Devoted To The Friends

Even if we manage to think about the friends and stop caring about ourselves, in the next moment it disappears. It will never become a constant thought, but will change at a frantic pace. After all, we need to scrutinize all the crumbs of the desire, all of its fragments. The vessel of the soul was shattered into pieces and then fell from the height of the world of Atzilut through all the worlds: Beria, Yetzira, Assiya, continually breaking into such tiny particles, the smallest atoms, which can no longer be divided.

Now we need to restore this soul, assembling it from these atoms. I receive the foundations of creation in my hands and think about what to assemble from them. In our world, we need to know the laws of valency to make up some substance from the basic elements. It is the same in the spiritual world; I begin to learn how I can connect the elements of creation on myself. What does it mean to connect two, three, or four atoms for the sake of bestowal?

How are they connected on the inanimate level into inanimate matter that does not move and develop by itself? Then, the foundations of creation must be connected into vegetative matter so that the connection of atoms causes development, that is, becomes more similar to the Creator. A plant already has life in it. It turns out that I took the still, inanimate matter and brought it to life! This already is a completely different degree.

I then create a connection on the animate level that exists on its own and has some kind of free choice: moves freely, excretes, and absorbs. This is how we build all kinds of connections between us, starting from zero and even from minus, coming from hatred to unity.

Imagine, how much we must connect with a friend in order to create vegetative matter, that is, for the group to become a “plant” and begin spiritual life, reaching such a connection above rejection that it begins to emit and produce materials, scrutinizing what is good and bad for itself. The friends in the ten begin to grow all the time.¹

The main action is provided by the environment, not actions of a person himself, but of the environment he is in. You can be a perfect seed of some elite sort, but if you are not planted in good soil, then nothing will come of you. The environment is more important than the seed itself, that is, the root of the soul.

There are even stories about Kabbalists who initially had no chance of reaching spiritual development. According to the root of their souls, they could not ascend to high degrees. Only thanks to the environment they joined, without any idea of what they were saying and doing there, only through their constant presence, did they receive a new soul. It is even possible to achieve the state when the Creator will change your soul, not because the former soul was bad, but it was shallow, not suitable for the elevated role. It turns out that a person as if moves from the heel of Adam HaRishon to the heart or brain of the entire system of the general soul.

It depends on how devoted the person is to the group, doing everything one can. Those people who in the beginning were very unsuccessful, could not understand and integrate into the group, felt great resistance, but did not leave, precisely those people achieve great success later.

Therefore, every day it is necessary to take care of improving and enhancing your environment, in order to receive optimal influence from it, which will help you become even more devoted to the friends, and through the friends, to the Creator.²
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”