A question I received: When we read The Book of Zohar, why is it so difficult to follow your advice, and why can’t we seem to find these qualities inside us?

My Answer: There is only one advice: Keep going. It is written, “I labored and found,” and, “One is rewarded according to one’s suffering.”

As a child grows, years pass. The years are made up of many months, months consist of weeks, weeks consist of days, days – of hours, hours – of minutes, minutes – of moments, and in this manner, moment after moment the child grows more and more.

Growth takes time. However, in spiritual development, time is the number of actions performed by a human being. In our world we labor for twenty years not to change our inner nature but simply to adjust to corporeal reality which compared to spiritual reality, has no real form. We consent to our slow maturation in the material world, accepting it as “reality.”

However, in the spiritual world it seems to us that we can enter without any effort: open it to me, and I will enter. Of course, we say this only because we don’t understand that the entry occurs to the extent that we are similar to the spiritual world.

There is a law of equivalence of qualities, meaning how similar we are to the quality of bestowal. As soon as we discover how to use the spiritual world correctly, we will be allowed to enter it. However, before this occurs, we need to go through all the necessary preparation work.

The Book of Zohar is meant to bring us to equivalence with the spiritual world in the most quick and comfortable manner.

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A question I received: What conclusions for our inner work can we draw from the principle that all of reality is perfect in relation to the Creator?

My Answer: This indicates that all the flaws are inside us, not in the Creator, and we must only correct ourselves in order to feel perfection. In reality, we already exist in the perfect state.

I hope that by preparing for  The Zohar Convention 2010 in February and gathering together, we will attain such a powerful unity that we will actually feel this. Spirituality becomes revealed only inside the unity of souls, not in the souls themselves. Inside the individual souls it is only possible to feel our world, whereas the spiritual world is felt inside the connection among the souls.

This connection can be attained by virtue of quality, in which case it’s enough to have a small amount of people – even ten people suffices if they are very powerful. Alternatively, if there are many people, their number can make up for what they lack in quality.

Quality times quantity equals power. So let’s hope that the upcoming unity will connect newcomers and old-time students into one whole, and then every person will receive the entire force of this unity which will give us a push upwards, toward the understanding and sensation of a new, spiritual reality. Then we will feel it in addition to the mundane reality that we feel today.

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A question I received: You said that we should search inside of ourselves for everything that’s written in The Book of Zohar. However, The Zohar only talks about the correction of the soul, and we receive a soul only when we enter the spiritual world. So how can I correct something that is external, inside myself?

My Answer: That’s true. Sometimes we say that spirituality exists outside of us, where “outside of us” means “outside of our desire.” In truth, all of me is the desire to receive and to be self-fulfilled. Therefore, I say that spirituality is outside of my desire to receive pleasure.

We are not talking about distances and spaces; we are talking about qualities. With regard to the quality of reception there is no spirituality. Spirituality is outside of it. Therefore, when I say “outside of us” I mean “outside of our present desire.”

On the other hand, we say that spirituality exists inside us – much deeper than all our current desires. If I penetrate through all my momentary desires for food, sex, family, money, honor, and power – deeper and deeper within, into more internal, personal, important, eternal, and immense desires – there I find the spiritual world and a spiritual desire.

This spiritual desire is called the “point in the heart,” the innermost desire which is revealed in me now. Why is it the most intimate and greatest desire? It is so because of its elevated stature. After all, we are talking about the goal and purpose of my whole life, and about what will remain after my life. All these most intimate and deepest questions are concentrated within one point.

Kabbalists tell me: right now it is merely a point. However, when we read The Book of Zohar and “dig” within this point, we begin to reveal that there is a whole world inside it: crocodiles, houses, stars, sun, moon, people, wicked people, and righteous people.

This point begins to widen and suddenly we discover that it has within it everything that The Zohar explains to us in the most diverse styles: through the language of Kabbalah, the language of stories, in the form of a historical novel, or in the form of descriptions of laws and commandments. The entire Book of Zohar talks only about what happens within this point and expresses it in a special style every time.

Therefore, I read The Book of Zohar and really want to cognize everything it talks about inside of me. After all, Kabbalists say: there, within this point, is your eternal part. The body dies and disintegrates, and this point remains. Therefore, it pays for me to reveal it. Moreover, I am told: if you cognize this point, widen it, and begin to reveal the spiritual within it even slightly, you remain with this sensation, and there is no life and death for you.

This is because you can already begin to identify yourself with this point and you see life within it. This spiritual life seizes you and draws your attention to such an extent that all your desires and aspirations are concentrated there. And due to this, you attach importance to this corporeal life only to the extent that you can develop it more, reveal, and widen your point in the heart.

Then you suddenly begin to see how this point becomes bigger and bigger, and you reveal a whole reality within it – an inner dimension not perceived before. At first you didn’t feel that there was a point in the heart inside you, then you felt it, and now suddenly you reveal a whole world within it where you exist eternally.

