Touching The Creator For The First Time…

In our world, each of us has a very small desire for spirituality, apoint in the heart. The whole heart is our egoism. Of course, we are not talking about the physiological heart-pump; we are talking about desires. And since I only have a minor desire toward the Creator, I am unable to receive more than a thin illumination from the spiritual, which fills our whole world with pleasures.

In order to become similar to the Creator, it is necessary to unite with the friend because the Creator can be felt only in the desire to bestow, i.e., between us. As I try to unite with my neighbors, I begin to understand that I am unable to desire this.

However, I need to continue to exert efforts, in order:

• I act for the purpose of uniting with the friends,
• I discover hatred toward the friends,
• Gradually, I acquire the importance of the goal, the quality of bestowal,
• I even acquire a need to bestow.

The Surrounding Light corrects the quality of bestowal in me.

Then what do we lack in order to unite and receive pleasure? Much like a little child cannot understand what is wanted of him when grownups demand that he behave well, we, grownups, also don’t understand that we lack some conditions and actions due to which we will understand what is being demanded from us.

Only due to this, the Creator “broke” the common soul (the common desire), separated it into an infinite number (let’s say, seven billion souls) so that we could elucidate what we lack in order to enjoy Him. Let’s suppose that He is some dish that I am unfamiliar with, which I won’t take until I wish to eat it. But what should I desire for this?

In order to arm ourselves with the right desire we have to work on unification between us. And through this work I understand what I should desire. And after we try to unite, our hatred toward the friends will be revealed. And then along with investing in others and having others invest in me, we reveal the importance of the goal.

Of course, all the while the Surrounding Light affects us. And as a consequence of its influence, I begin to acquire a need for the quality of bestowal: I wish to feel it, to acquire it! I already begin to hear that it is worth it, that it is something great, special, and elevated. I am told that with the help of the desire to bestow, I will break through into another dimension, where I will exist above all problems and above this whole world, and furthermore, I am coming to this here and now!

In addition, I don’t die; I acquire an additional quality. So, why not? And my egoistic desire consents to this: “Ok, so you’ll have a quality of bestowal too!” This is called Lo Lishma (desiring spirituality egoistically, for your own sake). In other words, it occurs gradually, naturally, because such changes are instilled in us from nature.

Thus I have the importance of the goal, and then I acquire a need for bestowal, and if I achieve the full measure of my efforts, the Surrounding Light already influences me and reveals the quality of bestowal in me for the time being, very slightly. Yet it is already enough for me to touch the Creator and feel Him.

The first contact with Him is the most important and the most difficult, but then, after this, a person no longer needs further explanations; he begins to understand on his own what is being discussed.
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From a Lecture for “Kabbalah for the People” of 11/2/10

Rise Above The Oppositions

All of the confrontations, conflicts, and wars in the world are initiated from above so that we will require the Light of theCreator, so that we will understand that we cannot do anything by ourselves. We must simply lift up our hands and scream. What is happening in the world is unbelievable. Suddenly everywhere in the world intense hatred has flared up that is derived from all kinds of sources and for various reasons.

Moreover, this is a kind of confrontation and conflict that we couldn’t even conceive of before, nor could we even suppose that it was possible. It is awful to look at such a vast country like the Ukraine, which is being torn apart.

I don’t think that it is necessary to blame America or the European Union. The Creator has arranged all of this for us. There is one reason; we must rise above our oppositions. We must rise above them so much that they stop. This is very serious work.

The Creator is playing with us from above and we must focus entirely on connection and unity. Our worldly ways will not result in anything.
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From the Convention In Sochi 8/25/14, Lesson 4

A Cloud That Fills A Person’s Soul

Question: It says in the Torah that the Creator is revealed to a person in the cloud above the veil of the ark (above the Masach). Why is that?

Answer: When a person works with the world around him with the attribute of bestowal, he reveals the Creator, and the Creator approaches him in a cloud, in concealment, but He expresses the attributes of mutuality with a person. This is already a kind of contact.

The Creator appears on the veil that is between the two cherubs. This means that He appears above the Masach, between two attributes, on the middle line. Two cherubs symbolize the right and the left lines that are given from Above and the Creator commands: “Do!” which means that I have to make the third line by myself.

When I work between my first main attribute, which is receiving, and the attribute that I acquire, which is bestowal on all my egoistic desires, I create the conditions for the revelation of the Creator. The Creator sinks into me and fills me. He fills a person’s soul like a cloud that fills a valley, and His gradual revelation takes place inside me.

Moreover, the revelation is fulfilled inside a person and not on the outside. It seems to me that I see and feel something external to me, but I feel the Creator inside me!

I change and my new attributes and discernments give a feeling of a connection with the Creator. Revealing the Creator and uniting with Him, feeling Him inside me is the same action; it cannot take place outside me, but only inside me.

