You Have All The Cards In Your Hands

In every spiritual state on the spiritual levels, there is the Inner Light and the Surrounding Light. But in our state, as long as we do not attain restriction and a Masach (screen), we can be assisted only by the Surrounding Light.

The force of the Surrounding Light depends on how much we value it, on our appreciation of the upper, of the next level, which means the Creator. But we cannot value Him. We were only given a couple of means by which we can develop an inner feeling of the greatness of the upper. The upper for us is the group, the teacher, and the books, meaning the study that tells us about the spiritual world and the Creator hidden behind all these means.

We begin to value the upper who is external to us by using all these means: the group, the teacher, the books, and the intention of attaining equivalence of form with the Creator in order to bring Him contentment. Although we don’t feel it for the time being, even if we just talk about it trying to feel it from time to time, we raise the greatness of the upper in us by that. Then at a certain point He becomes so important that He allows us to feel His presence next to us.

It’s because everything that is external to a person is the Holy Shechina, the Godly presence. But everything depends on how much we value Him. All the other rules of behavior in the group as to how we should speak, what to demand of it, and how to treat it, stem from this condition, from the need to value the upper.

Accordingly, the Surrounding Light shines upon a person. It is the real upper Light, but in the meantime it operates on the lower as the Light that Reforms, which means that it brings about changes in us by gradually bringing us closer to bestowal. Then finally it will give us the “restriction” and the Masach, which means the ability to work spiritually.

Then we will begin to understand where we are and what is happening to us, but at the same time, we have to work in faith above reason and value the upper despite all the problems the upper sends us and all the reasons for an opposite attitude. This is our work that is based on our great appreciation of the upper until we adhere to the posterior of the upper as if it were His face. Then we will see that it was never His posterior, but that He has always turned His face full of light to us. Thus we leave exile and reach redemption.

At first it was as if you were unconscious, but then you begin to feel that you are in exile, so, step by step, you begin to get closer to redemption and finally you leave exile and come into the Light. These are the levels of ascent according to your appreciation of the upper, and later your adhesion to Him.

We have all the means, all the roads are open, and everything depends on us. There is nothing else that we need. The Creator has given us every possible opportunity and everything else is up to the person. We will not be forgiven and there are no concessions from Above if we don’t do our work, since otherwise we will not build our spiritual vessels.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/13

Perception Of Reality: From Antiquity To The Present Day

A person aspiring to spiritual attainment begins to see that the whole world is one system. It is constant joyful work, and you become accustomed to it gradually. It becomes a necessity. You already exist at this level.

All the other levels are flat, one-dimensional, and it’s impossible to think of them as before. A person begins to get accustomed to thinking in the n-dimensional space which becomes compressed into a single force an d purpose; therefore, it’s not difficult to feel the whole world connected with a single goal, with a single thought, with a single force, up to the point that you look at the starry sky and see what connects all the stars.

This raises some very interesting questions, such as, “How did the ancient astrologers associated stars in the constellations?” After all, if I look at the stars I’m unable to join them in all the signs of the zodiac, Orion, the Big Dipper and others. I don’t have such a great imagination as the ancient Greeks or the Babylonian astrologers because the stars are far away from each other and in different planes.

Let’s say that one star is hundreds million years closer to the Earth, and the other is millions years farther. But they saw them connected to each other as in a single plane. What is it: just primitive representations or human fantasy? Where there is a bear with four or five stars forming a square with a tail? How can one imagine this?

It’s a very interesting thing: The idea that links the stars in the zodiac signs is attained by a person through his influence on it.

The ancient astrologers had a feeling of the connectedness of these stars. Due to the development of egoism, we became detached from the universe, from perceiving it as a whole, but they had a sense of relative connectedness because they perceived it as a host of gods, of uppers forces that influenced them. And it was not because they were small or primitive; it’s simply not twisted, not coarse human perception without the number of filters as we have. That is, they had a much greater perception of the Light. If we begin to correct our egoism, we will now feel the Light many times more because we are much coarser than they were.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/4/13

Upper Abundance

And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating (The Torah, Exodus, “BeShalach,” 16:17 – 16:18).

We are speaking about how much effort every person can make.

Let’s say I am overweight and asthmatic; I have a bad heart; could I do much stooping over and collecting? While the other, young and agile, can gather a whole bag.

There is no such thing in spirituality! Everything happens according to the conditions you are in. You are evaluated by the specific, individual efforts you make according to your capacity to work.

Manna is the upper abundance that fills a person in accordance with his preparation. To the extent that I am ready to give, I open myself to reception. This is how it works.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/4/13

How Can We Justify The Unjustifiable?

Question: How can we justify the Creator if we see great suffering like with people who are terminally ill?

Answer: It is impossible to justify it now because we don’t want to lie or pretend to persuade ourselves or to comfort others. There are different psychological methods of influencing a person that enable him to change his point of view with regard to tragic events in his life. But Kabbalists say that real change is possible only if the Light that Reforms influences a person and changes his state.

