In the “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” Baal HaSulam writes that although it seems to me that everything takes place externally, before my eyes, any reasonable person knows that all these pictures exist only within the brain. When I realize this, I am ready to begin to approach the matters spoken of by the science of Kabbalah.

The lack of this realization is the reason why The Book of Zohar is concealed from us and why we don’t know how to open and read it. It’s because the key to understanding it lies in having the correct perception of reality. The Book of Zohar must be approached only by imagining the depictions within myself. The terminology, sounds, worlds, spiritual objects, souls, and relationships are all notions within me. This is particularly true when addressing the parameters of reality’s perception: world, year, and soul – all of which are above time, space, and motion.

If I perceive the text as an unfolding pattern of relationships between forces and qualities within me, I will gradually reveal increasingly deeper inner states. Then it will become clear that this external reality isn’t truly real, even if it seems real to me. I only see it as existing outside and independent of me.

It is my present folly in thinking that I do not create this reality, mistakenly thinking that it unfolds before me by itself, having existed before my birth and sure to exist after my death. I have to try to change all these beliefs in order to start to understand what The Zohar wants to explain to me.

The key and the entrance to The Book of Zohar lies precisely in transporting everything inside myself, as per the principle, “A person is the whole world.” I can tell whether or not my study is correct by checking: How much do I expect to feel and reveal my entire future within myself?

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A question I received: What should we think about while reading The Book of Zohar in order to be more sensitive to it?

My Answer: I actually don’t have the answers to any of your questions, because all the answers are provided by the Light that Reforms. My job is only to try and direct you toward this Light.

Some people ask me about sensation, wondering, “Where can I get more of it?” Others ask about the mind, “When should or shouldn’t I use it?” Other people ask me questions like, “When will I start to see and feel everything we study? Why do I feel one way now and later I feel differently?” The answer is that I don’t have the answers to these questions – and I shouldn’t have them, either. An answer is a manifestation of the Light inside a person; it is one’s corrected state which stands opposite the question – one’s previous, uncorrected state.

A person should have just one concern, “Am I directed toward the ray of Light called the Light that Reforms, so it will shine on me?” One shouldn’t think about fulfilling one’s sensation and mind with answers to any other questions besides the one question about the Light that Reforms. Incidentally, this is why Baal HaSulam was laughing at the “Kabbalists of Jerusalem” who knew The Book of Zohar by heart, but rejected its inner essence.

The only thing one should store in one’s memory is the basic concepts of the science of Kabbalah, because they direct a person toward bestowal, giving him the correct, spiritual interpretation of the words. They elucidate the goal and direct a person toward it. If a person is studying correctly, then he will receive answers to all his questions, both in the sensation and the mind. He will advance and understand what is happening, and eventually he will be satisfied by this. He will see how he is advancing day by day.

We are now studying The Book of Zohar intensely. If a person tries to prepare for the lesson and to seriously participate in it, then in a very short while he is bound to feel qualitative changes happening inside him. He will become more sensitive to his connection with others and will feel a change in his attitude to the environment, the studies, the quality of bestowal, and the Creator. But he has to become more sensitive in order to discern what is useful and what isn’t.

All of this takes place as a result of the study. Besides this, there is nothing for us to work on. This is why I always talk just about the intention –  exactly what we want from the study and what it should give us.

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A question I received: How can I tune into the Light that Reforms while studying The Zohar?

My Answer: The Light that Reforms is the force of bestowal that comes from Above and builds qualities of bestowal above our will to receive. But how can we attract this force if we are just egoistically thinking about wanting to bestow? This will not help. Instead, we have to tune into the system that influences us.

Our soul has to receive the influence of the Surrounding Light. This is why we were given The Book of Zohar, which tells us all kinds of stories about a donkey and a snake, different nations, three lines, Zeir Anpin, Malchut, the Temple, and many other things. I don’t know what desire I am working on now and whether I have the right intention, but while I am reading The Zohar with the right mindset, it operates as a connecting system between my soul and the Upper System.

There exists an Upper System wherein my soul is already included in a fully corrected state; meanwhile, my uncorrected soul is below. These two systems have an identical structures. The only difference between them is the use of the desire, meaning the intention, which determines how the desire is used. As I correct my desire, my soul will expand, starting from a point, and new, concealed desires will surface. But I need a mechanism to connect me and these two states:

The Book of Zohar functions as this connecting link. When I read it correctly, I reveal this connection. All I have to do is try to imagine myself in the corrected form. I have to tune into the text and start living inside it. I have to desire for it to “clothe” me so I will become the protagonist of everything being described there. It is talking only about me and my inner battle with my corrupted self, where I am fighting for a chance to be similar to the Creator. All the qualities and characters are me; it is all inside of me.

If this is how I prepare for reading The Zohar, then I will proactively attract the Surrounding Light to myself.

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The Book of Zohar, Chapter “VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat) ,” Item 125: Anyone who delved in the Torah in this world is rewarded with engaging in it in the next world.

