Our broken desires enumerate to a total of 320 (8x4x10). They are separated into 320:10=32, which is Malchut, as well as the other 320-32=288, which are the nine Sefirot up to Malchut. Stated differently, there are “288 spiritual organs” that we can work with, and the “stone heart” (Lev HaEven) – the 32 parts of Malchut. The correction of the stone heart amounts to not working with it. We don’t need to conquer these desires or implement them for the sake off bestowal. We just need to discern them and reject them.

However, we don’t perform this discernment on our own. It is done by the Light that comes to us. It colors the desires that pertain to the first nine Sefirot, 288 spiritual organs, into all the colors of the rainbow, and makes the 32 desires of the stone heart black, showing us that we cannot touch them. We can’t use them, since we have no power for this. As soon as you touch such a desire, you immediately fall under its power – into the hands of the evil angel Hatata, who “stands waiting for you at the entrance” into the spiritual world and leads you astray.

The first nine Sefirot are also not corrected by us, but by the Light. However, we can ask for this correction, whereas we are unable even to request for the stone heart to be corrected to bestowal. That’s because it holds such great pleasures that when we find ourselves before them, we are incapable of asking to be rid of them and to give the pleasure to someone who seems like a stranger to us. Therefore, we cannot touch these desires.

This is instilled in our nature; these desires are our primordial material. When we undergo correction, we adopt the Creator’s qualities. But our own material is incapable of correction. For example, imagine that I am situated in a place (a desire), where I can “hold the Creator’s hand.” The Creator says, “Let’s go to Pharaoh!” Then, even though I am small and weak, I hold His hand like a child holds an adult’s hand, and I’m not afraid of anything! I feel strong like a child who knows that the adult will give him anything he wishes.

However, the desires of the stone heart are for the sake of “Me and Me alone!” They lack the first nine Sefirot and the Creator’s “hand.” He is not present with me in these desires, and on my own, I am unable to do anything. The minute I am separate from the adult, I am incapable of anything, and by trying I will immediately cause damage to myself. This is the meaning of the desires of the stone heart.

Therefore, our work is to check all of our desires, qualities, situations and actions to the maximum and to clarify where we exist together with Him, in adhesion. We also need to discern the desires where we cannot be together with Him in order to avoid touching them or using them. By doing so, we will correct them.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - 1 Comment →

A question I received: What should I do practically during the process of correction?

My Answer: We have to realize that our current state is a result of the breaking of the quality of bestowal within us and the resulting exile from the sensation of the spiritual space (the Creator). This happened due to the loss of the quality of bestowal. Because of the breaking and the exile, we hate each other, yet we depend on each other. Because of this interdependency, I cannot demand correction for myself; I can only demand it for everyone. I have to desire to correct the relationships between all people.

We have to understand the essence of our mutual inclusion in one another. Nobody is an independent individual. But in order to see this truth, we have to correct our sensations. We have to ask the Upper Light for this; only it can help us to acquire the vision in order to see the real picture.

Because of the mounting problems, humanity today has to reveal that it is a broken vessel, and it has to come together. This involves discovering the components of this state: the mountain of hatred (Mount Sinai) on one hand, and the importance of the goal (a connection to the Creator) on the other hand.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Breaking As A Means To Attain The Creator
Laitman.com Post: Everyone Is Interconnected
Laitman.com Post: We Must Be More Than Passive Participants In Our Development
Bail Yourself Out: ” Insatiable Humanity”
Article: “One Law” – Lesson 4
The Kabbalah Series: What is the true nature of Mankind? (3;29)

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

A person is a small world. The entire world – the universe and everything I see around me – is inside me. All of this only exists within my desire. Therefore, reaching the final correction (Gmar Tikkun) means fully opening my desire to every possible sensation. I have to increase my desire to the maximum, and to feel in it all that there is to feel. That will constitute the end of my correction.

Right now I see people, animals, vehicles and stars around me. In reality, they are all my own desires, divided into the still, vegetative, animate and human levels. I have to attach them all to me and feel them within me, in addition to several other worlds that have yet to be revealed to me. I will have to include all of that in my inner perception. Then my reality won’t be separated into internal and external forms; I will perceive it as a single whole.

