Kabbalah Moments: Messiah
Posted on February 22nd, 2011
Our task is to ascend together up the spiritual degrees so that inside of us we will unite the corrected desires that are filled by Light. Then, when our world group of “those aspiring to the Creator (Isra-El) becomes filled with His knowledge, it will “overflow past the boundaries of Israel” and will fill “the nations of the world.”
That is, all of our groups all over the world, all those who have a point in the heart and aspire to revealing spirituality have to unite together and attain the state where their spiritual attainment will become so powerful that it will overfill their vessel (desire) and will splash out into the desires of the “nations of the world.” This is called “bringing Light to all the nations” and becoming “the priests of the Creator” (Mamlehet Kohanim).
Obviously, it is necessary to prepare the world for this in some way by disseminating the knowledge of Kabbalah throughout it in the external form that people are ready to accept. But most importantly, “the dissemination of Kabbalah among the nation” happens on the inside, without people even being aware of it. After all, they do not have the ability to learn it consciously, the way those who actively study it do.
Yet, from within, people will begin feeling the influence of the Light that fills us. They will feel that we have some kind of fulfillment from which they will also begin receiving a small glow, and then they will be attracted to our group. The prophets said about this that “the nations of the world will take the sons and daughters of the nation of Israel onto their shoulders and will bring them to Jerusalem” (Ira Shlema, meaning “the perfect city,” or “the perfect fear” of the Creator).
Therefore, for the sake of disseminating Kabbalah we must first of all take care of own correction and fulfillment. And it’s not because we want to receive it ourselves, but because then we will be able to bring Light to the whole world and that way we will give the Creator pleasure.
The formula is this: We have to correct ourselves in order to conduct Light to all the other souls and bring them to the final correction. That is how we fulfill our mission with the goal of giving pleasure to the Creator.
All the other souls are unable to correct themselves other than with the help of the souls of “Isra-El,” meaning the souls in which the desire for correction awakens. Only these souls are able to independently become corrected and then become a conductor of Light for all the other nations. That is to say, they have to attach all the other souls to themselves as Galgalta ve Eynaim attached AHP. Then a full, integral vessel (desire, Kli) is formed in which the Creator can dwell. Meaning, the Upper Light will fill these desires.
That is exactly how we should view our own correction. We shouldn’t wish it for ourselves, but must aspire to give pleasure to the Creator through correcting the nations of the world.
[36091]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/22/11, “Introduction to the book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
Related Material:
The Chain Along Which The Light Is Passed On
A Package Deal With The Light
About The Need To Disseminate The Science Of Kabbalah
Work in the group takes a lot of time, but a person can approximately measure the degree to which the desire for bestowal becomes closer, clearer, more real, and more necessary to him. He slightly understands that he really does have to come to this, that bestowal is spirituality, that the Creator is the force of bestowal and love. Apparently, the altruistic intention of Lishma, detachment from oneself, is the goal.
The person does not yet know what this is. He doesn’t yet realize that he really is able to attain this. Obviously, he does not want this, yet the game builds an increasingly more serious attitude to bestowal inside him.
That is how we grow, similar to children. At first a child plays at adult life, but then he gradually matures and we find ourselves having to treat him as an adult, like a completely formed individual with mature desires. We have to treat him as a person.
That is how we go from the natural desire for pleasure to the game of bestowal, and acting deliberately, we evoke the Light that Reforms. It brings us to the realization and the desire to bestow, and then we understand that this entire process is realized by means of several factors.
We are not aware of their power very much, and this was also arranged deliberately so we wouldn’t run away from them. In reality the environment is Malchut of the world of Infinity, the system of souls. The more we value the environment, the clearer we imagine our inclusion into this system. We participate in the life of the friends with all our might because we can never elevate ourselves single-handedly. This can only be done by a force from outside, the force of the Light that a person attracts through his environment.
The Light influences me to the extent that I raise the value of the environment in my eyes. At the same time the environment does not have anything of its own. The friends just talk about bestowal, not having anything besides words. But if a person bends down before their discussions as if they are true, then that’s enough. Playing “as if” evokes the Light that Reforms upon him, the quality of bestowal, the Creator.
As a whole we go through three states:
1. The egoistic intention of Lo Lishma in which we attain our egoism. This is a very complex state, which is no longer detached from spirituality. That’s because the only way to discern the egoist in you is in the Light of bestowal.
2. The process of shifting to the altruistic intention, where we play as if the spiritual world is important.
3. The spiritual state of Lishma where the quality of bestowal already reigns in us over the quality of reception.
[36049]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/22/11, Writings of Rabash
Related Material:
The End Of The Affair With The Material Environment
The Advantage Of The Light Is From The Darkness
“Woman” And “Man” Are Two Forces Leading To The Creator
Question: Why was the wisdom of Kabbalah hidden from the people? Was it not to harm those who were not ready for it yet? What has changed today? Is it that we became ready, and it can help us now?
Answer: People might have started to use Kabbalah egoistically, just to gain pleasure through it, and that is a type of Klipa (Shell) of improper use. Until man’s desire ripens for the wisdom of Kabbalah, he shouldn’t approach it because his unripe desire will turn Kabbalah into a completely different activity.
We see how many people use Kabbalah to produce (and sell) all kinds of beliefs, religions, and meditation practices. However, if a man’s desire has ripened for spiritual evolution, it guides him in this collective field of souls that is filled by the Light, and he moves like an electron in the field, reaching the right place. That is how it evolves.
Therefore, throughout our whole history, we had to wait until people’s desires would sufficiently develop and it would become possible to reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah to them. Now it is up to every individual as to how he or she will realize themselves.
Kabbalah was hidden until the souls matured to make use of it. Man’s desire was not prepared for it since it was unclear what desire was related to. In the instant when desire reaches maturity, it becomes clear that it relates to the correction of self, the wisdom of Kabbalah, or the masses who simply follow Kabbalists. However, until all souls have completely intermingled, it was impossible to say this.
[35870]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/2011, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
Related Material:
Why Kabbalah Was Kept So Secret
Open The Door To Tomorrow
Kabbalah: Wisdom Or Knowledge?
There is a state when the will to receive and the will to bestow unite, fill each other, and remain in each other to such an extent that it is impossible to tell them apart. This state is called the “world of Infinity,” and it is the original state of existence.
And then there is a descent, a “step by step corruption,” when from the state of unity, they begin to withdraw from the state of oneness, and through an expanding cone, descend downward, distancing themselves from each other.
At a certain stage of their separation a special status was formed, and they discovered an opportunity to reunite. However, when they attempted to do so, it resulted in a breaking. These desires not only stand on opposite sides, with one on the right and the other on the left, but now each of them must also include the other. That is the cause of their breaking: Once desiring to unite again, as in the world of Infinity, they failed and broke. In other words, the failure in unifying resulted in their absorbing each other’s properties.
After this, evolution continued down along the expanding cone, moving them even farther away from each other. But at this point, the force of bestowal, that is, the primary force, the Creator, is completely permeated by the properties of the will to receive, the force of the creation, while the creature is totally imbued with the properties of the Creator, the will to bestow.
The Creator is filled with the force of bestowal, while the receiving force is included in and is subordinate to it. Whereas with creation it is the other way around: The creature is filled with the force of reception, and the force of bestowal is subordinate to it, internal and concealed.
And then they descend into our corporeal world. At this point, the creature, the force of reception, begins to evolve. In the beginning it doesn’t feel anything at all, what and who it is. It is automatically governed by internal forces and evolves by way of their influence. What forces are they? They are the creature’s basic force, the desire to receive pleasure, and hiding within it is the internal force, the desire to enjoy bestowing pleasure.
The will to receive evolves, while the desire to give is practically not felt. It manifests solely to the extent of maintaining the desire for pleasure, by supplying life force to it, and creating all types of communication between the forms of its matter.
When the Big Bang lay ground to processes in the still nature, its entire development derived from the will to bestow instilled in matter. After all, the will to receive, in itself, doesn’t move; it simply wants to enjoy and remains stationary while simply keeping its “mouth” open. What changes and gives it the force of life is namely the will to bestow that is hidden in it.
Thus, these two forces evolve: The giving desire, despite its being concealed, drives the receiving one and pushes it forth. In this way, our entire universe had developed, followed by Earth, based on the interaction of the two opposing forces: cold and heat, attraction and rejection, and so on. In nature, everything we see is comprised of these opposites which are actually included in one another.
All the changes occurring in the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking nature are caused by inter-inclusion of these two forces: the desire to receive and desire to bestow. They blend together in various combinations, while the giving desire manifests, prevails, and rules over the receiving one more and more. And the will to receive goes along with it because this development brings benefit to it.
[35670]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/2011, Writings of Rabash
Related Material:
The Equilibrium Between Heaven And Earth
To Stand Before The Creator And Become Like Him
True Kindness
“Existence from absence” was created from “existence from existence,” meaning the upper force, the one, unique, and unified, besides which there is nothing else. And this creature is regarded as “the will to receive pleasure.” The nature of the upper force is to bestow; hence, it created the will to receive pleasure as opposite to itself so that it could exist outside of this force.
The second force, the desire to receive, wants to receive the property of bestowal that the primary force wishes to endow and to fill it with. Thus, the desire to receive and the desire to bestow match and oppose each other. And this is how the wisdom of Kabbalah begins: the exploration of authentic, universal reality.
Further on, the will to receive evolves influenced by the will to bestow, and both these forces affect one another as plus and minus. Being secondary to the will to bestow, the desire to receive yields to the former, accepts, and receives it into itself. The primary force created affects and rules over it, and thereby, the will to receive changes while undergoing various transformations.
Initial changes along this way are regarded as the “four stages of the Direct Light” or the name HaVaYaH. It is the stencil through which the will to bestow acts in the will to receive.
After the four stages of this work are complete, the will to receive becomes aware of what it is, where it is in reference to the will to bestow, and starts experiencing itself as a created being that exists outside of the giver, outside of the Creator. Then, the desire to receive autonomously defines the process it wishes to implement. And what it wants is to achieve equivalence of form, in order to become absolutely equal to the will to bestow that begot it.
Undoubtedly, all that exists in the will to receive came from the will to bestow. The desire to give brought it to life, linked into it, and endowed it with its own power and properties. Obviously, all there is in the creature, in the desire to receive, came from the giving one. After all, there is nowhere else from which to receive anything. From where can something new within it suddenly emerge?
And still, experiencing itself as a creation, it is able to perform an autonomous act. To do so, it has to be present between the two opposite forces of nature: its own desire to receive and the Creator’s will to bestow. If the creation manages to position itself in the middle, it will be free to choose with what it wishes to be associated.
And hence, the Creator’s intention in creating the will to receive was not for it to simply receive pleasure and become aware of itself or who created it, but rather so that it would find itself between the two forces. Let it end up not in its own or the Creator’s nature but in the neutral “zero” nature, equal detachment from either force, between the plus and the minus, the two poles of a magnet, “hanging in the air” between heaven and earth.
In this state, the choice indeed will be solely up to the creature itself.
[35674]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/2011, Writings of Rabash
Related Material:
Blending Of Opposites
The Focal Point Of Freedom
The Era Of Change
We read The Zohar and understand none of it. And it’s true, there is nothing for us to understand there. After all, it is for the people who already attained spirituality and feel the spiritual world.
They are already in the state where the force of bestowal, not the force of the will to receive, defines their internal life. In their case, the mind works differently; they have a different kind of sight; they see the spiritual world, and hence, understand what the Book is describing.
In fact, the Book is written for those who live in spirituality, and therefore, a person who enters it can understand it. And someone who lives only in the material world cannot since it describes a completely different world that I know nothing about, haven’t heard of or seen. And hence, these words don’t tell me anything.
What do I do? I can only desire to enter that world, not to understand it intellectually. If while reading The Zohar I constantly think about how to make it effect me and that is my sole desire, it is enough! It is regarded as “Segula” (a “miraculous remedy”). When after all these efforts I will suddenly receive the force of the Light and start sensing what is happening in the spiritual world, I will read or listen to the Book and understand what it is describing.
Then, I will engage my mind as well since at that point I will sense the spiritual world. Using my awareness, I will start working on the sensation. But if I don’t experience a certain phenomenon, how can I work on it mindfully? After all, awareness results from a feeling. In the mind, we only connect the phenomena that fall into the field of our vision and sensation.
Therefore, before anything else, we must start sensing the spiritual world and only afterward start studying it. As a matter of fact, until then we have nothing to feel. Do we have any idea what stands behind each word of The Zohar and what each of them points to: an “ox,” a “whole ox,” a “throne,” and so on? What ox and what throne? These are spiritual forces that carry such names. But it means nothing to me.
The entire spiritual world is the world of forces. The whole material world is a picture that these forces draw on my material screen. Therefore, we should think solely about how to experience what we are reading about. I must ask to feel rather than to understand. And that is possible only if we are together, create one desire between us, and strive for the Light to affect this desire and project a picture onto it.
The integral desire is like a computer screen, while the Light is like an electromagnetic force that draws an image on this screen. I want it to happen! And this is regarded as revealing the Creator to the created being.
[35678]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”
Related Material:
Keep Going And It Will Be Revealed
Where Can You “Buy” Aspiration?
Don’t Add Too Much Spice!
Our spiritual path begins from the state of this world. From here we gradually begin to attain its nature, the nature of creation – the will to enjoy for one’s own sake. We acquire a part of this desire by way of the natural development in material egoism from one generation to the next.
Then we are faced by the necessity to acquire the desire for self-gratification on the human level. We undergo the still, vegetative, and animate levels within their boundaries, but the only way we can acquire the human level is by opposing the Creator.
That is where the spiritual work begins: In conformity with the Light and its qualities, we have to transform our natural quality, the will to enjoy, by the principle, “the advantage of the Light is attained from the darkness.” These two qualities develop in us equally – first one and then the other, through ascents and descents.
It happens in the following way: At first a person receives a desire or impulse to something unknown. Then he is brought to the group and the studies, where he starts making actions whose meaning he doesn’t even understand yet himself. However, they evoke a small illumination upon him. And then he advances.
At this stage the spiritual construction HaVaYaH is also present, and a person develops inside it on the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of the human level. With time he begins to think about and later, perhaps even to heed the words that it is necessary to acquire the quality of bestowal. He begins to play this game, doing so conscientiously, like a child. And even though it is only a game, it is called “faith above reason.” It’s as if a person ascends above his reason and seems to want bestowal. In the very least, he says that he aspires to love for the neighbor.
Even if it happens “as if,” he is still acting together with the group and is inspired by the friends by virtue of envy, a great desire, and self-love. He talks about the quality of bestowal and becomes permeated by this idea. Thus, he evokes the Light that Reforms upon himself. A person does not know the entire truth about the spiritual development, but the Light influences him and thus, gradually, he changes.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/22/11, Writings of Rabash
Related Material:
Only The Light Elevates Me
A Very Sophisticated Animal Or A Human?
The Degree Of “Virginity”
Question: Egoism is very shrewd, so how can I be sure that my game with it is really leading me forward and isn’t another trick that egoism is playing on me?
Answer: If I include myself in the environment and am permeated by what is important to it, then I advance by faith above reason. I deliberately bend down before the group and adopt its values because they are spiritual. I place myself in front of them so they will raise me.
I never have the forces to ascend independently. At the same time, I am always in some environment that directs me toward specific values. The values of the material environment are also artificial and false. Society motivates me to buy a car, a house, and furniture, but who said that I really need all of that? After all, the body is an animal and all it wants is to rest. Give it a specific number of calories and a comfortable place to lay down. It doesn’t want anything more.
However, society tells me what I have to buy and what I have to aspire to. Otherwise people don’t respect me. Thus, instigated by the environment, I spend my whole life trying to do things to make it like me.
But now, when I am already full to the brim, I no longer want to dance to its tune. Instead I enter a new environment. I choose a society that has a spiritual goal. Now all I have to do is raise it in my eyes and then I will grow with its help.
Thus, I build an artificial environment for my spiritual growth. Therein lies my entire work. The higher I raise the friends in my eyes, the higher I will ascend.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/22/11, Writings of Rabash
Related Material:
Name Your Price
Above The Logic Of This World
Build Without Ruining The Foundation
RSS Feeder Subscription
E-mail Subscription
Audio Version Of The Blog
Get the Weekly eNewsletter
Follow Laitman.com on Twitter