The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 177: The Ruach clothes a man’s Guf in this world, sunken inwards like the sunken letters in a seal, since it is the interior of the Guf, which protrudes outwardly, as it is considered externality. This is why there is only light of VAK in it. The Ruach, the interior of the body, is sunken. When the Ruach spreads from the Guf and rises to the Garden of Eden on the earth, that Ruach is protruding… The Ruachs that rise there have the same form as the Guf in this world, which protrudes.

It’s similar to dough being squeezed through a form. If the form is in the shape of a star, the dough comes out in the shape of a star; if it’s round, the dough comes out round. In other words, the Light that was present within the desire (Kli) gets accepted by it within the Reflected Light (like a spiritual vessel) and that is why the Light becomes revealed. It gets the shape that the “body” (desire) had. Even after the Light leaves the desire, it still retains a “recollection” (Reshimo) about the shape of the desire in which it used to be dressed.

It’s a special Light. It’s not the abstract, simple Light that’s never been accepted by the body. The body has already received this Light and corrected itself in its form. It completed a certain type of correction. Now, the Light that previously “visited” the body and the body itself oppose each other. The body continues to correct itself on a new level and in more advanced ways, but the prior form doesn’t disappear.

Previous forms help us further correct ourselves since the Light that visited the body dresses in the same body and helps it attain higher states. This is the same as our prior life experience helping us make future decisions even though our next steps may be of a totally different nature.

The same pertains to the Light (spiritual wisdom) that used to be dressed into our body and helps us pursue our Path further. Each state remains intact, “nothing disappears in spirituality.” Each prior level leaves a “form” that helps us attain new states. Comparison, clarification, and connection of these forms lead to wisdom which is the science of Kabbalah.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Light Of The Future
Laitman.com Post: Feeling Light’s “Breath”
Video: What Is Practical Kabbalah? – 5 Minutes Of Light (5:27)

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

The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 177: In the Garden of Eden on the earth, everyone stands in the shape and form in which they were in this world. [A spiritual step at which a person stays at any given moment is called “this world.”]  And this concealment and secret is given to sages. The spirit that descends to people, which is from the side of the female, is always carved in an engraving such as this seal, whose letters are sunken. This is so because the image of the body in this world is protruding outwards and the spirit is carved into its internals. When the spirit spreads from the Guf [body] and rises to the Garden of Eden on the earth, that spirit protrudes in the Garden of Eden on the earth in the shape and image of the actual Guf in this world, since it is always as a seal.

“The body” (desire) and the “spirit” (Light that fills the desire) match each other like a seal and its imprint. They separated in order to reconnect. The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to make them match. It’s called “Kabbalah” (receiving) because we are the ones who organize and control the entrance of the Light into the desire, defining the shape of the Light’s entrance into desires and their filling.

For that reason, we study the nature of Light and the nature of desire for their nature is unknown to us beforehand. We have to connect with Light and desire, receive an accurate form of Light and desire, and “tune” them to each other so that one can enter the other. The result is called the “science of receiving the Light” which is the science of Kabbalah.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is A Patent For Infinite Pleasure
Laitman.com Post: The Method of Spiritual Birth
Video: A Scientific Approach With New Tools – 5 Minutes Of Light (4:42)

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

Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #51 “If You Encounter the Villain”
My “I” is a request for the quality of bestowal which filters through my surroundings.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 358
The entire reality unfolds within my consciousness and the Creator is the greatest quality that I’m able to perceive.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 87, Lesson 31
After the breaking, the spiritual work consists of the analysis of the Klipot: We separate the desires that are able to unite and convert them into vessels for the Light.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Peace in the World,” Lesson 2
For the first time in history we have the opportunity to realize our free will and speed up our development by getting on a short and pleasant path.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

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

A question I received: Is there a chance to do something beyond the boundaries of the movie we live in? Can we “improve” the script?