This is talking about two degrees or two states in the desire. In our world we exist only in one quality: the desire to receive or be fulfilled for our own sake. In the spiritual world we also exist in the desire to receive, but we don’t use it. Our intention there is “bestowal for the sake of bestowal,” Hafetz Hesed, also known as the desire to receive for the sake of others.

The desire always remains since it was created by the Creator. It is the invariable building block of creation. However, it can have two different intentions. The intention to use it for ourselves is the natural intention we are born with and through which we perceive this world. The spiritual, corrected intention in which we perceive the Upper World is the intention to use it for the sake of others

Our spiritual development occurs when our corrupted desire evolves, but we correct our intention from “for my own sake” to “for the sake of others.” Thus, we continually discover new states inside the new intention. Our desires need to change so that we can have the opportunity to change the intentions over them. We don’t have access to the desires themselves, as they are foundational matter and not in our hands.

Even if we are successful on the present degree, when we enter the state of an embryo of the next degree, we don’t know what happens there and we are unable to orient ourselves.

In our world a person’s desires also grow, but they always have the same intention – for the sake of oneself. Therefore, the states one experiences in different desires is similar because the intention is always the same: for the sake of himself. However, in the spiritual world since the intention over our desire to receive is “for the sake of others,” the feeling of fulfillment entails a contradiction: We fill ourselves, but we do it for the sake of others and we feel the world through others. Therefore, each spiritual degree is completely new with unexpected desires and sensations.

Our efforts in a given degree provide us with a good beginning for the next degree, in spite of the fact that the new degree always begins from the absence of realization, meaning a very limited understanding of our present actions. However, the efforts in our present degree are necessary in order to prepare for the next degree. After all, everything we actually attain in the next degree comes from our attainment in the present degree. This is from the perspective of preparing our matter, the will to receive.

Let’s say we finish sixth grade and begin seventh grade. In seventh grade we learn about new subjects which we never studied before or heard about. However, since we prepared ourselves well in the previous grade (degree), we already have experience and various forms of perception that dressed over our matter.

We know exactly how our matter perceives new forms. We know that we can work with the group and receive help from it. We can influence our friends and they will influence us, and this mutual influence will enable us to take on new forms. We know how to work with the books, with the study materials, and with the teacher.

In other words, the work in this world – the degree in which we are situated and which we perceive now, prepares us for the “world to come” – the next degree or perception. Of course, it doesn’t give us any understanding of what will happen in the world to come, but after all our efforts, we become worthy of its revelation and have a foundation upon which to continue our path.

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As we open The Book of Zohar again and again, our initial inspiration eventually subsides. This inspiration was given to us from Above, like the point in the heart that brought us to the science of Kabbalah. It is called an “awakening from Above” (Itaruta de-Leila), which means it is given to us by the Upper Force.

The desire for the Upper Level acts as fuel, naturally giving us aspirations to push us ahead as if we’re on fire. More and more we want to feel what is hidden within the book and what exactly it speaks of. We are awakened from Above to seek contact with the book.

But then this inspiration passes as we are overtaken by new desires that lack the Creator’s awakening from Above. That is when we must add our own awakening from below in order to continue to advance. We must independently search for answers to questions like: “Why do I need this work and what is it for?”

The Creator desires for us to continually reveal the importance of the Upper Level, to develop a persistent demand to connect with Him, and to realize the importance of all the means of attaining the connection, with The Book of Zohar being the main means. He wants us to keep searching for these inner discernments, over and over again.

Next, we come to a state where we must realize that we’re engaged in “Bezalel’s work” – the construction of a spiritual vessel inside ourselves, a Temple with all its contents. This great work takes time and requires a great deal of preparation.

In truth, we never actually do anything; all that’s required of us is the willingness, desire, and intention. However, beyond that, everything is realized by the Upper Force, Bina, although its influence is prompted by an awakening from below. Therein lies our work.

Therefore, on one hand, our work lies in exerting efforts and making discernments at every step. But on the other hand, it is called “the Creator’s work,” because it is done by the Creator, not by us.

Indeed, we only have to achieve the desire, the appeal, or the prayer; everything else is done by the Creator. This is the meaning of the verse, “Give half a Shekel and the Creator shall complete the rest.”
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From Daily Kabbalah lesson on Zohar for All “”VaYeshev,” 148,  1/7/10

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The Zohar: When the Temple was ruined and Divinity was exiled among strange lands… Everyone was weeping over it and connected weeping with lamenting. And all this was because Divinity had been exiled from her place.

And as she was changed in exile from the way she was, her husband, ZA, does not shine his light, as well, for then he has no one upon whom to shine. Thus, he has changed from how he was, as it is written, “The sun will be dark when it rises.”

“So His appearance was marred more than any man,” than that servant, Matatron, who changed his shape and colors during the exile, and unlike what they were, they are green, white, and red.

As we read The Zohar, we have to expect it to influence us. It’s not important what words we are reading, since we don’t understand what’s behind them anyway. We don’t understand the meaning of these words, such as what it means to be “green,” “red,” “slave,” “Matatron,” or “Malchut.” It’s all the same to us. We just want this revealed inside us, and that’s it.

If it seemed that we understood something, then we would leave the lesson satisfied, as if we acquired something. But this is false! We didn’t acquire anything unless we made efforts with every word that we didn’t understand.

We shouldn’t desire to understand the text with our earthy mind on our current level. What we want is revelation! This is the state we want, our next degree. We want to really feel what this book is talking about. We want it to come to life inside us.

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When we are reading The Zohar, I don’t want to give theoretical explanations and confuse people, giving them the false impression that they’ve understood something. All these qualities must be sought within yourself. Just as a small child doesn’t understand the difference between one thing and another, so you don’t understand the difference between anything in the world of The Zohar. Understanding comes later, naturally.

In this context, understanding means attainment. You must feel everything in order to say: “Ah, now I see, feel, and taste, and I have to live with it!” You must only aspire to enter inside this picture, and then you’ll understand.

The Zohar should not be studied theoretically. Actually, there’s nothing to study. You must simply enter it and discover it for yourself, just as a child attains this world.

Does a child know how he needs to develop? No, he merely absorbs all that he can from the world, and that’s how he grows. That is how you should develop, with the same thoughts and intentions during the study.

The only difference is that a child has his room, his mother’s care, and all kinds of games; all these things already make up his world. But the world you must develop is concealed in The Book of Zohar. You must behave like a child that has to discover this world for himself.

A child doesn’t ask what he should think about; he opens his mouth and eyes wide, and greedily absorbs information with all his senses. That is called attainment – first you sense something, and only afterward you begin to understand what it is. Within the sensation, you already begin to understand how things are connected, how they affect you, and what happens when you interact with them. It’s similar to how a child learns how everything works from playing with his toys.

That is how you should feel The Zohar – as the only method to enter the spiritual world. The brain cannot add anything because then you’d need to use your corporeal reason in this world and its material examples. And that is no way to build a spiritual understanding.
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Within each of us there is a desire which broke. Therefore we perceive part of our desire as our self, which in Kabbalah is described as “the root, the soul, and the body,” and the other part of our desire as being outside of us. That which is closer to us is referred to as “clothing” and farther away from us is called “castle,” or the outside space. However, in reality it all belongs to us and exists in our feelings; we merely imagine that something exists outside of our desire.

There is great difference between the inner and the outer desire. The barrier that separates them is called the Parsa, the force of the breaking. It is as though we receive anesthesia on one part of the desire and stop feeling that it is ours. Imagine you’ve just been injected with anesthesia and your leg is being removed. At the same time you are talking to people, laughing, and don’t feel a thing; you continue to live your life!

However, our situation regarding our “external desire” is even more extreme. Besides feeling that this desire is not ours, we were also instilled with the sensation that it is opposite and even hostile to us. We feel it is less important than us and can only think about how to use and exploit it.

Moreover, this is the only reason we notice it at all. Billions of other manifestations of the same desire exist in the world, but if we don’t find a way to use them for our own benefit, then we won’t notice them at all.

The force of the breaking makes us feel pleasure from killing, burning, exploiting, and enslaving this desire of ours. It fools us so completely that we cause harm to ourselves and don’t even understand we are doing it!

Harming others in all possible ways eventually reveals the harm we cause ourselves. Just imagine the disappointment and pain we have yet to feel.

So how do we cure this deceptive blindness in ourselves? This is why we read The Book of Zohar and want it to help us. We want its force to affect us and give us back the part that we’ve lost in order to correct it.

We want to see that this foreign desire (other people) is actually ours, by correcting the force of the breaking and uniting all five parts of our desire. Then nothing will remain outside forcing us to think that it is not part of us.

When we cure our blindness so that our eyes open, we feel that it’s all us – the vessel of our soul. Everything exists inside us, including the Upper Light and the Creator.

By eliminating this gap and division, we unite the Light and the Kli into one.

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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.
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From Daily Kabbalah lesson on Zohar for All “”VaYeshev,” 148,  1/7/10

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In the corporeal world we work on fulfillment, while in the spiritual world we work on desire. This confuses us as we are not used to it. Therefore, without feeling the desire, we leave the spiritual work, thinking, “If I don’t want it, why go ahead with it?”

We don’t understand that the only thing we need to attain is the prayer that precedes the prayer, the desire to acquire the desire. This is the most important thing. We should never be concerned with fulfillment. The fulfillments are our future degrees and they always exist. They are already there, waiting for us to desire them and to become ready to attain them.

We reveal The Book of Zohar by understanding that we only need the desire. As soon as we acquire the desire through our studies, it will be fulfilled immediately.

Approaching a Kabbalah book, study, and any spiritual action without a desire is normal; this is how everyone starts. The awakening a person receives at the very beginning is given to him in order to bring him to the right place so he has the opportunity to clarify everything for himself. However, after this he is left alone and is no longer awakened from Above, because our whole work is only to develop the desire, the vessel (Kli).

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