Right now we have the opportunity to hasten the rate of our advancement by egoistically choosing the lesser of all evils. Obviously, this isn’t free will yet because free will allows me to choose what I want, whereas here I am offered only pain and pleasure, and told: “Choose!”

Baal HaSulam describes two scales of measurement: “bitter versus sweet,” and “true versus false.” We must ascend to the degree of truth instead of falsehood, or in other words, sweetness and bitterness. Everyone sees that there is no free choice here, but only the analysis: To what extent I am controlled by my mind and to what extent by my heart?

Everything is determined by what is revealed to me and what is not, and what is more important: truth or bitterness? Obviously, I will choose according to my perception. However, real free will emerges solely in the group. The group serves as that external factor by which I discern the meaning of the external truth.

Therefore, “truth” means I have to be part of the group. However, there is resistance between the truth and the group, which is my egoism, the will to receive pleasure. It is a complete system and it doesn’t depend on my ability to discern “true,” “false,” “bitter,” and “sweet.” I don’t need to be smart or sensitive. It doesn’t matter who is more intelligent, witty, or farsighted. At the end of the day, we view everything in relation to the group, our unity, and the Creator.

I exist in this circuit, this spiritual transistor where I activate the Light that streams from above downwards to the degree I am united with the group.

This is our free will, found in the middle third of Tifferet. On one side of it there is the ego and on the other side, the group, and I perform an analysis on the scales of “true and false” over “bitter and sweet” in relation to myself and the group.
[#21912]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/10, “Waste of Barn and Winery”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Truth Lies In The Middle
Laitman.com Post: The One Action Where We Implement Our Free Will
Laitman.com Post: From Illusory Freedom To Truth

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will, Unity - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah Does Not Speak of Our Corporeal World

There is a strict condition during the engagement in this wisdom [Kabbalah] – to not materialize the matters [that are described in the Torah and especially in Kabbalah] with imaginary and corporeal issues [of our world]. This is because thus [by imagining that things described in the Torah exist in this world] they breach, “Thou shall not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness.” In that event [such studying of the Torah], one is rather harmed [distanced further away from spirituality] instead of receiving benefit [which is why it is said: “It’s preferable to sit idle and do nothing”].
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Purpose Of The Human Imagination
Laitman.com Post: The One True Science That Can Reveal The World
Laitman.com Post: How To Achieve What Does Not Exist In Nature

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

I join the group and with its help I start forming the image of the Creator in my mind. Meanwhile, I don’t wish to unite with the group, to listen to the friends, or to accept their opinion above my own mind. Yet, gradually I develop a clearer, more detailed understanding of the notion of “group,” where I must keep annulling myself. As a result of this opposition, I gradually discern the place of my free choice.

Baal HaSulam explains that free will implies choosing the group. At the current stage, the general understanding of this is: Join the group, realize yourself inside the unity, and everything will be fine. But in truth, all the worlds or all the 125 steps of spiritual ascension to the goal are located exactly between me and the group. When I adhere to the group inseparably and irreversibly, I will reach the full correction, the World of Infinity, where we are united together in one point.

All of the worlds are laid out along this path and they are all yours. Our entire work lies in unifying with each other. In our times all of mankind is standing at the threshold, as it were, in the form of a pyramid. We, the souls who are a little closer to starting this work, are the upper part of the pyramid. The remainder of the pyramid below is the rest of the world. The difference is that we at least are trying to unite, while the rest of the world isn’t even thinking about it. Yet, the world is experiencing extreme pressure through suffering and the global crisis.

Why is it global? It’s because mankind is being shown that it must come together, that this is imperative in our era, and that our aim is unity. Granted, this is a long and difficult process, but nonetheless, it has been set in motion. This point is being rubbed into every person’s face.

[21911]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/10, “Waste of Barn and Winery”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Choosing The Good Fortune In The Group
Laitman.com Post: How To Unite All The Pyramids Into One
Kabbalah Insights: Pyramid

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Suffering, Unity, World - No Comments →

The wisdom of Kabbalah is not learned by way of the mind. The Light affects us, and Kabbalah gradually creates within us the sensation of the picture of the Creator’s acts. From this picture, we gradually absorb the wisdom of Kabbalah and our spiritual, internal world.

We disclose within ourselves the new reality that cannot be understood by the earthly (corporeal) mind. In the beginning, the will to receive was created, followed by the development of the mind needed to attain what was desired. Therefore, if we don’t yet possess the vessels (desires) of bestowal, we don’t have the mind to comprehend Kabbalistic texts either.

All recommendations of the Kabbalists are designated solely to prepare and induce within oneself the switching of properties from reception to bestowal. Moreover, according to our desires, we will begin to feel. From feelings, we will begin to understand.