There is only my desire, and nothing else exists. The desire is comprised of qualities called David, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Josef, the right and left lines, the brook that flows out of the Garden of Eden, Ima, Bina, Paradise above and Hell below, and many others. All of these things exist inside my desire. It is impossible to imagine or think of anything outside the desire because the desire is the Creator’s sole creation.

I have to begin to acquaint myself with my desire. Indeed, I live inside of it at this very moment, but I am unaware of that fact. I always use the desire and it, in turn, controls me. My entire life is like a hamster wheel, but I am not even conscious of this.

That is why I am studying The Zohar – since it restores me to consciousness.

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

One’s success at studying The Book of Zohar does not at all depend on one’s ability to mentally arrange everything it describes. For example, one day you might leave the lesson very excited about everything you were able to feel and understand, and happy about being able to understand what stands behind the names and words in this book. But the next day you leave the lesson disappointed, thinking, “I did not understand anything! The material was so dull and I just couldn’t concentrate. I made efforts for a few minutes at best, out of the whole hour and a half of the lesson.”

The truth is that you aren’t able to assess the situation correctly; your greatest gain came precisely from those several minutes when you were able to make an effort. We don’t know anything about the Upper World or ourselves, or the conditions for revealing it. All of this is concealed. However, if a person gives all of himself and makes efforts, then precisely when he is in a state of not feeling fulfilled or interested in the study, when nothing “shines” for him, yet he desires to prove that he wants to attain bestowal – that is the best time and the best state.

I can tell you from my experience that it often takes me several hours of working on the text of The Zohar until I begin to break through the barrier separating me from it. But it is the greatest joy in the world to feel how that impenetrable wall between us begins to dissolve…

The corrections you perform during those hours of “numbness” are the most important effort you can make on your path to the Creator! It is precisely in response to this effort that the Upper Light comes to you, instead of everything else that comes easily. Therefore, this hard work is the best possible state.

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

A question I received: How can another person’s desire become my own vital need?

My Answer: This can only happen if you really see that this is so. You shouldn’t force yourself to give out candy and flowers to people, or to smile at them all day long. And you shouldn’t hypocritically try to be a “nice person.” Rather, Kabbalah is talking about an inner correction that takes place consciously, as a result of you seeing the goal; you see how reality is arranged and you see yourself in comparison to it.

You then begin to move away from evaluating things by your sensations of good or bad, since they revoke your freedom of will and turn you into a helpless animal. Instead you begin to realize the greatness of the goal; it becomes the highest thing to you. However, you don’t value it out of the egoistic benefit it promises, but based on a completely different principle.

But how is this possible, if our whole life revolves around sensations of good and bad, fulfillment and emptiness? It’s because you actually acquire a new criterion of true and false which is not based on self-satisfaction, but on spiritual importance. It is brought to you by the Light, although you do not even realize this.

That is how the force of bestowal comes to you. It is something you have never felt before, and little by little, it begins to influence you, giving you the quality of Bina which is above all your current calculations. You acquire a different nature, one with which you are currently unfamiliar, and it becomes your yardstick for measuring all the actions and changes taking place.

However, in the meantime, everything you do is necessary only in order to awaken the influence of this force. The entire method of Kabbalah lies in learning how to attract the Light that will cause a change in you. Without its help, you will never change on your own. You will remain forever trapped in the labyrinth of philosophical intricacies. On the other hand, if the Light influences you, you will begin to see and will learn everything.

This is why we have begun studying The Book of Zohar: in order to give every person (even total beginners) an opportunity to be in contact with the Light, on which we depend completely.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 1 Comment →

A question I received: Can we even hope for a better future with the bitter taste of the crisis lingering on our tongue?

My Answer: Indeed, we find ourselves in a situation that will not end on its own. A process has begun that must bring us to correction.

Despite all our attempts to ignore the obvious, we are gradually being shown that there’s something in our society that needs correcting. The pressure of the crisis is making us face its cause, the source of the true problem. This crisis is multifaceted, having affected family, education, economy, society, and the individual. Therefore, the solution must be collective, rather than private “fixes” in separate areas.

In truth there is only one question facing us today: What is the purpose for which Nature has created us? Or, stated differently: What is the meaning of life?

If we discover the purpose of our existence, we will be able to understand where the unfolding processes are taking us. Today we are awakened and are asking this question as we begin to consider our life through the prism of the crisis. The sooner we answer this question, the sooner we will rise above our present state. Anyone who hopes that everything will eventually return to the former lifestyle is mistaken. If the crisis recedes temporarily, then it’s only in order to “re-erupt” even worse than before.

We were shattered into many pieces by the Light, and therefore only the Light can correct the breaking. We must only desire this and feel a need for the reunification.

The same situation had first emerged in Ancient Babylon. Back then a portion of the Babylonians, who later became the people of Israel, understood the need to unite, and for a time they were able to do so. Today humanity must understand that we once again find ourselves in Babylon. Except now there’s literally nowhere to run from one another. We sought to build a tower reaching to the sky, but failed. This is a sign of the crisis, showing us that the only thing we lack is the realization that there exists an Upper Force that can unite us.

In Ancient Babylon, Abraham urged the people to unite, but instead the people decided to disperse. Today dispersion can take the form of protectionism and isolationism, both on the national and individual levels. If we take that route, we will undergo more suffering until we realize that it’s not the answer.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar describes only our inner qualities; this is why Kabbalah is called the inner part of the Torah. It only seems to us that the world develops and expands outward, but this is not true. It is our egoism that causes us to feel a spatial dispersion.

This outward perception is opposite to the correct focus and to the spiritual root. After all, the root is a thin line (Kav Dak), which passes through all of reality at its deepest level. Therefore, we have to concentrate within, focusing on our desires and qualities. We will then reveal a more internal degree.

In the science of Kabbalah we learn that our whole ascent lies in continually shifting to a more internal Partzuf. First the conception (Ibur – embryo) in the Partzuf NeHY occurs; then the inner Partzuf HaGaT is built inside, which is the suckling stage (Yenika). Then an even more internal Partzuf of HaBaD is built – the stage of adulthood (Mochin).

Thus, we complete one Partzuf – one of 125 degrees to complete correction. What now? Now a new Partzuf begins, which is a new degree of correction, like the next, higher floor, and it also consists of the same three stages – conception (or embryo), suckling, and adulthood.

In this manner, we constantly delve deeper and deeper until we reach the line of Infinity and suckle from this line. This is why one’s search should always be directed inside.

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

A question I received: Why does a person have to go through so many breakings? There’s the sin of Adam HaRishon, the intoxication of Noah, the animosity between Cain and Abel, the destruction of the Temple, and others. Why couldn’t we just go through the breaking once and then proceed to correct everything?

My Answer: The breaking is necessary in order for our desire to receive to become aware of itself, to feel that it is on the receiving end and someone gives to it, that someone wants to give to it and waits for a special reaction in return. This is all done in order for creation to learn not only to receive, but also to become similar to the Giver. Creation has to understand that reception and bestowal are just a means for connecting the Creator with creation. It is a means to bring creation to bestowal, to similarity with the Creator, and to help it ascend to His level.

When the egoistic desire begins to understand and feel all of this, it becomes “human.” Reception and bestowal are just auxiliary actions that help to elevate a person to the Creator’s level. All of the breakings are done in order to develop us and bring us to this level. All the states, feelings and realizations we go through are necessary; without them we would be unable to attain the Final Correction.

We cannot get there in one leap because wisdom comes with experience. We have to go through many states and compare them; we have to experience many inner conflicts and struggles in order to understand them. Our task is not to research the desire to enjoy that’s in us, but rather, through its reactions we study the Light, the Creator. We do not feel the Light itself; we are unable to perceive and understand it. However, by going through different layers of the desire to enjoy, the broken or uncorrected states, by being emptied of Light and filled by it, we study what happens outside our egoistic desire.

We don’t know what is really happening “outside.” We only feel the changes happening inside us and we compare them. This is how we study the third component – the Light. Even though we don’t know anything about the Light and we can’t feel it, we are nevertheless able to attain it through its actions. But this cannot be done all at once.

The more complex one’s desire becomes, the more contradictions and “shades” it contains, and the greater one’s ability to recognize the Light and the Creator. Therefore, we shouldn’t think that someone is deliberately placing obstacles on our path. The nature of our egoistic desire, which is opposite to the Light, requires it to perform these many actions in order to understand what the Light is, which is so far removed from it.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

A question I received: How can a person ask for bestowal if he does not know what it is?

My Answer: Spiritual growth is like the development of a child, for whom it is not enough to be just a passive participant in the process. This is natural development where a child reveals the world for himself in a natural way. He needs to taste it, hold it in his hands, recognize it, put it together, and break everything. He himself doesn’t know what he is doing since he is operated by nature. Later, having experienced everything, a child begins to think about and build connections between things; he begins to understand and demand.

This is very much like we act in regards to our spiritual development. No matter how smart we think we are, and no matter how many serious subjects we discuss, this is not what causes us to develop. Just like little children, we bring the force of development onto ourselves, which is the same force that develops a child.

Therefore, a person needs to reach a demand for bestowal on his own. There is no button you can press and immediately be allowed into the Upper World. If a demand, an aspiration is burning in you, you express it involuntarily within yourself. A “prayer” is work in the heart and is the innermost desire of the heart, which you may not even suspect exists.

After all, is it possible to compel yourself to pray? You can’t oblige the heart. Therefore, we need this force which develops in the material and the spiritual worlds and which constantly changes our desires. The Light created these desires, and it also reveals and transforms them through its influence. Therefore, our goal is to draw the Light onto ourselves with the help of books and our studies.

It is in our power to evoke a response, to turn to the source of Light in order for It to cause a faster development. This is the only means by which we can speed up this process. Nature develops us according to a designated program, in planned time frames; however, starting from this particular stage in human history, it has become possible to speed up the process.

Today we are able to activate the force of correction so that it influences us even more intensely. The science of Kabbalah is in fact that tool, that vehicle that allows us to achieve a shortened period of development.

The point is not in gaining more understanding. It is enough to “wave your arms and legs,” like a restless child, within the bounds of the Kabbalistic method – in lessons and dissemination. In other words, we must become animated and engaged in the process of our development. We intensify the Light by trying to aspire to It, rather than through our business-like manner and thoughtfulness.

Questions, answers, lessons, and discussions – all of this is here just for us to “play” with. A child is the same in this regard. When you play with him, something awakens in him and causes him to develop. This is called “the Light that returns to the Source.”

Whether a person is smart, phlegmatic, or sensitive is irrelevant. In the long run, whoever behaves in a more active, engaging manner will advance more rapidly.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

We don’t realize how interconnected we are, but we are connected with others as one body through thousands of links: through desires, intentions, thoughts, efforts, and everything else. The defining factor of a whole, integral system is the fact that if you change any of its elements, the whole system changes completely. Otherwise, the system wouldn’t be a single whole.

Similarly, being global means being connected from every side, in all properties, and in every way. This connection means that each person includes everyone within him. I am me and others are in me, and he is he and others are in him, and the same is true for everyone else.

However, by carrying out the correction, we don’t correct the system itself; we only reveal the connection that already exists in the World of Infinity. We correct the breaking, which is felt only relative to us. We correct our own vision and our own perception. If we correct the connection between us and begin to understand the system we are in, then we reveal that there are no individual elements.

When we move closer to Infinity, we feel that there are no individuals and there is only one whole. Everything is so intertwined that it’s impossible to separate anyone from anyone else.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam: The Actions Of An Individual Are Equal To The Actions Of The Whole
Laitman.com Post: The Spiritual World Is Felt Through The Desires Of Others
Kabbalah Today Article: Globalization 101
Interview with the Future: “The “I” as a Part of Reality”
A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah: “As One Unit”
Video: Cogwheels  (2:08)

Filed under: Perception - No Comments →