A question I received: How much longer will you remain our guide?

My Answer: At any given moment, a student needs to be prepared to be without a teacher, and know that he will have all that he needs. He who advances is one who constantly demands and is independent, in and of, himself. He has the Creator, the method, and the group. All that is necessary has been provided.

However, does one rise to the next level without a leader? The next state is a closer connection among the friends. Therefore, a collective decision is necessary. There could be no recognized leader appointed by the former teacher, or someone declaring himself to be the leader. No one can take the leadership by force, intelligence, or guile.

It’s safer if the group jointly continues on the path and carries out collective decisions by a “spiritual board.” This board doesn’t consist of great minds or recognized experts; it consists of the people who are able to make joint, collective decisions.

Anyone unable to be responsive to the process of the group’s development has no place on this spiritual leadership board. This includes: those that are still blinded by personal interests, those who are unable to subjugate themselves to the group, those who haven’t yet been imbued by the spirit of the path to a sufficient degree, those who make mistakes because they haven’t grasped or tuned into the common direction, those who are subject to outside influence, or those who might be unsuitable for other reasons.

The spiritual governing board needs to consist of people who don’t make mistakes with collective decisions, who aren’t subject to pressure from others in the group, and, more importantly, who aren’t influenced by anyone on the outside. The group has the right and the obligation to immediately expel anyone who interferes with the work or who asserts his own superiority. These are the spiritual laws according to which we need to grow.

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For the last few days, I have been feeling that many people are beginning to understand that our unity is created so that all of us, together, will reveal the reality of our connection with the Upper Force of nature. We are becoming a group which attracts people to the unification and revelation of the Creator within this unity. This is becoming clearer for people.

Our goal is to connect all of humanity to this Upper Force in order to rise to that level. This is already starting to penetrate our minds and sensations. The very initial connection between us and the Upper Force has opened.

We work on developing our unity by participating in daily lessons through the internet. We are following the method that I received from my great teacher Rabash, Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag, which is why our group is called Bnei Baruch (Sons of Baruch). Our uniting according to this goal is called Dvekut (merging with the Creator), our final state.

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeHaalotcha (When You Mount the Candles),” Item 118: …After he explained the first two banners, which are the middle line and the right line, he now explains the third banner, which is the left line, called “the face of an ox” in the animals, and “Gabriel” in the four angels. It is known that after the middle line decided and united the right line and the left line with each other, only the light of Malchut remained in the left line, which is the illumination of Hochma from below upwards, meaning VAK, while the GAR disappeared.

Two full lines, the right and the left (Hassadim and Hochma), come to us from Above. The breaking of the vessels occurred because the creature tried to fully unite Hassadim and Hochma, to receive all the Light of Hochma clothed into the Light of Hassadim for the sake of bestowal. However, it was unable to do so due to the absence of such a big screen. Therefore, the intention for bestowal (Kli) broke and the screen vanished.

Now we need to correct this breaking. By correcting it, we also begin to understand what happens within the creature, why the Creator created it this way, and what He wished for when doing so. The breaking isn’t something negative; it’s a way to prepare for putting our world together into one whole with understanding, realization, and sensation. After all, if we existed in a world that was ready for us, we wouldn’t understand it.

However, since the Creator created the World of Infinity and then broke it, He gave us an opportunity to gather the World of Infinity once again as one; to tune into the Act of Creation (Maase Merkava) and the Primary Act (Maase Beresheet) ourselves, thereby to understand Him, feel Him, and become like Him.

We certainly aren’t building all this from scratch, or from nothing, since we ourselves are created “from nothing.” However, the parts that we gather into one whole give us a full understanding and sensation of what we need in order to become similar to the Creator. That is, they give us all the information about all the parts, elements, and the depth of the universe.

Therefore, the entire Book of Zohar, all the commentaries, and the entire science of Kabbalah, tell us how to correct the broken desires (Kelim), how to connect them properly to each other, and bring them back to one whole desire (a spiritual vessel or Kli), the whole Light that previously filled the World of Infinity.

But the creature needs to carry this out with its own effort. Thereby, it achieves an understanding, sensation, perception, and power over the whole universe.

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Why were the five worlds, Partzufim, and Sefirot created with an infinite number of unique details? The Light of the World of Infinity needs to clothe into this whole system. It weakens, dividing into many degrees with various combinations and unifications, so as to influence the desire to receive pleasure, which on its own is nothing more than the material of desire. In other words, in and of itself, matter has no form; rather, all its forms are imprints of Light.

