Question: What can we do to force the Upper Light to elevate us to the first spiritual degree?

Answer: There is only one answer: Keep on trying to check: Are really turning to the Upper Light or its source, the Creator? Are you binding all the factors together? Because if you are not, then you are straying off the path; you are not turning to the right place and are not bringing in the broken vessel (Kli) of your soul, saying: “Please fix it for me here!”

Suppose you take a leaking bucket, come to a blacksmith, and say: “Look, there is a hole here. I want you to fix it.” Then, as per your request, he sees the hole and stops it up.

The same happens in spirituality. You have to bring your vessel (desire) with the place of the breaking and say what needs to be done, what it means for you to be corrected. Then the Light will surely make it happen.

The Light must carry it out; it is the action itself. Your job is to prepare the intention for this action. The Light instantly glues, mends, or puts a patch. It is done by the Light. But it’s up to you to do everything else.

On the higher spiritual degrees you have to bring the Kli knowing precisely the measure to which it is broken and how it can be fixed. At that point, you take the example of correction from the Upper One; you agree with him completely or partially. You analyze not just intention, but types of correction.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/10, The Zohar

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At the recent Convention I revealed that I cannot unite with others or cancel myself, and I am not even able to come close to anyone! So what should I do if that is my nature?

That is why there is a means called the Upper Light. This Light is contained inside the group, but it is concealed from us and we don’t see it. It is also the place where the Creator, the quality of bestowal, is found. So how can we evoke its influence on us?

If you start studying the true primary sources in the group: The Book of Zohar or Talmud Eser Sefirot, then this enables you to attract the Light and to awaken it from inside. Why? It is because when reading these books you read about inner states, and you thereby bring them closer, awaken them, and attract them to yourself.

You awaken the influence of this concealed, inner world upon yourself, and it shines for you. Gradually this corrects you, allowing you to connect with others, and then hatred, repulsion, and separation go away. You begin to understand the importance of this unity and you desire for it to come true. And suddenly, there is a certain “click” – your first connection with others.

If you imagine the levels of this unity in the form of a scale (from 0 to 125 levels) then it means that you have moved from point zero to one. And that is a foundation!

At the Convention, we felt this point of zero, the fact that we are unable to enter unity with one another. Now we have a goal in front of us – to demand the Light that Reforms with the help of the study and the right intention.

The moment you attain the first level of unity, you become “the son of the world to come” (Ben Olam HaBa). You understand and feel what this is. You start to slightly make your way around it and you already receive the first impression of the spiritual world.

After that, things will get easier. The most important thing is the first revolution! All the other levels will simply become greater and greater. Of course, the differences between them are great and colossal in might. But nothing can compare to entering the first degree. That is because when it happens you literally shift from our world to the spiritual world. And that is a fundamental breakthrough.
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From the “Kabbalah For Beginners” Program on 11/17/10

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 181: Then everything shone together because even though the light of Atik is covered in Hassadim, it contains Hochma, as well, since the Hochma in AA is necessarily received from him. Hence, the Hassadim of Atik are more important than the Hochma de AA and are regarded as containing it, and that Hochma and Hassadim shine in him together. This is why the sea made the upper laws, to drown the Egyptians and to save Israel, since the upper and lower were given into his hands. …since the crossing of the Red Sea depends on Atik.

The Upper Light comes and severs the coarse desires in us called “Egyptians” from the desires called “Isra-El” (straight to the Creator), which are ready to be corrected. This happens by the conditions of the Second Restriction (Tzimtzum Bet).

“The nations of the world” in us are all the desires that cannot be corrected until the very End of Correction (Gmar Tikkun). This includes the Klipot and all the desires that are directly connected with the Light of Hochma.

The desires of “Israel” (Yashar-Kel) include all the qualities of Bina and by their nature they belong to Galgalta Einaym. Therefore, the Light of Hochma that comes makes a split in the entire depth of the desire or vessel, separating the desires that can be corrected (the ones belonging to Galgalta Einaym that are able to become AHP de Aliya) from the desires that are completely incapable of correction. That is why the “splitting of the Red Sea” took place: to separate “Israel” from the “Egyptians.”

