Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot, Item 100: The Zohar tells us that we should not even consider that the Creator wishes to remain in Providence of concealed face from His creations. Rather, it is like a person who deliberately hides himself, so his friend will seek and find him.

Similarly, when the Creator behaves in concealment of the face with His creations, it is only because He wants the creatures to seek the disclosure of His face and find Him. In other words, there would be no way or inlet for people to attain the Light of the King’s countenance had He not first behaved with them in concealment of the face. Thus, the whole concealment is but a preparation for the disclosure of the face.

This is clear to a person who can face this concealment, who focuses all his attention on revealing the Creator. The Creator is constantly before us, but there is the picture of the fictitious world between us. A person seems to see and feel different events in this life that appear to him and that seem to be operating in different directions. In fact, however, they all have one purpose: on the one hand, to evoke a person, and on the other hand, to make him face difficult problems and questions which he has to solve.

We behave in the same way with children, when we give them a game and call it play , that is, to solve a certain problem. It turns out that a child needs to be given a certain obstacle that he should overcome and a little push so that he will move forward. The desire to advance and to solve the problem should be ignited in a person, which means that he should be pushed forward and he should be given some kind of a resistance.

He takes the urge to advance and the force of resistance and processes it internally into the right urge and resistance and thus receives the vessels to reveal the wisdom if it is about this world, or the vessels to reveal the Creator if we speak about the spiritual work.

The more we advance, the trickier these exercises become. We cannot say that they are getting harder, but rather that they are getting deeper. We have to constantly identify these exercises in the Creator’s game with us as He draws away, thus summoning anger in us, disappointment and repulsion from the friends and from the spiritual work.

On the whole, these exercises belong to the group and to the spiritual path, while in our ordinary life there are hardly any such exercises. We should understand that they will grow and spread. The depth and the severity of their threat will continue to grow and eventually we will find ourselves at the foot of a high mountain.

Here everything depends on our preparation, on the mutual guarantee between us that will help us to constantly identify the opportunities we are given, in the form of clarions to advance correctly. The solution is only in connection. Then a person can decipher every step correctly, get constant support and help, and reach the revelation of the Creator quickly.
[104534]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/13

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In his commentary to The Book of Zohar written in the language of Midrash, Baal HaSulam added the language of “The Study of the Ten Sefirot.” By doing so, he passed us a key to this book. His commentary is not just a simple interpretation, but rather, an encoding key to a cipher, to a door that was locked before.

For example, as it is written in The Book of Zohar and in other original sources, “The Creator has come before the face and announced.” Baal HaSulam explains that it is written about the ascent of Malchut to Bina.

At first, this happens in the state of smallness (Katnut), the property of judgment. Then, Malchut is allowed to descend from Bina to the level of Yesod and use the vessels of reception that are, by this time, ready to relate to the Giver and are called “AHP on the rise.” At this time, the Creator comes in front of the face and announces. “Announcement” means revelation.

Baal HaSulam gave us an opportunity to see spiritual actions behind the language of Midrash. This vision facilitates our path and opens ways to self-report that are essential for a deeper penetration into The Book of Zohar.

It also contains parts that are written using the language of Kabbalah, but in general, the texts of Midrash are richer, more expressive, more poetic, and more colorful; whereas the Study of the Ten Sefirot tells us about the physics of spiritual relationships, about psychology and measurable properties of the soul. The soul is the general vessel (Malchut) of the World of Infinity. It is as if the soul was split into several parts that were tested, checked, weighed, and studied together with the interconnections between them, their order, and the way they are fulfilled, and hence went Kabbalah.

These things can be described in a number of various ways, schematically, along the lines of systems research,  or sensorially. In any case, it is about the same thing: ways of correcting and fulfilling the broken vessel that we have received. Generally, there are two ways to describe this process, emotional and intellectual.

It doesn’t matter if we really understand all of the fragments or if they remain unclear to us. When we read The Book of Zohar, we should be thinking only of the Light that Reforms. This way, step by step, penny by penny, we’ll accumulate a huge legacy.

So far, until we reach the revelation—that is, until we disclose the Creator at the very first step, right after the Machsom—we are bound to the rule that describes the work of egoism. So far, we absorb abundance; in other words, the results of our efforts go straight to impurity. It shows in our tiredness, weakness, lack of feeling, and so on, that are in fact, nonexistent; they only seem so to us. If our egoism gets a worthy and attractive offer, our weakness would disappear immediately.

Everything depends on the internal energy, on vessels, desires, that do not consider the spiritual path to be of any importance, either because they are not getting enough illumination from above or because they are being pulled down by egoism from below. In fact, it is a separation, an increase of the distance between the Lights and the vessels. As a result, we feel that we are hanging between heaven and the earth. It is as if something is pulling us down and won’t allow us to soar.