The Light determines the entire program of the development of matter, separating it into parts and providing different forms, such as masculine and feminine, high and low, as well as various colors and numerous qualities. Inherently, the matter of desire is homogeneous; all the changes on it are performed by the Upper Light. It is similar to genes that determine the entire development of an organism. Thus, due to the Light’s influence, parts having completely opposite qualities emerge from homogeneous matter and supplement one another.

The most important division in matter performed by the Light is the separation into male and female parts (a positive and a negative), which enables these parts of matter to unite with each other and conceive life within matter. This becomes possible because the separation that occurs in matter gives rise to an equivalence of the Creator and the creature arises within the matter itself. When the male and female parts unite, it gives meaning to the notions “the Creator” and “the creature.” A model emerges within and a person begins to think about it.

A person’s inner structure changes so that he comes to include all the parts that are present in the Creator, starting from all the parts that the creature has in relation to the Creator, and which exist as His opposite. And then one begins working with the third (middle) line, which means that from these two systems existing inside a person, one works to become similar to the Creator according to the person’s own free choice.

The Light that comes through the five worlds and works on matter creates this entire development. There is nothing within inanimate matter itself, since it is incapable of performing a single action on its own. Hence, from the start, we need to create the ability in it to feel and react to all the qualities that are contained in the Light.

We don’t understand the work that the Creator performs on our primary material (Homer ha-Yuli). The Light (the Creator’s influence) needs to go precisely through the whole system of worlds in order to create complete equivalence to the Creator from shapeless and unfit material.

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It is necessary to understand that two opposite forces, the right and the left, are forces of nature. Everything comes from the Creator, is split into two, and controls us.

Until you try to become similar to Him in the middle line, to build His image in you, you will not come to a good state. Therefore, one needs to constantly try to become similar to the Creator according to one’s degree and all the desires and qualities that are revealed to him. You must build a middle line out of everything that you receive from Him, from these two “reins,” the two lines, the two “angels.” Then you will be sure that you are truly achieving the best possible state for yourself, for Him, and for the two of you.

Otherwise you cannot save yourself from any misfortunes. If you don’t prepare yourself ahead of time in the middle line in the next degree, then punishments await you. However, in essence, these are not punishments; they are revelations of the same qualities (Kelim), which you did not correct. You were given an opportunity and all the means to correct these qualities, and they were revealed to you, but you failed to do this. For this reason you sense the lack of correction in the form of suffering.

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During the spiritual ascent, it’s as if a person wakes up, inhales, and becomes full of inspiration. This is a sign of being close to spirituality. One doesn’t feel the Light yet, but it seems the dawn will break soon.

It is the time when one can discern and grasp many new things in the same study materials. One should use this time for the maximum bestowal; one should scoop it out completely without wasting a single moment. Otherwise, it’s as if he disregards what was given to him from Above.

It doesn’t matter what books a person reads during this time as long as they are close to his soul. After all, even without understanding what he reads, he exerts efforts in joining his desire and mind with the Light that comes upon him. He wants the Light to penetrate his desire, and then the collision between them advances him.

Our world, atoms, molecules—all of it does not exist. There is only the power of desire. When one’s desire is close to the Light, he should try to work with it as much as possible.

The aspiration to the goal that becomes revealed in a person’s heart is the appeal for correction. The efforts put forth during the spiritual ascent on the studies, dissemination, and work in the group, lead to the desire that deserves the revelation of the Light.

The spiritual world doesn’t have boundaries, walls, or prohibitions. The Light and the Kli exist next to each other, but they don’t intersect much like waves of different frequencies. It’s only if a person switches from the wave of receiving to the wave of giving that he tunes in to the Light and becomes fulfilled with it.

For this, a person needs a strong and whole desire which is similar to the Light at the minimal level. This desire can be very small but it should be completely focused on the goal. It is similar to how a child wants something small, but with all his might this desire seizes him completely, even if for a short time.

The minimum similarity to the Creator will immediately allow us to sense Him. The sensation of the Creator is our soul. Then, we discover the eternal and perfect life at His level and not at the level of our body. The desire to bestow corrected by the Light brings us to the Creator, to the common property of Nature, and we merge with its level and might.

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A question I received: What does it mean that we have to desire to study The Zohar together? How should we do this or feel it?

My Answer: Correction means that all desires are united together. When our desires are separated from one another, we feel this reality or this world within them. When we unite our desires together, then inside them we feel a reality called “the spiritual world.” Everything is very simple and it does not involve space or time. Everything depends on the unity of desires into one whole or their separation from one another.

Right now we feel this reality because our desires are disconnected and each one stands on his own. Inside your own small desire, which is aimed only at your own good, you feel what you are able to feel inside it. You feel Light, but when the Light appears inside this desire it seems to you as what you see now. Do you want to see something different? Well, you won’t be able to do anything with these earthly desires all the way until the End of Correction.