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A question I received: Is everything we are now reading in The Book of Zohar describing my present state or my future state?

My Answer: That doesn’t matter. There is no present or future; everything takes place here and now. If I am reading a novel, then I experience everything its heroes do. I feel as if I am really together with them on a ship amidst a raging storm. I am overtaken by worry and fear, when I suddenly see a beautiful, enigmatic island…

Am I really there or not? No – it’s just my imagination. When I close the book, I go back to the “real” reality.

However, when I read a book about the spiritual world and identify with its characters, forces, and qualities, then I am really there in my desire and I reveal my true self more and more through the reading. I reveal a new world where I really live.

The Zohar describes everything that takes place in your desire. If you unite with this book, you really go through the phases it describes. You are really living inside that spiritual reality, and you just might be swallowed by a hungry crocodile…

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The whole world is parts of my desire, of myself. However, I don’t feel that others are part of me and therefore I’m not concerned about them whatsoever. Let the whole world burn, I don’t care!

The science of Kabbalah teaches us to reveal the truth – to see that everything “outside” of us is us, our desire. What we perceive as ourselves as well as the external world must all merge within us into one desire.

The Creator created only the desire, which is where we exist. We cannot see or sense anything beyond that desire. We reveal the Creator within our desire, which is why He is called “the Creator” – Bo-Reh, “come and see.” This world is what we feel right now, and the world to come is what we will feel a moment from now.

Everything takes place within the same desire, but we begin to perceive more and more things within it. We experience countless impressions, but in fact, this external reality doesn’t exist; it is merely the various phenomena that appear within our desire. This place we are in, this world, and this whole reality are imaginary. Once we discover the world of truth, we will exclaim: “We were in a dream!”

We must reveal the truth in order to awaken to the true reality, much like a person awakens from unconsciousness. This is the purpose of the science of Kabbalah – to return us to consciousness. Until then, it’s no use speaking to a person because if he currently exists in an unconscious state, he must first be reanimated back to life.

Therefore, when we open The Book of Zohar, we must imagine that nothing exists other than our desire. This world, myself, and everyone around me – none of these things exist. They are all my illusion.

There is only one desire to enjoy, and everything that can possibly happen takes place within that desire. This world and the world to come, life and death, the still, vegetative, animate and human levels of nature – there is no other place for any of them to be other than my inner desire to enjoy.

The Book of Zohar allows us to enter a state of feeling everything within our desire. That is what the Kabbalists call the spiritual world.

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Despite my egoism, evil qualities, and bad states I go through, I am able, ready, and entitled to receive a force from Above that will help me reveal the Upper World. My job is to aspire to the goal as much as I can. Even if I am very far from having pure intentions, even if my spiritual “qualifications” are doubtful – all of this is not important. This is who I am now; these are my present properties and my current state.

If a person, no matter what his situation, wants to receive the strength for correction and for spiritual advancement, then he deserves it. The Creator says, “Appeal to Me and I’ll pay for your efforts.”

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A question I received: Why did Rabbi Shimon write The Book of Zohar allegorically, concealing the fact that it’s talking only about the connection between the Light and the desire?

My Answer: Did he really conceal anything? Think about how the book Tree of Life by the ARI begins: “Know, that before the worlds were emanated and the creatures created, an Upper Simple Light had filled the entire reality.” And then a point of desire appeared and proceeded to develop until the worlds and everything inhabiting them emerged from that point.

There is nothing other than the will to receive Light, and the Light. Everything else is a development of the connection between them, where the Light remains invariable and the desire changes in likeness to the Light. This connection is the subject described in the science of Kabbalah and particularly, The Book of Zohar.

If a person is on a spiritual level, then he sees the connections between our picture of the world and his spiritual level. He sees how forces and qualities descend from the Upper Level to the lower one, which we all see. All the names of qualities and forces on all 125 levels above our world remain the same as the names in our world, but when he reads each name, he sees its roots instead of the material objects.

When one acquires a screen and enters the spiritual world, passing the Machsom, one begins to reveal the source of everything that happens in our world. One sees the picture of this world and how it is projected inside him from a higher level, as well as how it divides into levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human.

This vision enables him to automatically name all the forces and qualities of the Upper World using the names of material objects, since they are the materialization of the Upper Forces that descend into this world.

When one finds all the connections between this world and his spiritual level, he ascends to the following, higher level. Meantime, this world remains unchanging and keeps the same form. On the new level one continues to search for the connections between the roots (qualities on the spiritual level) and their projection in this world. The search comes down to correcting one’s qualities; to the degree one corrects them, one sees a clearer picture of the Upper Level. Once he discerns all the forces, qualities, and connections, he completes that spiritual level and ascends to the next one.

