Question: If a few people create a group and connect with one another, how can they spread this sensation of connection to the entire world?

Answer: It is enough for me to reach the property of connection, bestowal, and love through my small group. When I turn to the big world after having obtained this property, I see it as unified. After all, if I can step out of myself toward one person, likewise I can step out toward all and to the Creator. A sensory organ for the external world (the screen and Ohr Hozer) appears in me. As a result, the world falls into the range of my vision.

Without it, I only detect things that correspond to my ego. I simply do not see whatever my egoism does not like or has no interest in. There are plenty of things in the world that I am not able to perceive. There is a formidable and extraordinary universe, the spiritual world, but I am blind to it. I simply do not have the necessary organ of perception. I do not feel the spiritual world. It just flows by me. It is here and now, but I am missing it all!

I have to acquire a new sensory organ: a feeling of love and bestowal. Then, I will feel the bestowal and love that permeate the world. This is what is called the Creator. When I receive such sensations, even the smallest one, to this degree, I will feel part of the spiritual reality. This will mean that I have risen to the first spiritual level. Then, I’ll expand my perception, obtain the ability to love and bestow more, and will feel more.

The greater my spiritual vessel, my instrument of perception, the more I feel the spiritual world. In this manner, I climb 125 spiritual degrees and gradually achieve the full sensation of the attribute of bestowal. Thereby I reach the complete correction of my spiritual vessel and now I perceive the entire reality, all of the Creator, and all the force of bestowal and love there is. I feel this force, and it fills me. The Creator and I are now together. I now act with the newly obtained property, the new sensory organ.

Therefore, not having this property of love and bestowal, I cannot complain that I do not sense the spiritual reality which exists here and now. It is not concealed somewhere far away in a different place. I simply do not sense, discover, or see it. It is like I took my glasses off and lost the ability to discern objects: The whole world disappeared and doesn’t exist for me.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/25/10, Shamati #99

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We are created from the material of “the desire to enjoy.” Therefore, we need energy in the form of “pleasure” in order to perform any physical or mental action. In other words, nothing moves in our world without an egoistic stimulus. Consciously or unconsciously, we weigh everything in our “desire to enjoy,” and in the assessments of this desire each thing acquires “its own” qualities: color, weight, height, and distance.

In order to be successful in this world, we need to have the right scale of values, or in other words, the right set-up of “the desire to enjoy.” And this is what we teach our children: to strive for the good things and to avoid the harmful things. To distance oneself from evil means not to have the energy to work for it.

However, there is no motivation in our “desire to enjoy” for reaching the spiritual, “the desire to bestow”! After all, the spiritual world is opposite to me; it is the desire to bestow rather than to receive pleasure. This attribute doesn’t exist in me at all. Therefore, I do not feel the spiritual world. I can “see” only what I evaluate in “the desire to enjoy” as more or less valuable, determining it as something close and important to me or distant and insignificant.

In spirituality, “the quality to bestow,” all the criteria, thoughts, and actions are based only on bestowal. Yet my “desire to enjoy” does not understand what that is. Bestowal passes through me like an invisible illumination, which I do not sense in any way. Whole worlds and actions are performed beside me, and I do not notice them in my “desire to enjoy” just like an animal doesn’t understand the sensations of a human being.

What can I do if I am created this way? All the worlds and most importantly the One who controls me, the Creator Himself, remain unnoticed by me! In order to feel them, I need to begin to value “the quality of bestowal.”

This is why we are given the environment: the books, the teacher, and the friends so that they will instill the importance of bestowal into me. Although I personally don’t think so, they tell me this, and their opinion is important to me. I am created to absorb the influence of the environment, and what is important to the people that surround me becomes important to me.

Thus, even bestowal, which is of no value to me, begins to be important if everyone talks about it. It becomes important in my “desire to enjoy” as a good acquisition. I am willing to exert effort to attract the Upper Light which brings me “the desire to bestow” because this is important to my “desire to enjoy.” In Kabbalah this is called spiritual work for oneself, Lo Lishma.

However, the Upper Light that I draw changes me and replaces “the desire to enjoy” with “the desire to give enjoyment” (from Lo Lishma to Lishma). I then enter the perception of the Upper World.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, Shamati #15

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Question: How do I check my intention so that I am not lying to myself and I am doing everything possible for my advancement?

Answer: When a person begins his spiritual development, he only has an intention “for myself.” Only under the influence of an invisible Upper Light does he begin to feel a change in himself in that his intention becomes “for the sake of others.” In order for this to happen, a person needs to perform the actions that he is capable of performing, namely to 1) Unite in the group to the point of reaching a state of a mutual guarantee, as one man with one heart, and 2) Study Kabbalah together.

Kabbalists advise us to perform these two actions. This is called “half a shekel” which we need to put in. The other half will be given by the Creator.

