The Message Of Light

People’s desires are not sufficiently developed yet to grasp the altruistic message. And they couldn’t bear it either. They would immediately run away. That is why there is a concealment preventing us from perceiving the idea of love. People start hearing its reverberations and changing little by little.

Everything happens by means of the upper Light. However, under its influence people do not get smarter because we are not talking about regular wisdom. Spiritual ideas can only be grasped with the help of the Light. When it pours upon me, I start understanding something, and that’s how it happens again and again. After a period of despair and pressure, I suddenly feel that the time did not go by in waste. It turns out that this was a transition to a new phase of inner development.

Everyone experiences these transitions. We are still unable to prepare for them or to control them, to regulate their ascents and descents, the fillings and revelations. However, the time will come when you will control them, as it is written, “I awaken the dawn instead of the dawn awakening me.”
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Working With Disturbances

Question: How should we work with disturbances?

Answer: The disturbances are exactly what helps us to illuminate our state and strengthen the connection between us even more. A disturbance shows the place where you didn’t finish your work yet. In reality, it is helping you. We only call it a disturbance, but it is actually a revelation of a defect that you are now able to correct because it has become revealed.

Everything becomes revealed gradually, in a step by step manner. There are many more obstacles that will become revealed to you on the path. But for now, this is what has been given to you. And you shouldn’t consider it a disturbance or try to run away from it. Just accept it correctly.

You don’t have to drown in this problem or get held up in it. You should immediately try to overcome it: Rise above it and absorb it, and that way, keep going right above it.

I do not erase this problem and I don’t pretend that it doesn’t exist. I don’t try to come up with different tricks, trying to ignore it. I accept it so that above it, I will strengthen my connection with others and with the Creator even more.

For example, suppose I reveal certain unpleasant qualities in you. Until now, we were friends, but now there is something about you I don’t like anymore. But I have to accept it by faith above reason, meaning to understand that I see flaws in you due to my own flawed nature. And I have to desire to be connected with you regardless of anything, as if you were just an angel. After all, all of the defects I see in other people are actually showing me myself, just like in a mirror.

But keep in mind that all of this belongs to our inner work and not to professional skills in dissemination.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/11, Shamati

A Cross Section In An Unknown Dimension

What is “faith above reason”? This is something that can only be understood through sensation, whenever it comes. And as long as it doesn’t come, we don’t even know that this kind of dichotomy exists in a person: a splitting into what is inside reason and what is above it.

We think that “above” reason means simply opposite to it. But that is not so. It is a cross section in a completely different dimension, one that we do not understand. This new dimension is called “spiritual space,” which becomes revealed to us. It’s as if one more world appears in my reality, which I did not even suppose existed before.

It’s like a cat that does not understand what a rich world man has. It thinks that it lives in the same world and has the same five senses as man, and it doesn’t need anything more! After all, man has the same thing.

The cat does not understand that man has his own world and all kinds of human calculations. A cat is incapable of understanding this.

And now imagine that this cat suddenly receives human feelings and reason, including all of the understanding that man has, which it did not even suppose existed before. To the cat, this is called “faith above reason”—above the feline reason that it had before.

But sometimes the cat falls from that level and becomes a cat once again, although one that’s stronger, wiser, and shrewder. However, it still exists in the boundaries that are fitting for a cat. And from there it will reascend again in order to become human!

These states are called spiritual ascents and descents. They are not the same as the psychological states where our mood gets worse and then better, and we consider ourselves in a “descent” when we’re down. A spiritual ascent is when you rise to true bestowal, to new desires.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/2/11, Shamati

The Cure For All Troubles

Question: How can the reading of text that I do not understand help me connect with the group or to desire this?

Answer: By itself, the reading of text is not effective. The thought of what it is exactly that I desire does help. It is like a source of strength.

Suppose you are given a medication, and you cure what you intended to cure with it. The medication affects the entire body, and you have to decide exactly what you want to treat, be it the leg, arm, head, a wound, or whatever you wish. The medication itself is universal.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/31/2011, The Zohar

Angels All Around

Question: How should I relate to antipathy and hatred when they arise not toward friends in the group, but toward outsiders who aren’t with us on the spiritual path?

Answer: Why would I suddenly hate outsiders who have nothing to do with my spiritual path? I view them as angels without free will. If they aren’t in the group and don’t have free will, of what could I possibly accuse them? They are acting like puppets, following orders from Above.

That doesn’t mean I should disregard them. Simply, I understand that they do not act freely and independently. In everything that happens to them, I see the Creator’s hand. Consequently, I need to work either “for” or “against.”

As concerns external actions, I need to relate to people in the corrected form, trying to make sure that everybody has everything they need. Or I can begin working with them and pass knowledge about Kabbalah to them.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/31/2011, Shamati #26

We All Guarantee For Each Other

Question: How do we help and support the friends who are in the state of descent?

