Question: How can one receive from the environment the importance of the intention to bestow?

Answer: Imagine that beside the environment there is nothing. There is no Creator, no property of bestowal, there is nothing but the environment.

We think that there is something else and it appeases us: There is the environment, but there is also the Creator, my own relationship with Him. In truth, there is nothing like that, but only the environment. Either you perceive yourself in yourself, or you can sense yourself inside the environment. It will also be you, but the perfect you that incorporates within of all of your lost pieces.

Beside these two components there is nothing. You are either submersed in your current self or you connect with the environment which you presently imagine as being outside of you: with the group, with the common desire. But that’s you!

In reality, my current perception of myself is conditioned by the fact that my egoism tears me away from my true “self,” and I think that I exist outside of it. It’s totally the opposite! My entire Kli (desire, vessel) of the soul is there, inside my true “self.” It’s just that the concealment acts upon me and I consider it foreign. Subsequently, it will become revealed to me whom I stole from, whom I deceived, or harmed. It was me myself, the people closest and dearest to me!

Question cont.: Under what condition can I receive the importance of bestowal from the environment?

Question: By faith above reason! You are looking for a rational confirmation, for a certain logic which would explain that you appeal to the group and receive support from it. Such logic does not exist. Indeed, if you were able to substantiate this logically, it would be advantageous for you to be in this team from the egoistic point of view, for instance, like in a football team. Here, however, you have no rational support!
[38686]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Lesson on Topic “Preparation for the WE Convention,” Lesson 2
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “Yitro (Jethro),” “On Eagles’ Wings,” Item 314, Lesson 6
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 9, Item 17, Lesson 12
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Topic: The Principles of Global Education, Lesson 5
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Question: How is it possible to ask the Creator for help and to desire only to bestow, without receiving anything for ourselves?

Answer: This is exactly what we ask for. I ask the Creator to give me the opportunity to bestow, where “to bestow to the Creator” means to bestow to the group because it is written, “I dwell among My people.” This is the same thing.

There is no other Creator. “I dwell among My people” means that He becomes revealed in the group. The common force of the group is called “the Creator.” To bestow to the group as a whole means to bestow to the Creator.

We think about this in the earthly sense and that’s why it seems to us, “What’s so special about the group? What can I give to them? How silly!” But if you really would come out of yourself to bestowal to others, you would reveal the upper reality instead of this world. It’s just that we don’t achieve this.

A question arises: But many philosophic teachings also advocated bestowal to society and considered the voice of the people to be the voice of God? Yet, that is incorrect because they did not use the correcting Light, the inner force that is present in society.

At the end of the day, what does the science of Kabbalah say? You have nothing besides desire. Inside of this desire there is a special force called “the Creator,” which was concealed there from the beginning. You can awaken this force inside of the group if you really want to advance to it, to bestow to the group. There you come face to face with the end results —with yourself, with the group, and with the Creator. Everything is inside of the group, in the bestowal that you acquire outside of yourself.

And it makes no difference whether you bestow to the group or the Creator. Bestowal in the group means bestowal to the Kelim or desires of others, whereas bestowal to the Creator means that you become more included into the common force of bestowal that reigns inside of these desires.

We have to detach from the religious notions, from our inherent faith in some kind of Creator who rules somewhere up in the sky and influences us from there. Look at how much power this stereotype still has over us! But in fact, there is no upper force outside of us! This force is inside of the group, in the connection between us. And there is nothing besides this reality, which you reveal. There is nothing outside of reality.

By delving increasingly deeper into these notions, you start to understand that this is a very materialistic approach.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/11, The Zohar

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Question: During the lesson we work with the Light that corrects us. But what do we work with at the Convention?

Answer: At the Convention this happens even more! We don’t have any other means to influence what is happening to us besides the Light that reforms. It is the only thing we can awaken!

We awaken our future states that haven’t been revealed in us yet and which are about to be revealed. They are states of bestowal to the outside, where every person bestows outward, to his neighbor. This is precisely the quality that we want to discover—each person inside of him and all of us as a whole.

When we reveal this quality of bestowal, it means that we have revealed the Creator. As Kabbalists tell us, this quality gave birth to us, formed us, and dispersed us far away from one another so that by uniting with each other we would reveal it once again.

