Why did the Kabbalists choose the “language of branches” for their explanations?

Let us assume that I have attained the connection between the root and branch at the very first degree, and someone else understands it at a higher degree, and a third person at an even higher one. It does not matte; the branch remains the same branch.

A child knows that if you put a plug into an electrical outlet, the toy will work. I know that there is electricity in the outlet that comes into the house through wires. And a person who is even more technically educated knows that there is a power station somewhere, and so on. But we are all speaking about the very same process regardless of how much each of us understands it and how far each one “looks into the root.”

The roots continue in the same direction toward their upper source, but the branch, in our world, remains a branch. The “language of branches” is taken from reality itself; it is impossible to invent another language. And this one does not need to be invented. It turns out that this language is prepared for us by nature for communication within ourselves, between us, and with the Creator.

Moses, in his book The Torah, was the first to describe the entire path of spiritual ascent, at all degrees, in this language. The Book of Zohar gives commentary and supplements the language of Moses with its own language.

Rabbi Shimon passed through the same degrees as Moses, which every person must pass, and in his description, he added a greater connection between branch and root. Therefore, The Book of Zohar is so effective in drawing the light (the surrounding light, Ohr Makif) from the root to its branch (to us).

Baal HaSulam described the connection between the root and the branch even further by adding Kabbalistic definitions and the connection in the three lines.

All of them speak about the same visible picture and its roots, but each Kabbalist adds the description of the connection in his own way, thereby increasing the power of ascent (the descending surrounding light, Ohr Makif), and also paving a path for us to pass through the degrees of the upper world.
[8411]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/13/10, Rashbi, Zohar for All, Vol. 6, “Shmini”

Related Material:
The Language Of Branches That Connects The Worlds
Why Do We Need The Language Of Branches?
Translation from the Language of Branches Is Needed

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Language of Branches, Zohar - No Comments →

We must take upon ourselves faith in the sages (RABASH, Article No. 4, “What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?”).

Suppose I am ready to believe the words of wisdom, but what does that mean? Do I understand the words of the sages? What is their message?

First of all, in the wisdom of Kabbalah we do not deal with bodies. There are no bodies, there are souls. The bodies that appear before us are images of an imaginary world.

I exist within desire, which manifests itself in various forms: still, vegetative, animate, and human. Sages are corrected souls that exist within the shattered system of Adam HaRishon. They can serve as help and support for me; they can be guides and educators for my shattered soul.

Accordingly, this is how we should receive their advice. For example, The Book of Zohar tells us about the ten sages of Rabbi Shimon’s group, as well as about the prophet Elijah, Moses, Aaron, King David, King Solomon, and others.

We do not perceive them as people who lived in our world, but as corrected desires, corrected souls. They exist within the shattered system that is gradually beginning to revive. They themselves are already corrected partially or completely, and they participate in the correction of the entire system.

“Rabbi Shimon said… Rabbi Abba said…” I read in The Book of Zohar. For me, these are not people who attained and speak about the upper world; for me, these names are degrees of attainment.

Through these words I study the ladder of spiritual degrees: on one level reality appears one way, on another differently. It is as if the Kabbalists are telling me this, but for me they are forces, vessels of perception.

Each sage embodies a certain spiritual concept, power, force, or quality for me. Before me are not the names of historical figures, but the names of spiritual phenomena and degrees.

“Faith in the sages” means: I want to attain the same bestowal as on the degrees about which I read. “Faith” means bestowal.

During the study, a person must include himself in this and strive to understand how it will influence him. Whatever the book speaks about, I want to penetrate the spiritual essence of every word. This is what it means that I believe the words of the sages.
[31115]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/29/10, Rabash, “What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?”

Related Material:
A Unique Transformation That Gives You Life
Rabbi Shimon Or The Invisible Man
Rabbi Shimon’s Cry

Filed under: Adam-The Common Soul, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: What is the logic in faith above reason?

Answer: In faith above reason, there is the logic of the upper. The logic of the lower is when I look at the world through my own mind and feelings, and thus exist. But in this way, I move along a plane only on my own level, and I can never rise above it.

This is called faith below reason or faith within reason, and faith, the quality of bestowal, is not above reason and does not determine my actions.

In faith above reason, it is as if I remove my glasses from my eyes and see nothing but the upper. I am ready to join the upper in everything He wishes.

I want to acquire His feeling and His knowledge through the force of adhesion with Him. In this action, I am ready to completely annul myself, to part with my own “settings.”

When I attain His degree, I already have His faith (His quality of bestowal) and knowledge that are higher than what I had before.

By the force of greater bestowal, I also acquire upper reason. This is called faith above the previous reason. In this way, I attain a higher degree.

Therefore, those who walk by faith above reason actually add reason, because they acquire new vessels of perception, since reason, attainment, the light of Hochma spreads only within the light of Hassadim (bestowal, faith).

And those who cannot rise above their reason within an animalistic mind cling to the same state in which they are, want nothing more, and are unable to annul their opinion before a higher degree, before the teacher; they attain nothing and remain animals.

