Question: Our desires are the creation. The last phase of creation, Malchut, is a conscious desire to receive pleasure from the status of the Creator, that is, to connect with Him and use Him for one’s own sake.

As soon as Malchut begins to use this connection for its own sake, a sense of shame arises in it, and it performs the next action called the first restriction.

What is this feeling of shame?

Answer: Shame is the feeling of not being similar to the Creator in desires, plans, and actions. From this, a person feels the disparity between oneself and the Creator, called shame.

Shame is a new feeling in creation, in the desire to enjoy, to receive, because there was no such feeling before. It arises when the desire feels that it does not correspond to the Creator.

Question: Is it something created by the Creator, by the upper force? Or is it a reaction of creation, i.e., something new?

Answer: No, this is not a reaction of the creation, but it is what the Creator created and what the creation feels as a fundamental difference from the Creator. The creation understands that it is receiving, but there is someone giving, and this causes shame in it.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”, 7/30/23

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Question: After the Creator creates all the worlds (concealments), then in the very last, corporeal world, we do not feel Him at all. What does it mean that the Creator is not felt? What exactly do we not feel?

Answer: In the corporeal world we feel ourselves as small desires that want to enjoy the micro-dose of the light that fills them. This fraction of light is perceived as life in our body and nothing more.

And then, when we become acquainted with our potential through the science of Kabbalah, we are given a chance to gradually develop our desires and raise ourselves above them. This is called achieving the quality of bestowal through love of others.

Thus, all our desires become more and more similar to the Creator, and in this state we can begin to understand Him, feel Him, and draw closer to Him. By becoming similar to Him, we can see the entire universe and all the worlds.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/16/23

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Question: Where did the letters Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey come from? Why are they called the four-letter name of the Creator?

Answer: Because white light draws its image on a black background. The desire is black, the light is white. Thus, an image of the qualities of light is drawn on the quality of desire.

Question: Why is the first letter Yod?

Answer: In general, all this is explained very simply. The quality of light and the quality of darkness are placed opposite each other so that the light depicts itself exactly in this form.

The letter Yod looks like a comma and indicates the beginning of the expansion of the light. The letter Vav is depicted as a wand, which symbolizes the spreading of light from above downward. All Hebrew letters are created in this way.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 1/15/23

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The four phases in the desire are the meaning of the four letters… in the four-letter Name HaVaYaH: The tip of the Yod is Ein Sof, meaning the operating force included the thought of creation (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 8, Item 31).

The tip of the letter Yod  is the very beginning of creation when there is still no clear desire on its part, but only development on the part of the Creator.

The letter Yod is already the development of desire, the feeling of a certain light inside the desire.

The first Hey is Bina, meaning phase two, regarded as the actualization of the potential.

The difference between Hey and Yod is that the desire created by the light in the first phase begins to feel it exists and regards the light as filling it. This stage is called Bina. It wants to become similar to the light.

The letter Vav means Zeir Anpin or the third phase. This phase is the combination of the first and second phases when both the light of Hochma and the light of Hassadim are inside the desire, and the desire continues to form itself. As a result, it comes to a state where it wants to receive only the light of Hochma.

The last, fourth phase is called Malchut, it is the formed desire. This is creation. We are a part of this Malchut, and therefore we feel ourselves as receiving.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 1/15/23

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Then the light was emptied from the entire place, meaning from all four degrees that exist in the place. Even though she diminished her desire only from phase four, it is the nature of the spiritual that it is indivisible (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 7, Item 27).

Question: What does it mean that the spiritual is indivisible?

Answer: If you admit that you have reached the incorrect state, then all the previous states that led you to this also have no right to remain.

Afterwards, he re-extended a line of light from the first three phases, and phase four remained a vacant space.

The fourth phase (Malchut) decided not to be the way the light originally created it. Therefore, there is a prohibition on it to receive light and to change under its influence. As a result, the light again extended through the three previous phases, and the fourth one became different.

Malchut makes a restriction on itself; meaning, it does not want to remain the same as before, but only wants to receive, but not for itself. Thus, the fourth phase completely changes the meaning of the development of creation. This is already a conscious creation that does not want to receive pleasure for its own sake, but wants to become similar to the upper force, to the light.

Question: Can we say that freedom of choice is happening here for the first time?

Answer: Yes, we can. But basically, the desire, being in the state it so far is, has no other choice, it is obliged to act in this way. This is not yet the creation of our world and not real freedom of choice.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 1/1/23

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Because we are branches that extend from Ein Sof, the things that are in our root are pleasurable to us, and those that are not in our root, are burdensome and painful (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, Inner Observation, Chapter 4, Item 19).

This can be explained very simply: things that are related and close to you, you always perceive as right, good, and pleasant. This is how all creatures, everything that lives on Earth, is created. This is why we define creation in this way.

It procreates its own kind and therefore feels a relationship with what it procreates.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/4/22

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Since the Creator contemplated delighting the created beings and the light expanded from Him and seemingly departed Him, the desire to receive His pleasure was immediately imprinted in this light.
You can also determine that this desire is the full measure of the expanding light (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Restriction and Line,” “Inner Observation,” Chapter 1, Item 11).