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/27/10, The Zohar

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In essence, we represent souls rather than physical bodies even now. The Creator created the desire to enjoy, and there is nothing else besides this desire. If we sense certain corporeal matter, it is not because another separate reality exists. There is only desire which feels itself in a physical body. It is the same soul which feels only itself and only within itself. It does not perceive anything outside.

For this reason the soul feels itself as existing in its corporeal body, seemingly surrounded by other, similar bodies. This is how I perceive myself and the surrounding reality since I am enclosed inside myself with my ego. As soon as I begin to acquire new desires and perceive properties outside of myself, I begin to see reality in a different way.

The reality which I see outside of myself is called the “Upper World.” How do I exit out of myself (from my ego) and see the existence outside of myself? I have to connect with other souls, with my friends. Within this connection between us, in greater unity, we reveal common sensations and manifestations called “the spiritual world.”

Therefore, when we read The Zohar, we have to remember that we all desire to reveal the Upper Light, to reveal everything described in The Zohar. It conveys to us the states and pictures which talk only about the connection between us and its various forms. That is the entire reality.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, The Zohar

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Question: What does the speed of spiritual advancement depend on?

Answer: The speed of the spiritual advancement depends on how often a person asks the Creator (The Upper Light, the universal property of bestowal and love) to correct him. As soon as he sees his egoistic attitude toward the world, reproaches himself for the past, hates others, starts performing calculations with himself and others, he has to draw the Light of the Creator because there is no other acting force in nature.

After all, everything that a person senses is what the Upper Light is purposely depicting for him in order to attract his attention to itself.
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Klipat Noga is a state of “half good/half evil,” and it’s a very fragile and stressful state. It is as though a person is standing on the edge between performing a grave crime or, on the contrary, a very good deed should he receive help. However, he swings back and forth unable to lean one way or the other. It’s as though he is split in two without the strength to perform a final choice, not knowing on which side of the scale to place a final, determining grain.

On one hand, he is unable to reject his ego which is the enormous desire to enjoy and his entire egoistic “possession.” On the other, he understands that if he does not free himself from it now with help from Above, he won’t be able to pass to the other side and enter the spiritual world. In this manner, he stands on the threshold not knowing on which side to step. He is like a knight at a crossroads. This is a state where one needs to make a choice.

Here, only the group, only the Upper Light can help a person finally make up his mind and pass himself over to the hands of the Upper One, transitioning to bestowal through faith above reason. The prayer here is not about help since this would mean that a person has already made a decision. The prayer is about the state in which he is unable to choose. This state is the beginning of the year or the beginning of a new change.

On one hand, we feel that we are wicked, and on the other, we lack the strength to reject all these egoistic qualities and states. We are unable to imagine how it is possible to live without them or how to make a step in order to rise above it. Only the Upper Light that comes to us during this state helps us make a choice and elevates us to faith above reason (bestowal over reception). It is then that the New Year begins for us, and this is called “a good record in the Book of Life.”

The Upper Light, the Creator, puts His signature in the book of life for us and guarantees to a person that from now on that person will proceed by the good path. Before this, one should do all that is in his power to bring himself to this choice. The direct translation of a “New Year (Rosh Hashanah)” is a “beginning of changes” or a “head of changes.” They need to occur often for us and always be for the better: toward the Creator who is “good and does good.”

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/8/10, “Letter 67”

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Question: If a person doesn’t exist apart from others, then why do each of us have a sensation that reality is created for him and that the Creator relates to him personally?

Answer: This is a degree of exclusiveness that each of us possesses. It comes to us from the Creator and constitutes our roots that make us different from each other. It obligates each of us to implement our uniqueness, as it is true that “the world is created for me.” This is what every person has to enunciate and validate to himself. However, it should not be done at the “expense” of others, but rather for the sake of others.

I am the one who corrects this world; other people are only parts of me. This fact obligates me to treat others as though they depend on me. I have to unite with them through the power of my love, and I am the one who defines it.

When my point connects with their points, I become their “head,” meaning the head of a body that is called the “common soul.” It is me who is making decisions, creating connections, and filling them with the Creator’s Light because for them I represent the source or the Creator. There is somebody else, and it’s you. You are the one who does the same thing in connecting other people (including me) to you. You, too, become a head of our universal body, but it’s a different body because, in your case, it is identified by your proper attitude to others.