In the meantime, the Creator is in exile. What does that mean? We can say that He also disintegrated into tiny pieces and is inside all of these broken parts that are far away from one another. As soon as you begin connecting them, you start to recreate or restore Him, the common force of bestowal.

We have to build an image for ourselves that is close to the truth. Otherwise we live in various religious fantasies, imagining an unreal, non-materialistic picture.

We have to understand that the difference between faiths or religions and the science of Kabbalah is that faiths or religions want to imagine spirituality in the material desires, which perceive everything “within” and therefore build their notions according to the earthly reality, with creation being below and the Creator being above, as if they are separated by distance rather than qualities. They do not talk about man’s correction.

In contrast, the science of Kabbalah says that everything is inside of man. Thus, the upper reality or dimension becomes revealed in a person’s inner corrections and changes. Therefore, the most important thing for us is to correct man. By correcting our qualities, a person feels that the Creator is revealed inside of him.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/11, The Zohar

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Lesson on Topic “Preparation for the WE Convention”
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “Yitro (Jethro),” “On Eagles’ Wings,” Item 282, Lesson 5
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 9, Item 13, Lesson 11
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Topic: The Principles of Global Education, Lesson 4
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Shamati #37 “An Article for Purim”
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “Yitro (Jethro),” “And Moses Went Up To God,” Item 245, Lesson 4
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 6, Part 15, Item 200
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Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “What Is Happiness”
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The Book of Zohar –Introduction, Chapter “The Donkey Driver,” Item 96
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Explanation of the Article, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Lesson 2
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The Principles of Global Education, Lesson 3
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The Zohar, Chapter “Yitro (Jethro),” Item 199: His forehead is big but not so much, its lines are five—three across from one side of the forehead to the other, and two are not across. He is confrontational, especially in his home, all his actions are quick, he seems good but he is not so. He praises himself with what is not in him. … He is lenient in his speech, but nothing more, pushes himself where he does not belong, and one who collaborates with him should be careful of his greed, but will succeed with him.

The Zohar is telling us about how complicated we are inside. Every time we reveal new qualities inside of us, which may be good or bad and which constantly come to replace one another, we must use them to discern all of our opportunities to realize ourselves in the current state, to discover all of our weaknesses and limitations. That is how time after time, a person attains himself more, and that means he attains the Creator, as it is written, “I will know You from Your actions.”

When all is said and done, our entire path is the path of self-attainment, the attainment of ourselves. In essence, the entire science of Kabbalah explains to a person who he is—the Creator’s doing. Therefore, you don’t need anything more: To the extent you understand how the Creator created you, what He created in you, why, and in what form, that is how much you will attain Him.

Therefore, when reading the descriptions of these images of man, we have to understand that not one of them becomes erased. All of them complement one another through their qualities, which are similar or opposite to the Light, and in the end they attain the image of the Creator.

Besides, we have to understand that it is talking about a person who advances in spirituality and this is how he sees himself for now, with his positive and negative qualities compared to the Light, the Creator. But the person himself is judging himself, and he discerns these qualities himself. Another person would see them differently because “every person judges to the extent of his own flaws.”

If a certain picture appears before him now, it only seems to him, but does not exist by itself in reality. The only picture that exists by itself is the image of the Creator. But these images are depicted inside a person by his inner qualities.
[38217]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/11, The Zohar

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Question: During the lesson on The Book of Zohar, millions of viewers look at strange letters, hear strange words, and expect something they can’t define. Is this what you call a scientific method?

Answer: First, a regular person lives according his instincts and understands everything naturally. This is how he was taught in his parents’ home.

Second, a person who studied the sciences of this world knows how to relate to nature based on scientific knowledge he obtained. This is an engineering approach. For instance, a mechanic, an electrician, or a specialist in any other area received appropriate education, can do manual or intellectual work, has a set of tools for the job, and thereby forms his attitude toward nature.

He isn’t allowed to work with something unfamiliar, but only after his knowledge and experience have been checked is he accepted to a job in a specific field. Suppose a person studied mechanics and now can repair engines or more complex devices. He uses the acquired knowledge in his work, but he is more or less aware of what he is dealing with.