The will to receive, which the creation begins to feel, determines the entire essence of creation and the full measure of its fulfillment from the Creator.

It turns out that we can enjoy only the revelation of the Creator and nothing else.

Question: Does it mean that without revelation of the Creator, we will feel everything else as suffering?

Answer: There is nothing more to reveal because everything that is around us and in which we exist is the Creator.

Comment: But, actually, throughout the entire historical development we reveal some new things.

My Response: All this is nothing more than the revelation of the Creator to the created beings.

Question: What else can we reveal that we have not revealed today?

Answer: We can reveal all the Creator’s desires to delight us through what exactly and how He wants to delight us, and we can be able and ready to accept and be filled with this pleasure. We need nothing else. This is the purpose of creation.
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From KabTV’s ”The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/30/22

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The spiritual degrees that Baal HaSulam talks about are built on a digital principle. These are absolutely clear laws: the influence of light, the reaction from the desire, and the emergence between them of a means of balancing them called a screen.

All this is built on very clear principles: five degrees in the desire (zero, one, two, three, four), five degrees in the light (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida), and the screen that binds them together. This is how the system of our soul is built.

But its feelings are analog, not digital. They are not digitized by squares or cubes, although everything grows in this way, but sensory and infinite. After all, when light fills the vessel, it does not leave any empty places in it and it produces this complete integral.

An integral is always a limitation. Instead of calculating the area of some figure, we fill it with squares and then sum them up. The sum of the squares supposedly gives us the area of this whole problematic figure. In fact, it does not, but this is approximately the way we use it, depending on how accurately we divide it into squares.

Here, however, we have a perfect integral. Perfect! Because the light fills all the empty spaces of the Kli (vessel). Therefore, the feelings that we receive are analog, perfect, despite the fact that the gradation of information transmission, its perception, reproduction, and in general, everything except feelings (the sensation of light in the vessel) happens by degrees, meaning it is clearly determined.

Question: Why was the analog system not created in the right way? Why should there be exactly two systems: digital and analog?

Answer: Because in this way the digital system gives the accuracy of measurement, analysis, and synthesis, and the analog system gives the height and perfection of sensation.

In this form, the connection of both systems takes place, but only because we are dealing with light, which fills the Kli and absolutely all its empty spaces. That is, there are no small tails left in our sensations that are not yet filled, not yet included in the integral.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Difference between Analog and Digital Systems” 10/15/13

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The ARI elaborated on the matter of the first restriction in the first chapters of this book. This is a very serious matter (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Chapter 1, Inner Observation, Item 9).

The first restriction is the most important matter, since it is about restricting the use of egoism. The entire creation begins with this.

That is, the first restriction is a restriction of intention, a prohibition to receive for one’s own sake, what is called Tzimtzum Aleph.

Question: Are there any physical laws that correspond to this restriction? Is it somehow manifested in our world?

Answer: No, it cannot be manifested in our world. Otherwise, we would see a different world. Our world is built on absolute egoism in its different variations.

Comment: But we have read that there is nothing in our world that does not have a spiritual root.

My Response: The root, but not the equivalence.

Question: Then should there be a branch of this restriction in our world since this law must be manifested somehow?

Answer: This law is manifested, but in such a way that we do not feel it. We are in absolute restriction, but we do not feel that it impedes us or restricts us because we do not feel anything opposite to it. There is only one desire in us—to receive, to use our egoistic intention.

Question: Are we really in restriction? We receive for our own sake for our entire lives.

Answer: Precisely this is life in restriction. We receive for our own sake, but we do not even feel that we are doing it only for ourselves.

That is, the first stage of a person’s spiritual development consists of understanding that he really receives for his own sake and is opposite to the Creator. This is what stops him. He starts thinking, “How can I get out of this limitation?”

Question: What other types of restriction are there?

Answer: A restriction on receiving pleasure. There is nothing else. It is only necessary to understand that I live in pleasure for myself and have to begin to restrict it.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/30/22

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The spiritual is divided by disparity of form, as the corporeal is divided by an ax…

Know that spiritual entities become separated from one another only by disparity of form. In other words, if one spiritual entity acquires two forms, it is no longer one, but two (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Chapter 1, Inner Observation, Item 4).

If the desire, which is the basis of the entire creation, changes, then it separates the previous form from the subsequent one. Therefore, by changing the desire, we separate from our previous state into the next one, and thus we are constantly changing. After all, the change in our desires determines our movements and differences.

Question: What are the forms of desire?

Answer: Bigger and smaller ones in quality and in quantity.

Question: This is the size of desire. What does “the form of desire” mean?

Answer: The fact is that the desire, while changing in size also changes its form: the way this desire is expressed, what it yearns for, what fulfillment is desirable for it.

Question: I am now trying to understand what forms my desire has?

Answer: Any forms you want.

Question: How many types of forms are there?

Answer: It is impossible to say; there are countless numbers of forms.

Question: Is form an intention of the desire?

Answer: Intention or direction, no matter what you call it.

Comment: But if it is an intention, then we only have two of them: for my own sake and for the sake of the other.

My Response: But they can also be different.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/30/22

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