A question I received: We have to rise MAN (Mayin Nukvin, a prayer). Is this action performed within the desire?

My Answer: MAN means that I’m asking for the force of bestowal. From within Malchut, I turn to Bina and ask Bina for the ability to bestow. However, I have to reach the state whereby becoming filled with this prayer (MAN) is enough for me; I feel joy from being able to rise MAN.

How does the Torah describe this state? It is when you come into the “daylight.” A “day” is when you have nothing and have been wandering in the desert, looking for MAN (the desire to bestow), and you find it. When you do, it enlivens you, satisfying all of your tastes. It contains everything that you desire.

What kind of “taste” is it? Where is it coming from? What is MAN? It comes to you from Bina. It is when a mere possibility to make a plea to the Creator is enough for you: “I have the connection with Him. I can ask Him. Nothing else is important to me.”

Yet, don’t I want to have the desire within which I can reveal the Creator? No. I’m satisfied by merely having an aspiration to Him. This constitutes my fulfillment now. The connection with the Creator through the group fulfills me.

"But what kind of connection is it? How can you have anything? You have nothing." True, but can I appeal to Him by rising MAN? When this is possible, that’s enough. This is called “wandering in the desert,” acquiring the properties of “Hafetz Hesed” (he who doesn’t want anything). In the desert you are deprived of everything, you truly desire nothing for yourself. Yet thereby, you acquire the correction by the property of bestowal, similarity to the Creator, and this is your fulfillment.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: How can we demand correction at present when we are entirely in egoistic desires?

My Answer: Of course, we can’t demand correction at present. If I’m an absolute egoist, how can I ask for correction? However, what’s demanded from me is to ask for a bit of bestowal to the extent that I’m able to ask while still in egoism. This means that while you’re in Lo Lishma, (that is, in a lie, in the ego, in your desire for pleasure, and in thoughts about yourself), you are making a weak cry that you want to be giving.

Of course, it’s a lie, and you don’t want to love others, to give to them, and become similar to the Creator. You simply don’t know what bestowal is, and because of this, you are able to say these words. If you knew what it was, you’d run away immediately. The truth is concealed from you so that you don’t know what you are asking for. Bestowal is so opposite to your nature that it’s really death for your present desires and qualities.

In the science of Kabbalah, we study the relationship between Lights and desires. There is a vessel or desire with the Light opposite to it. Beside this, there is another state in which desire is not true but false, and the Light which is opposite to it is not Direct but Surrounding. This is exactly the state that we’re in now. However, for now, we ask that this Light come and bring us this desire to give as if we want to become giving, and it works because of this.

The system is designed such that, from our current state in which we do not want the next state, but nonetheless are asking for it, we can come to this next state, we can start wanting it, receive it, and be in it. This is caused by Reshimot, the spiritual genes, which remain in us from the corrected state that later shattered. These Reshimot awaken Lights in the World of Atzilut that are far from us. We can attract them to influence us, and then they are called Surrounding Lights.

Certainly, we’re in a lie and don’t want bestowal or to love our neighbor. It is true. The Torah does not hide this fact from us. On the contrary, it tells us that the Creator is concealed and the spiritual world is concealed because if you saw it, you would never want it.

Thus, spirituality is concealed so that you can imagine that it’s good for you even in your egoistic desires. When you imagine some egoistic reward for yourself, as if you want the spiritual world, the Light still influences you and changes your desires and thoughts from receiving to giving. This is how it works. The system was designed exactly for this process.

It works in this way not only in our state when we ascend from this receiving level to the first degree of giving; after crossing the Machsom (the barrier to spirituality), we ascend from state to state according to the same principle: by desiring the undesirable. Although, at those stages “a person’s soul teaches him,” and we have some support because we are already in the spiritual world.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/2/10, The Zohar

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 134
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Preface to the Sulam Commentary,” Item 47
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot, Item 34
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The Zohar, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 114: There are five abstentions on the day of atonement—eating, drinking, bathing, lubrication, wearing shoes, and intercourse—to be assisted by the five upper sides, HGT NH, which the day of atonement, Bina, brought out, and which are her gates.