We should invest, invest, and invest in the studies, unification, and dissemination. First, there should be the action, and no one can argue whether it did or did not happen. It is seen clearly, and it is within your power. Make a list of your actions (not necessarily the physical ones) that you have done that have transferred from your desire to the neighbor. You direct your actions to the group or to the Creator. By turning your actions toward them, you invest in them.

This is much like adopting a child where you invest in him, and he becomes closer to you than your own child. You don’t invest as much into your own child since you know that there is a natural connection between you anyway. However, you invest more in an adopted child because you are afraid that your connection is not strong enough. You wish to connect yourself to the child and to have him be connected to you.

Thus, adopted children become more dear to us than our own. This is because there is fear within that he isn’t really mine, and there is more that I could add or do. Maybe I am not treating him right or maybe he won’t treat me like I am his father. We see how important this inner fear is in order to use it as a foundation for revealing love.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/10, Article, “You Stand Today, All of You”

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Question: If we don’t really understand the state of having to unite together as one man with one heart, then what should we focus on or imagine while reading The Book of Zohar?

Answer: There is nothing more than this. We live in a world that contains all the exact components that enable us to come together physically or virtually in order to join our aspirations to reveal the Creator while reading The Book of Zohar.

Our world is identical to the spiritual world in every detail with the only difference being that the spiritual world is a world of forces while our world is a world of material objects that are the results of spiritual forces. Every level is an imprint of the Upper Level, and in this manner they descend from Above downward, from the World of Infinity to our world along 125 levels. The only difference between the levels is their matter, which becomes increasingly less spiritual during the descent. However, every level consists of the same details.

"Ascent" means the revelation of a greater connection between the world’s components. Everything that is happening in our world today is pushing us toward this. What do you lack? A connection between people. Inside this connection you will reveal the spiritual level called "Ruach," and when you attain a greater connection you will reveal the level of "Neshama."

Right now the connection between us is egoistic. You have to start turning it into a real, spiritual connection. Whoever desires to reveal the Upper World in this lifetime must first and foremost understand that this revelation takes place according to the laws of nature.

Therefore, Kabbalah advises people not to invent their own methods, but to heed the advice of Kabbalists.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 117: Similarly, it is written about the exodus from Egypt, “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go,” by which Pharaoh gave him the Kelim of his own decision and his own will. This discernment is considered the scrutiny of the Kelim, the Mochin de VAK of the degree of the light of Haya, since he [Abraham] did not attain it through the word of the Creator but through a sin and a test.

Perception of the spiritual world is devoid of any corporeality; there is neither Egypt, nor Abraham there. We use these words to signify the spiritual forces that form these objects in our world. This means that we take the words of our world and use them to name the upper forces. We read The Zohar as if knowing nothing about our world and its history. After all, The Zohar tells us about the spiritual states that lie in wait for us.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/10, The Zohar

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Question: If the speed of advancement and the number of discernments are essential for spiritual progress, then it is unclear what we need to do. Should we discern every state as deeply as we can or should we try to replace it with a new state as quickly as possible?

Answer: You cannot enter a new state if you haven’t finished discerning the previous one. You need to thoroughly clarify the state that you are in. The moment you finish this analysis, the state is replaced. We cannot forcefully change our states. Every state lasts until you feel that you are unable to stay in it any longer and that you need to advance. This is how material, evolutionary development occurs, and so does spiritual development.

When we begin to hate our state and are unable to stand it any longer, then this attitude forces us to come out of it. After all, hatred means distance in the spiritual world. Thus, we enter a new state. However, what is important here is the correct discernment. Otherwise, it may happen that “a fool sits with his arms folded and eats himself up.”

We need to use all the means given to us (the study, the group, and dissemination), rather than some other ephemeral opportunities which also seem real to us. If you act in order to unite with the friends, to reveal bestowal and a mutual guarantee between you so as to discover the force of bestowal, the Creator, within it, then this is the right direction for the work. If you dissipate your energy in a thousand other directions and actions, then you just waste your strength and, consequently, fall off the track of your development.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/10, Article, “And There Was Evening And There Was Morning”

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Question: Is it true that every time we read The Book of Zohar it precisely describes my spiritual state?

Answer: The spiritual states include everything just like a holographic image. Indeed, every spiritual state comprises the ten Sefirot. And whichever way you look at it, in every state you see yourself.

How is this possible? It is because all this is a single, universal state; it is only that we discern in it a gradation of qualities. There are not multiple states, but only one state: the first and the last state of adhesion. However, for us it is revealed in different perspectives, as though we are looking at the same picture from different visual angles. Therefore, I can see and recognize myself in every state that there is.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/10, The Zohar

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Question: What are the signs that we have made the first step onto the spiritual ladder?

Answer: When we arrive at the first spiritual degree, we feel a pressing need to unite because a common integrated system of souls becomes revealed to us there. This system is a tight network of forces of mutual love and bestowal, filled with the upper, unifying force, the Creator.