Even though this process may sound monotone, it is actually enthralling, like an extraordinary discovery. The picture of this world remains the same until one reaches the complete correction (Gmar Tikkun), where he ascends to a state in which everything unites into one. All the forces, Lights, and desires unite into a single whole and one is fully united with the Creator.

When a person sees the connection between this world and the last, highest level, he connects two opposite axes: himself below and the Creator above. Thus, he attains the state of adhesion with the Creator and total equivalence to Him. Stated differently, one reaches the World of Infinity.

All the desires – whether the uncorrected desires of our world, or the most corrected ones, as well as all the pictures and images will turn into one unified reality called “The Creator and His Name are One.” There will be just one single desire, HaVaYaH.

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You are leading a double life, but you don’t even suspect it. You are sleeping, unconscious with respect to the other reality, which is governed by bestowal instead of reception. Do you want to discover it? Do you want to wake up? If so, then the science of Kabbalah is here to tell you about the other side of the double life you are now living.

When this new life is revealed to you, it is so powerful that your entire life of the past turns into a dream, as if it was not real. Your present life is short and temporary, but you can gradually reveal a new awareness by virtue of a means that the Kabbalists have given to us.

Why does the spiritual reality turn out to be more intense than the current one? It’s because it is eternal, harmonious, and perfect. We just have to reveal a connection with that reality while living our current life. We have to reveal a new desire, similar to how this might happen in a dream, as if you are sleeping and then suddenly you wake up because a powerful desire emerges, like an a alarm clock ringing.

We are all sleeping in this world, but suddenly we feel a yearning for a new reality. If we want to awaken, we will receive the means to do it. But why can’t we wake up by ourselves? It’s because we have to understand, build, and create the new reality in order to learn all of its finest details starting from scratch. Then we won’t be “sneaking” into this reality like a tiny worm that crawls somewhere it isn’t supposed to. We won’t be connecting to it from below, but will bring all of it inside us. We will encompass it all within us and will thereby become equal to the Creator, the force that governs there.

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It makes no difference whether a person is the very best or the worst, whether religious or secular, smart or unintelligent, a criminal or saint. No one in this world has freedom in anything at all if he doesn’t have a point in the heart – no matter who this person may be.

If a person doesn’t work on spiritual development, then he lacks any freedom of will and leads an ordinary animalistic life. Freedom of choice exists only between two points or two opportunities which consist of choosing between the spiritual and the material.

If a person doesn’t have these two possibilities, then that individual is left one-on-one with his egoism, along with all the values which are imposed on him by society. Therefore, is there any freedom of will if a person is told what to do and want in life?

A person has the illusion of freedom only due to a lack of knowledge. It is similar to a child running back and forth in a room full of toys, not even noticing that he’s restricted to this one room, while his mother supervises the entire time.

Only when we have two opportunities for development, toward the material or toward the spiritual, can we obtain freedom of choice and start controlling ourselves with two reins. We cannot do anything with one rein except to stimulate ourselves to do as society dictates, which itself doesn’t understand where it’s heading because it is governed from Above. What is there to choose if we don’t know what will happen to us in the next moment?

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We know from the science of Kabbalah that everything is accomplished from below as well as from Above, with each side doing its half of the work. In our spiritual work this is called “half a Shekel.” We prepare our desire, which is our vessel (Kli), and present it to the Upper One. This is our half of the work, while the second half is realized from Above; this is how we reach partnership.

The same process occurs when we read The Book of Zohar. Although we lose some of the inspiration we first had when we came to the science of Kabbalah and started studying this book (since all this was due to the Creator’s “fuel”), we need to see that we are building our vessels of perception (Kelim), our desires. Through our repeated work, we add the desires of the friends and the environment, each time raising the importance of spiritual advancement.

It is precisely while experiencing the burdening of the heart, when we no longer aspire toward spirituality very much, that we understand that we are being given an opportunity to add something of our own. Moreover, if we don’t have this understanding, we are provided with an opportunity to demand it. Therefore if we don’t feel it, we should aspire and desire spiritual advancement to come from Above rather than arise from us. After all, what can exist in us?

In order to acquire something new, something higher, we are given the chance to come to a true prayer by feeling a lack of taste, sensation, and understanding. It is only this way that we come to desire and feel the need for it. And as soon as we have the need and desire, the fulfillment will come from Above.

Therefore, our work is not about achieving fulfillment, like in our world. Rather, our work lies in desiring, which brings the fulfillment from Above.

In our world we work in order to receive a payment, which is only for pleasure by finding something that fills us. In spirituality, we don’t need to work on this, since “the Upper Light is in absolute rest,” and “more than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to feed.”

We only need to desire to receive this fulfillment, as if desiring to eat and drink; it is to feel the whole abundance which is prepared for us from Above and “is in absolute rest,” meaning it exists around us without any limitations.

Our entire work is only to desire this.
[8142]
From Daily Kabbalah lesson on Zohar for All “”VaYeshev,” 148,  1/7/10

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