Third, a scientist is a person who discovers something which was previously unknown, phenomena that couldn’t be predicted in advance. Sometimes, he may feel, guess, and be prompted about something, but he has no clear internal definitions for it. This is what we call discovering new phenomena in nature.

At this point, a question arises: How can I find new phenomena? I need to tune myself to them, but what does “to them” mean if they are new? Should I anticipate certain results, discoveries, and events that may take place, or should I not?

Hence, science has two parts. There is theory where hypotheses are made and are later explored through research. Thereby, new phenomena are revealed. This is the major part of science which is built on the examination of the ideas scientists have regarding expected discoveries. Without this, it is impossible to advance.

However, there are also scientists who search in complete darkness. They have no preliminary theories, hypotheses, and ideas about possible findings. Kabbalah is a science, and we utilize it in all the above-mentioned forms: as regular people, the specialists who study it, and as scientists who in some way can visualize phenomena that may be.

Herein lies a problem: In all our studies, beginning with regular people as in our world and up to great scientists who don’t know where they are going and what they will find in nature, and at all of these levels in the science of Kabbalah, there is an unpredictable part you know nothing about.

What is unknown? You don’t know which property, what phenomenon you actually will find within because you don’t have this property. You can’t even imagine it.

After all, you will discover it in the Kli (vessel) of perception that you build, while the phenomenon is the vessel itself. You can’t pre-experience what exactly will unfold within you since you have never felt it before, don’t possess any intuition, and can’t even guess at it. It is a new Kli. The impression, the sensation, is totally new.

This is how we advance in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Even in something small and simple, there is nothing that we might know in advance. Therefore, our approach when we read The Book of Zohar is correct. I expect the Light that Reforms to come and reform my Kelim, my desires. For example, I can’t see anything without my glasses. There is something before me, but I need a device to see it. I put my glasses on and see something new.

Hence, while reading The Book of Zohar and looking at the “dead” letters and text that doesn’t make any sense to us, we must approach it as scientists of the highest degree who are about to discover something unprecedented to them.
[38146]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Question: Why is it so difficult to keep the intention while reading The Book of Zohar, or to imagine the connection between us and to grab on to the text? What should we do?

Answer: If a person found himself in a great disaster and was told, “Read this text for half an hour and there you will reveal how to get out of the disaster,” then you can imagine how he would spend that half hour. Would it be difficult for him to concentrate on it? What kind of pressure and hope would he feel in trying to penetrate inside the text, to understand what is being required of him, what he can find there, what kind of salvation is there, and how it will arrive….

Everything depends on the environment, on how much it “warms up” this inner attitude to The Zohar’s text. All other Kabbalistic texts are beneficial to a smaller extent with regard to their text’s influence on the reader because when reading them we can involve the mind and feelings, and somehow connect them to ourselves.

The Torah, in turn, is perfect, pure, unattainable, “in the heavens.” What does “pure” (Tmima) mean? No one touches it. It is the upper Light. We only wait for the results from it that will manifest in us.

Only the group can give me this attitude to reading The Zohar so I would passionately wish to receive a result from it. Otherwise it won’t happen.

We have already gone through this state when we just began reading The Zohar. During the first few months people were so inspired that this common excitement influenced every person and every person felt the surrounding illumination to some extent, feeling the power of The Zohar’s influence upon him.

Now this inspiration has waned because at first we received it from above, whereas now we have to develop it ourselves. Nothing happens by itself in nature. You receive an initial awakening and then it is taken away so you would add it from your own end, so you would complete the space that has been emptied of inspiration from above with your own efforts.

If we don’t add to it ourselves, then we cannot keep the intention for correction over the course of 45 minutes while reading The Zohar, and we just wait for the lesson to be over. If we don’t awaken a person, if we don’t stimulate the inner vibrations in him so he would feel like a sick person facing the only means of salvation, the only opportunity to be healed and saved from disaster, then of course it is difficult for him to keep the intention and to grab on to the text. In essence, he blames us because we do not let him feel the vital necessity of this, meaning the importance of the goal.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/11, The Zohar

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