Therefore the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the inner Torah. As for the Torah, I should feel inside me a kind of filling, in knowledge, in attainment, a sense of infinity, eternity, and harmony.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/6/14

Love Is The Common Denominator

Question: It seems to me that the absence of a uniform opinion among the people of Israel is not a defect, rather it testifies to the advancement of the people. So, in what manner is it possible to reach a condition where the people will attain unity and, together with this, will maintain the wealth of opinions?

Answer: There is only one word that easily solves this problem: love! As it is written, “Proverbs” 10:12: Love covereth all transgressions. Love balances all the differences. Each one will remain with his opinion, but love will make it possible for us to maintain opposing opinions, feel our connection, and belong to a single whole above them.

The Arabs are trying to attain unity among people in which everyone thinks the same thing without deviating even a millimeter to the side, like robots. However, the wisdom of Kabbalah says the opposite. The more that people develop, their opinions become more divided and contradict each other.

About Israel, it is written, Talmud Babyli, “Masechet Berachot 58b”: To the degree that their faces differ, so their opinions also differ. And, this is good, as it is a sign of high development. It is necessary only to build love in the face of all of this, so that even though each one thinks differently, love will connect us.

We can take advantage of this heterogeneous condition that includes within it a multitude of different desires, thoughts, and opinions for the sake of our shared love, for the benefit of others, and for the benefit of all people. Each one will remain with a very rich view of the world and use it for the benefit of all the people.

Imagine how wonderful this will be. Our land will flower and grow immeasurably, for we don’t destroy the person and don’t make him into a robot who performs commands obediently.

Question: So, what will be the common denominator that will unite all of these different people?

Answer: The common denominator is our belonging to one people, and in order to elevate this unique people to a higher level, each one will use his unique opinion, “love covereth all transgressions.” Thanks to this, we will discover another level of reality, and will go out to a new, higher dimension.

Question: So, in what way is it possible to attain a stable existence of the people of Israel in the land of Israel?

Answer: It is through a tighter and tighter connection between us to the point of absolute love without any limits.
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From the program “A New Life” 8/27/14

A Never-Ending Flow Of Pleasure

The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that people can fulfill themselves only by passing the pleasure on to others. The problem is that people want to receive the pleasure by keeping it within himself.

However, if the pleasure was to transfer from him to someone else, and so on, and in this way spreads among everyone, it would become a never-ending flow! In addition, then you will not only experience life during these brief moments when pleasure fills you but also when it immediately disappears and leaves you empty.

So, if we would be able to connect between us into a common, endless system, when the flow of pleasure will flow constantly through us, like through the cells of our common “body,” then we would perceive the eternal life in absolute goodness that comes from everyone.

So, what is the absolute goodness? It is the continuous, never-ending, infinite pleasure!

When you connect with others this way, and pleasure, Light, and the perception of life flow through you, you give life to the entire system, like cells in a physical organism pass the essentials to one another, and thus they guarantee the existence of the organism. However, besides the animal life of our body, the realization of the human level appears in this system. This is because every one of the cells not only passes the life energy to one another, but also the desires and the thoughts.

Pleasure by itself is something abstract like electricity, which can be used according to ones’ needs: heating, cooling, creating pressure or a vacuum, and so on. In addition, when pleasure flows between everyone in an endless system like this, then everyone fills themselves with the things that they want, the things they strive for.

However, besides the sensation of an eternal and perfect life, perception of the life of the entire system appears in this system, a perception of the Creator, His level, and His plan. This is similar to the way our body, as a result of its biological function, creates the conditions for us to feel human, which is a level higher than the body itself, the animalistic level.

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From the Lecture on the Topic: “My First Convention”11/2/10

How Frequently Do You Remember The Creator?

Question: What kind of fear should I feel, should I fear forgetting theCreator?

Answer: It is good if you already have a fear like this. How many times per day do you remember the Creator, if at all?

Question: That is a spiritual level, so how do we reach this?

Answer: This is through mutual guarantee, through the greatness of the importance of the Creator. The main thing is the importance of the Creator. You must arrange and organize such an environment that will strengthen this importance in you.

You yourself are simply an egoistic desire to receive, nothing more, that wants to lie still and receive pleasure without investing any effort. And suddenly you announce that you are thinking about the Creator. How can you think about Him? It is impossible. The Creator is completely opposite to my nature. So you must get the importance of the Creator from the environment.

The shattering makes us dependent on the environment, and we need to use it. If a person puts himself under the influence of the environment, this helps him and influences him. If he remembers the Creator, this means that the environment reminds him. But he must arrange and organize this environment himself.

There must be an external cause, an external stimulus, which reminds us of the Creator. This is because you never look in His direction yourself and don’t think about Him. Sometimes the Creator reminds us of Him. And in general this is what happens to us; suddenly we remember the Creator, the spiritual path. But it’s because of an awakening from above, and this is not considered to be advancement.

Or the environment reminds us about the Creator, about the path, and strengthens us with the importance of spirituality. But this is a result of our preliminary work and so this is considered to be on our account. I invested energy in the environment and the environment influences me.