When this earthly desire is revealed and grows within us, we feel that we live. Afterward it dwindles and we feel that we die. Then it comes to life again and dies as if it is revived in order to be used and then goes back into concealment. However, besides it, there is another desire called “the point in the heart,” which comes from another, spiritual level. This is a desire we can connect to others. We cannot connect the desires of this world, which are desires of the still, vegetative, and animate levels. They exist in their regular form, where every person is connected with others to the degree that nature obliges him to, and not more than this.

However, we can unite our desires called “the points in the heart,” and then we will feel the spiritual world within them. This is why I have to imagine this common desire (Kli or vessel). It is very tangible and it really is in our hands. If we could unite our desires for spirituality, our points in the heart, together through mutual help and mutual connection, then we would feel the spiritual world. However, the sensation within them has to be mutual. It cannot take place in each separate individual because it is revealed through the unity of desires.

What is it that becomes revealed? It’s the connection among the desires. This connection is called fulfillment, the Creator, or the Light that fulfills the desire. We don’t reveal the Light by itself. We only reveal our impression of the Light, the quality of bestowal that clothes into us. It clothes precisely into our relationships of love and bestowal to one another.

There is a force that enables us to unite together and treat each other with mutual bestowal. My bestowal to another person is called “Light,” and the mutual bestowal that I reveal among everyone is called “the Creator.” This is the meaning of the verse, “From love for the created beings to love for the Creator.”

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Kabbalists tell us that man is an integral part of nature and is entirely governed by it. Hence, within the parameters of our world, we should not place emphasis on people’s outer actions or regard them as “causes” because all the actions in this world are actually effects or consequences of the forces that govern our lives.

The only true independence for a person is found in spiritual ascent, which occurs through the process of acquiring the quality of bestowal and love. This means acquiring similarity to the Creator, which is achieved through the Kabbalistic methodology of attracting the Upper Ruling Force, also called the “Surrounding Light.”  In other words, we do not have the power to achieve it on our own, but only with the Creator’s help and His Light.

Historic examples demonstrate how nature governs a human being and society as a whole by modifying the environment. For example, during the last glacial period (the minor ice age, 1650 – 1720 CE) when as a result of diminished solar activity all of Europe was seized by ice, multiple revolutions and riots resulted. This phenomenon took place in many parts of the world simultaneously. Yet, the truth of the matter is that only the human desire for self-improvement is capable of causing such a strong response from nature on the physical, earthly level, thereby creating adequate conditions to further our personal and social development.

Hence, only our inner progress and outer dissemination of Kabbalah (the method of correction) is capable of making society realize that not only does worldly self-improvement not work, but true improvement becomes possible only by means of involving the forces of the nature – the  Creator and His Surrounding Light.

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A question I received: What are the signs of our advancement in reading The Book of Zohar and generally in our spiritual work?

My Answer: The clearest and strongest sign of advancement in reading The Book of Zohar is the feeling of a greater need for connection with others.

Another sign is that I feel that The Zohar attracts me for some reason. Sometimes it draws me more and sometimes less, but no matter what, I feel good being near this book, whether reading or listening to it. I feel that there is power in this book that connects me with life. It has this effect.

Even if a person does not understand or attain what The Book of Zohar describes, he still feels that this book is like a rope or a life-line that the Creator has thrown to his creatures here in this world, as Baal HaSulam writes in his article “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion ofThe Zohar.”

By gripping the end of this rope, we can ascend to Him.

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Two questions I received on Kabbalists’ attitude to the world:

Question: Our Kabbalah study group in Seattle was asked to give a presentation on Kabbalah to a club that meets to learn about different spiritual traditions. The talk went very well and after it was over, one of the participants asked: “What do Kabbalists say we should do with desires when they rise within us?” How would you have answered such a question?

My Answer: We will fulfill them with the understanding of the Creator.

Question: If the Kabbalists do and have always known all, in my opinion, they are responsible for explaining to all of humanity and even individuals, why the Creator seemingly treats them so poorly.

My Answer: It’s you, not Kabbalists, who perceive the Creator’s attitude in this way. You will understand the rest on your own once your impressions of the world start changing.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Who Will Pave The Way To The Creator?
Laitman.com Post: The Darkness Is The Beginning Of The Perception Of The Other
Laitman.com Post: The Spiritual World Is Felt Through The Desires Of Others
Laitman.com Post: The Right Approach To Every Problem In Life
The Path of Kabbalah: “The Beginning of a Kabbalist’s Way”

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