The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Who Is Your Partner?” (abridged)

61. Rabbi Shimon said: “How much effort should man exert in the Torah day and night, for the Creator is stern to those who draw near Him. And with every word that man attains by his efforts in the Torah, he builds a firmament.”

62. When the Torah is renewed by one’s mouth (the Light of Hochma is revealed in the Masach of Peh de Rosh), that renewal (new correction) ascends and appears before the Creator (in the World of Infinity). And the Creator (the general Light of Hochma) accepts this wisdom (the newly revealed Light of Hochma), kisses it (joins with it), and adorns it with seventy adornments (Sefirot of the soul’s body). And the renewed wisdom (the Light of Hochma) ascends and settles on the head of the righteous that revive the worlds, and then flies, soaring through 70,000 worlds, until it ascends to Atik, the Sefira Keter. And all that exists in Atik is concealed, Supernal Wisdom.

63. And this hidden wisdom, which is renewed here in this world, ascends and joins with Partzuf Atik, enters 18 worlds, where “No eye has seen the Creator besides you.” The souls emerge from there and appear before Atik, complete and perfect. Meanwhile, Atik adorns them with 370,000 adornments – and the wisdom is transformed into a firmament.

64. And thus, man’s every correction in this world creates firmaments, the new Heavens, which appear before Partzuf Atik – they are “renewed firmaments,” concealed by Supernal Wisdom. And all the other parts of the Torah that are not renewed by means of Supernal Wisdom appear before the Creator, ascend and become “the lands of life” (Artzot HaChaim). They then descend and adorn the land – and out of all the renewed a new land comes into being.

65. It is written, “When the new land and the new Heavens, which I make.” It is written “I make,” in present tense, for they are made from revealing the secrets of the Torah. And it is written of this: “And I shall place it in your mouth, and in the shadow of your hands’ garments, that I may take the Heavens (renewed by the Torah), and lay the foundations of the land.”

66. What is the meaning of “in the shadow of your hands’ garments”? – When the Torah was passed to Moshe, thousands of angels appeared so as to raze him with the flames of their mouths. But the Creator protected him. So now, when the renewal in the Torah ascends and appears before the Creator, He protects it and shelters the one who performed it, so as to prevent the angels from finding out and envying him, until new Heaven and earth are made out of this renewal in the Torah. Hence, it is said, “To take the Heavens and lay the foundations of the land from the shadow of your hands’ garments.”

67. The Creator said to these gates and to the words of the Torah, renewed by Him: “Who are you with? You are my partners. Just as I make the Heavens and the earth with My words, as it is written, ‘By the Creator’s word were the Heavens made,’ so you create new Heavens and earth by your (correction) labor in the Torah.”

68. However, if the renewal of the Torah by one who does not even know what he is saying, creates a firmament, then one who does not aspire to reveal the secrets of the Torah, all that he renews ascends, and the reverse side of man (the male part of the impure force), and the false tongue (from Nukva of the impure force, called Tehom Raba – great abyss), and the reversed man skips 500 Parsaot (measures of distance) to receive this renewal of the Torah, takes it and makes a false firmament out of it, called Tohu (abyss).

69. The reversed man then flies across the empty firmament, traversing 6,000 Parsaot, stops, an impure woman emerges, who supports this empty firmament, she leaves it and slays hundreds of thousands, for she receives the power to fly and traverse the whole world in an instant.

70. It is written of it: “Do not facilitate fruitless transgression.” Transgression is related to the male part. The impure Nukva (the female force) draws the male impure part to fruitlessness. And then, as a result, a transgression is committed, as the male part draws the souls towards this Nukva, who grows strong and slays people. And many does she slay thereby. And who is it that caused all this? It is those that study the Torah, but do not attain “Ohrah and Morah” – Light and bestowal!

71. Rabbi Shimon said to his friends, “I beg of you not to utter any discernments from the Torah, so that they don’t hear from the Great Tree of Truth. Do not assist the impure Nukva in slaying people. They all opened and mouthed: “Save us, O Merciful One!”

72. Come and see, the Creator created the whole world by the Torah. And He looked into the Torah four times before He created the world. This should show people how not to err.

73. Opposite these four times, the Creator saw, counted, prepared, and investigated what He had created. Even before He had created it. It is therefore written, “In the beginning the Creator Et (article)” – four words, corresponding to the four above. And then, it is written: “Heaven” – opposite all four words, for the Creator looked into the Torah before He began to manifest His thought into reality.

Related Material:
5 Things You Should Know About the Zohar

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: I have a question about the sages of the past. I have heard you mention that they used to sleep on the ground and restrict themselves in many ways. I was wondering why this was so, because we learn that only the Light can change us and also that Kabbalah forbids things such as starving ourselves, running away to a monastery, and so on. The way they behaved in the past seems just like Eastern teachings.

My Answer: It’s because the development of egoism (which determines all human development) is a process, and back then egoism was developed only on a small level. To attain correction, it was sufficient to limit oneself physically and study the Torah, as Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“: “Eat bread with salt, drink little water, sleep on the ground, and labor in the Torah. If so you do, happy you will be; happy in this world and happy in the world to come.” This shows that no one revoked the correction by the Upper Light, because initially it is written: “I created egoism and I created the Torah for its correction, because its Light returns one to Me.”

However, later, during the destruction of the Temple (about 2,000 years ago), there was a sudden jump in the development of egoism, and people fell into egoism (the Temple was destroyed). Kabbalists then performed a special correction in the system of the Upper Worlds that govern us, so that instead of using restrictions, we would also use the Upper Light (Ohr Makif).

Hence, when a person with great egoism fasts (limits himself), then he usually begins to take pride in his actions and moves away from the goal even more. He thinks that by increasing the limitations and the details of observance, he will become more righteous. This is why Kabbalists completely canceled the outer, physical conditions, actions and limitations, and by so doing they moved away from religion even more. This was done because a person can get confused and think that physical actions amount to correction.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Drink Your Milkshake and Study Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Building the Third Temple
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 21 – “Correcting Egoism”

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Questions I received on distracting thoughts, the desires of others, the right focus, and how to ask questions:

Question: What do Kabbalists do with distracting thoughts and the constant chatter that goes on in the brain?

My Answer: Get more involved in studying and writing articles. And it’s best to do this with others. It is written: “Regardless of how much the Serpent stings you, study the Torah.”

Question: We’re supposed to attach others’ desires to us, but which desires? When we make actions of bestowal, we are actually fulfilling the egoistic desires of others, so we’re in fact developing their egoism.

My Answer: “Others” are your friends in the group who understand your actions and also behave this way toward you. In order to reveal the Creator, it is necessary to create a common desire for Him. That is to say, in order to reveal the property of love and bestowal, it’s necessary to combine the desires of every person together into a common desire.

The sensation of the common desire for bestowal and love is the Creator’s manifestation in us! It brings the feeling of perfection, eternity, and harmony. However, when you are with others who don’t have a point in the heart, you have to behave just like they do.

Question: If the Creator became distanced and concealed from us in order to correct us, then in the process of returning to Him, should we be thinking and aspiring for attainment and revelation, or for correction?

My Answer: These are the same, since one acquires the property of love and bestowal.

Question: At one of your lessons you said that you want to teach us to ask questions correctly. Sometimes you tell your students that they’re “smart alecs.” So what does it mean to ask a question during the lesson? What should the question be?

My Answer: A question has to be exactly on the lesson’s topic, in order to help all the friends understand the topic better. It shouldn’t be something that interests only the person asking it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Where Do Thoughts, Ideas and Dreams Come From?
Laitman.com Post: The Moral Norms of a Kabbalist
Laitman.com Post: What’s the Point of Asking Questions?

Filed under: Q&A - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Vision of Rabbi Chiya” (abridged)

49. Rabbi Chiya prostrated himself on the ground and wept: “Dust, how hard and heartless you are, how many you have consumed, even the great one, Rabbi Shimon, the Light of the entire world, is also consumed by you, and yet you govern the world?” But then he collected himself at once and said: “Do not be proud, dust, for the pillars of the world will not be betrayed to you, and Rabbi Shimon will not be consumed by you!”

At first, Rabbi Chiya thought that Rabbi Shimon himself was also consumed by dust, i.e., did not achieve complete correction, for the upper gates are closed for all. Yet, if Rabbi Shimon revives the worlds through his soul, how can it possibly be that he has not reached perfection? Therefore, he concludes that Rabbi Shimon was not consumed by the dust, that he did achieve complete correction. The thing that Rabbi Chiya could not understand, however, is how any individual soul could achieve the end of correction prior to (without) the complete correction of all the others. This, Rabbi Chiya could not explain to himself.

50. Rabbi Chiya fasted for forty days so that he might see Rabbi Shimon, but was told he still was not worthy of seeing him. He wept and fasted for another forty days. He was then shown a vision (not his degree, but a higher one): Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar were discussing him, the words of Rabbi Chiya.

51. In that same vision, Rabbi Chiya saw how Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar mounted great celestial wings and soared to the Assembly of Heaven. Afterwards, they both returned to their place and shone brighter than ever before, brighter than the light of the sun. The term Supernal Assembly (of corrected souls) refers to the Assembly of the Creator Himself, while the Heavenly Assembly refers to the Assembly of Matat. The wings are angels (spiritual forces, similar to robots or draft animals in our world), whose task is to help the souls ascend from one spiritual degree to another.

52. Further Rabbi Chiya saw that Rabbi Shimon said: “Let Rabbi Chiya enter and see how much the Creator renews the faces of the righteous in the world to come. Happy is he who comes here without shame. Happy is he who stands in the other world against all obstacles. And Rabbi Chiya saw himself entering, and Rabbi Elazar and all the others stood up before him. And he, Rabbi Chiya, was ashamed; he entered, bending, and sat at the feet of Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Shimon opened the way for the Light and said: “Happy is he who enters here without shame.” And all that were present there felt no shame. Only Rabbi Chiya was ashamed. This is because they had the strength to withstand the power of the dust, and Rabbi Chiya did not. They were all perfect, whereas Rabbi Chiya had a flaw – the desire to attain. And this is what he was ashamed of.

53. A voice sounded: “Lower your eyes, do not raise your head.” Rabbi Chiya lowered his eyes and saw Light that shone from afar. The voice returned and said: “The Supernal Ones, concealed and enclosed, who have eyes that watch over the entire world, look and see: the lower ones are sleeping, and the Light of their eyes is concealed in their pupils. Wake them!”

After he followed the instruction to lower his eyes and not raise his head (not to receive the Light, but only to bestow), he heard (the Light of Hassadim) the appeal, in which he attained everything. The voice divides all souls into two groups: the first is a group of Supernal Ones who merited their eyes to be opened to behold the entire world, and the second group of souls have the Light of their eyes concealed. This is why the voice called upon the souls of the first group to behold, i.e., to use the reception of the Upper Light, to draw the Upper Light together with the second group.

54. Who among you turns darkness into Light (love towards one’s friend) and savors bitter (bestowal) as sweet even before he came here, that is, while still living in the other (egoistic) world? Who among you hopes and waits each day for the Light (of correction) that shines when He distances (from him in a sensation of a descent)? For he who does not wait for this each day while living in this world, has no place in the Upper World.

55. In his vision, Rabbi Chiya saw many of his friends, some are elevated by the wings, while others are lowered. And above them all, he saw the wings of the approaching Matat. This way the two groups help one another. Rabbi Chiya saw also that due to the aspiration of both groups, Matat descended from the Heavenly Assembly to the assembly of Rabbi Shimon and swore an oath.

56. The angel Matat swore that he heard from behind the curtain how each day the Creator remembers and grieves over Malchut, cast into the dust. And when He remembers her, He strikes 390 firmaments, and they all tremble with terrible fear before Him. And the Creator sheds tears for the Shechina – Malchut that has fallen to the dust. And those tears simmer like fire, and fall into the Great Sea. And by the power of these tears, the Ruler of the Sea, called Rachav, is revived, blesses the Creator, and vows to swallow up everything, from the first days of creation, and to absorb all within himself, when all the nations gather against Israel, the sea ruler will rise back to life and swallow up all the primeval waters, for Malchut will receive the lacking correction, for each day the Creator cares for her until she, His only creation, reaches her final correction – the waters will dry, and Israel will walk through dry land. And here Rabbi Chiya’s delusion was revealed to him: he understood that nothing disappears in the dust, but, on the contrary, each day Malchut undergoes corrections, just as Matat swore.

57. Through all this, he heard a voice: “Clear this place, clear this place! The Mashiach (Messiah), the King-Redeemer is coming to the assembly of Rabbi Shimon,” for all the righteous gathered there ascend from this assembly to the Assembly of Heaven. And the Mashiach visits all these assemblies and seals the Torah that stems from the mouths of the righteous.

As a result of the revelation of the end of correction, concealed in the oath of Matat, all of the righteous present at Rabbi Shimon’s Assembly attained Upper Degrees and reached the levels of “heads of assemblies” and merited ascending to the Assembly of Heaven and revealing the Mashiach.

And now all the members merited becoming the heads of the Assemblies, wherefrom they merited an ascent to the Heavenly Assembly. Moreover, thanks to their corrections, they merited the Mashiach himself coming to all these assemblies to be adorned with their deeds in the Torah. And now all the members have merited reaching the level of the assemblies’ heads.

58. The members stood up. Rabbi Shimon stood up too, and his Light rose to the firmament. The Mashiach said unto him: “Happy are you, Rabbi, for your Torah has risen in 370 beams of Light, and each beam divides into 613 beams (properties) that ascend and bathe in the rivers of the holy Apharsemon. And the Creator confirms and signs the Torah of your assembly.”

59. “I have come here not to confirm the Torah of your assembly, but only because the ‘owner of wings’ is on his way here. For I know that he shall not enter any other assembly, but only yours.” Meanwhile, Rabbi Shimon told him of the oath taken by the “owner of wings.” Right then the Mashiach trembled in awe – and the Heavens shook, and the Great Sea boiled, and the Leviathan stirred, and the entire world threatened to overturn – and left.

60. Rabbi Chiya trembled in awe when the Mashiach left, and his eyes were filled with tears. For the Mashiach left Rabbi Shimon’s Assembly weeping from the great desire for the final correction. And Rabbi Chiya was also anguished from the fervent desire to reach the end of correction. Rabbi Chiya cried and said: “Happy is the lot of the righteous in the other world, and happy is the lot of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who has merited all of this.”

“The Vision of Rabbi Chiya” – full commentary

Related Material:
Buy the Book: The Zohar: Annotations to the Ashlag Commentary

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: I feel drawn to Kabbalah study. I feel great changes. I feel like I am hearing answers that speak to me for the first time in my life. I want to learn, grow and change.

I was unobservant for many years and then returned to observance, mostly to try and make my life make sense and because of guilt. My father is a Rabbi and is a wonderful, pious, accepting man. I thought that I was doing something for my father by returning, and this is how my actions were also perceived by my orthodox family.

I only found Kabbalah because I returned to observance and went into a Chabad house. From there my interests were peaked and I found you online.

I feel conflicted now when I learn from you about the difference between religion and Kabbalah. I understand what you are saying and want to continue to learn, but I feel like if I move toward you, I am being selfish and disloyal to my father. So to move toward Kabbalah might be a selfish act for me considering my circumstance. Is this just part of my work?

My Answer: The difference between religion and Kabbalah is man’s correction. The study of Kabbalah (when it’s done correctly and by the correct source texts) evokes the Upper Light, which corrects one’s egoism according to the rule, “I have created egoism and I have created the Torah for its correction, because the Light that’s in it returns one to the Source.”

We develop to the degree that the broken, egoistic desires are revealed us. When one’s desire for correction becomes revealed, one then begins to sense that our world and everything in it – even faith – are false and empty. However, people who don’t realize this yet are satisfied with faith – whether faith in themselves, the world, or God.

Only you can tell which desires are being revealed in you. At the end of our development all of us will feel the need to unite with the Creator. In our time, people’s desires for Him are beginning to surface. This is why Kabbalah – the method of revealing the Creator, is becoming more and more popular and necessary. Even religions are beginning to “dress” in it and to say that Kabbalah is part of them. This also benefits Kabbalah, because it will accelerate people’s realization that the Creator cannot be attained anywhere besides Kabbalah!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Light Will Dispel the Darkness
Laitman.com Post: Which Books Should One Read to Learn Kabbalah?
Article: “The Need for Learning Kabbalah”
Kabbalah Today Article: “Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD”

Filed under: Religion - 1 Comment →

Every day the mass media brings us more news and information about the worldwide socio-political crisis, the threatening global climate changes, and scientific discoveries. All of this is determined by humanity’s general movement toward its final state – similarity to the Creator by the principle “through the thorns to the stars,” or in other words, “forced to happiness.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to go through these stages smoothly and pleasantly? Yet human stupidity and stubbornness lead us like Pharaoh in the Torah – from blow to blow. When a Kabbalist observes this, he suffers for everyone and with everyone. The only consolation is seeing that every blow nevertheless brings us closer to the goal – even though the medicine is right under our noses!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Is Ehud Olmert Resigning?
Laitman.com Post: All the World’s Pains are in One Country
Kabbalah Today Article: Mankind’s Growing Hunger
Kabbalah Today Article: Global Warming – So What?!
Kabbalah Today Article: The Untold Story of: a Consumer Nation

Filed under: News - No Comments →

A question I received: How do you remain true to the principle “love thy neighbor as thyself” when there’s a war going on and you have to fire a gun at your neighbor, who became your enemy for some reason and now wants to kill you?

My Answer: There are precise laws of behavior for this situation and they are described in the Torah. When the law states that you have to kill someone in a specific situation, then you have to do this, and you don’t have the right to avoid doing it. The reverse is also true.

There are states when the death of a person’s body is his correction. The principle “love thy neighbor as thyself” has to be understood in regard to the relationship between the souls, rather than the bodies.

[In the above photo: I am walking next to soldiers of the Chilean junta. By the way, “junta” means “group” – and it’s what our Chilean friends call themselves.]

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Do Kabbalists Need an Army?
Laitman.com Post: Neither Side Is Right In the Georgian War
Basic Concepts in Kabbalah: Chapter 3 “The Giving of Kabbalah”

Filed under: World - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Avraham” (abridged)

45. Rabbi Yosi said: “I heard from the great source of Light, i.e., from Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, that BARAH is a concealed word (the system of Light’s concealment), and the key to it locked it up and did not unlock it. And that is why there was no possibility for the world to exist, and nothingness enveloped all.

46. So when did this key unlock those gates, and everything became ready for the existence and evolution of the generations? When Avraham appeared, as he is the property of Hesed (mercy), of which it is written: “These are the generations of Heaven and earth Be-Hibar’am (with which He built).” However, one should pronounce the word not as Be-Hibar’am, but as Be-Avraham (in Hebrew, these two words have the same letters, which are positioned in a slightly different order). Then, all that was concealed in the word BARAH was revealed as letters, and there appears the Pillar of Procreation, Sefira Yesod, upon which the world’s existence is based, for the word BARAH consists of the same letters as the word AVAR – passed (the property of mercy, the Light of Hassadim, creates an opportunity for the Light of Hochma to be revealed in it).

Question: “When It (the Light of Hassadim) is revealed, can one act and produce generations? (Can one correct desires and fill them with the Light of life, Hochma?)” This question includes three questions:

1. When will It be revealed? It will be revealed when the Masach descends from Bina to Malchut, and the 49 gates of the Light of Hochma are revealed.
2. When can It be used? It can be used when Ohr Hochma clothes in Ohr Hassadim, so that It could be suitable for reception and used by the lower ones.
3. What does it mean to produce or multiply generations? It means to beget ZON of the World of Atzilut and develop souls in the Worlds of BYA.

47. When Yesod of ZA joins the word BARAH (Malchut), there occurs a division of the Creator’s name and greatness, MI and ELEH. Also, the sacred name MA comes from BARAH (Malchut). The concealed ELEH (Yesod) attains the properties of Yesod of Bina, the letter Hey, while ELEH attains the properties of the letter Yod (Hochma).

48. When the letters Hey and Yod wished to complement one another, the letter Mem emerged from them, the symbol of Bina, and the word ELO–HIM = ELE + Hey + Yod + Mem was formed by the union of all properties. The word AVAR + Hey + Mem = Avraham originated from ELEH. One might say that the Creator took the properties (words) ELEH and MI, joined them and formed the property (word) ELOKIM, whereas the properties (words) MA and AVAR formed the property (word) Avraham, where the word MI designates the fifty gates of Bina, and the word MA refers to its filling (Gematria, numerical value). For HaVaYaH with the filling of the letter Aleph forms the Gematria of MA – 45. Both this world and the world to come exist in these two letters, Yod and Hey. Hence, the world to come was created with MI, and this world with MA.

It is therefore written in the Torah: “These are the created (Be-Hibar’am) generations of Heaven and earth,” where the letters Be-Hibar’am make up the word “Avraham,” for there was no perfection (the property of bestowal, Hassadim) until the letters formed this word. Therefore, the Creator’s name HaVaYaH is first mentioned in the Torah only after the name Avraham: Ohr Hassadim in MA and Ohr Hochma in MI complemented one another, and Malchut received the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim – the Creator revealed Himself.

“Avraham” – full commentary

Related Material:
Unraveling the Zohar

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who creates Kabbalah Internet resources! I found Kabbalah on the Internet two years ago, and my life has made a 180 degree turnaround. I finally found my inner world, and all of the questions that haven’t given me a moment of rest since the day I was born have stopped bothering me. I started to understand the essence of things and the reasons behind the things that happen to me. Currently I work on disseminating video lectures and lessons on the Internet.

There is a question that has been bothering me for many years. What is the meaning of the Biblical verse, “A day for each year”? Does this have anything to do with corporeal time?

My Answer: This has absolutely no relation to corporeal time. When a person advances down the path of the Light’s influence on him, then he shortens his path, and this is like “A day for each year” (a day instead of a year). However, this isn’t a corporeal ratio.

There is only one way to ascend to a higher spiritual degree – through desire and love. (All of the Torah speaks only about this – one’s ascent up 125 degrees toward adhesion with the Creator.) However, when it comes to the first degree, one ascends to it from one’s absolutely egoistic properties (the degree called “our world” or “this world”). After the first degree, you no longer have to change yourself completely in order to ascend, but must only keep developing greater altruistic properties within you.

This is why the ascent to the first degree is the most difficult and takes the most time (although the higher you rise, the more difficult it gets; but experience and knowledge help you do this – see Baal HaSulam’s example about ascending up the Creator’s mountain). One’s development either happens through the path of suffering, or through the path of Light, which descends during Kabbalah study. So the verse “A day for each year” expresses the difference in the time it takes to attain the goal (the first degree) through suffering (without using Kabbalah) or through Light (using Kabbalah).

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Conscious Acceleration Toward Life’s Purpose
Laitman.com Post: The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
Basic Concepts in Kabbalah: Chapter 7, “From the Afterword to the Zohar”

Filed under: Torah - No Comments →

Three questions I received on dealing with fears and doubts on the path to revealing the Upper World:

Question: I have been drawn to Kabbalah for the last two years. My problem is that although I read the books you recommend and try to study, I seem to get no understanding. I worry that the Creator hasn’t opened my point in the heart. Also, when I feel as though something real might be taking place in me, some external influence takes my attention from my studies. Does this mean that this isn’t my time for drawing nearer to the Creator?

My Answer: No. You just need to:

1. Accumulate inside you the desire for the correct goal.
2. Realize that you cannot correct yourself – only the Light can correct you in accordance with the goal.

This is the only way to reveal the Upper World. It takes time and a certain amount of effort and experience. Concerning the efforts, it is written that you have to be “As an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load,” and “Know that it’s not up to you to complete this work, but you are also not free to leave it.”

If you accept these conditions for changing your nature, then you will attain the goal. You will reveal the Upper World inside the property of bestowal, and then you’ll discover that our entire world is but a small, insignificant dimension.

Question: Is crossing the Machsom the most difficult part in the spiritual ascent? Once you cross over, is the process accelerated?

My Answer: Yes, it is accelerated by many times, and this happens clearly in your perception and awareness.

Question: Rav, I’ve read that as one studies Kabbalah, he is shown his egoistic side and that as the Creator wants someone to advance, His blows against him are harder and harder.

In the past few months, my “luck” (for lack of a better term) has gotten much worse. What is the Creator telling me? That I am not putting enough effort into Kabbalah? I feel beaten down. My only consolation is that maybe, just maybe, this is the precursor to the Creator correcting my egoism. But what if I’m wrong? I think we are all here studying Kabbalah because of the promise of the reward, but am I doing something wrong to be on such a path of pain while trying to reach the goal of correction?

My Answer: You must read the Shamati articles immediately. Precisely your current state will help you understand what the Creator wants from you.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Redemption Will Come At the Hands of the Creator
Laitman.com Post: There Are No Speeding Tickets In Spirituality
Laitman.com Post: What Is the Upper Light?
Shamati #128: “Dew Drips from that Galgalta to Zeir Anpin”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Filed under: Spirituality - 2 Comments →