They may be clever and intelligent within the limits of their own reason, but they will not even understand that the upper wisdom exists. After all, the upper wisdom always seems as though it has no foundation beneath it.
[12710]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/10, Rashbi, Zohar for All, Vol. 4, Shmot, “And a New King Arose – 1,” p.82

Related Material:
The Spiritual World Is Above Reason
Be Ready For Changing Perceptions
Switching Our Operating Program

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Teacher, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

The Creator makes us believe that we are not the only ones who feel ourselves from the inside, but that there are other people around us who perceive and evaluate us. This is an illusion, a deception! There is nothing outside, everything is only within me.

With these additional impressions, He expands our Kelim, builds our new level, and lifts us above the animal level to the level of “Adam” (“like the Creator”) in order to become like Him.

It seems to us that the Creator is outside and we are talking, interacting, and cooperating with someone outside of us. I imagine Him before me, and then bring Him in and merge with Him. Then there is nothing before me, He and I become one.

But for now, I imagine Him outside myself. This is a deceptive fantasy, but because of it, as I consider my Kelim to be “external,” I gain additional Aviut of desire, egoism (a desire in which I feel myself relative to others or others relative to myself), which helps me achieve the upper property and become like the Creator.

I just need to bring this image from the outside in, and I will merge with Him!

What happens after this final correction called Gmar Tikkun? Kabbalists say the end of our correction is only the beginning of a new state. Once I have corrected my desires, a new stage will begin. Let us wait and see.
[8834]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 1/4/10, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Foreword to The Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
The Great Illusion on the Scale of the Entire Universe
All Of History Is Inside Me
Nothing Exists Outside of Us

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Every soul is connected to the world of infinity by a chain, a ladder of spiritual degrees, with a gradual weakening of the lights and the Kelim (vessels). The moment I establish a connection with infinity, I awaken this system. In fact, it exists within me, and only seems to be external to me.

There are two in the universe: man and the Creator, and it is necessary to somehow give man the sensation that he exists outside the Creator so that I may understand what separation from Him is, opposition, distance, rapprochement, and adhesion with the Creator. Therefore, I was deliberately created in such a way that I perceive reality as divided into what is inside me and what is outside.

Then it becomes easier for me to understand what “I” and the Creator are, what breakage and connection, an unconscious state and concealment are, or conversely, what approaching Him and adhesion into one whole are.

The Creator throws out everything that I feel within myself, and it turns out that my perception is divided into two: the inner, which is everything that I receive, and the outer, what I give, but without the correct intention. Thus, the external world is my Kelim that are deliberately presented to me as alien and foreign so that I may understand what bestowal is. If I begin to relate to them as a part of myself, then I will understand how distant bestowal is from me and how opposite and undesirable it is!

Try to love your neighbor as yourself; it is not simple at all. I cannot. And this means that I cannot bestow, I cannot draw closer to the Creator. No wait, I do want the Creator! But how do you want Him? You must demonstrate it, and this is precisely the only correct way.
[8847]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/10, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Foreword to The Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
Make the Secret Obvious
Drawing the Image of the Creator within Oneself
A Fantasy That Helps You Grow

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

One who works in the darkness without feeling any taste should understand that this is very beneficial for advancement because you are advancing toward bestowal to such an extent that you do not want other states, because the efforts are the reward if you have love for the one who creates these conditions for you.

You are given the opportunity to make efforts, and you do not feel any taste in this work, you have nothing with which to enliven your ego, the evil inclination, your pride, understanding, reason, and sensation, but precisely under these conditions, you have the opportunity to gather all your strength and with monstrous efforts advance at least in something. In bestowal without a reward.

The reward is the opportunity to come into contact with holiness in the darkness. Then it is clear that you have not been bribed by your desire for pleasure. Therefore, it is necessary to rejoice precisely in these states in which there is no taste at all. A person grows in them.

And here the support of the group is essential, the shared inspiration of the entire global Kabbalistic community. Such mutual support helps.

It is exactly when you do not receive it either from the Creator or from within (which also comes from Him), and you strive to receive support from the group, this is the best and most reliable guide toward the goal.

Specifically here is the point of making the correct efforts and the opportunity for a common prayer.
[7017]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/09, The Book of Zohar, “VaYishlach”

Related Material:
Effort Is Work toward Unity
Effort in Kabbalah (Advanced)
Efforts Are the Reward

Filed under: Group Work, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: In The Zohar lessons you explain very subtle, hidden, one might even say secret things.

Answer: They are secret and concealed from our senses because we are too coarse and unable to discern them. That is all!

This does not mean they are a mystery. They seem like a secret to me because they are concealed from me, imperceptible to me.

I have to sharpen my perception, make it more precise and capable of differentiating finer gradations of properties. Then I will suddenly start to sense a completely different, true depiction of reality, in a higher resolution.

For this to happen, we must introduce the property of bestowal into our perception. By sensing it, we will sense the upper world.
[20834]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/7/10, The Book of Zohar, “VaYechi”

Related Material:
Concealed And Revealed
What Is The Difference Between The Revealed And The Concealed Torah?
Grow Until We Reveal The Secret

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

A “day” is not when there is sunlight, but when spiritual light is revealed to a person. This may happen once in several months, once in a lifetime, or every single moment.

And each time a person attains a revelation, it must be complete and perfect. Therefore, one is obligated to say: Hear, O Israel, the Creator is our God, the Creator is One!

This means that he has attained “One,” that is, the understanding of the one, unified force of nature.

“Hear” means the degree of Bina (hearing, ear). “Israel” means one who aspires “straight to the Creator,” Malchut rising into Zeir Anpin, and together with it ascending to Bina. The Creator is our God; the Creator is One means that everything unites in Bina into a single whole.

The souls that unite together in Malchut join Zeir Anpin, then Bina, and all together are included in the word “One.”

The word “One” sums up all the corrections a person has made, arriving at the state “He and His revelation are One” (Hu veShmo Echad). Therefore, the prayer Hear, O Israel, the Creator is our God, the Creator is One is a sign of the correction of the degree and its fulfillment.

This is how we must reveal our state at every degree, i.e., every “day.” “To say” means not only to attain, but also to be able to express what has been attained.
[12182]
Preparation for the Kabbalah Lesson 4/4/10, The Book of Zohar, “VaYakhel“

Related Material:
“Hear O Israel!” (“Shema Israel!”)
The Force of Bina Dwells Among Us
Inheritance Of The Land Of Israel

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

A man’s prayer is the work of the Ruach [spirit], work from Behina Bet, which depends on the speech.It is in high secrets and people do not know that a man’s prayer breaches airs and breaches firmaments, opens doors and rises up (Rashbi, Zohar for All, Vol. 5 “VaYakhel,” “The Ascent of the Prayer”).

It is written that prayer should be offered near a pillar. This does not mean, in fact, a pillar near which one should pray. The point is that all the Partzufim from the world of infinity to our world are arranged in the form of a pillar, where the AHP of the higher Partzuf is located inside the Galgalta ve Einaim (GE) of the lower Partzuf, and so they are all nested into each other.

There is not a single Partzuf that is arranged differently. Each Partzuf is positioned so that its upper part is inside the higher Partzuf, and its lower part is inside the lower Partzuf.

That is, the upper part of my Partzuf is together with the lower part of the higher one, and the lower part of my Partzuf is together with the upper part of the lower one. It turns out that in my upper part (GE) I form the ten Sefirot together with the AHP of the highest, and in my lower part (AHP) I am in the ten Sefirot with the GE of the lower.

It turns out that in the ten upper Sefirot, I am connected with the higher one, and in the ten lower Sefirot with the lower. But where am I? I myself am the part that divides me into two halves; it is called Klipat Noga. It divides the Partzuf in the middle.

Klipat Noga is all of our free choice. If I decide to connect with the higher in the ten upper Sefirot (1) now in order to lift the lowest up (2), and I am working only for this, it means that I am exercising my free choice in Klipat Noga that is in the middle.

The free choice is that I connect with the Creator, with a higher level, in order to correct the lower one. That is how we work.
[52431]
From the Kabbalah Lesson 8/24/11, The Book of Zohar

Related Material:
The Ladder Is Ready—The Choice Is Yours!
Walking The Tight Wire Straight To The Creator
Freedom Is Born From Love

Filed under: Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

“And the wise shall shine as the radiance of the firmament.”

Thus, with the correction of the firmament, the Parsa, KHB TM of Atzilut were split and divided, and twelve Partzufim emerged from them:

1. Keter was divided into four Partzufim: Atik and Nukva, AA and Nukva.

2. Hochma and Bina were divided into four Partzufim: upper AVI and YESHSUT.

3. Tifferet and Malchut were divided into four Partzufim: the great ZON and the small ZON.

Hence, these twelve Partzufim are called the “radiance of the firmament,” since they were made and came out by the force of the firmament.

The first radiance is the radiance of those who shine in the lighting up of the radiance.
The second radiance is the radiance that shines and glitters to several sides.

The first radiance is Partzuf Atik, and the second radiance is his Nukva. Atik himself is from the unsweetened Malchut, above the firmament, which is the matter of not fissured. However, this Malchut is the root of the sweetened Malchut, and she lights the lights of Bina after they have been quenched (RASHBI, Zohar for All, Vol. 3, VaYera “And Behold, Three Men – 1”).

The Zohar is the totality of the light that passes through Atik and Arich Anpin to ZON and enters Nukva.

The souls that ascend from the worlds of BYA (Beria, Yetzira, Assiya) and enter Malchut of the world of Atzilut reveal this light there, and therefore it is called Zohar (radiance).

The entire system is activated by our desire, intention, and prayer (MAN) when we engage in the study of the Zohar.

Our request rises upward, reaches Atik, and from there the light begins to descend toward us. This light is called Zohar.

This light corrects us and fills us.

It also sustains and animates the entire system, brings it into motion, and returns all its parts to the purpose of creation.
[11500]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/19/10, The Book of Zohar

Related Material:
The Control Board of Spiritual Development
How to Read The Book of Zohar
How To Enter The Book Of Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →