Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “What Is the Prohibition to Greet Before One Greets the Creator in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “The Donkey Driver,” Item 109, Lesson 7
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 60, Lesson 35
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Lesson 1
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Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam “Because Man Is the Tree of the Field”
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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Yitro,” Selected Excerpts
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Explanation of the Article, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Lesson 11
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “The Freedom,” “One Law For All the Worlds,” Lesson 12
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Question: What does a person who has experienced the ten plagues, came into the desert, and entered the land of Israel feel? I think that anyone can imagine blows.

Answer: No, these blows are completely different. These are not the blows that we are used to. A blow is not something that makes us feel bad; we can all imagine feeling that way. Rather, a blow is something that makes me understand that my egoism, my nature, is evil. This attainment is called a plague. Nothing else pertains to the ten plagues.

It is not a blow if I am just feeling bad. I suffer not because I am feeling bad, but because I feel the evil of my desire to receive pleasure, of my egoism. A blow points me to the cause of the evil. It, itself, is not evil.

In reality, these blows are not that much suffering. People suffer much more in our world. What matters most is that a person feels a direct connection between suffering and his egoistic qualities: “You suffer because of what you are. You will not suffer if you rid yourself of these qualities and rise above them.”

A person strives to escape this suffering, but it is not because he just wants to stop feeling it. It is because he feels his insignificance, the evil in him, especially in relation to those around him.

There are several terms here: the Creator, man, Pharaoh, the sensation of evil, and the reason for the sensation of evil versus good. Man does not want to escape the blows. This is not the problem. The blows help him discover the true causes, and he no longer wants to just escape the blows; he desires to rise over them toward the property of bestowal.

He wants to attain a connection with the Creator and to disconnect from Pharaoh not from the bad feeling. In other words, he transitions from evaluation according to the principle of “bitter and sweet” toward examining the principle of “true and false.” He wants to cling to the truth, and this is why the ten plagues lift him and take him out of Egypt.
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From the Lesson on the Weekly Torah Portion 1/6/2011

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Question: Does the law of “The general and the particular are equal” mean that one can undergo the ten blows both individually and in the group, or is it an exclusively internal, personal process?

Answer: Yes and no. As a rule, all Kabbalists go through this individually; I know this from my own experience. One feels so desperate in his egoism that he tears away from it and cannot use it anymore.

There is no doubt that it’s easier to do this while being in the group, even if the latter knows nothing about it. It can be a small group in terms of the number of members and level of advancement, but its general atmosphere, its determination and aspiration to the goal helps a person and doesn’t let him escape from this process. A person holds himself intact at the time he is receiving a blow, which is what matters the most, and he passes through it.

However, even if he tells himself, “That’s it, I give up! I can’t stand it anymore! I wish to live solely for bestowal,” he eventually descends deeper into the egoistic desire and gets revisited by those thoughts and internal discernments. He sees that at the deeper, inner level, he is still stuck in his will to receive where he hasn’t yet made a final and irreversible decision that he desires to rise above it all.

The ten blows are not only just different in character, not at all. They differ in their depth since they become more and more internal. Therefore, even if during the previous test a person decided that he wouldn’t be using egotistic desires any more, now he sees that he hasn’t worked on this particular desire yet. He hasn’t become aware and realized that it cannot be employed and that he can’t comply with his egoism.

If a person has a strong and correct environment, he passes through these states with enthusiasm. He is aware that he is undergoing a blow that will help him tear away from egoism and get refined. I don’t think a student can go through it without the support of the teacher and the group.

The blows themselves are very specific, and one should move through them quickly and distinctly. It all depends on our discipline, the interconnection between us, and our willingness to lose interest in our egoism which is our nature.
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From the Lesson on the Weekly Torah Portion 1/6/2011

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The Zohar, Introduction, Article “The Donkey Driver”: They said, “It is Rav Hamnuna Saba,” for now they have recognized his degree, that he was Rav Hamnuna Saba himself, and not as they previously thought—that he was only Rav Hamnuna Saba’s son.

Question: Usually we study that the “son” is the next level of the “father.” So why does this paragraph say that the son of Rav Hamnuna Saba is a smaller degree than him?

Answer: During the descent from Above downward, every greater degree is higher. Thus the grandfather (Saba in Hebrew) is the higher level, and the father (Aba) is beneath it, and lower still is the son (Ben).

We ascend up the levels from below upwards, going through them in the opposite order: from grandfather, to father, to son. A “son” is the most advanced level, above all of them. But during the descent of the degrees, the son is below everyone.

The levels that the “donkey driver” goes through are the levels of the worlds. These forces descend to the sages from the height of all 125 levels in the form of “grandfather” and “father” being higher than the son.

But when these sages ascend, their levels of attainment: grandfather, father, and son are expressed from above downwards, in which case the son is the most advanced level.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 1/20/11, The Zohar

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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “The Matter of Tu Bishvat”
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “The Donkey Driver,” Item 101, Lesson 6
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 59, Lesson 34
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Quality of the Hidden Wisdom – in General,” Lesson 3
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Question: Would it help our spiritual development to know exactly where we are on the scale of the inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human levels? What does our progress depend on? What instruments could help us determine where we are? And how can we change?

Answer: All of this is determined the moment a person comes to the group. He can begin evaluating himself only in relation to the environment: How much does he aspire to his friends, to the common desire of bestowal, to feel everyone as one desire?

This common desire is the Soul that was created. And if we attain it as one whole, then in it we will feel the quality of bestowal, the Creator. It was precisely in order to enable measurement, attainment, and control over our state that the common soul, creation, and desire were divided into an infinite multitude of parts. Every part of the desire, every person thereby received the opportunity to imagine the other parts as united, depending on his aspiration to this state.

If this person or part begins to work to unite with all the other parts, seeing them as perfect and receiving from them the right aspiration forward, the motivation, the importance and value of spiritual development, then he gains absolutely clear abilities to measure his state and to receive help from outside.
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From the lesson in Moscow on 1/14/11, The Zohar

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Question: Can we build the collective intention before the lesson begins? If so, how?

Answer: The collective intention has to be founded on the common goal. Our ultimate purpose is to delight the Creator, whereby we equalize ourselves with Him. In order to accomplish this, we must get to know Him since He wishes that we see His love and kindness. It isn’t our personal need; the Creator wishes for us to know Him.

Getting to know something means to become equivalent in form. Hence, we do our best to aim all our efforts at bestowal. I exert effort not to gratify my egoism, but yearn to step out of myself and desire to find the Creator namely to delight Him therewith.

To accomplish this, I need to possess the Kelim (properties, vessels) of bestowal, and I turn to the aid of the Light concealed in the Kabbalistic texts, especially in The Book of Zohar. The Light can reform me, walk me across the abyss that lies between my properties of reception (receiving Kelim) and bestowal (bestowing Kelim).

However, if I think about it alone, there isn’t sufficient force. It doesn’t even sustain my ability to hold the intention to bestow. On the other hand, if I work with the others as a link in the chain, in one desire where everyone nullifies himself before all the others, then our common spirit gains great power. Kabbalists, who had already passed these stages, promise us that this is the way to success.

Hence, I am happy to be among the friends and to be able to build the intention with them by withdrawing from myself as far as possible in order to finally bring pleasure to the Creator. In this way, we become similar to the Creator in qualities and get to know Him in the same degree; moreover, we achieve adhesion with Him.

Therefore, we must start preparing before the lesson and arrive to it with a fully formed desire. By thinking about it, a person “heats” himself up more and more until he finally succeeds. It is written: “Mitzva (commandment) without intention is like a body without a soul.” You are given a commandment to study the Torah, a Kabbalistic method that is designated to reform the evil inclination. With its help, you will attain bestowal, feel love for all others and, ultimately, for the Creator. The Torah derives from the Hebrew word “Ohr” (light) and from the word “Oraa” (instruction).

But if you haven’t equipped yourself with the necessary intention, you are sitting at the lesson dead and performing mechanical actions deprived of spirit and the Light of life. So it is up to you to decide what you are getting up for at night and what you are doing.

Even if a person is unable to keep the intention, let him at least feel how strongly he lacks it. The heartache caused by the empty, bitter heart is just as important.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/2010, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Buds”

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Question: In the beginning of the lesson, you usually set a common direction for all of us; you help us focus on a common intention. How important is this directive?

Answer: We need to come to the lesson already prepared, with a particular desire (intention): What do I wish to receive from the lesson? I need to think a lot about this prior to the lesson.

Sometimes I organize an intention for everyone without relying on your preparation, but rather setting an example myself. However, in general, each of us should prepare for the lesson on his own, in his own intention. One’s success in revealing the Creator depends precisely on the intention.

A mother gives to her little child what she thinks is necessary. However, as he gets older, a person chooses things according to his taste, using his own experience and comprehension.

We have come in contact with The Book of Zohar many times already; we have tried many exercises with the intention. Over the course of the day, a person needs to prepare for the lesson and for attuning himself to the studies. We need to give people an opportunity to build an intention on their own rather than gathering them like a nursery school teacher: “Take each other’s hands, and everyone follow me!”

One has to prepare for the lesson on his own based on his present sensations and understanding, based on his current state. After all, the lesson is a time for the realization of desires. Here, being on a date with the Light, a person can receive what his point in the heart aspires for.

Maybe we should sit in silence for 15 minutes before the lesson so that every person could search within. However, I depend on you in this regard: Between waking up and coming to the lesson, you have time to think, attune yourself, and build your intention.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/2010, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Buds”

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Shamati #2 “Divinity in Exile”
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