What does it mean that a person is in double concealment? Can all people existing in this world say that they are in such a state? No.

The matter is that a person in double concealment has already felt a certain revelation of the Creator and has received definite sensations as a result of the development of his soul. Because once he has Reshimot, and within him are recorded all kinds of memories of various impressions from the Creator, he is thrown into all kinds of states, one of which is double concealment.

Therefore, he is now in a state in which the sensation of the Creator has completely left him, and he remains empty. He does not feel the source and senses only suffering. But if he takes a book or receives some reminder and a thought about his present state suddenly arises in his mind, then he will be able to interpret it correctly and understand that he was in double concealment.

The moment he correctly defines his state, it will no longer be concealment, and he will understand that before this, he was in double concealment, because Reshimot from several states have now been revealed within him: from what was before he entered double concealment, then from the unconscious state of double concealment, and finally from his present state when he, as it were, returns to life.

By recognizing the state familiar to him from past experience to which he is now returning, he determines that before this, he was in an unconscious state.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/11/26, Baal HaSulam “Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator – 1”

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Question: When working, are you only in a curse or only in a blessing?

Answer: No. As we rise above the Machsom, we are alternately under a curse and a blessing. After the breaking of the vessels, while under the curse, we can take the Kelim of reception from there, correct them, and transition to a blessing. So every time, we transfer the Kelim from the rule of many to the rule of one.

The rule of the one is the Sabbath (Shabbat); on a weekday, we can use the rule of many when we descend to uncorrected Kelim of reception. The power of many means I think I, too, am in control of the situation and can do something. These are desires in which there is no oneness of the Creator.

What connects these two types of power? What kind of lever helps me move from the left line to the right, from a curse to a blessing? This is Lo Lishma. From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma. Although your own desire to receive is still present in Lo Lishma, you seem to want to act for the sake of the Creator, seemingly with the intention of giving, yet you clearly know you are doing it for the sake of receiving.

In Lo Lishma, you work for the reward. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“: if you clearly see that you will not receive a reward in your Kelim of reception, you cannot act. Therefore, this state is called “Lo Lishma” (for oneself). Moreover, it becomes an indisputable fact on which you base your decisions.

“Yes, I would really like to do something for the sake of giving. It is very important; I got that impression from the environment. I do not see the Creator. If I could see Him, I could act truly for the sake of giving. Seeing Him would give me the strength to act for the sake of giving.” The light that comes corrects the Kli; this is the meaning of seeing the Creator.

However, when I cannot see Him, when I am in the dark, I can only get a similar impression from my environment. So, no matter how much I pump myself up about the importance of the goal, it still is not the light, nor is it the correction of the Kli through the light. This is, so to speak, a correction through brainwashing. This brainwashing makes me feel like I want to act for the sake of giving, but if I get nothing from it, I cannot do it.

Thus, we are talking about very vague things, in their own way. There is no light here coming and correcting the Kli. On the contrary, man has created a situation where he seems to draw strength from the environment, not from the Creator, and this strength seems enough for him to act for the sake of giving. Everything is conditional, but I ingrained this condition into the situation; I created it.

If a person does everything this way, the Creator responds to him for real, not within the framework of a game a person started.

Lo Lishma is a game: “I wish it were like that.” The same way kids make believe they are building something. But when I tried and did everything I could, as if it were already about spirituality, then the Creator comes and really gives me spirituality.
[360817]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?”

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Throughout the day, I find myself in all kinds of social settings, and I must always position myself and determine the appropriate way of perceiving them so these environments not only do not harm me with regard to my primary goal, but perhaps even help me.

Suppose that, out of necessity, I find myself in a gathering of frivolous people where everyone chats about this and that, talking nonsense. Even from this I can learn how much more important my own environment is to me, and how base the things that occupy the people I am observing at that moment are. I do not feel contempt for them, but such an outing into the world can also help me see how important the things I possess really are, and how important the life I lead is.

After all, everything is understood through comparison. My time at work, at home, and in all sorts of other situations can actually help me appreciate more highly the environment I am in here and recognize how important sublime goals are to the people present here.

Comment: But I am talking about the environment that consists of good people.

My Response: If I am among ordinary people, not thieves or murderers, but people who possess good human qualities, what do I gain from their good qualities? They have simply put on good “makeup,” having received an excellent education in concealing their unappealing qualities and displaying their so-called virtues to others.

Each of them plays their role perfectly, like prim and proper Englishmen. So, what does that give me? Perhaps I should learn to do the same myself? In doing so, I would lead myself into a double deception: not only would I be lying, but I would also believe that it was the truth, and that everything should be exactly that way.

So what is the purpose of such an environment?
[360726]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?”

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Question: Is the state of double concealment a very advanced state that helps a person return to the sensation of the Creator whenever the opportunity arises?

Answer: This is incorrect. Double concealment is not a more advanced state than single concealment.

The face of the Creator signifies goodness. In this state, I feel the master and feel the goodness that comes from Him. Single concealment means that I believe in the master although I do not see Him clearly. I simply know that He exists, and I feel that all kinds of situations that confuse me come from Him, but I also attribute these situations to Him.

My Kli (vessel) is uncorrected and cannot feel that I have a connection with the Creator and that I receive only goodness from Him. I do not have a screen over my desires, nor do I have an intention for the sake of bestowal over each of them.

In single concealment, I do not see the Creator’s governance clearly, but I understand that what happens comes from Him. This state is called simple concealment.

Throughout the day, we may find ourselves in all kinds of unpleasant situations and still think that the Creator governs us through these situations and carries out various plans concerning us by means of them.

He wants me to detach myself from my desire to receive. Therefore, He sends me all kinds of disturbances so that, with their help, I can rise above these desires, stop wanting to be dependent on them, and so on.

This means that in a state of simple concealment, I do not mentally detach myself, not in my thoughts, although I still do not explicitly feel the Creator, from the awareness that the Master exists and that I receive some kind of suffering from Him.

Sometimes I can say that this suffering is caused by my own uncorrected state. At other times, I can say that it comes to me from the master to confuse me and correct me, and that He has some good intention toward me in these actions. But if I still do not detach myself from the Creator in my thoughts, this is a sign that I think well of Him.

It is a sign that I still justify Him even if I cannot do so in my sensations, because what I feel is bad, and I cannot say that I receive pleasure from Him. Instead, I say that I receive a bad sensation from Him because through this He wants to help me grow. Alternatively, I can say that what comes from Him is good, but it seems bad to me because I am opposite to Him in my properties. All these states are called simple (single) concealment.

But when I completely stop thinking about the Creator while experiencing a bad sensation, this is called double concealment. For example, I was in a state of simple concealment and thought that the Creator was sending me all kinds of troubles and problems in order to educate me, make me wiser and more understanding, and strengthen me.

But if the troubles intensify and I enter a state in which I forget about the Creator, then this state is called double concealment.

What determines whether a person is in single or double concealment? The magnitude of the troubles and misfortunes. There is a certain threshold within a person up to which he is prepared to endure suffering and while experiencing it say that it has come to him because he is not equivalent in his properties to the Creator, for the Creator is good and does good. Yet, He wants to bring a person to a state in which he too will be good and do good.

In other words, to some extent, the person justifies not his own state, but the Creator. This is still called single concealment. But if he experiences such immense suffering that it prevents him from remaining connected to any cause of that suffering and he is completely unable to justify the Creator, then his connection with the Creator disappears, and everything becomes dependent on chance, fate, nature, and his surroundings.
[362653]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/11/26, Baal HaSulam “Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator – 1”

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Question: When a person is in a group, what is important: only their intention or their actions as well?

Answer: It is impossible for actions not to be important in our world. Who knows a person’s true intentions? Even the person himself does not know his intentions. This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the science of the hidden.

Intentions are the main thing: for what purpose, why, toward what end, and in what direction I am thinking, aspiring, and directing my desire. These intentions are hidden from us so a person can only determine whether an action was correct after it was performed through the reaction it produces.

Therefore, we must take the action itself into account. Naturally, even the worst-looking action can be clothed in another intention. However, in our state, within the group, while we are still below the spiritual level, we do not see what exists beyond the external: intentions, desires, and thoughts.

The spiritual world is a state in which I perceive these as tangible, existing things. I see that there is a field of single thought, a single program, and one desire, called the Creator, which acts and sets everything into motion.

But before I see this field and become included in it, whether by my own volition or not, and before I reach such a level of reality, the external actions of people are very important to me. I am influenced by them.

I see one person sitting at a computer for hours preparing material for others, another hurrying to give lectures, a third doing something else. And I am inspired by this. I still experience reality through the sensation of bodies and do not see thoughts the way I currently see only the body.

When I enter what is called the future world, the next degree, and see thoughts and desires, truly holding and sensing them, and they become more important to me than bodily movements, then, of course, I will no longer need bodies. But for now, within the group, it is very important how we move, act, and present ourselves to one another.

To do the opposite, harboring good intentions while our external actions appear contrary to them, is to exploit another person’s integrity and let them down, which is wrong. For example, I cannot pretend that I have stolen something and expect a friend to force himself to think that I have done something wonderful because he is supposed to judge me favorably and think well of me.

Such things are forbidden. In relation to the group, outwardly, I must appear as a good friend and show the group precisely my good external actions. I must act this way because it increases love.

At first, I see the friend as an egoist. Then I see myself as an egoist while I no longer see him that way. And afterward I feel shame to the point that I cannot look him in the eyes. I truly feel ashamed to look at him and ashamed to see myself wanting to use him for self-gratification, to take advantage of him in various ways; then correction comes.
[362396]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson for the holiday of Sukkot 10/5/26

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 262

What Determines the Pace of Progress During the Time of Preparation?

Only attention determines the pace of progress during the time of preparation. We can go through these states half asleep, or we can be very sensitive. The pace and depth of progress are determined by the sharpness, direction, and attitude toward the study. We need to view the study as a means. There is no need to know what is written on the page. We should want to know and to interpret what is written in depth so that it will give us more discernments and additions that we can incorporate into the search for spirituality and not search for knowledge.

Why does Baal HaSulam write that we should repeat definitions a thousand times and know them by heart? It is because he wants the student to gradually get it into his head that what he reads must be interpreted differently, in a spiritual manner. For example, if he reads about a “circle,” he should immediately imagine, instead of the word “circle,” the quality called a circle, not the shape itself. Therefore, he writes, “Know the definitions by heart,” so that the student will be pushed toward a more internal and profound interpretation.

Delving into the study in order to reach inner discernments, and demanding that the study brings us to Lishma, paves the way for us.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 15, “A Prayer of Many” (1986)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Studying with Friends

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Question: What is nature of the state I am currently in, a state that I perceive as the best possible one?

Answer: The point is that this is my present state in which I have attained the Creator, and I want it never to be less than that. This state must be constant for me.

What does it mean for this state to become less? I demand to diminish myself; I demand Katnut (from the word “Katan,” small). That is, I ask that at least this state always remains.

If a greater state (Gadlut) comes, that is good. But I am concerned about Katnut so that I remain at least at this degree.

It is just like the world of Atzilut, which, while in a constant state, sometimes rises and sometimes descends. But when it descends, it descends to its constant degree and no lower.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/26, Rabash, 1987 “What Is Making a Covenant in the Work”

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Question: On one hand, we say that one’s desire has to be clarified in order to know what to ask for. On the other hand, we do not know what is good or beneficial for us. How should we ask so that it is not according to the desires of the body?

Answer: I do not know what is beneficial for me and what is not. So how can I ask for anything?

The Creator does not take into account what you ask for. After all, you are like an uncomprehending infant. Rabash wrote in one of his articles about a child walking with his father and crying all the time, while the father does not react at all. They ask him, “What is the matter?” And he answers, “Do you know why my son is crying? He is asking for a pin so that he can clean his eye with it.”

Of course, the example is not entirely realistic. “Sight” and “pin” are all spiritual terms. The point is that the child is asking for something that could harm him. He does not understand what is good for him and what is bad. It seems good to him. So should we give him a pin? No, it is better to let him cry.

What is the benefit of tears? Why does the father not calm him down? Because in this way, through crying, the child will understand that his desires do not coincide with his father’s, and apparently the father knows better what is good for him. Then it is worthwhile to stop crying and start working on making his desires coincide with his father’s desires.

Let us say the father wants to buy him a beautiful book while the son wants a ball. But the father will buy the book anyway. And the child, through crying and tears, will nevertheless understand that his transition to the next state can happen only through the book, and gradually he himself will want it. And he will gradually examine his desire for the ball and come to the conclusion that all it does is make him cry, that it causes him pain.

At first, he will hate both his father and the book, and look for some other father who will give him a ball. But he will see that nothing will come of it until he wants his father as well as the book. Then he will definitely ask for the book because otherwise he will not receive it. And even if he does receive it, he will simply tear it apart. The father wants him to read it, while he would shred it. The book would be harmful to him.

Until the child learns how to use the book, and what benefit can be derived from it, he will not receive it. Look at the path he has to go through from his initial state, where he wants a ball, screams, and bursts into tears, to the desire to receive a book.

We are looking for how to approach people who want nothing but television, sex, food, and entertainment. How can you give them our books, which are so difficult, so that they will become interested and open them? People do not read anything at all.

How can we prepare a desire within humanity so that it will want Kabbalah, so that it will want a book instead of a ball? Two billion people watch football. If two million became interested in Kabbalah, the world would be turned upside down. And against the backdrop of what problems does the world watch these things?! What problems do people find themselves facing as a result?! It is something frightening. This is the power of the Klipa.
[360139]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called ‘Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

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