Without the Creator and without the environment, by myself, I will not be raised above the ground. My nature is like that. So what is left for me is only investment in my environment or to wait until an awakening will come from above and arouse me. And in general we wait for an awakening from above. But this is the path of suffering.

The Creator awakens us several times and after that leaves. This means that a person apparently must receive a bit more suffering to become a little more sensitive to the awakening from above.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/04/14, Writings of Rabash

Moving From Corporeal Fear To Spiritual Fear

Question: How can we move from corporeal fear of the blows to spiritual fear?

Answer: This transition is possible only by the help of the environment. If the Creator is important to me, then the most important thing for me is not the blows that I receive but being able to bestow unto Him. Everything depends only on how important it is.

If a baby is ill, God forbid, the parents don’t think about themselves and about how they feel or about having a nice meal, but will run with him from one doctor to the next, since the most important thing for them is his health. Everything is determined by the importance of the goal.

Therefore, we have to increase the importance of the Creator, the importance of the goal, through the environment. If the goal is important, nothing worries me anymore. It is to such an extent that I constantly dream and think only about how to delight Him. It is like a baby about whom I constantly think and care about: what to do for him and how to make him feel better. My love for him obliges me.

If the environment impresses me with the greatness and the importance of the Creator, I will begin to think about how to give to Him. Then the giving to the Creator becomes my receiving because I enjoy the fact that I give to Him, that I give to the one I love.

But now the question arise as to why I am giving: Is it for my own delight or for His benefit? This is where the clarification begins. Perhaps the Creator is suddenly so important to me because I fill myself and attain the upper world through Him? This means that I am simply using Him.

I have to know that I am actually giving to Him without any self-benefit. Here I understand that I have to detach myself from any receiving for myself, from any self-benefit. It is better if I don’t know that I am giving to Him, since this fact is already a great pleasure.

If I know how much I have given Him and how much He enjoys it, then it is already a great pleasure for me. The Creator knows about me and we give to each other, we are connected, and I see that this effort is worthwhile for me. Whoever serves someone great becomes great as well.

I have to reach a state in which I don’t want to receive any reward for my giving in any way. Then I begin to look for a way to detach myself from any reward, as if I throw all my efforts into space, all my love, and don’t feel anything in return. I only ask for the power to do this and for some discernments that I am giving to the Creator, and that I am not just playing and practicing by myself.

Here I feel the desire to recognize the Creator in a spiritual form, which is detached from me, and at the same time allows me to work accurately with regard to Him. It is a very special system that allows me to detach myself from my desire to receive, from my ego, and at the same time, to use it in order to give and to bestow unto the Creator, and thus receive accurate discernments of how I should work.

This is very difficult, but this system is revealed to us; it was already created by the shattering and the corrections that come later in the upper worlds of Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya.

But the main thing is to be incorporated in the group, which will bring us to this spiritual state in practice. It makes no difference whether we read about it or how much we understand it or not. We begin to understand the Creator as a result of the practical work, as it says: “We know You from Your actions.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/14, Writings of Rabash

The Art Of Shooting At An Invisible Target

Writings of Rabash, “Come unto Pharaoh – 2″: …And when he completes the work of love of friends, he will be able to be rewarded with love of the Creator.

We should know that there is a virtue to love of friends: one cannot deceive himself and say that he loves the friends, if in fact he doesn’t love them. Here he can examine whether he truly has love of friends or not. But with love of the Creator, one cannot examine oneself as to whether his intention is the love of the Creator…

A person doesn’t receive any feedback from the love of the Creator, he only can imagine and fantasize as he likes. Here, however, in working with the friends, he constantly can examine to what extent he loves them or not, to what extent he sees the group and in what form.

This is why the Creator arranged the shattering that separates us from Him and has left it for us to correct. This is the only way that we can depict our state correctly, imagine the right state, and assess the exact distance between us, and thus be able to get close to Him.

Otherwise, there is no feeling of the Creator. So, how can you advance toward something that you don’t feel and is concealed from you? Therefore, the group appears before us instead of the Creator so we can find our way around.

It is like shooting at an invisible target. If you cannot aim directly at the target, you should calculate all the parameters: the wind, the distance, the temperature, the weight of the shell itself, and the quantity of explosive. Only when everything is calculated can you shoot.

However, how can you calculate accurately in order to hit a target that is ten kilometers away or even ten thousand kilometers away from you? You must use all the means at your disposal in order to do it. The same thing happens with the vessel, with our soul. If we arrange it correctly, we will discover the Creator in it.

Otherwise, it is impossible because the Creator is concealed. So, how can we focus on Him? Humanity imagines the Creator in different ways in its egoistic imaginations. We cannot focus on the Creator, and that’s a fact. If you cannot focus on the group, then of course you cannot focus on the Creator.

Therefore, it says that the Creator is in the center of the group. The shattering is a great help for us. Without it, we would never find the Creator. It is impossible to reach Keterstraight from Malchut, without Bina in the middle. This is the point that connects us with the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/7/14, Writings of Rabash