The entire wisdom of Kabbalah is aimed at getting to know the Creator. If I focus on the goal of simply understanding the text, I cut myself off from the ability to feel spiritual attainment. That is because I start working with the corporeal mind which becomes the most important for me.

This puts an obstacle in my path to the revelation of the Creator. My corporeal mind blocks my ability to break through the picture of spiritual properties. This is why Baal HaSulam felt very angry when he met with the “Kabbalists” of Jerusalem who mechanically memorized the text of The Zohar.
[21588]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Book About You
Laitman.com Post: The Mind Is Useless Unless It Relies On Feelings

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Love - 2 Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah Does Not Speak of Our Corporeal World

Regarding the entry, Adam Kadmon, I was appalled to see that a corporeal form was depicted for the concept of Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalah, which is only a metaphysical concept, a Godly concept. God forbid that we should allow ourselves to materialize these sacred concepts, even as a way of studying. [There is no form in spirituality, only forces; therefore, we are allowed to illustrate only correlations between them. See Baal HaSulam’s drawings Sefer HaElan.]
– Rav Kook, Letters, Vol 1, pg. 162

Woe to that person [an unfortunate ignorant man] who says that the Torah is meant to tell literal stories [that allegedly take place in our world], and in uneducated words of Esau, Laban, etc., for if that were the case, even today we could turn words of an uneducated into a Torah, and even nicer ones than they. If the Torah is meant to show mundane matters, even world rulers have better things among them. Let us follow them and make them into a Torah as well. Rather [it’s not the case at all, and not a single world of the Torah speaks of our world, instead], all the words of the Torah are sublime secrets.
The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, Parashat BeHaalotecha, Item 58
[21069]

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalists On The Language Of Kabbalah, Part 2
Laitman.com Post: Acquiring A Spiritual Dictionary
Laitman.com Post: How To Go From A Corporeal Picture To The Spiritual One

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - 2 Comments →

Question: How was Rabash able to describe the states that a person goes through?

Answer: This is the path of every soul. It’s just that the soul of Rabash was granted the ability to write about this.

In the past, souls went through the same states and attained even higher levels. In the Torah, Moses described the entire path with all of its details, you just don’t see them.

Then Rabash came and brought the explanations to a lower level, expressing them in a language we understand – the language of feelings. Baal HaSulam also describes the same states, but using the language of Light and desire, two forces.

The human body reacts to different substances. One of them makes me excited, another calms me down, and yet another makes me feel happy. Here, too, we are talking about spiritual components that awaken you. First and foremost, it is feelings, which are then ordered, measured, and systematized according to the laws of interaction between the Lights and vessels.

Rabash writes about the things present in spiritual life, similar to how you would describe your breakfast: half a tomato, a quarter of a cucumber, bread, cheese, butter, coffee with sugar, and so on. When people hear about this, they feel the same thing you felt.

The difference is that the spiritual description is experienced much more deeply and in more detail: exactly what kind of cheese, what kind of milk was it produced from, what kind of cow did it come from, who made it, who sold it, what kind of knife was used to cut it, what kind of knife was used to spread it onto the bread, and so on. You understand all of this.

But most importantly, inside all of this, you reveal the importance of the Giver. All of these components help you to attain Him. This is the revelation of the Creator to creation.
[21596]

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Vital Link
Laitman.com Post: Commemorating The Day Of Rabash’s Passing
5 Minutes Of Light From The Daily Lesson: Importance Of The Giver

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam was rewarded with very high spiritual attainment. However, he was pleading with the Creator to lower him from his spiritual level in order to pass the wisdom of Kabbalah down to the people. The most profound factor that helped him to accomplish this was the inclusion of the ARI’s soul (Ibur Neshama) in him. The entire method of the wisdom of Kabbalah regarding the last stage of correction descends to us from the ARI. It explains how to exit the fourth and last exile to the complete spiritual redemption.

Therefore, as soon as the ARI’s method was revealed, no true Kabbalist studied any other books written before the ARI. In response to his request, Baal HaSulam was granted by the Creator the revelation of the soul of the ARI within him. This is what allowed him to write the Sulam Commentary on The Book of Zohar and The Study of Ten Sefirot, the commentary on all of the ARI’s works that describe the structure of the spiritual world.

No Kabbalist that came before him was able to describe the method of the “three lines” of the soul’s correction. As it stands, the entire Torah is the middle line; mutual guarantee is the middle line. Our major work and the revelation of the Creator to us lie in the middle line. Hence, exposing the method of working in the middle line is spiritual salvation for us.