My Answer: Aside from the script, there is an opportunity to delve deeper into the “internal science” by studying yourself. We cannot limit our studies to the “outer sciences” such as psychology, culture, sociology, or politics. All of these are the “external forms” through which we perceive the world. They actually don’t tell us much about this world, which is the reason for the many mistakes we make. Those sciences don’t shed any light on the laws of this world, nor do they show us the direction of the changes we undergo.

Psychologists, sociologists, politicians, and others draw an “external” picture which they perceive according to their personal standards and goals, their own point of view.  That’s why we desperately need the wisdom of Kabbalah since it allows us to go deeper within ourselves, to the level of “basic particles,” and study the authentic material that we are built of; it is closer to the truth than our subjective psychological fantasies.

We would stop making mistakes if we were able to go deeper inside ourselves and begin to realize what’s going on within us, at the deepest level; if we break through all the shells that we are dressed in, like layers of an onion, through the various forms of perceiving the outer world, we would learn to trust ourselves and understand what’s going on and why, what allows us to advance, what is beneficial or harmful.

This becomes possible only if a person obtains the ability to see within. In order to achieve this result within the boundaries of the “external sciences,” we have to build a particle accelerator by using our inner sight. A collider is within me. I need to reach the degree of accuracy that allows me to sense forces that act within me, that perform the job of a collider.

This is what the wisdom of Kabbalah allows us to achieve. Only by reaching this point will we be able to understand the origin of creation, our place in it, where we are heading, and where we will arrive – our entire Path. By doing so, we will be able to direct ourselves correctly and stop making mistakes.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Science Of The New World
Laitman.com Post: How To Move From Darkness Into Light
Video: The Relation Between the Most Advanced Theories in Science and Kabbalah (6:58)

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

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 346
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: We have the World Zohar Convention that’s going to be meeting the second weekend of May. What makes this convention so different from the past conventions considering both the time we are in now and what we are being taught this time?

My Answer: We have already had many conventions.  This time it is very unique because first of all we’ve grown a lot; many people are beginning to hear about us. We’ve reached a point where people realize that they’re not really capable of exiting this global crisis. We reached a global crisis in every human engagement. Now we see that everything is broken: Family, education, the relationships between people, the way we relate to nature, to the ecology and our economy, the industry and what it does, even a person himself. This crisis is really global.

This state is actually a good state which we had to reach because only from this point of crisis can we find the point from which we can ascend to a really good life. Not just a good life here in this world but eternal life, a life of feeling and sensing the Upper World where we even transcend the point of life and death in our current perception and feeling of life. We actually rise above this feeling of life within the body.

It is not just getting out of the crises, it is acquiring a life that is essentially, fundamentally different then what we experience now. All of this is done by a very unique Upper Force that is hidden in The Zohar.

Everyone has heard about The Zohar. People have heard that it is some sort of special, unique book, a hidden book, or a book that contains secrets. People have heard about The Book, but in general, people are still just talking about it; they don’t really know what it is.

Today, we have the opportunity to actually use The Zohar; to use the power that it gives us; to raise ourselves above this crisis, to raise all the people from the situation they’re in whether it’s depression, or problems with children, problems with health, education, ecology, or the economy- everything that happens.

All of this can be corrected only by this Upper Force that is within The Zohar. This is why I am very happy that soon there will be a great  World Zohar Convention in America.

You know, “Zohar” literally translated means Light. And I hope that as a result of this meeting, of this conference, we can really bring the Light to all of America.

From an Interview with the Learning Center Director 4/5/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Global Crisis Is Not Fiction
Laitman.com Post: The Surrounding Light Is The Glue That Makes Us “Stick” Together
Laitman.com Post: We Have To Reveal The Magnificence Of The System We’re In

Filed under: Conventions, Zohar - No Comments →

Revelation is a result of efforts. When we read The Zohar, we only need to exert effort. By trying to discern the properties The Zohar is talking about within ourselves, we penetrate toward a more inner screen within us, toward a deeper picture of the world. This is where the revelation of the Creator occurs.

Personal interpretation and commentaries of the text do not bring revelation. To feel a new world within, to interpret The Zohar internally, in sensations, a person needs to direct himself toward an increasingly inner state when reading the text.

A more internal state means that a person connects the text with his internal properties to a greater degree. He sees them in himself; he discovers that every word points to a property or action within him such as the “twelve tribes,” “Jacob,” a “desert,” and a “well.” As a result of his efforts, he reveals their true meaning.

This is why Kabbalah is called “Torah Emet” or the true Torah. Such understanding of the text cannot be conveyed in words. Rather, it can be revealed only within a person, in his new properties which appear as a result of efforts.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Efforts Yield Revelation
Laitman.com Post: Correction Comes Only From Studying In Order To Evoke the Light
Baal HaSulam Article: “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar”

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

Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #29 “When Thoughts Come to a Person”
A person has to continuously elevate the importance of the spiritual goal above the ever-arising thoughts and desires.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 324
The disturbances appear only for the purpose of keeping me from being content with my current situation.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 85, Lesson 30
All of my desires will be realized when I learn to use them in accordance with the laws of nature; that is with an altruistic intention.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Peace in the World,” Lesson 1 
The correction process occurs in stages: With each step I reveal only what I’m able to attach to unity.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

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

I read The Zohar and wish to penetrate into its inner picture. What desires and qualities are these? I want to erase this material, dreamed-up world, this imaginary picture completely. I want to imagine the true picture instead. What would I see if there were this revelation right now? I want to aspire to it like a child that wants to be a grown-up. Then, I will see the connection of qualities and desires within me, rather than these corporeal images.

With this aspiration, I rouse the Light that Reforms that equalizes me to the Creator. I don’t need to think about this Light; the aspiration to see the true picture awakens it. Really, there is no "Light that Reforms;" there is only an advanced picture of the world in the next, higher degree, which in comparison to me right now, is called the Light. If I am impressed by a more inner picture, this is called the Light in relation to the present picture.

We perceive the Light as a special stimulation in the desire. We record the Light with letters in the same manner that we record desires. "I aspire to the Light," means that I aspire to a more advanced state of bestowal. This is what the Light is for me.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Upper Light Holds Us Up Like A Magnet
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: "The Search for the Creator"
Video: Perceiving Through Bestowal – 5 Minutes Of Light (5:04)

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

A question I received: If I hate the “Egypt” within me, how do I handle this, since it is also a part of me?

My Answer: The whole world is a part within me. I need to examine with what desires, aspirations, inclinations, and forces I can work now in order to advance to the goal; and with what desires, thoughts, and qualities I need to part, to separate myself from, in order to come closer to the goal. I need to elucidate what to draw away from and what to draw closer to. My movement is determined by what I separate myself from and what I connect with.

Since we are talking about our whole, common desire, which I don’t know what to do with, I need to clarify with which desires I wish to unite and which I do not. Our picture of the spiritual world, which we imagine to ourselves, seems similar to our world where we move from one object or place to another. However, in the spiritual world, I exist within one huge desire comprised of many different desires. I am situated in a space filled with desires with no empty spaces between them. There is no space without desires. Therefore, while I am in the uttermost depth of this field of desires where nothing except them exists, I merely need to sort through those desires: which do I wish to connect with and which I do not. This is called movement.

After all, the whole reality is a desire, a Sefira, within which I exist. There is nothing else. There are some desires, with which I am more connected, and others with which I am less connected, and some desires I reject. This is movement in the spiritual world. As I clarify more and more desires and unite with them, this is an “ascent.”

I exist among all of these desires, within matter where I was placed along with a small spark of Light. This spark allows me to scrutinize the desires. Our whole work consists of clarifying the desires within which we exist: which desires I can use for the sake of bestowal and which desires I am incapable of using for the sake of bestowal and need to reject using.

After all, we cannot come out of this field of desires; there is no empty space between them. Free space is what we call a desire that is not clear that has not been elucidated, which you do not see and cannot make out anything in it.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Zohar Welcomes You To The World Of Desires
Laitman.com Post: The Zohar Explores Our Inner World Of Desires
Laitman.com Post: There Are Some Desires We Can Never Use

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