The Only Evil Person In The World

From, Shamati, 1, “There Is None Else Beside Him”: And as much as he overcomes, he always sees how he is farther from holiness than others, who feel that they are one with the Creator.

But he, on the other hand, always has complaints and demands, and he cannot justify the Creator’s behavior, and how He behaves toward him. This pains him. Why is he not one with the Creator? Finally, he comes to feel that he has no part in holiness whatsoever.

I see that all my intentions and my desires are in order to receive. I want to connect to the friends and reveal the Creator among them in order to bestow unto Him, but after all my attempts, I discover that it isn’t my nature at all.

Although he occasionally receives awakening from Above, which momentarily revives him, but soon after he falls into the place of baseness.

This means that I perceive my ascents and descents judging by to what extent I worry about the Creator through the group and through which He will be revealed, and to what extent I yearn to see in all that there is none else beside Him and that He is good that does good. I discover corresponding attributes in the group, but I understand that I cannot participate in it by myself.

It turns out that there is no one to blame but me. Ordinary people on the street are totally managed by the Creator in a natural instinctive manner. Therefore, they are not responsible for anything and are absolute righteous since they only carry out the Creator’s orders without any participation on their part.

The friends that I see invest all their powers in order to bestow and the only evil person in the world, who wants to exit his ego but cannot do so, is me. It turns out that the general state of the vessel, of the general soul, depends only on me.

Thus, the Creator’s state depends on the outcome of my efforts. The Creator can enjoy the created beings and be revealed to them only if I add my penny. Without that, the Creator cannot be content and this is my fault!

A man must always try and cleave to the Creator; namely, that all his thoughts will be about Him. That is to say, that even if he is in the worst state, from which there cannot be a greater decline, he should not leave His domain, namely, that there is another authority which prevents him from entering holiness, and which can bring benefit or harm.

That is, he must not think that there is the force of the Sitra Achra (Other Side), which does not allow a person to do good deeds and follow God’s ways. Rather, all is done by the Creator.

On the one hand, we have to accept all the actions we undergo. There is only one thing I cannot accept: the fact that I cannot justify the Creator in all these actions and thank and praise Him. This is the only thing that hurts.

Of course, I don’t feel sorry for myself but for the fact that I cannot add my missing part, my penny, to the whole general vessel in order  that the Creator will be able to be revealed within it and to enjoy it.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/14, Shamati #1

Love Neutralizes The Ego

The convention is over and we are about to return to our groupsin order to connect with other people. We are about to go outside this big hall and separate from our group of ten.

Of course, we should keep in touch with them, but we should see that anything that is added to my group of ten or what it lacks when I go back home is calculated from Above and this is actually what I should work with.

The Creator has given us such conditions on purpose and I should not feel sorry that I am not next to the same small group that I have grown so accustomed to for the last few days and with whom I want to stay forever. No! I am going to work with the whole world and with my local group.

We should attain a state in which there are several people I can work with everywhere, whether virtually or physically. There can be different groups of ten in the morning, at midday, and in the evening. This is only the beginning and we stick to a certain group of ten in order to feel that there we can find an answer, warmth, closeness, and mutual understanding.

But we can feel the same almost immediately in any other group. If I am surrounded by friends from all over the world who are advancing towards one goal, I can sit in any group and immediately feel that these are the same friends.

It makes no difference whether I know these people well or whether I don’t know them at all in the corporeal world. If we have a common goal, I can connect to them as if I have known them for years. It makes no difference at all how well we have known each other previously.

It is very important to express love to all the friends, so that every person in the group, in the group of ten, will feel that he is loved. The feeling of love neutralizes the ego if a person wishes to annul his ego. This is because the love of the friends evokes in me such a peaceful feeling that I cease worrying about myself.

Then I can ascend above my ego! I am free of worrying about myself and so I can bestow and give my love as a present to others because I no longer have to think about myself.

It is a very important point. We can agree that we will intentionally show our love to one of the friends and thus free him from his troubles and worries.Try it and see and how well it works, even if we don’t work that way on purpose with regard to one of the friends, each of us should still feel that the group worries about him.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/01/14, Lesson 4

A Group Of Ten As A Tool For Adhesion

If you want to explore the upper force, the wisdom of Kabbalahsays that you must create a tool appropriate for this. This is just like scientists who create measuring instruments: microscopes, telescopes, particle accelerators, and the like. But they are appropriate only for physical substances. So how can we explore the force that works within us, in our essence?

