Question: What action helps us reveal the entrance into spirituality called the “eye of the needle?”

Answer: The eye of the needle is not an entrance even though we call it so. This is our readiness for work, readiness to accept everything that comes from Above.

The needle’s eye is first of all the needle itself. It’s not just a tiny opening. This means that I am ready for everything that the Creator is doing with me since His every action over me is very painful and opposite to my desire to receive pleasure.

Therefore, one has to advance to it very slowly and gradually. A person allows the upper Light a possibility to act to the degree of his readiness, to at least in some external form to come out of himself, from his ego, and to become closer to others.

This is why we are given a group. When you are able in some way to connect to your friends, the Light will act upon you and you will feel that you are capable of tolerating this. This breakaway from oneself elevates the person as he overcomes his ego.
[66679]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/17/12, The Zohar

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We all are the consequences of the shattering of the first man’s (Adam HaRishon) huge desire. Adam HaRishon remained in the state of total perfection even though he was comprised of numerous desires and each of them wanted for itself. Desires always “think” of themselves; and yet the fact that the ultimate force ruled over them allowed the whole structure to stay within a condition that is called the world of Infinity. It maintained total adhesion with and stayed under the absolute authority of the power of bestowal and love.

It is similar to the sensation that we often feel when we are sitting and singing with our friends in a great mood, and hoping that this sensation of warmth and mutual love will last forever.

Of course, this is far from a spiritual sensation, but it gives us an idea of how the common soul felt before it was shattered. Then, some external force broke in and destroyed this sensation.

Where did this force come from in the first place? It was revealed within us; we never sensed it before and didn’t even suspect that it existed. All of a sudden we sensed hatred! It was always hiding within us and suddenly showed itself against our will.

The strength of hatred that hit us was so huge that each of us simply ran away from the beautiful assembly and thus ruined the connections among us. We all started to view it as something dirty and disgusting. We couldn’t tolerate staying within it any longer. This is how we happened to end up in this world and continue to live in it now.

Since then, this world kept developing under the guidance of the force of hatred. Throughout history, and to this day, we have been using the power of the shattering over and over again. But only today are we starting to realize that we have already reached the final implementation of hatred into our lives and that it doesn’t lead us anywhere anymore. Our hope to achieve the good life with its help has vanished.

The time of correction has come since we already understand that using the power of hatred and separation can only ruin our lives. So, our duty is to do something about it!
[66460]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/13/12, The Zohar

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For thousands years we have continued to build various systems of connection between us that are supposed to let us survive without killing each other and bring us to compromise: I give to you, you give to me, this is mine, and this is yours. This is how we try to help each other.

According to various forms of connection and detachment among us, we consider some nations and civilizations to be closer or farther from each other. There are numerous conditions that either connect us or keep us isolated. This is how the force of shattering divided us. It worked like a centrifuge that separated and kicked us far away from one another.

But it is written: “Go and earn from each other.” So, we feel that we will gain more if we unite. We gather in cities and build various systems in order to provide everybody with water, electricity, and to create a suitable infrastructure; we also built factories and industries. All of this is for our common benefit.

The evil egoistic force that prevails among us does more than just separate us from one another; it works cunningly and pretends to be beneficial and useful.

We continued developing in this mode until eventually we reached a point at which we have to come to a decision to not use this power any longer for the sake of our fulfillment since it inevitably lead us to collapse and will trigger crisis in all spheres of our existence: education, family, finances, etc.

The question is: How can we can we correct the evil power that emerged from within us when we were still connected as one soul and that shattered our connection? How can I fix it?

Sages, the Kabbalists, explain that we cannot conquer this force directly by grabbing the serpent’s tail. It crawled between us and spread its poison within our united soul and penetrated into our desires in every possible way. There is not even the tiniest desire or a set of desires within our egoistic entity that were not poisoned by the evil. [Read more →]

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This world enables us to be impressed by the group, the friends; they can be just like me, even worse than I am, or even if only like kids who are drawn to something sublime, not understanding anything yet. From Above they are given the urge and they come to the group with the enthusiasm and the excitement of beginners. It is clear that they don’t have powers of their own to advance towards correction yet.

On my part, however, I have to add my intention to their external actions: I want to be like them, I want to be incorporated in this excitement, instead of rationally predicting their imminent cooling. I should be impressed by their actions, from their high level of energy, to be incorporated in them, and to add that to my intention. I want to burn as they are with the importance of bestowal, even without any feedback, without any confirmation of any possibility of self-benefit.

Thus, by adding my intentions to the external actions of the friends, I can rise, learn, and be impressed by the group. No matter what level it is, I can always connect it to my state, to my intention, and thus advance.

