The Zohar, Chapter “VaYishlach (And Jacob Sent),” Item 16: “He who deems himself a worthless slave is better than the vain who thus deprives himself of bread.” This speaks of the evil inclination, for it constantly accuses people, swelling pride in man’s heart and desire. And man follows it with his head raised high, until the evil inclination soars over him, carrying him to hell.

This is describing a state that we have to experience. Kabbalists know it because they have already gone through it.

It is impossible for a person to reveal anything other than through his own experience. Does that mean that every person must experience hell? Yes, it does! But what is hell?

Hell is when I reveal the evil inside myself, which governs me and tears me away from the Creator. It is a terrible feeling, like being enveloped by flames of shame. I see how much I am losing out, yet I cannot help myself.

This state must be experienced by every person, as it is written: “Man shall not perform a commandment without breaking it first,” and, “There is not a righteous person in the world that has not first sinned.”

The verse, “I have created the evil inclination and the Torah for its correction” means that I must always reveal my evil inclination first. I must go inside it, immerse myself in it, in order to discover that it is evil.

Initially we don’t see that it is evil, for if we did, how could we immerse ourselves in it? Initially it draws us in with a shiny and sparkling appearance. It appears good and wonderful, and that is how evil tricks us.

A person that advances on the spiritual path “digs” within his soul, trying to reveal the form of bestowal to the Creator there. He has to go through a state of confusion, and through this confusion to descend into the state of “hell.” This state exists at every degree, and only by experiencing it can a person scrutinize the evil contained within him.

Everything the Kabbalists write comes from their own inner attainment, according to the rule, “A judge has only what his eyes can see.” The authors of The Zohar have personally experienced everything written above.

Let us hope that we too will reach such states, and go through the entire spiritual path, which encompasses everything.

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The source of Upper Light created a point of desire “from nothing” and then began to influence it through pressure, until the point reached a state called the World of Infinity. In this state the point is no longer a point, but a sphere filled with the Light that created it. It then performs a restriction (Tzimtzum Alef) on the desire, expelling the Light from itself. That is how we exist – under this restriction.

The condition of the first restriction is very simple: there is Light, pleasure, perfection, and eternity on top, and on the bottom there is desire, darkness, and emptiness. They are separated by a border called “the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Alef),” which is a condition that can never be cancelled. It states that this gap will remain between them as long as the desire (Kli) is not similar to the Light. Stated differently, as long as your vessel of perception is dissimilar to the Light, you will not feel anything besides what you feel now.

In this state, we are unaware of the spiritual world and perceive only “this world.” This state, in which we currently exist, is the smallest possible degree of life. It lies beneath any realization, in darkness, as though we are in an imagined reality and the deepest possible sleep.

I once saw a sci-fi movie where people were placed into capsules filled with a special liquid so they could be sent into outer space at a distance of a thousands of light years. They slept in their capsules until they landed on another planet and began to awaken there. We exist in a similar state – in a state of sleep, torn away from the genuine reality. The condition under which we can awaken is the intention “for the sake of bestowal.” For this to happen, our initial desire to be fulfilled or to receive pleasure does not change; the only thing that changes is “why do we enjoy – for what purpose?” If we wish to receive the Light (fulfillment) for our own sake, with the egoistic intention of “for myself,” then we are going against the condition of Tzimtzum Alef. This is called reception “from above downward.”

If we wish to receive the Light with the intention of giving pleasure to the One who gives it to us, this is called reception “from below upward.” Only then does the Light, the revelation of the Upper World, fill us completely. We receive in both cases, since the only thing present in us is the desire to receive; what changes is the intention, the condition for our reception.

We don’t understand how it’s possible to receive the Upper Light from below upward, or what it means to return the pleasure to the Giver. However, this condition opens the path to the Light. If we execute this condition, the entire World of Infinity will be ours.

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The Zohar: It is known that there is World, Year, and Soul in everything. In the stony heart (Lev HaEven), too, there are World, Year, Soul. World is the primordial serpent (Nahash Kadmoni), which Samuel rode; Year—the ninth of Av; and Soul—the thigh-vein sinew (Gid HaNasheh).