Thus, each of us is a unique personality and doesn’t encumber others, but rather complements them. You sense the Creator’s personal attitude, but He can relate to you only through the group. Similarly, you relate to Him only through the group.

The Creator is that which is revealed in the connection between us. The Upper Light settles specifically within the desires of bestowal and the connection between all souls. When all properties of bestowal unite, the vessel for the revelation of the Creator (a network of bestowal) divulges itself.

The desire itself underwent the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph) and stopped receiving. Receiving is possible only through the bonds that connect all desires at a place where a screen and the Reflected Light are present.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/10, “What is the Matter of My Making A Pact in the Work”

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The Creator conceived creating a being that would reach His level and status, would understand all that the Creator had done, and feel all that the Creator feels. In other words, this being will become exactly like the Creator!

But in order to become equivalent to the Creator and remain a created being without having to dissolve in Him, the creature has to reconcile two opposing forces within: reception and bestowal. Besides, how can one comprehend anything without comparing it with its opposite? If am created in such way that I exist in complete harmony with the surrounding environment and total adhesion and oneness with all, then I am neither aware of or feel it.

A sensation comes in only as a result of some opposing force, when I am disturbed or lack something. It is this conflict that I feel. I don’t remember that I have a head until it hurts. If my ear starts aching, I feel that I have an ear. It is the same regarding my feelings involving the world around me. For as long as everything is all right, we don’t think about it for we don’t feel that which is around us.

Therefore, if a created being has to attain reality (both spiritual and corporeal), he must be in conflict with it. In all his feelings, attributes, thoughts, desires, and goals the creature has to oppose the Creator. And that’s how we are made, just as the Creator intended us to be.

He is the Upper Light, and we are the black point of desire, completely opposite to Him. Yet, it is impossible to evolve from the darkness alone which is opposite to the Light. It creates unbearable pain that doesn’t allow advancement. Thus, the Creator creates a specific reality: Malchut of the World of Infinity and the whole system of concealment (the worlds). This is done in order for us to gradually move away from this Infinity where we all exist in adhesion and within the Light and then descend into our current state of existence.

This entire journey was done for us; we didn’t have to suffer and feel it since well in advance (before we came into the picture) a system of governance was created: the worlds of ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya). As to us, we appeared in the final stage of this system and experience ourselves as coming into this world and living in it. And we don’t feel being opposite to something and needing to find what it is.

But gradually, through minor disturbances and thousands of years of our development, the Creator evokes in us the desire for Him. Having completed our corporeal evolution, we arrive at the starting point of the spiritual one: the advent of the question of the purpose of life. From this point on, we begin our ascension to the spiritual world.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/10, Shamati #50

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If we fail to awaken the world to spiritual evolution, to the Light that shines ahead, it will be pushed from behind by suffering and thereby forced to advance. This path is very long, till torment forces man to contemplate why he suffers and what to do. Imagine how long it will take and how much pain it will bring!

However, if we somewhat assist mankind’s development by disseminating the science of Kabbalah, we quickly instill advancement and avoid all these blows. We know that everything that occurs at the inanimate (still) degree equates to a single act at the vegetative one. Everything that happens on the vegetative level is equal to a single act at the animate one. Just think about the difference between these states.

There have to be wars, torment, and horrific disasters in order to move us one step up, onto the higher degree. Instead, we can draw the Upper Light and avoid all these problems at the level of this world. We can replace a decade of suffering with our one minuscule individual effort toward spiritual advancement with the help of the Light.

This is how great the difference is between the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of nature. Hence, we must take serious responsibility for the opportunities handed down to us.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: What does it mean to strive toward unity and to try to “step out of myself” during our reading of The Book of Zohar? It sounds like fantasy. What am I supposed to visualize? What can I latch on to?

Answer: If I am sitting in a stuffy building and need fresh air, I open the door. Opening the door is all you need to do! When you open yourself outward, everything that is outside will enter you.

It is written: “You shall not bow down to a foreign god.” (Psalms, 81:9) If you do not want the Creator to be foreign to you (dwelling outside of you), bring Him in.

The entire Book of Zohar speaks about the Creator, as does the whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Above our world and everything else that exists is the Creator. There is nothing more to look for but the Creator. Beyond this world, there is Upper Light that is revealed to you in your corrected desires where you discover the properties of the Light.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/10, The Zohar

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