The current state is the level a person is on. So he will look at what is happening differently, will feel and understand things differently according to a new level, which he attains thanks to the Light that Reforms. In this case, the change is not because those around him have confused him and convinced him. After all, they are deceiving him and not letting him see the truth, as if giving him a sedative. They are trying to show him that everything is fine, and by that they lie to him and block the path to the truth for him.

We have a different method; we don’t calm, but only support a person so that he will discover his ego. We help him discover his ego and deal with it.

A person can deal with every state he faces in two ways: One is to somehow blur the problem and confuse himself, which is turning to religion, different beliefs, and mysticism. This is what everyone in our world does.

But a person can do the opposite: open your eyes and desire wider and start working in order to draw the Light that Reforms so that it will correct you. Then from this new level, a person sees the correct picture.

How do I draw this Light? By justifying whatever happens, and that it all comes from one source, “There is none else beside Him.” I want to discover the upper force, and nothing other than that.

It isn’t that I simply accept what happens like a submissive believer, but I want to discover the upper. I understand that all my feelings are clarions from the Creator who wants the created beings to discover Him and to discover that “There is none else besides Him” and that He is “Good and benevolent.”
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/08/13, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

What Holds Me Back?

Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 10: It is so because He has no interest in reception, only in bestowal, whereas the Klipot want nothing of bestowal, but only to receive for themselves, for their own delight, and there is no greater oppositeness than that.

Question: What is a Klipa?

Answer: The Klipa is something that prevents me from getting closer to the Creator. I recognize it as the force that puts obstacles in front of me.

Actually, what can prevent me?

I want to enjoy, and this means that all kinds of pleasures prevent me; they distract me, take me away from the likeness to the Creator, and keep me from advancing towardsunity and bestowal. These are the pleasures that are called “filth.”

So, the Klipa is something extremely pleasant. Let’s say, I like to relax at home more than to participate in the gathering of friends. It is more pleasant for me not to think about the world and correction but about what will happen to me personally. It is dearer to me to take care of my own children, not the neighbors’.

But the real Klipa is when I feel that I advance towards the Creator along a certain path and thus can bring Him pleasure but suddenly I find out that it is more pleasant and comfortable to deviate somewhere, become distracted by something. This is what theKlipa is: It seems to cling to my clothing and pull me back.

We cannot understand all this until we acquire the intention above the desire, until we get out of the desire and begin to act on the basis of intention.

To act on the basis of intention means to apply restriction (Tzimtzum) to the desire to receive. I must be independent of it and be completely free to choose. In other words, independently from the desire, I can decide for myself that I will work with it in order to receive. I have the opportunity to work in order to bestow, but I decide to the contrary. This is what filth is. Conversely, if I have no choice, there is nothing to ask from me. To receive with the egoistic intention is the Klipa that runs through all our ascents until theend of correction. And we are always required to make a difficult decision—how to act, in order to receive or in order to bestow?

We are talking about the work with the Lights and vessels of the egoistic desire, not just about the rejection of the “small” pleasures of our world. I am required to make a decision of a high order when I begin to feel that there is a king, egoistic by nature. This is the flipside of the Creator, and I think that it dominates the world. So it should be, and I decide in these conditions.

Moreover, the decision is possible only if I rise above the restriction, if I am independent. This is when I decide to enjoy for the sake of reception, and turn into a Klipa.

In general, the forces of filth energetically propel a person to the goal. They awaken him in such a way that, like a mountaineer, he must climb above them, overcome them, and ascend to the summit to the King’s palace. And his every move is a rise above filth.

The Klipa is the essence of the material of creation, the desire to receive that took its egoistic form and appears to us in this way. That is why it is impossible to make a step forward without being connected to the Klipa.

But of course, we don’t connect to it ourselves. We always must keep in the right line, and then the forces of filth come at the right time and in the right form.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/5/13,”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

A Speck Of Matter Next To A Spark Of Light

We are in the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). But in the world of Ein Softhere is a very small Light: Nefesh of Nefesh that created the created being as “something from nothing,” as a tiny grain of the desire to receive. This is the first phase, the “root phase” of the world of Ein Sof. So why is it called infinite?

It is because there is nothing but the tiny spark of Light and the tiny speck of matter. Everything else comes on the account of the greatness of the Light in the feelings of the speck of the created being, by the great respect towards the Light that has created it and which takes care of it. From the recognition of this greatness comes the feeling of the world of Ein Sof.

Then this speck begins to develop and become increasingly more independent, and whole worlds are born in its feelings. First it happens instinctively, under the influence of the Light. But eventually its development reaches the point we are in now. If now, from this state, we rise back by using all the preparations that were made for us, we will reach the true recognition of the Light.

But we can call it real only conditionally since it is impossible to attain the Creator’s real essence and height with regard to the created being. But when we rise again, we discover the Light of NRNHY, the extent to which the Creator allows us to attain Him called “adhesion.” To that extent, according to His will, we have to be like Him.

It says, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust” (Psalm 113). But we don’t demand that He should raise us from the dust in order to be rich, but rather, we want to rise only so that we will respect and praise the Creator. This is the only reason that we ask Him to raise us from the dust: in order to attain His greatness and not in order to improve our own condition.

This ascent is in order to understand who created us and who has taken care of us. The matter itself can remain in absolute poverty since what is important for us is to join the upper Light, the attribute of bestowal, not for our own sake but in order to bring the Creator contentment. This is our only hope. Thus we bring ourselves to perfectly match the picture, the image, that is in the world of Ein Sof: a speck of matter next to the spark of Light, and everything else is the infinite greatness of the Creator.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/13

What Hides Behind The Screen Of Lies?

The problem is that we need an inner connection between the friends and the teacher so that the external forms of the interruptions that are purposefully sent to us will not weaken, but rather, will strengthen this connection. It is indeed very difficult, since our ego depicts everything in an ugly external way and forces us to blame one another.

We cannot rise above the obstacles and external conditions that the Creator places us in so that we would overcome them by ourselves. The external corporeal picture strongly influences us and we cannot leap over it and rise in different states of conflicts, disrespect, feeling distant from others or when it comes to different corporeal accounts.

All this draws a person further from the goal, and it doesn’t just repulse him, but also causes him such harm that he will need to work for a long time in order to repair his past mistakes.

Baal HaSulam tells us in his letter that as long as a student yearns to get closer to his teacher and climbs the hill, the desire burns in him. But the moment he gets physically close to the teacher, his yearning diminishes gradually, until it is totally lost. Therefore, it is much easier to be distant than to be near. We all know that important people try to keep the crowds distant in order to increase the people’s interest in them.

A person creates a kind of image of a friend, the teacher, and the Creator, and doesn’t want to know the truth. He feels good living in the fantasy that he has created for himself and it is hard for him to get away from it, to erase it, in order to accept something new. If this picture is closer to the real picture, then, on the whole, it is less pleasant and more obligating.

So a person who sometimes hears the voice of the Creator and receives an invitation to stroll in His garden for a while, eventually doesn’t attain anything. It is because he doesn’t try to rise above his nature, above the inclination to reject his friends and his teacher and to imagine them as he sees fit instead of seeing the real picture so that the physical closeness or distance will not make a difference and also so that the spiritual closeness or distance will not lead to any changes in his relations with the friends, the teacher, and the Creator.

We have to try to rise as much as we can above our corporeal attributes and to be more objective. This means to judge above reason and to enter the collective vessel, outside one’s self.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/3/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

The Uncompromising Upper Kindness

Question: Why is the Creator so uncompromising with the created being by setting tough, immutable laws for him? Why can’t He be more merciful, like a father with his son?

Answer: A child can never justify his father’s toughness. He cannot understand the father with his childish mind and see the future results and the benefit that his father’s education will bring him. The child wants to play from morning to night, to eat only sweets, and to watch TV. He cannot justify the parents’ constant demands and so he listens to them reluctantly since he feels his dependence on them and not because he justifies them.

In spirituality everything is much more complicated since we don’t feel to what extent the upper Providence treats us gently. In a child’s world, his oppositeness is not an indication of what he is about to become; if a child is obedient and does his homework and cleans up the messes he makes, the parents cannot come complaining to him since there is nothing more they can demand from him.

In the spiritual world, however, it is different: There you are always a criminal, since you arrive there with shattered vessels to begin with. You are treated kindly and are taught the method of correction; a group is organized for you, just like a kindergarten with a caretaker and with different toys. This is mercy and huge help from Above and mercy; all your sins are forgiven and you are given support in every way, just so that you will be able to reach correction and understanding to some extent.

In our world, we understand “education” as coercion directed at the child. But in the spiritual world, coercion is impossible. I can see that a student doesn’t change for years, repeating the same mistakes, falling into the same pits, and I cannot say a thing. I was the same way and it lasts throughout the entire path.

This is our path and there is nothing we can do. Unless a person determines the lesson, the method, his Torah by himself, he will not be able to advance. There cannot be coercion here, only recognition.

Therefore, we cannot complain that we under the dominance of a cruel father despite all the terrible events of our history. We cannot justify them but later we will see that all the actions of the upper Providence stemmed from love. Although we cannot justify this in our current state, since we are too far from that, when we discover the truth, we will see what great correction it brought about.

“He has given a law that cannot be broken,” means that there is one law. There is a Light and a vessel which are opposite from each other, and this is the law. Later, when they are incorporated in one another, the law of evolution appears by this incorporation, called the law of equivalence of form. It all stems from one thought as one law.

Eventually I have to reach a state in which I want to keep this law by my own will, by myself, as if there is no one else, as if there is no Creator. When I become like the same creator looking at his creation determining the law according to which it should exist, it will mean that I have reached an equivalence of from with the Creator.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam