| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Shamati #117 “You Labored and Did Not Find, Do Not Believe“
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 1, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 21, Lesson 16
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World,” Lesson 16
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Writings of Rabash “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 3
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “Donkey Driver,” Item 95, Lesson 36
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 2, Part 7, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 3, Lesson 2
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World,” Lesson 67
| [media 9] | [media 10] |
The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion, Selected Excerpts
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion, Selected Excerpts
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion, Selected Excerpts, “Dvarim”
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
The Book of Zohar, Introduction, “The Donkey Driver,” p. 85: The donkey driver who is leading the donkeys behind them is the assistance to the souls of the righteous, which is sent to them from above to raise them from one degree to the next. Had it not been for this assistance, which the Creator sends to the righteous, they would have been unable to rise from their degree and ascend higher. Hence the Creator sends a high soul from above according to the merit and degree of each righteous and it assists him on his way.
It can be said that this assistance is the same Light that Reforms. And the “Creator” is the general Light of infinity that sends a person vessels (desires). After all, rising to the next degree requires new “clothing,” which in our case, comes through the teacher.
Either way, each request rises to infinity and the Light comes only from there even for the smallest corrections. There is nothing in the intermediate stages because all of them, all the worlds, are in the state of Hafetz Hesed.
As for those who raise their request, they are called “righteous” and they receive help from a special higher soul—from the “donkey driver,” i.e., desires.
Thus, a righteous person is the person who desires to rise from the current state to a state of higher bestowal. Depending on his level, he gets a special soul to help him, intended specifically for this action. Other messengers come from the Creator for other purposes. The Kabbalists metaphorically described this as “letters” or properties that the Creator replaces to perform a special task.
But in any case, “the donkey driver” is a high soul through which the power of the righteous desires performing ascent is combined with the qualitative essence of this ascent, with the level at which the work is performed. That is why every time a person is sent a different soul. Every messenger is for each action.
In the beginning, the righteous does not know that soul at all. It seems to him that it is a very low soul which is accompanying him on his way. This is called “the impregnation of the righteous’ soul.”
It seems to us that the group and the teacher are not so important. We neglect them, in other words, we ignore the special, only means that was sent from Above. Over time, this means is more lost in our eyes; it seems more primitive and insignificant. Indeed, who considers some driver? What do we care about the taxi driver driving us to an important event?
And only later we become aware of his role …
[110504]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/13, The Zohar
Related Material:
The Driver Of My “Donkey”
The Donkey Driver
Bleach For The Donkey
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Shamati #54 “The Purpose of the Work“
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “Donkey Driver,” Item 92, Lesson 35
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 2, Part 7, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 1, Lesson 1
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World,” Lesson 6
| [media 9] | [media 10] |
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Shamati #175 “And if the Way Be Too Long for Thee“
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “The Donkey Driver,” Item 89, Lesson 34
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 10, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 22, Lesson 59
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World,” Lesson 5
| [media 9] | [media 10] |
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Talk About the Congress in St. Petersburg
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “The Donkey Driver,” Item 85, Lesson 33
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 10, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 21, Lesson 58
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot”
| [media 9] | [media 10] |
The Creator drives our “donkey” (hamor – חמור), which means that he manages our matter (homer – חומר) (which has the same root in Hebrew), our desire, by the Light that Reforms.
Since the beginning of creation He develops the desire to receive as something from nothing through the four phases of Direct Light (the structure of the first HaVaYaH) and so on. The Light always operates everywhere, as it says, “I am the first,” and at the same time, “the end of the act is in the initial thought,” so the goal of our development is predetermined to make the created being independent.
The Creator has performed the first act, which is in fact the only act called “creation.” He took something out of Himself. This is why it is called Beria, creation in Hebrew, which means bar – outside one’s self. On the other hand, He brought the desire to perfection and this was done immediately.
In the created being’s perception, there is a whole process that he has to discover by himself: who he is, what he is, in relation to whom he exists, and why it happens this way. He has to accept it based on his nature.
The main thing is that as a result of all the feelings and clarifications he goes through, he reaches a state called adhesion; this adhesion is a result of knowing, as it says: “Know thy Lord.” Thus the created being attains the middle point, the Sefira of Keter or the Sefira of knowledge, which is the mind of the upper.
Thus we perform different actions in order to discover where we actually are and in which state. The states that we go through are divided into levels of the worlds: this world, the worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). This is what we call the states that were prepared for us in advance during the descent from the top down until the moment that we feel that we exist and begin to ask ourselves: “What do we do now, what can we do? How can we fulfill it? What is expected? How are we managed and how can we manage ourselves.”
There comes a time when I ask myself: “Who am I?” I see a kind of a reality before me and my feeling is divided into two:
So what is that upper force? Who is the “donkey” driver?
We cannot of course speak abstractly about the Creator, about the upper Light. We have to “clothe” Him in some revealed form that we understand, and so in The Book of Zohar in the article “The Donkey Driver,” Rabbi Shimon wants to convey to us the points by which we can perceive the upper force that guides and manages matter. We, however, have to try and feel this as much as we can, both in our heart and mind, as much as we need to.
[110508]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/13, The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “The Donkey Driver”
Related Material:
The Pictures Of Reality That Come To Life
Bleach For The Donkey
The Donkey Driver
Preparation to the Lesson
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Shamati #40 “Faith in the Rav, What Is the Measure”
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar – Introduction, “The Donkey Driver,” Item 85, Lesson 32
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Shamati #58 “Joy Is A Reflection of Good Deeds“
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “The Donkey Driver,” Item 83, Lesson 31
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World,” Lesson 3
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Daily Audio Version-MP3
Get the Weekly eNewsletter
Follow on Twitter