The best and safest way to measure this is to ask myself, during The Zohar lesson, am I preoccupied and worried that it will help me? Do I really want nothing else but this? Is my concern really so great? We have been together for many years, and we are growing old together. So, are we advancing toward this?

A very important point in the development of the human part within us is when I sit in front of The Book and see in it, in its influence, my only rescue. I left all other sources that influenced me, having checked them, found them empty and dry.

It is only when I open The Book of Zohar that I feel the breath of a great force. However, it is as if I am separated from that force by a partition and have to perform different actions inside me to take the crust off my heart so that The Book will influence me.
[66798]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/12, The Zohar

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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “VaYiera,” Selected Excerpts
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Shamati #174 “Concealment“
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Three Lights,” Item 145, Lesson 41
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A person lives only by the desire in the heart. It makes no difference what he says out loud, or whether before reading The Book of Zohar he suddenly begins to think about what he should pray for or what he should think about.

We are before a system that can give us anything we want. We only have to clarify what we can receive from it. I can receive from it something that can harm me by bringing me all the goodness and corporeal pleasures and thereby keeping me away from the goal and “shutting me up.” This is called the “potion of death,” which will fill me with pride and make me receive everything that I lack in this world, meaning to fill my ego.

Or I can ask for something that is detached from this world, which is opposite to it and is not so real—and I will actually receive that. After all, this force can do anything: He created the evil inclination, and He can also create the good inclination and perform the shift between the two worlds: both from top down and from the bottom up. It all depends only on me, only on what I ask for.

So a person has to think, and to take into account that he always raises a prayer because there is always a desire in his heart. This desire either says: “I want to sleep so leave me alone,” or it can be a desire for different nonsense that is in his subconscious. After all, the Reshimot (informational genes) are always evoked and fulfilled in some form.

A person can also take things seriously and want to find out what to ask for; it is all in his hands. A person must know that he is always under the influence of the Light, but now that influence is more intense and strong, and he has the opportunity to advance even in the opposite form of the created being.

It all depends on his deficiency. If he has a deficiency, if he is really somewhat part of the special actions of the Light, which can raise him—then it is fulfilled. And if not, then the Light works on him in the opposite manner.

If people don’t pray with the right intention, meaning if they don’t ask some purposeful action of the Light, they still are under the influence of the Light. This is because the surrounding Light operates on everyone and the Reshimot are constantly evoked in us. The Light operates on the Reshimot and so humanity advances. [Read more →]

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The work we do is called the work of the Creator because the Light is the only thing that ever does anything: It originates, changes, corrects and fulfills desires. The Light does everything: It is the only creative force.

Beside Light, there is desire. Desire wishes for something, but when the Light doesn’t fulfill it, it starts to sense affliction. Next, the Light begins to play with desire: It fills it a little bit, then leaves it unsatisfied; then again fills it up and again vacates and leaves it empty; it allows the desire to go through various stages of fulfillment and deficiency.

Because of such elaborate work of the Light, desire gets smarter. It begins to detect what kind of fulfillment it lacked previously and which one it has currently; it also begins to recognize various forms of the Light. This is how desire develops an intellect, which is arranged very simply and wants to know only one thing: how to get maximal fulfillment.

In other words, instead of letting desire simply wish for something, the intellect begins to work with it. It directs desire and teaches it to rise above its transient demand. Intellect prompts desire to suffer a little at this time in order to get much more later on. This applies to a worker who gets paid at the end of the day, to a businessman who invests millions in the stock market intending to gain more in the future, and to a patient who is ready to undergo surgery for the sake of the future recovery, etc.

Plain desire is not capable of such things! However, intellect that grows next to desire is able to contribute to it, thus bringing the future form of fulfillment closer and making desire ready to suffer.

This is how the Light acts: by developing desire and growing intellect next to each other. This “pair,” desire and intellect, unite and start working against the Light. By complementing each other, both of them become more sensitive and smart and work jointly in relation to the Creator.
[65650]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/12, The Zohar

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Shamati #59 “About the Rod and the Serpent”
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 6, “The Eser Sefirot of ha Olam Nekudim,” (Start with: “Upper AVI mate for Zon and Yeshsut are contained in them”), Item 6, Lesson 5
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“Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 49, Lesson 25
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Shamati #108 “If You Leave Me One Day, I Will Leave You Two”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Three Lights,” Item 140, Lesson 39
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 6, ”The Eser Sefirot of ha Olam Nekudim,” Item 5, Lesson 4
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“Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 47, Lesson 24
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