The Zohar tells us that there are two ways of perceiving the reality that we feel. There is the perception “for one’s own sake,” where one feels an egoistic “year, world, and soul,” which belong to the stony heart (Lev ha-Even). There is also the altruistic “world, year, and soul,” where one’s perception of reality is directed in the opposite direction, away from oneself. One perceives through bestowal rather than reception, and therefore one perceives the Upper “World, Year, and Soul,” because it is perceived through bestowal (sanctity).

What’s the difference between the perception of reality by way of absorption and reception, when one separates the perception into world, year, and soul; and the perception of reality by way of bestowal, when one also separates the perception into world, year, and soul? This is, in fact, a big difference between these sensations, because by absorbing into oneself, one is limited and feels that he exists in rigid boundaries of time. One feels that he lives and dies; he feels suffering and problems. One constantly wishes to fill himself, but this fulfillment fades immediately. One’s whole existence in these egoistic bounds of “world, year, and soul” takes place in reception, in the stony heart (Lev ha-Even), in absorption “into oneself.” However, in spite of the suffering, one is forced to continue existing in this manner because one’s environment conditions him that this is how he has to live. The environment obliges a person to strive to be successful at this egoistic absorption, and one is compelled to listen to them and thereby to kill oneself.

However, it is possible to perceive reality different – through bestowal, by exiting out of oneself. There, “world, year, and soul” are infinite dimensions, not limited by the considerations of how a person can fulfill himself. One feels the spiritual world, eternity, and perfection.

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The Zohar: It is known that everything is comprised of “world, year, and soul.”

One perceives oneself and the world through limitations called “world, year, and soul.” “World” is everything one perceives as the space surrounding him, in which he and everything else exist. “Year” is the sequence of actions, times, and states that one goes though, perceiving them as an order of cause and consequence. This gives one the perception of life and the flow of time. The soul is the person who feels that he exists and lives within space and time.

Thus, there is the person, the world that surrounds him, and the perception of a changing reality – world, year, and soul. This is how we all perceive our existence. However, in actuality, the limitations of “world, year, and soul” do not exist. They are all the Upper Force, which depicts these feelings, coordinates, and boundaries inside us.

In the science of Kabbalah we learn that there is Malchut and Bina. When we perceive our existence in Malchut, we feel that we are standing on earth; when we perceive our existence in Bina, we feel that we are in the clouds; and when we perceive that we are situated between Malchut and Bina, we feel that we are between the sky and the ground.

The Upper Forces depict for us the whole world that surrounds us and our existence in it. They are like vectors on a computer screen, giving us a sensation of time and space, which consist of many objects. However, all of these are just forces that illustrate a colorful, three-dimensional picture for us and within us.

All of this is, in fact, one force, but its influences are presented to us in a way that separates them into time, space, and motion, or, as The Book of Zohar says, into world, year, and soul. As a result, we feel that we exist in a world where everything moves and exists in a continuous fashion.

However, all of this is the influence of one force upon us. It is this force that creates all these various impressions, giving us a sensation of ourselves, a three-dimensional space, and time.

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYishlach (And Jacob Sent),” Item 198

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It seems illogical to us, but if we wish to rise to the next degree and receive more Light, we have to “come out of the house,” from the state where we had fulfillment – the Light of Hochma, and rise to a degree where there is only the Light of Hassadim. That way we guarantee that we will not fall from our spiritual degree and nothing will be able to harm us.

After all, the only thing that can harm us is us! A human being is a small world. Everything we see around us exists inside of us, in our sensations. This whole world, which seems external, actually exists inside us. We just imagine it to be outside.

When we begin to obtain spiritual sensations, we will feel that all of these qualities and phenomena occur within us. Right now, however, it seems obvious to us that everything exists outside, including the inanimate and vegetative levels of nature, animals, people, all the stars, the whole universe. Besides, how could all of this fit inside a person? However, later we will feel all of this inside of us.

It is a great delusion to think that the world is external. Regular science is also beginning to reach this conclusion, although The Zohar wrote about this more than a thousand years ago. All the characters and objects described in The Zohar exist only in our perception, including the Creator and the created being, Leah, Rachel, Yaakov, Israel, angels, evil spirits, various forces, ourselves, and all the worlds. All of this is inside us. Therefore, when we read The Zohar, we have to try to feel how it is happening inside us.

There is nothing outside of us. There are no friends with whom we study, and there is no television displaying the lesson for us. All of this is just our perception.

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The perception of reality that Kabbalah explains to us seems very strange and extraordinary to us. However, a newborn baby also finds the world he sees around him very extraordinary. He is not used to anything taking place and begins to study this world from the very beginning. We are exactly the same in regard to the spiritual world.

In addition, we have Reshimot (informational genes), inner definitions of the spiritual world, and therefore, it is as though we are returning to a place we were in previously, the place from which we came.

When we are born, we enter a different world each time because the world develops; it undergoes technological progress and life around us changes. However, when we enter the spiritual world, we find ourselves in a world that we were in previously, and therefore, we have memories, information, feelings, and impressions about it. We simply have to awaken them.

Through its stories and explanations, The Zohar draws us upward, leading us into the feelings of the spiritual world. Although we aren’t there yet, by reading The Zohar we begin to awaken our inner memories about the path that we went through from above downward, when we went through all these stages before.

Now we are returning there from our world. We are beginning to ascend back where we came from.

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Preparation to the Lesson
After I receive an awakening from Above, I have to add something to it on my own by getting inspired by a book and the group, and by strengthening my initial inspiration through the desires of my friends.
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Shamati #47 “In the Place where You Find His Greatness“
Desire knows no boundaries. Therefore, our spiritual desires are always able to unite, regardless of where we are physically.
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Shamati #63  “I Was Borrowed on, and I Repay“
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 17, Lesson 10
In the spiritual world, my desire for pleasure no longer plays a significant role. It becomes a means of connecting between myself and the Creator.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYishlach (And Jacob Sent),” Item 137
The Creator gave us the good and evil inclinations so we could independently choose to form the middle line.
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Kabbalists explain that the desire is the only creature that the Creator created. It consists of 613 (Taryag) different desires with all their different manifestations. We live precisely within these desires. They are all us.

The Light of the Creator shines on these desires. In reality, it is He who separates one common desire into a multitude of particular desires, because the desire becomes divided and made more complex under the influence of the Light. This is why it divides into different pieces, even pieces that are opposite to one another.

Among these desires, some desires are contrary and opposite to the Light, and others support and are similar to the Light. The evil desires in us pull us away from the Light and alienate us from it; they are called “the evil inclination” (Yetzer Ra), “evil forces” (Kohot HaTumaa), or the opposite side (Sitra Achra). The good desires in us, called Yetzer Tov, pull us closer toward the goal and help us attain it. They are called “forces of sanctity” (Kohot HaKedusha).

There are also desires in us on different levels of development: still, vegetative, animate, and human. In addition, there are desires called “angels,” “demons,” “spirits,” and so on. There is an enormous multitude of different kinds of desires, but they are all inside us; we consist of them.

However, we relate to our desires and qualities in different ways. We treat some of them as if they are closer to us and useful, whereas others seem farther away from us, opposite to us, and harmful. We treat them one way or another depending on our goal, on our way of working with them, and other considerations.

Nevertheless, regardless of what we say, think, or name, we are always referring to our desires. The people we see around us are also expressions of our desire, a desire that has taken “our” form under the Light’s influence.

Some desires are big and relatively constant; if they change, they do so slowly. These desires are on the still level of development. Other desires are more flexible, and they are on the vegetative and animate levels. They change faster or slower according to their type and strength. All of these desires depend on a higher level of desires – the human level, also called “the soul.” The “animate” desires that are smaller than this level are called “spirits” and “angels.”

In addition, “chambers” are different kinds of spaces or cavities; these are desires of the still level that have their own characteristics. Some desires operating inside these chambers are more active and flexible, and they are referred to as “spirits,” which are on the vegetative level. Desires that are even more active operate inside the spirits; these are “angels,” the animate level. Finally, on an even deeper level there are souls that help one another.

In this manner, The Zohar reveals the entire word to us. But this entire world is within me and my desires. It is as if I am traveling among them, like a tiny person in a cartoon wandering inside his own body, penetrating different organs and spaces between them and seeing how his entire organism operates.

The Zohar describes something very similar. It tells us what we are like in the spiritual world and that the entire spiritual world is our desire, which appears to us as being on the inside or on the outside, in all kinds of different states. And all of this is intended for us to work with.

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