The more willing we are to become equivalent to the Light, the tighter our souls draw together under its effect, and we feel how it passes through us. The souls align with the Light more and more, removing obstacles (resistance) out of its way, and the Light travels through them without restriction, shifting from one soul to the other. The Light becomes whole and complete like in the World of Infinity. It doesn’t need to perform any actions or movements in order to shift from place to place; it simply and absolutely fills the entirety of the network evenly.

This network exists at every level of the spiritual ladder, from the first to the last. However, as we advance to a higher spiritual degree, we perceive a more integrated network filled with more Light. We perceive this because there is less and less difference between the souls and the Light in which they reside. This means that the Creator, who fills space between the souls, is revealed to them more and more.

We see the Light at the very first degree of the spiritual ladder, similar to how a newborn baby begins to perceive our world with his five corporeal senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. A newborn doesn’t know how to use his sensory organs yet, but is able to acclimate himself somewhat.

The same occurs when we attain the first spiritual degree. After having made it to the first spiritual degree, we exist in this world in our physical body and also within our soul in the spiritual world. The spiritual world is eternal, and while in it, we don’t feel the need for the physical body. We can exist without it, solely in the sensation of the Upper World.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, Article, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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A question I received: Can one person with a correct intention affect the entire group that reads The Zohar without any intention?

My Answer: When we read The Zohar together, we strive to unite. We gather in a group so that there are no difference between an advanced student and a beginner, a prominent one and not. Together in a group we are all equal.

Each of us may be in a certain state: one just started and doesn’t fully comprehend where he is, while another has studied The Zohar for some time and has already gained a certain picture from it. Yet both undergo different states. Perhaps today a person feels especially attuned and inspired, but there are times when he is unable to tune in at all, as if unconscious. It may be that yesterday there was great clarity, and today that person is unable to collect his thoughts.

Therefore, everything depends on the collective mass of those who study together, and how well, through a unified effort, they are able to feel that this mass contains everyone within itself. It turns out that those who have sharp clarity today help those who are now lifeless. Moreover, both benefit from each other.

As a matter of fact, the person now inspired lacks the force of egoistic desire (Aviut), but receives it from those currently in the dead state and vice versa. In this way, when there is great inspiration and Aviut at the same time, then together in unison we help each other to receive an opportunity for advancement. Thus, when we connect and bring both together, it works and brings good results. Conversely, if only those who are burning with inspiration came to study today while those who feel lifeless stayed in bed, we would gain nothing. We would not have a sufficient force of egoistic desire to advance.

Our strong desire attracts the Light that Reforms. We burn with the desire to receive it and it comes. So where does the Light enter? Where is your egoistic desire that it can influence? Yet when several “dead” friends sit next to you, the Light influences them and brings them back to life. And tomorrow you will switch places, and everything will reverse.

We do not fully comprehend the unique potential of a group. Without it, spiritual advancement is impossible.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: I study The Zohar every day, but I don’t feel anything besides my growing desire. Am I advancing in the right direction?

My Answer: This is very good! If your desire is growing from one day to the next, then you don’t need anything else! Even though a growing desire brings you disappointment, you have to see it as a reward. This is because desire or lack of fulfillment is the force that moves you forward. When you have an empty desire, you feel that you lack unity with the Creator, the feeling of connection with Him, the quality of bestowal.

Therefore, the right desire is a reward. In our world you have to earn fulfillment, but in the spiritual world you have to earn a spiritual vessel, a desire. The fulfillment is always there, you are welcome to come and take it! But what will you take it into? That is the question.

Right now there are spiritual treasures all around you: “diamonds,” “gold,” “money,” and anything else you can possibly wish for. You just do not have a desire for them, which is why you don’t recognize them. The space around you seems empty! All the best things you can possibly wish for are already present, but it is as if you have been gagged and your arms and legs have been tied, and then you are placed in front of this treasure and told, “It’s yours!” But, how is it yours if you can’t take it?

It is necessary to develop or prepare the desire, the spiritual vessel. That is all we have to do. Therefore, our reward is desire or aspiration, and it has to be created by the Light. We have to change our perception, our attitude to reward and punishment. In our world punishment is desire or the sensation of lack, whereas reward is the fulfillment that calms you down because you live inside the will to enjoy.

However, if you are inside the will to bestow and you have the desire to bestow, this is a reward. Why is the difference so great? It is a result of the restriction. The restriction was performed on reception, but there are no restrictions on bestowal.

If you already have the desire to bestow, then everything lies open before you and everything becomes revealed to you to the same degree. Inside your desire to bestow, you begin to see in the Reflected Light everything that is around you, and you are welcome to take it!

That is how gradually, from one day to the next, The Zohar changes our vision and the direction of our thinking, by building a new, different attitude to life and to the phases of spiritual advancement.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10, The Zohar

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