There is no Kabbalist to match the ARI who discovered this method, and there is no Kabbalist to match Baal HaSulam who passed it down and explained to us how to work with it. This is why his books are the source of Light for us.
[21319]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Yahrtzeit Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Commemorating Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: The Method Of Correction In The Middle Line
Laitman.com Post: The Middle Line Is The Soul

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

Question: Please tell us, how can we advance by the path and method of Baal HaSulam in order to attain the goal as quickly as possible?

Answer: Overall we have already studied Baal HaSulam’s method and everything he wrote. We just have to actualize it. We have merited to be acquainted with this person, this soul, and his life’s work. We live with his thoughts, inside the "building" he has built. The science of Kabbalah develops because the souls develop. More and more souls are reaching the final stage of correction and are coming closer to realizing themselves.

The final exile is over and we are now the first to go from the final exile to the full redemption, the revelation of the Creator. To do this, we really need support, help, a great Light, and the teaching that Baal HaSulam left to us. We see how much it helps us to use it, and when we follow his method to the letter, we achieve success and awaken the Light that Reforms.

For now the Light influences us in a concealed manner and the results are not very visible on the outside. However, day by day this force grows, becoming more noticeable and perceptible. I really hope that we will soon start to feel what we read and to feel the same forms, qualities, and images inside us.

All of the pictures we read about in The Book of Zohar and Talmud Eser Sefirot will enter us and we will see that it is all a movie! Right now our desires depict the picture of this world for us, and likewise, later on our desires (which will be desires of bestowal) will depict the picture of a second nature, the Upper World. Then we will understand what Baal HaSulam did for us!

He writes that in reality people begin studying the Torah only after they reveal spiritual attainment. When you reveal pictures of the world to come, you have to know what all of this is for! It’s like a baby who needs adults. Then you will feel that Baal HaSulam and Rabash take care of you, like a baby, by explaining this entire world to you.

With their help you start going deeper and deeper into it, understanding it better and making some independent actions. You are more inspired each time, while these great teachers are by your side, always taking care of you and supporting you at every moment through every step of the way.

We have yet to see how great the enterprise that Baal HaSulam created is and to realize how great the preparations he made are. He built the "kindergarten," the "school," and the whole "university" of spiritual life. He prepared all of this for us. If not for him, no Kabbalistic school could help us. Others can only add something to the revelation that we make by the method of Baal HaSulam as we attain the spiritual world.

I really hope that we will reach this revelation and then we will begin to attain how truly great he is and his love for us. After that, we will be able to communicate on another level and understand each other. I really hope to meet you in the world of truth, where we will be able to discuss everything taking place, look at things from a true perspective, and understand each other.

We are doing all of this together with Rabash and Baal HaSulam. They are helping us, and you will feel how they always support us, surrounding us with care. Let’s try to be worthy of them!

From the talk at the meal in honor of Baal HaSulam’s Passing Day 9/18/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Commemorating Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: There Is No One Closer To A Child Than His Mother
Laitman.com Post: The Science Of Light For The World

Filed under: Holidays, Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah Does Not Speak of Our Corporeal World

All the words of the Torah are sublime secrets [for those who have not acquired the property of bestowal yet and therefore cannot attain their true meaning].
– Baal HaSulam, The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, Parashat BeHaalotecha, Item 58

The wisdom of Kabbalah mentions nothing of our corporeal world [the state in which egoism reigns].
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”
[20941]

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Entrance To The Spiritual World
Laitman.com Post: Attaining The Names Of the Creator
Laitman.com Post: Acquiring A Spiritual Dictionary

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam says that only by uniting in the group is it possible to unite with the Light. Otherwise, the Light does not "perceive" us since we need to become similar to it. And when we unite together, we are like a plug that enters an outlet due to the exact opposite equivalence of form. The Light can already influence us in all the empty spaces within us and correct them by making them similar to it according to our desire during the studies.

In order to organize the right form of studying the articles of Baal HaSulam, his elder son, Rabash, created a method of connection to the writings of his father. If we use it, we can be sure that we will realize everything correctly.

We shouldn’t forget that all the Kabbalists talk about the need for a group in which we implement this method and make ourselves similar to the Light. A person is unable to do this alone. Even if one exists at a great spiritual height, he will be unable to rise further or even remain at the degree that he achieved without unification. Even if he has already reached the 124th degree, he will be unable to rise to the final, 125th degree if he works alone.

Remember the story of Rabbi Yosi Ben Kisma who said that if he were to leave his students, he would be unable to advance and would lose the level that he already possessed. The fact that they were small and he was their teacher was irrelevant; what was important is that they were together.

If there is unification, there is equivalence to the Light. Without unification, there is no equivalence. This is a completely mandatory condition.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Lesson for Commemoration of Baal HaSulam’s Passing Day

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Maintaining The Spiritual Trajectory
Laitman.com Post: Where To Search For The Creator
Laitman.com Post: The Easiest Path To Spirituality

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →