual guarantee. The result of the Convention is the first blow to Pharaoh, our self-love, our egoistic hopes to “break through the Machsom” and receive the Upper World as well as this world inside of us, inside our desires, inside our fulfillment.

Baal HaSulam writes that when a person attains the spiritual boundary, he is convinced that the spiritual world does not belong to him and only then does he break through the Klipa, the boundary, and acquire the quality of bestowal.

The revelation of our unwillingness took place immediately, at my very first lecture, when I said in the beginning that instead of external actions we have to delve inside ourselves, into the connection among us, into the mutual guarantee. Immediately, everything turned to ice! Our egoism came through, but this revelation of evil inside us is also a great attainment that was brought about by none other than our unity (the holiness of day).

Over the course of our Convention we discovered that Pharaoh is inside us and not outside. He received his first blow through the fact that we are disappointed in the results of the Convention. We thought (we being Pharaoh) that we will receive something inside us, but we did not receive anything. This is the first blow to Pharaoh, our egoism. We have discovered that we won’t receive anything inside our egoistic desire.

Now we have a greater ability to tell in which qualities spirituality has to become revealed inside us. We have a better understanding that it won’t happen inside Pharaoh, and about what it means to think about the Upper One. This means not to think about yourself. For now each of us simply shook from impatience: When will the miracle happen so that we will receive everything in this world along with the spiritual world – inside of us?! Now we have a new feeling of the need to separate from the thing that brings us such disappointment, and this is the beginning of rejecting egoism.

We paid a high price for this lesson, but it cost a lot more than that. Precisely the disappointment, the blow to our self-love, our egoism, our hopes to receive, is the greatest acquisition that we could possibly wish for, and I am overcome with joy at seeing egoists who are disappointed.

Now you must only realize what has happened to you. Depending on each person’s preparation, a part of you realizes it mentally, and a part will still experience several more disappointments in your sensations, and then you will realize it. In any case there will be one conclusion: A person will no longer tie himself inseparably to his egoism. Precisely this blow to our unjustified, egoistic hopes will help us to start moving away from it (the Pharaoh)!

It is possible that we will still need to experience more blows, but they will already be going in the same direction that we acquired at this Convention. Perhaps we will be able to go through them not only at Conventions, but inside our daily virtual connection, in the sensation that we have just acquired together. For now let us truly desire just one thing: to reject our egoism, which is the only evil there is, and to ascend from our “selves” into the quality of bestowal.

The Creator has presented this great gift to us! There is none else besides Him! Write to me and ask questions at the lessons. I did not lie to you, but to your egoism.

With love to you,
Dr. Laitman
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