For this the Kabbalists recommend building a structure of ten people (Minyan) who try to create complete interconnection between them. They stabilize the characteristic of Light in their environment, whether they are ready for this or not, by wanting to make a single whole of themselves above their egos.

Such a structure already contains two forces within it: our natural egoistic force and the general force of bestowal, meaning the Creator. And the calculation here is simple: The more we overcome the force of separation with the help of the power of unification, to this degree we match, resemble, and equalize with the Upper Light.

Even when bestowal rises to a value of one percent, to that degree we resemble the Light and feel it. We feel it to the degree that the desire to bestow dominates the desire to receive.

If we try making an effort, in spite of our inability to overcome our egoistic desire, we begin to pay attention to where there is a shortcoming, how weak we still are, why we don’t succeed. And then a scream, a request, a prayer develops in us for the Light to help us, give us strength, and then we connect. Certainly we don’t have the power to connect on our own. It comes only from the Light.

That is how we advance: The Light acts and influences us according to our request; we overcome our desire to receive, absorb more of the desire to bestow; we connect between us more strongly again and again…. It is written about this: (Baba Batra 9b) “A penny and another penny accumulate into a great sum.”

And then the moment comes when we truly can unite. Then everyone feels how he disappears into the common connection between us.  “I” and the “friends” no longer exist; all merge into one. And at the moment in this state of “togetherness,” we feel fulfillment, the Upper Light, the Creator dwelling among us.

And then we can investigate Him. In other words, we have built and activated a device called a “group,” a “group of ten,” (a Minyan); and we can now advance forward by stabilizing ourselves more and more in various forms of connection. And the Creator, in accordance with our mutual connection, will be revealed more and more.

Through its influence, the Light will also awaken us to deeper and deeper layers of ego. We feel resistance, descent, and all kinds of disturbances, that makes it possible for us to turn towards the Upper Light with even greater force so that it will come and acquire the power for us to see our defects and the methods for their correction.

This is the way, 125 levels, that by ascending through them we ultimately reach “equivalence of form” with the Creator. And in this way we discover how important the characteristics of fear and anxiety are to us. After all, it is only concern and fear, “Am I capable of bestowal?” which pushes us forward.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/1/14, Lesson #3

Short Stories: Climbing Mt. Sinai

Having gone through all the stages of life in Egypt and the exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel reach a state called Mt. Sinai. They begin to understand that they are facing a huge mountain of evil, the word “Sinai” stems from the word “hate” (mutual hate) in Hebrew, the deep repulsion that people feel towards one another which is much greater than what they felt in Egypt.

While in Egypt or in ancient Babylon they didn’t understand it and were not fully aware of it; now the evil is revealed to them to it’s fullest.

As a result the people feel perplexed, helpless, and cannot even imagine what they should do. But Moses eases their mind, promising them to arrange and fix the connection between them and Creator. This is his role since he is the link between the people of Israel and the upper force. The people wouldn’t be able to do anything without his help and guidance, without his connection to the Creator.

He climbs Mt. Sinai while the people don’t feel this connection and are ready to go back to Egypt. The main thing for them is to feel that they have something, something to hold on to! Hatred scares simple people.

Imagine you are living in an apartment building in which everyone hates you deeply. You are afraid to come out of your apartment, to open a window, you feel currents of great hatred on all sides, you cannot sleep, and are losing your appetite. This is a terrible situation! This is exactly what the people standing at the feet of Mt. Sinai feel. The true nature of their ego is revealed to them and they see that they cannot overcome it in any way since the connection with the Creator who helped them not long ago is gone.

But Moses promises them that he will ascend to this level of connection, establish the contact between them, and take them out of this hatred. Only he can ascend above the mountain of the ego, but it is only one small attribute in us.

The moment he detaches from the people they lose hope of connecting to the Creator and the only hope they see is in creating the golden calf, which they believe can bring them together. There is nothing else they can hold on to.

They are ready to take off their gold jewelry and to donate it so that something will unite them. Because compared to the deep hatred they feel, the small ego that is embodied in the golden calf egotistically connects them at least to some extent.

When he comes down from Mt. Sinai, Moses comes closer to the people wanting to connect them to the Creator through him and to establish the contact between them, but he sees that once again they bow to their ego (the golden calf). Then he breaks the two tablets of the covenant received on Mt. Sinai, which is now unsuitable for the people since they have fallen to a different level.

Moses climbs the mountain, meaning the ego again, and when he connects to the upper level of love and bestowal above it, he receives a second instruction from the Creator. When he descends from this spiritual level he brings the people the plan for unity: the revelation of the Creator by their getting closer in the inner unity between them.

The plan includes all the major laws of the Torah, and the most important one is “love thy neighbor as thyself,” and the people are ready to keep it and to unite.

The day that Moses descends the second time from Mt. Sinai is called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). He brings the people the two tables, which means the ten conditions in contrast to the ten plagues of Egypt. By fulfilling these conditions on the spiritual level, they reach a level of unity between them in which the Creator is revealed and they merge into complete unity with Him. This is the purpose of their correction.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

Two-Sided Work

Our connection with each other indicates that we have established a covenant that requires us to be concerned in general about the whole group, or at least in the meantime about our group of ten.

According to this criterion can I examine whether I am disconnected from that concern or not?  Do I think about them all the time or don’t I? How much I am attracted to them and holding onto my thoughts about them shows where I am.

Thanks to our being able to carry out physical actions within a small group (a group of ten), spiritual work becomes simple physical work, visible and accessible for scrutiny, analysis, and examination. I can count how many times per day I have thought about thefriends, how I have been concerned about them, how I have lifted their mood and have given them upliftment and excitement about the goal, and have nourished them with confidence and happiness.

I need to examine myself as to how much I adapt to the principle: “The end of the action is in the initial thought.” The final state is connection with the Creator. For this I connect with the friends now. So I need to check whether I am truly thinking about my connection with the Creator or have I forgotten about Him completely?

If I forget about the Creator, then my entire connection with the group of ten is not good. It doesn’t lead to anything except harm. This will be the regular egoistic connection where there is no spirituality, like between soccer fans or a military combat unit.

So I must be concerned about this enough to speak about it, at least, if I have no feelings about it in the meantime. I must remind myself that I am ready to connect with the friends in order to attain adherence with the Creator. This means that I am connected to attain the characteristic of complete bestowal.

And so already now, from the start, I show the friends how much I want this; I am ready to invest lots of energy in them; to inspire and serve them, I am ready to do anything for them, the main thing being to reach the Creator.

On the other hand, I can turn to the Creator with a request to help me to work with the friends so that I will be able to help them, to connect and elevate them. For it is clear, that I myself don’t have the strength for this, I can only ask on behalf of the friends.

It means that this is two-way work: through the group to the Creator and from the Creator to the group. In work through the group to the Creator, I am the bottom, for me the group is a higher level, and the Creator is above that higher level. The difference is who serves as a conduit that connects, the transmitter.

If I want to reach the Creator through the group, I use the group as a channel that connects me with the Creator. And If I get energy from the Creator to bestow to the group, then I am that conduit that connects the group with the Creator.

I must constantly imagine this scheme, to see most correctly and precisely where I am found, especially during the lesson.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/1/14, Lesson 4

An Adventure On The Mountain Of Ruminations

Question: When we rise above ourselves, above our egoistic essence, does this inner ascent change the connection with external nature?

Answer: This ascent makes it possible to truly connect with all ofnature.

When standing on the summit of Mount Everest, a person sees himself as a great and strong conqueror having attained his goal. An egoistic longing for control has been satisfied. Now he will have something to talk about and remember. And what is next?—Nothing. Now he begins the descent.

Spiritual ascent is completely different. Here the mountain (Har – הר) means doubt (Hirhurim – הרהורים). I am full of doubts and I debate whether to ascend or not, whether to overcome or not. This is a complete process. To be able to move through it, we have been given the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is a guide that will help us.

It is important to understand that I rise above our world, above the universe, above everything. Then I look at the Earth  and see all of it, all of nature, all of the mechanisms and interrelationships within it that cannot be disconnected. In the moon and the sun, the stars, our galaxy, and everywhere, I see threads of connection and begin to feel true wholeness. But I don’t control any of it. I identify with it all, and I connect to the system.

So it is impossible to compare this adventure with anything. After all, we attain a wholeness not found on any of the summits on the face of the Earth or depths of the oceans.

Question: Doesn’t a climber, when he climbs a mountain, overcome himself and then look at the world from a height above the whole world? The idea here is that he doesn’t just physically conquer the summit. Exactly how does this overcoming differ from spiritual overcoming?

Answer: Every athlete must overcome himself when leaping to a new height, rushing to a finish line, lifting a weight. Even in ordinary life, I must overcome various difficulties and continue on at every moment. This is a natural state for us.

But in spirituality, overcoming is not directed against nature but with it, adding balance, unity, and connection between me and all of nature at every moment. So while I advance in this direction, I am never get into trouble, I ‘m not buried under an avalanche, or drown in a turbulent river.

On the contrary, I discover that nature is more and more dear to me because I approach it and connect with all of its levels of the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. Specifically, the main thing here is the human (speaking) level, where I must reach the state of loving others as myself.

So it follows that in such a manner I reach new forms of connection and have nothing more to fear. No disaster will ever happen to me, I will never cause damage, to myself , to others, or to humanity as a whole. This is the way to balance and harmony, despite the heroism of everyone who surmounts mountain peaks and descends to the depths of the oceans. Their overcoming them, it is essentially an aspiration to control, which is the characteristic of Pharaoh.

Question: In what manner are disasters prevented?

Answer: Due to equilibrium. Humans are the highest link in nature, so if they create balance, then all of nature is in balance. On the contrary, if a person creates imbalance, then the lack of balance that he creates in nature ultimately harms the person himself more than anything else.

Question: How exactly does a person create balance?

Answer: This is through the desire that all of human society will dwell in balance. Here participation, connection, equality, and mutual concern are required. It is when the whole world becomes one loving family. Without a doubt, balance between people will lead to the right attitude towards all of nature.

And then we attain its comprehensive power, the formula for harmony that penetrates it, the universal law of all of nature. We attain “there is none else beside Him” and that “He is the good and beneficent.” We identify with this overall energy of the entire system and we attain it in its wholeness. This is the goal of our development.

We must reach this in the coming years with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah. I am sure that this will happen soon, and hopefully in the best way.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/21/14

From Illusion Of Perfection

Question: How does a Kabbalist feel our life?

Answer: A Kabbalist feels our life only as a means of entry into a higher dimension and rising on the ladder of spiritual degrees.

Everything that exists in our world and in it life itself are just a condition for further spiritual elevation. Therefore, a Kabbalist relates to our world in a practical, clear, strict way.

Of course, he can enjoy all the material things: music, literature, art, nature, etc. But inside of him, there is always a very clear directive: I do it in order to advance in the attainment of the higher world. He feels all the fragility, insignificance, and illusion of our world, and understands that it arises in his mind on purpose.

Just like the pictures that we see on the computer screen are nothing but electric signals that create images on the plasma, in the same way, various human feelings are only electric signals, nothing more. A Kabbalists understands the illusion of any material feeling: either positive or negative. He sees that all that surrounds us exists only in our perception, within us.

Therefore, he has no fear of death. He knows that his physical body must die, but the attainment of the upper world, the so-called the soul, will exist to the extent that it has been corrected while still in the body and can continue its correction further.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

The Secret Practices Of A Kabbalist

Question: Why is the wisdom of Kabbalah called a secret wisdom? What is the hidden work of a Kabbalist?

Answer: The practical work of a Kabbalist amounts to this: he can go up and down in the levels of his ego or bestowal like in an elevator.

He can descend from the bottom floor down into the ego and then he can rise to the ground floor and begin to climb up the 125 steps.

Together with this, all kinds of inner changes happen in a person. He has the opportunity to rise from the level of a child to the level of a youth, an adult, or an old man, and after that he can consistently descend back to each one of these levels to the lowest.

In ascent or descent on the Kabbalistic ladder, it is possible to change all kinds of parameters and characteristics within you, to sort and switch them within yourself. We are as if programmers, directing ourselves, and every time we see the world in the same cut and style specifically towards which we aim. And this these are called the secret practices of the Kabbalist.

When we are found within the framework of our world, we can travel in time, space, and worlds according to the timeline; we can find ourselves in the era of the dinosaurs and watch all of these states among us.

The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam described the history of the creation of planet Earth and all the periods of its formation in his writings. But he could do this, not because he studied geology, but because he saw all of these states.

It was not difficult for him to enter them. It was as if he took binoculars, a microscope, or telescope, and according to his personal internal instruments, he correctly directed himself to see and attain every era.

This amounts to the so-called secret Kabbalistic practices. In fact they are not secret, but the Kabbalist cannot convey them to others. He can only use them himself because they are his inner characteristics. Everyone can learn to expand the range of his inner vision if he would methodically and seriously become involved in the wisdom of Kabbalah and transform himself into a Kabbalist.

So by directing himself correctly, he can go out of himself and travel above our world, in all aspects of creation. For our world is the smallest, insignificant and gray, and according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, exists only in our uncorrected perception and imagination.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14