Answer: First of all, support them internally, through a prayer, request, and collective thought about everyone. We have all “signed” an “agreement” about a mutual guarantee (Arvut) and mutual assistance on the spiritual path. Hence, we must make certain that everyone participates one hundred percent, and this depends solely on the group’s support.

I shouldn’t blame a friend if he is unable to exert maximum effort in reaching the goal; I should blame myself for his weakness, that I am unable to awaken him. In truth, he completely depends on me. A mutual support at the time when nobody has strength and yet each gives a hundred percent, this is called a mutual guarantee.

If I signed the agreement, it means that I pledged to provide spiritual advancement for all. I agree to help everyone attain the goal; like a co-signer on a bank statement, I guarantee that my friend will have the strength to stay focused on the goal.

If I signed it, it means that now it depends on me! If my friend falls, I have to understand that he falls in my eyes, in relation to me, in order to give me an opportunity to awaken him. And by reviving him, I revive a part of my soul.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, “And Jacob Went Out”

The System Of Mutual Work Is The Key To Success

Question: What can we do to avoid being satisfied with our external effort?

Answer: If a person knows that only the intention to reach the goal, which he constantly discerns, brings him closer to spirituality, then he doesn’t view action as the key. Intention is the Kli (vessel) where he receives the reward, and therefore, all discernments take place in it. Actions without intention are not taken into account at all.

Perhaps a person pleases the Creator, but with an intention to gratify himself. It is the greatest impure force, a Klipa (shell). The most exalted degree of bestowal is balanced with the biggest Klipa: The action is the same while the intention differs.

On the outside, it doesn’t show, and a person seems to be yearning to bestow. Pharaoh, the desire to feel pleased, obeys the Creator’s orders precisely. A person acts according to his desire and mobilizes all his strength, if only to feel good for one’s own sake. He constantly thinks about the Creator (since it is the source of pleasure) and strives to do his best for this source, but for his own good. This is regarded as Pharaoh, the angel of death.

To avoid this, as in any other case, only a clear vision of the goal and mutual support can help. Without interaction, there is no chance to remain on the path without falling. The current generation is the generation of correction, and its success depends on mutual support: Correction occurs based on mutual guarantee and caring. There is no other source to draw the right energy and direction from.

And it is good because there is always work to do in demanding a closer connection. And if we feel it isn’t authentic but superficial, that is fine too. This course is easier than an individual one despite the fact that everyone depends on all the others. Only the collective yearning toward unity and annulment by each of us in regard to the upper degree (the teacher, the group, and the books) will help guard against complacency.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

True And False Freedom

We have a single free action in this world in our life, and everything else unfolds absolutely inevitably, upon the orders from Above. But it isn’t easy to find this freedom that had been left to us since we are strictly governed from Above by pain and pleasure, being tied by a thousand strings that control our desire, thought, body, words, and acts.

We are the obedient puppets that are being pulled by these strings from Above. We are complete slaves to our nature, from the moment we are an embryo’s cell developing in the mother’s womb and up to the age when we think that we are finally able to act and live independently.

Man is governed by the forces of Nature, so if everything is Nature, how can something new emerge in him? Therefore, there is no freedom of will in this world. A person always picks what pleases him most and flees from suffering as any other creature, be it vegetative or animate.

Despite this illusory freedom that man was initially bestowed with (since we think we can do whatever we want!), it is still an illusion. The true freedom lies in stepping out and rising above our nature, which means stepping out and rising above egoism.

It is written in the Torah that this is the “freedom from the angel of death.” No man can disregard such words! Freedom from death doesn’t imply that our animate body will live forever to infinitely languish in this corporeal life full of pain and so very little pleasure to enjoy.

Freedom from the angel of death replaces this life with attainment of perfect and the most comfortable existence, which is eternal and complete at the same time! And this can be achieved by what we refer to as “freedom of will.”

Such freedom becomes truly enticing and desirable since in the ordinary life, we don’t usually need any freedom, and we are the most satisfied when life is steady like a well tuned clock: home, family, and work. The less freedom, the less headache there is. But if we can attain eternal life and perfection, having freed ourselves from the angel of death, what can be better?

Moreover, it is necessary to understand that the angel of death is our own ego that is digging us into the grave. It gives us a horrible feeling that it’s impossible to become fulfilled and that life is limited and transient.

Freedom from the angel of death signifies attainment of bestowal, its infinite fulfillment and engagement in the eternal flow of life. Knowing this, let’s try to clarify from the writings of Kabbalists: How can we attain such freedom?
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, “The Freedom”

The Condition Of Absolute Freedom

The Creator created everything to give pleasure to man. But we need a vessel, desire, to receive the good that He wants to give. He wanted to give the pleasure that He enjoys Himself: bestowal. There is no other pleasure in the world!

However, to feel this pleasure, we need to have the opposite quality, the lack of fulfillment, because the opposite of the desire to bestow is the desire to receive pleasure. That is why the Creator creates the desire to enjoy, an artificial creature that did not exist before, as a reverse imprint of Himself.

And now, the creature feels these opposites in itself. On one hand, it feels that it is possible to enjoy the fulfillment of its desire. But then, it makes a calculation and begins to desire bestowal. That is, it no longer seeks fulfillment.

Bestowal is not fulfillment, but a property, a desire to give. In bestowal, a person does not get pleased by what he receives in return, but the very action of bestowal becomes fulfillment for him. Whereas in reception, an action is separate from fulfillment. And when fulfillment enters me, I feel pleased. That is, my desire and fulfillment are two opposite things, and I need to toil hard to receive fulfillment since it is opposite to me.

However, in bestowal, I need only to feel somebody else’s desire and satisfy it. And this very action, relative to the other person whom I satisfy, becomes my fulfillment. I do not expect to receive any reward in return. My pleasure is in the action of giving.

Due to this difference, a person working with reception always has to check and evaluate: How much I have given, and how much they will pay me? It’s because the payment depends not on me, but on the other, on how much he would like to pay me. But if I work in bestowal and want only it, I do not depend on anyone and can decide myself where my boundary is!

Therefore, the one who walks the path of bestowal establishes himself to what extent he wants to be in it. And the Creator agrees with him! There is only one general law of bestowal and love, which envelopes and fills the entire creation. There was no restriction or ban on bestowal! That is why each creature can decide for himself at what level he wants to be in relation to this quality, thought, the intention to bestow.

Here can be no calculation of how much I have done and how much I will be paid. There is no need to fear that if I did less, I would receive less. I am in this general law of mutual bestowal, enveloping the whole universe and filling it, as “there is none else besides Him.” I myself establish at what degree I want to be. According to this degree, I experience the revelation or concealment of my ability to bestow, and to that extent I enjoy.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/2011, Shamati #61

Kabbalah Is Pure Practice

Development occurs by virtue of the “electric” force that circulates in the system. When I connect into it with the two forces I have, the egoistic and altruistic ones, its force starts circulating through me as well. In that case, the system is working with me, and I feel the “current” that permeates its entirety; I discover its program and purpose and get engaged in it ever more.

Thus we ascend the spiritual degrees, rising back toward the unified Force. Plus and minus, positive and negative, unify, and we find our eternal life and the final purpose of our existence. This is the program.

This allows us to see the cause of the crisis and its consequences. We understand why we didn’t receive the wisdom of Kabbalah and didn’t discover the group until our egoismhad grown to the limits. Only now do we feel, day to day, how everything is changing around. So many things are happening in the world, all of which are devised to reveal the crisis and demonstrate our desperate plight as well as the hopelessness and lack of understanding prevailing in the world. Day by day, at a rapid pace, we’ll be making steps on this path.

Hence, very soon, we will need to show to the world that we understand the plan of creation. Obviously, we do not know all of it since we attain it by climbing the rungs of development. And yet, we do know how to carry it out and how to begin this process. As to the rest, we study it as we go.

Among us, there aren’t individuals who have reached the finish line, which wouldn’t make a difference anyway. Essentially, we learn from Kabbalists who told us about this entire process, the whole human history. Besides, they gave us this information millennia ago, but to this day, their words still keep coming true.

Therefore, we need only to hear what laws to obey in order to quickly become part of the integral system. As soon as I reveal myself as being such part, all the laws start working through me. I begin to understand and experience what is going on in our world. I see right through it, the forces that run through me; I discover what’s causing them as well as the essence of their work.

It is written: “From Your actions we will know You.” The wisdom of Kabblah is a purely practical method that I apply solely on myself. I don’t study any insects under a microscope, nor do I study the external world. On the contrary, I reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah and all creation in general on myself. No science is more practical and experiential than Kabbalah.

Kabbalists explain what laws are to be followed in order for us to become an active part of a greater whole. After all, humanity is merely a small part of the enormous system of the world of Infinity. They talk about simple laws that we need to observe in the group. We must structure it as a mini-model of an integral, immense reality so that within this model we would look for an opportunity and strive to perform according to the ground laws of creation pertaining to our egoism and the positive creative Force.

Then the group will become a “construction area” for me, a sort of “laboratory” where I examine the friends and myself, where we, all together and among ourselves, work, build, create, and shape the future world, the upper world, and humanity of tomorrow. Our acts are in sync with what Kabbalists advise, and we act solely experimentally, by testing and verifying the results of our work.
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From the 2nd lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

Transformation Of The Familiar World

The world of egoists is a place of struggle for what the future world order will be. Supranational communities and businesses take the place of the state, the state loses power over media (the Internet), science, and the economy (which become global), and it is forced to deform itself into a new flexible body, to the extent that the new independent formations leave space for it, while they overtake the state’s functions.

But the state is unable to handle even the functions it still retains. All the work of authorities, which is increasingly reduced to servicing the population, causes a growing discontent. Undoubtedly, private institutions would be much more efficient at it.

The state, in its historical form, is dying. A new kind of power and society are emerging parallel to and outside the state, and they elude it. For now, it’s all about the state, its abolition and transformation into a single world government.

Besides, people no longer feel as a nation or society, but more as individuals who are willing to live in any place, any country, and they do not tend to be concerned with a certain community or nation. It is evident that gradually, “a nation” disappears and “a character” emerges. Egoism separates us at all levels of our communication.

But the need for unification of all for the sake of their survival, the need for new means of unification will be revealed precisely in this mutual inner (psychological) and outer (cultural, national, and state) distancing. However, people will not find such force and idea in our world, except the one offered by Kabbalah: the mutual guarantee. A need for a unified global community will arise. Only in this way will we eliminate suffering arising from our lack of correspondence with unified nature.

There’s Nothing Worse Than Indifference

We have to fight indifference because this is the worst possible state. Indifference is called death.

We very much respect the two forms that are opposite to it: love and hate. Pharaoh, Haman, and all the other sinners described in the Torah are very important characters. Without them, we would not be able to rise to holiness. We receive all of our vessels, desires, from them. All of the righteous men stand opposite them because the Creator made one against the other.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether a person supports something or protests against it. The most important thing is that he cares about it very much, as opposed to being indifferent to it, feeling that it is “neither here nor there.”

It is possible to awaken a spark in anyone. This spark is concealed in every person because he originates from the broken vessel. Therefore, he definitely has a spiritual spark and it can be awakened. The only question is: How deeply is it concealed?

However, when this spark is awakened, he might react negatively: A person does not want to hear about it and he curses himself, the Creator, Kabbalah, and the whole path to bestowal. He does not agree to it and hates all of it. But Baal HaSulam says that this does not matter. It’s the same as if he agrees to it, the same as if he wants it because he is revealing his desire in this form. Even if the desire is corrupted, he already has it.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/31/11, Shamati

Hiding In My Own Shade

Man was created with the desire to enjoy which aspires to be fulfilled, feels deficient if it is not, and sees the whole meaning of its existence in it. Besides this, man has no sensation. All our sensations come solely from pleasures that we see before us—that is from what our world is built. Reality is comprised of the pictures of pleasures that our imagination paints for us.

We see around us the still, vegetative, animate world, and other people because our desire is composed of four levels at which we experience images of all possible pleasures. But if we do not want to live among these illusions and wish to see the real world, we must view it not from the desire to enjoy but from the desire to bestow. In fact, it is there that we find our root and our connection with it, meaning the Thought of ​​Creation, its program and purpose. But egoistic desire separates us from it all, from the true knowledge, sensation, and purpose.

We have a unique opportunity to get closer to the true picture, to put a veil on the picture painted for us by our egoism. And it isn’t that we should stop seeing it all together, but rather stop giving it as much importance as we do today. Instead, we must search for the picture of roots that lie behind it, which emerges in the very same desires if they change direction from receiving to bestowal.

Desire is one, but all of its parts (the still, vegetative, animate, and human) must be transformed into bestowal. And then we will see the roots of that very picture which is seen in our desire to receive pleasure for ourselves.

This is done by “the shadow of holiness.” After all, when a person strives for this kind of shadow, he tries to make it himself. But soon he finds that he is incapable of it. He finds that his flight from the desire to enjoy and trying to put a “shadow” on it, meaning make the screen, restriction, and work above it, is impossible without outside help. It requires a miracle!

A miracle is something out of the person’s hands and not available to him directly as an obvious means. And gradually he comes to the conclusion that the very root, the upper force he wants to disclose, should help him and deliver the concealment.

But since a person asks for it on his own volition, it is counted as if he created this shadow. And so he conceals his desire to enjoy more and more, which is regarded as, “do not do to someone what is hateful to you,” and he acquires the property of Bina, bestowal in order to bestow (Hafetz Hesed).

And when he finishes the job and rises above all of his egoistic desires to Mount Sinai, he starts to work, even receiving in order to bestow, in “loving his neighbor as himself.” Gradually, all desire turns into bestowal, and so on until the end of correction.

All of this is accomplished by way of concealment or so-called “modesty.” It is the work when a person is looking how to hide from his desire to enjoy, to not use it directly, selfishly, and certainly not to use it instinctively without thinking, but only after rigorous analysis and testing. This is the very first stage of our work.

If the human in us learns to hide from the desire to enjoy within us, he separates himself from this desire and rises above the screen. And at that moment, he is connected with the root and makes calculations above reason. Thus he keeps walking the path and advances.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/2011, Shamati #39