Question: What is the middle line? Is it the ability to act correctly between the two lines (left and right)?

Answer: The middle line is a marriage of the Light and desire. It is adhesion comprised of desire and intention, combined with the Source of Light, the Creator. By using the will to receive with an intention to bestow pleasure to the Creator, man uncovers the source of pleasure, the Creator. It turns out that desire and pleasure were merely a medium to find the connection between man and the Creator. These three components: desire, pleasure, and intention come together as one: I and the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/22/10, Shlavei Hasulam, Article 17, 1986

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Why is it that after a soul (Nukva) completes a stage of its development, limitations still apply to it? The analysis of the desires (realization of evil) occurs on 100% of all the desires (Kelim), and the correction, meaning the implementation of the desires for the sake of bestowal, happens to the extent that it’s possible, that is, only on some of the desires. The Nukva restricts the other desires by limiting itself.

We know that some of the desires pertain to the “stony heart” (Lev HaEven), and they cannot be used to receive for the sake of bestowal until the very end of correction (Gmar Tikkun). However, why is it necessary to wait? Why can’t this “stony heart” be corrected right now, along with the other desires?

The fact that we constantly correct only a part of the desire (leaving the “stony heart”) pushes us to obtain an additional desire, and thus this limitation acts to our benefit. A person is forced to separate his desires, making a decision in regard to every desire and every detail. Where is the GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), where is the AHP, which desire is to receive in order to bestow, and which desire is to bestow in order to bestow?

One sees such differences in all the desires precisely due to the fact that the “stony heart” is partially present in them, and this helps a person determine the boundaries of the desire. Precisely at the border of clarifying our capabilities do we acquire the sensation, the contrast of qualities according to the law of “to prefer the Light out of darkness.”

These limitations, when we feel that we can proceed only to this boundary but cannot cross it, give us the ability to perceive different qualities and their combinations (inclusions). We reveal new qualities, the Creator above creation, at the border line between desires.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: States on the spiritual path are described, but how does one go from one state to another? What is the method of transition?

Answer: The method is very simple: Nothing changes in reality. There is only one unchangeable reality, and as my attitude towards it changes, reality changes in my sensations.

The Giver is unchangeable, nature is unchangeable. All of the changes happen by man changing his attitude towards the world. Even psychologists advise not to wait for the world to change, but to change oneself.

The Upper Light can give you a new attitude towards reality, and you will see for yourself that everything depends on you. Just do not take this situation as undesirable and difficult work, but on the contrary, treat it as your chance to control your life. After all, if everything depends on you, and you have the force through which you can implement actual changes at your disposal, then this is wonderful! Naturally, certain efforts are expected of you, but through them you become the center of the universe!

A small person, who thinks that he depends on nature and everyone else, himself begins to change and changes his perception of reality. Everything is in his hands.
[21605]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

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Shamati #97 “Waste of Barn and Winery”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt),” Item 376
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Selected Excerpts for Sukkot
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You are not aimed at the goal if you are not looking at it through the group. The group is like a lens that collects all beams of sight and aims them at the target. Without it, you won’t be able to focus your eyes on the goal. Only in the group, in the collective relationship of the friends, will you be able to uncover the work of the Creator.

If we do not build a common area between us, a “common space” where only bestowal and our unity exist, we won’t have the "place" where the Creator can be revealed. I need at least one other person as the minimal number in a group is two persons. I decide to unite with the group and now I constantly think about it. In our union that we ourselves create, in the “common place,” everything The Zohar and the Torah are talking about is occurring. But if I am not connected with the others, I don’t have a place to reveal what’s described in The Zohar.

If I unite with the others, all the stories in the Torah, The Zohar, the Study of the Ten Sefirot, and the Talmud are solely about the types of our connection and what is revealed in it. Through my own actions aimed at a greater connection, I evoke the revelation of the Creator. This is called “Israel (I), the Torah (Kabbalistic texts, studies, and the group), and the Creator are one,” and I unify them from the beginning of my correction to its end.

It isn’t difficult at all to get concentrated in one point. If not, the aim immediately disappears, and you must focus anew. There are obstacles, and the challenge lies in focusing on the goal by way of unity.

First of all, we need to create a common space between us. And The Zohar will tell us what takes place in it, how to annul oneself in order to bring our unity to compete correction, and to reveal the Creator within it in accordance with the law of equivalence of form.

[21591]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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The wisdom of Kabbalah is not learned by way of the mind. The Light affects us, and Kabbalah gradually creates within us the sensation of the picture of the Creator’s acts. From this picture, we gradually absorb the wisdom of Kabbalah and our spiritual, internal world.