Since we must transition from the perception of reality in the egoistic desires to the perception of reality in the desires of bestowal, the authors of The Zohar (like all other Kabbalists), tell us about the various corrections we must make in our desire; we move from one rung to the next, in order to further advance each of our five senses toward spirituality. All five senses are connected with each other, and for this reason we always have a spiritual Partzuf, meaning a definitive perception of reality with limitations.

In order to transition from the current perception of reality to a more advanced one, we must increase our desire and attract the Reforming Light to it. In this way, we will build the next Partzuf that is our self on a higher level. We do this by opening more and more of the senses, the perception of reality. This is the way we advance.

All of the obstacles that the The Zohar describes, such as the “scapegoat,” the “five prohibitions,” and so on, are solely limitations. We perform these limitations according to the Kabbalists’ recommendations, and as a result, we come to corrections faster. After all, they tell us in advance what is worth doing on every step, in order to direct oneself to the perception of reality on a more complex, inner, and deeper level. Then, without fail, we advance with greater speed and certainty.
[15113]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 102: …When it was said, “Fetch two he-goats, one for Me and one for that delator, the Sitra Achra, so he will think that he has eaten from My own meal, and will not know of the joy of our other meal. He will take that part,” GAR of the left, which is sent to the desert, to the place of ruin, to give him back his dominion, meaning to the middle point of the ruined world….

We read in all the Kabbalistic books about actions that we need to do in order to reveal the real world by having proper vision and perception. For example, when I don’t know where I am, I try to make my senses more acute, I clean my glasses to clear the fog before my eyes. I try different things to help orient myself to the strange place that I can’t make out.

Kabbalists give us the same kind of prescription: the things that we need to do in order to clear our sensory channels: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch (five Sefirot), in order to orient ourselves in the new space and to be able to discern it. This is why The Zohar tells us that if there is a disturbance in our perception, the so called “GAR of the left,” then we need to stop using it, and “send it to the desert.”

In other words, The Zohar describes the way we are to work with our senses and what we need to do in order to become closer to the proper orientation in the space where we exist. Essentially, the entire wisdom of Kabbalah only speaks about attaining the perception of a new reality instead of perceiving this imaginary world.

After all, we’re not actually going anywhere, we don’t fly or move, we remain in the same place and state. We simply keep perfecting our senses. This is why Kabbalah is called the science of reception, the science of perception (in Hebrew, the word “Kabbalah” comes from the word “Lekabel” – to receive).

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/10, The Zohar

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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Shelach Lecha,” Selected Excerpts
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A question I received: How can a person check how much he has advanced from lesson to lesson?

My Answer: I must actively work on making clarifications about my advancement, in fact advancement depends on these inner scrutinies. What do I want? Is it for my sake or for the sake of bestowal? Do I have connection with the friends in this regard? Do I need them or not? Do I work from an egoistic desire or an intention to bestow, from the side of the Creator or the creature, above my egoism or within it? The whole advancement is based on such self-analysis.

It’s possible that after a good lesson, these clarifications will reveal my bad state to me, but they will be more precise, and this means that I am advancing! Every day should give me a simple result: I should come to the next lesson tomorrow with a more clarified desire. Whether or not I have a desire is irrelevant, because it is given from Above. However, does this state become better defined?

Possibly, this analysis will lead me to a dead end where everything becomes unclear and foggy. But this too indicates greater clarity and clarification. The Light that comes to me during the lesson provides me with definitions; whether they are positive or negative is irrelevant. These definitions allow me to perform a more refined and precise analysis in order to evaluate myself, my state, in regard to the Creator or the goal – in all the directions.

In this manner, the Light affects the desire: When it illuminates it, I see more in it. Even if I stop discerning anything, and suddenly I  become completely confused and foggy, this too is called seeing “more.” These situations also offer degrees of understanding.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/2/10, The Zohar

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Baal HaSulam explains that the study of the Torah (Kabbalah) differs from all other activities in this world. No special qualities of this world can help a person study the Torah, be it intelligence, wisdom, creativity, a sharp mind, erudition, or knowledge. Only the Light, by acting upon a person, can help him advance. This advancement is in correction and not the accumulation of knowledge.

Therefore, the study of the Torah can be likened to a medical procedure that we undergo. Our coming to a Kabbalah lesson is similar to a person who comes to a doctor for a treatment. If a person desires it and prepares himself each time, expecting that it will make him better, then after many procedures (many Kabbalah lessons), the correction occurs.

Thus, we also need to check ourselves and determine if we approach the studies with the correct intention. Our intention is particularly important while studying The Book of Zohar since this is the most powerful and effective means for working against our nature. It is also necessary to check and evaluate ourselves after the lesson, after this “medical procedure.” “Have I advanced in some way toward the goal, toward love and bestowal, and toward the willingness to unite with the group? Do I feel an increased greatness of the goal?” If so, I feel the importance of the goal, the significance of spirituality, and the Creator to a greater extent, and this gives me energy and the desire to advance.

How much we understand The Book of Zohar is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if a person doesn’t know the original language of The Zohar or if everything it tells us about seems very distant and unfamiliar. Even people who have studied the Torah in its simple interpretation their whole lives, also don’t know what is written in The Book of Zohar. They are even more confused than those who have never studied the Torah.

Thus, we should open our hearts (rather than our ears and minds) to receive the medicine. It’s needed so that our egoistic heart can be transformed into an altruistic one, under the influence of “the wonderful quality” (Segula) contained in The Book of Zohar. We should accept every word that we read in The Zohar as a drop by drop infusion. Indeed, the Light comes to us drop by drop, and thus, they are called “drops of fortune” (“Mazalot,” from the word “Nozel” – dribble). For this reason, we should wait patiently for this medicine to affect us, drop by drop, until we reach “complete success.”

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/2/10, The Zohar

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 116
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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, Article “Ancestral Merit”
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Our entire work amounts to making the shift from perceiving reality inside egoistic senses to perceiving reality inside altruistic senses. This is the whole difference between perceiving this world and perceiving the Upper World. It is the difference between our current perception of reality (where we are living a lie, far away from the Creator, without knowing where we exist) and the understanding, perception, and knowledge of where we exist, or rather, inside Whom and with Whom we exist.

The switch in perception happens by virtue of a person’s effort. There must first be a desire to change one’s perception; this will occur only if we desire it. That is why we have to strive to imagine a higher reality and to create its image in ourselves according to how Kabbalah Books tell us to, as well as to build such relationships between us in the group.

Then when we read about this higher reality during our studies, we will demand for a force to come from Above and open these senses, to unlock the locks on our perception, to allow us to reveal where we truly exist, instead of remaining in this deceptive, imaginary, made-up picture, which is presented to us today in our clouded senses. Therefore, our whole work lies in finding the right definitions, which are called the true reality.

Each of us should use all his strength, to the extent that it is possible, to try to imagine and depict a higher image where we are all united in our desires together with the Creator, and there is no difference between us. There, the Creator (the quality of bestowal and mutual love) dwells among us, within us.

In reality there is nothing except this state. There are no imaginary pictures. We should ask this reality to affect us and to be embodied in us. This should be the result of our efforts. This is what a person should aspire to constantly while reading The Zohar and other Kabbalistic books. This is also the reason why these books tell us about the true reality. Otherwise, we could read other books, written in a different style, or there would be no sense reading them at all.

Thus, when we read about the Upper Reality in these books, we should try to attain it. As Baal HaSulam writes in Item 155 of “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“: “…through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround their souls.” The Lights come to us from the single state that exists, and in this manner we correct ourselves.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/10, The Zohar

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