If this happens, all of our achievements fall back into egoism, into filth. However, since we already have completed the analysis and are familiar with these facts, we should avoid repeating prior mistakes. So now we are given new encumbrances that we must overcome over again, but how?

First of all, we should stop eyeing our friends’ faces that look so miserable. One judges according to one’s own flaws, but in fact, all of your friends are on the rise. The Light that descends during Passover lifts them, but they don’t sense it and feel a huge fatigue and pressure.

Question: Does it mean that when we cross the Machsom, we will flow with The Book of Zohar without any more burdens?

Answer: At that level, we concentrate on much harder things since we will acquire the ability to act against our will.
[103884]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/29/13, The Zohar

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of  Baal HaSulam,“Igrot,” Letter 47

The Book of Zohar — Introduction

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 6, Item, Part 15

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Peace“

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Evil forces have no free will. It seems to us that some people or nations intentionally cause us suffering, having committed crimes in history. But all of this is a direct consequence of the system’s work, which in addition to the Creator has only one element able to influence the system—us, the ones who have the opportunity for independent work, free actions, thoughts, and intentions.

So, don’t blame anyone. The Creator is good and brings good, and the laws that He has established work in the world and cannot be transgressed. It turns out that in the whole system of worlds, in the entire universe, just we alone have the power to change something in reality.

We are in the vast ocean of Light, reason, wisdom, and the program of creation, like on a tiny raft. And we can influence this ocean so that we would feel confident in it, safe, and calm, but we can also cause a violent storm in this ocean. Everything depends on us!

All the other parts of creation, except us, do not change. The Light is in a state of absolute rest, and the vessel, desire, is completely dependent on the Light. And only we in the middle between them have freedom of choice. Therefore, apart from us, no one can change anything because they fully obey the higher management. It is the system through which the Creator influences us in order to straighten our paths and bring us closer to Himself.

It is said that “Pharaoh brought the children of Israel closer to the Creator.” Each sacrifice (Kurban) brings closer (Karov) to Him, and it depends only on how we use our own free choice.

So, we cannot wait and waste a moment; we are obliged to do our work as much as possible. In reality nothing will change, except what we change by our own efforts.
[115567]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/20/13, Introduction to The Book of Zohar

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Writings of Rav Kook

The Book of Zohar — Introduction

Topic of Lesson “Group and Distribution”

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Preparation to the Lesson

The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “Rejoicing in the Holidays and Not Giving to the Poor,” Item 175, Lesson 64

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Spirituality is not attained by work in the mind, as it says: “wisdom among the nations – believe, Torah among the nations – don’t believe.” This means that the Light that Reforms is not among them. Therefore they are called the nations of the world and not Israel yet. This is what the whole debate is about: Who attains the Creator and who doesn’t? What is attainment?

To the extent that we acquire vessels of bestowal and sense in them, we attain the Creator, which means the phenomena that take place in our vessels of bestowal. It is impossible to attain anything else, except for a feeling in our vessels. The early simple desire to receive expands and acquires a new order. Before, it was scattered to many contradictory pieces that felt themselves as Israel and the nations of the world, relatives and distant strangers.

All this belonged to my desire to receive, but it seemed like a whole world that is around me in different forms. My role is to connect all this into one, to collect all the pieces and attach them to me by treating them with love. I have to understand that it was all given to me in order to correct myself, my point in the heart, by which I acquire the right intention towards all my enemies, those who hate me and foreigners, as I begin to perceive them as parts of my soul.

It is inside me that I have to find the right attitude towards them and then to correct them. If I perform such a correction in my inner attitude, I see that everything works out. All the many enemies and my problems are only a replica of my inner state. It is my attitude by which I divide all of reality into the land of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Babylon, and different distant countries and nations, which means that they are all the levels of my desire: the still, vegetative, and animate nature, and the speaking.

Once there was one desire, the world of Ein Sof (Infinity), and now it is divided into many parts, which feel that they are distant from one another and hate one another. All this can be connected into one form, and this is the whole correction of man and the world as one whole.

All this can be realized only if I demand correction. The whole difference is whether I philosophize about it using my mind or in contrast to what I see and the repulsion that I feel by all these parts, in faith above reason, as parts of my soul, although they seem so distant and even hated. So I begin to get closer to spirituality, working above my desire in the group and thus awakening it more and more.
[115028]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/13, The Book of Zohar — Introduction

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Preparation to the Lesson

The Book of Zohar — Introduction

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Part 1

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Messiah’s Horn“

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Preparation to the Lesson

The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “Among All the Sages of the Nations of the World, There Are None Like You,” Item 167, Lesson 62

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 15

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Messiah’s Horn“

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Meaning of Conception and Birth,” Lesson 11

The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “A Handmaid that Is Heir to Her Mistress“

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