We disclose within ourselves the new reality that cannot be understood by the earthly (corporeal) mind. In the beginning, the will to receive was created, followed by the development of the mind needed to attain what was desired. Therefore, if we don’t yet possess the vessels (desires) of bestowal, we don’t have the mind to comprehend Kabbalistic texts either.

All recommendations of the Kabbalists are designated solely to prepare and induce within oneself the switching of properties from reception to bestowal. Moreover, according to our desires, we will begin to feel. From feelings, we will begin to understand.

The entire wisdom of Kabbalah is aimed at getting to know the Creator. If I focus on the goal of simply understanding the text, I cut myself off from the ability to feel spiritual attainment. That is because I start working with the corporeal mind which becomes the most important for me.

This puts an obstacle in my path to the revelation of the Creator. My corporeal mind blocks my ability to break through the picture of spiritual properties. This is why Baal HaSulam felt very angry when he met with the “Kabbalists” of Jerusalem who mechanically memorized the text of The Zohar.
[21588]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah Does Not Speak of Our Corporeal World

Such is the Torah. It has a body, which is the Mitzvot of the Torah, called “bodies of the Torah.” This body clothes in dresses, which are stories of this world. The fools in the world see only that clothing, which is the story in the Torah, and know nothing more. They do not observe what exists underneath the clothing of the Torah [the inner content of the Torah, Kabbalah].
The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, Parashat BeHaalotecha, Item 62

This [external, general] story in the Torah is [only] the [external] clothing of the Torah. Whoever thinks that that clothing is the actual Torah, and that there is nothing else within it, will be cursed [his soul will remain corrupted, egoistic; he won't correct it] and [therefore] he will have no share in the next world [in the state of bestowal and love that follows our current uncorrected state]. This is why David said, “Open [the Creator] my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things from Your law [Torah],” observing what is beneath the clothing of the Torah.
The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, Parashat BeHaalotecha, Item 60
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After going through many life cycles, a person reaches a point when he experiences the initial spiritual awakening – the point in the heart (Reshimo). It is comprised of two forces:

- Emptiness due to the futility of his transient, perishable life, and from the despair of not being able to find fulfillment in this world

- An inner “spark” that pushes him to some unknown place that’s beyond this world.

On one hand, the despair pulls him down, and on the other hand, the spark pulls him upward. Eventually a person chooses his route. These two forces as a whole cause a Reshimo to form inside him or a new direction in his existence.

This Reshimo brings him to a teacher and a group of people studying Kabbalah. After that he gradually realizes that only by uniting with other Reshimot that are similar to him will he be able to build, together with them, the force of bestowal that’s similar to the Creator. Therein lies his only freedom of choice in life and his only free action.

His success depends on how much he will be able to increase his spark with the help of the group in spite of all personal problems. If he increases it, then he will feel the need for faith (bestowal) and for others (the means). Everything is determined by how well he can receive (or absorb) the influence of the spiritual environment (the advice of his teacher and the general opinion of the group).

The environment is not just the group or friends, but the Shechina. The connection with them that I acquire is my connection with the Shechina, Malchut of the World of Atzilut, the common soul of Adam.

When the friends unite in order to annul their egoism and to attain the quality of bestowal, their unity evokes a reaction from the Shechina and they receive the Light of Correction (Ohr Makif) from it. That is how a person starts to interact with the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), which brings him closer to revealing the quality of bestowal (faith) within, and the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi) inside that quality.

All of our work comes down to increasing our desire for the quality of bestowal and increasing its importance; the way to do so is with the help of the right environment. It is impossible to learn to do this. It can only be done according to the verse, “We will do and we will hear.”

A person makes efforts to connect with the group even if he does not feel a need for it, and in response he receives support and a general necessity. It is a desire which the friends accumulate among each other – the need for faith or bestowal.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, “Who Testifies for Man”

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Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

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Question: What does it mean to “speak with the Creator?”

Answer: To “speak with the Creator” primarily means to do everything you can to try to reveal His image within you. Try to imagine: He is the reason for everything I feel. My thoughts, desires, and sensations are all Him, the One who has laid my foundation and forms me.

When I decide that my current reality is established by Him, then how do I treat everything that happens to me? There are two possibilities:

1. Directly structure my attitude towards my inner reality as my attitude towards Him. But this approach is inaccurate, incorrect, and unstable. There is no ability to test or verify it because I will surely be guided by my ego and err.

2. At first, I strengthen myself through my connection with others like me, and then I structure my attitude towards the inner reality by passing its image through this connection. In this case, I am definitely already in some quality of bestowal, and my qualities are adapted to the Creator’s image. Thus, instead of changing the image, I change my attitude towards it. This is what it means to “speak with the Creator.”
[21602]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

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