Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
lowercase italics: emphasized words
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
This was introduced on the lowest level of egoism. Everything operates this way on still, animate and vegetative levels of egoism. These levels of egoism see and sense what it is that they need. An animal never makes a mistake. A baby calf, a lamb or a puppy, knows from the start what kind of grass to eat, and they know if they’re sick. Nobody has to teach them. They’ll never stumble and fall off a cliff or cause any harm to themselves. They have an instinct that serves them in all of life’s situations, whereas a person lacks knowledge about our world.
This is because his egoism is much greater than what is revealed to him through his five senses. Animals have enough because their egoism is designed exactly to suit their organs of perception, and that’s why they don’t make mistakes. They receive complete information about how to act in their surroundings. Since a person has less information than what is necessary for his correct behavior, he is constantly in a state of confusion and misunderstanding regarding what to do and how to act.
That is why our mission is to expand this picture of reality, which we perceive right now through our sensory organs (we are people and our egoism has grown.) This is so that we can conduct ourselves properly and live accordingly.
Before the rise of egoism in humanity, before Adam, about six and a half thousand years ago, people lived like animals: in packs, groups, in a primitive communal system, where everything was common. Their knowledge of nature was enough for them. They were close to nature and everything was fine because they existed like animals.
However, as soon as the egoism became greater, when within a person there began to appear needs not of an animal, but of a human quality, then there appeared needs within him to use others for pleasure, for self-fulfillment. The egoism separated him from others. He no longer felt others as being a part of him, as being one family, one pack, which belongs to him and him belonging to them.
A person didn’t have any instincts or any inner programs on how to properly use himself when it came to all of these growing egoistic desires towards nature and society. For this reason a couple of movements, or methods appeared.
One of them is what Adam (and later Abraham) began developing, and that is the correct use of egoism, just as it is used in animals. The egoism is constantly growing in a person from generation to generation; a person constantly changes. The mind is given to us so that we could balance ourselves with nature, try to delve into nature, and try to guess the connections and forces which would help us act as though nature is totally revealed to us, to the degree our desire demands fulfillment and attainment.
The other methodology of working with nature is simply working according to the egoism: filling it regardless of what it takes, by methods of force. That is, using it directly, without balancing it with nature, as it is on the still, vegetative, and animal levels. And this is the egoistic path walked by all of humanity, with the exception of the Kabbalists.
Today we see that this is basically a dead end path. It is this egoism that leads us all to understand that we cannot live in it. All the arising desires in us to use others as well as nature, for our own sake, are harmful to us. If we had the proper knowledge of how the surrounding world is constructed, similar to animals and plants, if we had as much information as we do desires, then we would act correctly, without mistakes, and would exist comfortably.
Furthermore, the desires that arise in us are above nature. They are human desires, which elevate a person above nature and above this world. If we used them correctly, then we would get to know nature with a capital letter, we would get to know the Creator: the original thought, the program, the beginning and the end of this whole process. A person would then become free since he would realize himself independently and would become equal to this general force, or nature, which is called the Creator.
However, in order for us to attain such a state we have to understand how we perceive the surrounding world. Rabash writes in his article that the surrounding world divides into three components: Atzmuto— the so-called essence of the Upper Force, the World of Infinity, and the souls. There isn’t anything else.
Atzmuto is something that doesn’t relate to us; it is something that is never unattained by us since we are the creations and we can’t attain that which is above us. (We’ll specify this definition later.) The Infinity is our connection with this Upper something, with the Creator’s essence. Is called Infinity because in this state, we are in total contact with Him, in total connection, total understanding, sensation, and realization on this level.
There is the so-called Atzmuto (His essence). Atzmuto is one level. The second level is Infinity and the third level is the souls. Atzmuto manifests itself in regards to Infinity as absolute bestowal. To the extent that the souls reach the same property of bestowal, they unite with the Light. More precisely, bestowal manifesting from Atzmuto is the Light of Ohr Yashar (the Direct Light). The property of bestowal that the souls attain is Ohr Hozer (the Returning Light). They (the souls) reach adhesion (with the Light) in Infinity. These are the three components. We (the souls) are created absolutely opposite to Infinity. We have to reach a state of complete bestowal.
From the Creator’s standpoint (from standpoint of Atzmuto) we perceive this state correctly. In essence, the only state that exists is the World of Infinity, in which we are totally filled with the Light.
We learn from the four phases of the Direct Light’s that the Light descends, it is primary, and in it a point is conceived out of nothing. This point develops into the first phase, the desire to receive. In the second phase there develops a desire to bestow. The third phase represents the first and the second combined. The fourth phase represents a complete desire to receive, equivalent to the Creators’ desire to bestow. The desire to receive is equal to the added sum of the first, second, and the third phases. That is, it’s equal to the zero phase. What does the zero phase represent? It represents the Creator’s desire to fulfill us through pleasure and through His treatment towards us.
The fourth phase wishes to be fulfilled through the pleasure that comes to it, as well as through the Creator’s treatment towards it. The Creator’s attitude towards it is basically what egoism is. That is, when the host is present next to the treat, offering it to me. I desire this treat because my nature desires it. Nature! Besides this, I also want for the host to serve me.
On the animate or natural level, this correlation between the treat and me isn’t important. This is something that is instilled in me. This is something I want, something my body desires. Basically, this is a beast. However, wanting to use the host, so that He could serve me, and so that I could be above Him, constitutes egoism.
It isn’t egoism when a person simply desires. We don’t get mad at a child when he grabs something from the table or takes from somebody. We understand that this is a little beast, which doesn’t understand its actions. So even when a person desires something, it isn’t considered egoism. Only the level of desire, which is directed at using others and elevating oneself above others, is considered egoism: when a person desires wealth, honor, power and knowledge. Knowledge means not simply the knowledge of nature, but the knowledge of others, for the purpose of using them for one’s own sake.
That is why wealth, power, honor and knowledge of others (knowing what’s inside their head so to speak) is what constitutes egoism. The fact that a person might want to eat two meals instead of one and so on has to do with different animal needs on the animal level. In this regard, he is a beast and there is nothing to it. That’s why we shouldn’t fight against it. We have to fight with our treatment towards others. Wealth is also not only about money. By wealth we mean, “I in regard to others.” This is also like power, honor, and elevating your self above others, or belittling others. This is what constitutes egoism.
That is why when the desire appeared the still, vegetative and animate nature was naturally in complete harmony inside this desire. The zero phase comes from the four phases of the Direct Light. The fourth phase is human. The third phase is animate. The second phase is vegetative. The first phase is the still nature. Out of these stages, a state appeared called ‘ Malchut of the World of Infinity.’
In Malchut of the World of Infinity, there are parts of still, vegetative, animate, and human desire—egoistic desire. The first, second and third parts, do not need to be corrected. Only the fourth part, the human part, is the one we have to correct.
How does the human part get corrected?
The still, vegetative and animal parts are not considered egoistic, since it is nature; it is the desire within the creation. Egoism is a human desire which is directed towards others: using others for ones own sake, being above others, belittling others, possessing knowledge of others with the intention to use them. Power, honor, wealth, technologies and communication are also for the purpose of using others.
The breaking of the Kli happened in order to give a person the opportunity to realize who he is, to work with the ego correctly, so that he would become similar to the Creator and rise to a level of equivalence with the Upper Force, which created this creation out of nothing—the World of Infinity.
The Kli was initially created in a correct form, when the correlation among its parts was correct. Later they broke apart or fell to ruin: egoism appeared within peoples’ relations towards one another.
History tells us that humanity lived for let’s say 40 thousand years (but it isn’t important for how many) then all of a sudden egoism became apparent in it. That is, it became apparent in people, but the person who felt it and began to use it correctly was Adam 5768 years ago. Next, it occurred in the time of Abraham 4500 years ago.
What was revealed by Adam, and later by Abraham, was the perception of the world. The fact is, that in reality, the world doesn’t exist outside of us; it only exists in our perception. A person is a closed box, which perceives through its five sensory organs. Through its five senses it perceives sensations, which are similar to the external influences. The membrane, which we have on all the senses, is basically a screen. All around, different states are constantly occurring—the Upper Light is in a state of absolute rest.
The egoism is constantly developing within us. How is it developing? There are 613 egoistic sub-desires. All of them are playing within us. One is greater, then the other one is lesser, one is greater, and so on. These 613 desires determine the behavior of this membrane. We perceive the contrast between our five membranes, between the five sensory organs and the Upper Light. This contrast then draws a picture within us, on the screen of our supposed surrounding world. In reality, not our surrounding world but on the backdrop of white Light we sort of draw our own selves, our qualities.
Since we all exist together in one scope called one general soul, and each one of us is a part of this soul, we are ultimately not drawing the Light within ourselves but rather we are drawing the lack of correspondence to the Light. If we were able to sense the Light, if we were similar to it, then we would sense absolute and total attainment, white attainment of the Light so to speak. However, we only sense detachment from one another and this detachment is depicted in the pictures of this world.
Why does a person perceive this world? This is because he can’t perceive the Upper Light, since he’s not similar to it and he can’t feel it. That is why he perceives the contrast between his 613 egoistic desires and the white Light. Each egoistic desire, which constantly changes (just imagine 613 desires which are constantly changing), draws these various changes for a person. He picks up these changes on the backdrop of the white Light and these changes give him the sensation of a picture. He calls this picture ‘my world.’
As a result of realization and analysis, this picture is determined by him as “I in relation to the still, vegetative, animate and human levels of nature,” because this is how these desires are graduated in him—first, second, third, and fourth level. That’s why he perceives such a picture of the world—here it is in front of him. These are simply his uncorrected desires, dissimilar to the Light's desires, drawing themselves.
This is very much like the picture we project on the computer screen, which consists of various pixels, power fields, vectors, etc. The same thing occurs here, only those are vectors and these are desires. The combination of desires draws a picture of the world for us. Just as the various electric signals that come via wires to the computer screen draw some sort of a picture by connecting among each other. Does this picture exist? We perceive it as a picture; however, it is really the same vectors and the same moving electrons. And not even that, but once again the desire and the Light.
When a person begins to study Kabbalah and properly juxtapose himself with the spiritual, he begins to understand that everything he feels, understands and realizes, happens to be the consequence of him being opposite to the Light and the consequence of the way he treats others. This properly attunes him to self-correction.
That’s why it’s very important for us to realize and to give a lot of thought to how we perceive the surrounding world. Not by speaking theoretically, talking here and there, and showing how smart you are by saying that what we see isn’t there but is only imagined. All of this is good and it is very important for us because it attunes us to the understanding of the fact that the picture of the world depends on us, on what is within us, on whether my qualities will be more or less corrected. Because of this, all these various changes on the 613 desires will be different and they will draw within me a picture of my state, which is more and more similar to the Light.
The ‘world’ which a person senses is basically his “self,” his treatment towards everything: towards the still, vegetative, animate, and human.
Why is this so? It is because all of still, vegetative, animate and human nature are contained in the World of Infinity, in Malchut of the World of infinity. Each one of us feels as if we exist separately in this Malchut of the World of Infinity, literally, as if outside of it. The way each one of us relates to this Malchut of the World of Infinity determines our picture of the world. This is what we can feel; we can’t feel anything else. All nature is contained in this Malchut of the World of Infinity—in this unified desire created by the Creator.
By properly understanding and by constantly bringing yourself back to the analysis of how we perceive reality, (science is agreeing with this and there are new articles in favor of this each day from sociologists, psychologists and scientists) you are giving yourself such a general scientific base and the confidence in the fact that everything depends only on your inner qualities.
On the white backdrop, we see our own egoism. It is called our world. If I corrected this egoism, (my attitude towards others), I would see the white Light. Is it possible to see something in white Light without any contrasts? I would see myself against all this white Light in similarity to it. That is, all the laws, all of the primary causes and all that is happening would be clear. I would live in total fulfillment in this scope of the World of Infinity.
This is why the perception of reality has to constantly be worked over within you. It doesn’t matter that we’ll get mixed up in it. I understand that the beginners don’t yet feel this, at least somehow, as somewhat realistic. This feeling comes gradually. However, by thinking about it you will prepare yourselves. You will see this with absolute clarity, to the point where you will be so attuned, that you’ll imagine, “if I changed a particular desire or changed these combinations of desires regarding so and so, then I would feel such and such.”
What is meant by “I would feel?” You would come into contact; you would connect through the similarity of qualities with such or such quality and quantity of Light. That is, you would delve into an even greater spiritual level because the spiritual levels are the levels of coupling, of similarity to the Light. You would begin to find connection between your qualities and attainments, the correction of your qualities and the ascent. You would get the following picture, “Where am I right now and where can I be if I could do this and this within myself?”
That is why it is good to think about the fact that everything is contained within a person, that there is nothing on the outside besides the Upper Light and to constantly be inspired by this feeling. It won’t take you away from reality but rather it will bring you to the right analysis of the fact that everything depends on your inner qualities, on their correction. You won’t get confused: I know this from my own experience and from many students who’ve gone through this and who’ve adapted this picture within them. You’ll come to sense even our universe correctly, on our level.
This is why our world is called the imaginary world. That is, it’s imagined by us in our uncorrected, original, egoistic desires. We begin to feel the spiritual world to the degree of their correction. Our world is our five senses: ‘bodily’ or ‘animate,’ plus ‘human’— 613 egoistic desires. We sense everything within them on the still, vegetative, animate and human egoistic levels. Everything that is drawn inside of us in relation to the Light is called our world. The sensation of contrast between the Light and us constitutes our world.
Machsom (barrier) is when a person doesn’t use egoism, when he can make the Tzimtzum Aleph (the first restriction). This means that he’s already beginning to feel the Light but in a totally passive way. What does Tzimtzum Aleph mean? It is as if there are no desires within a person; he closed them. That is, his aspiration to be similar to the Light is greater than all of his personal desires. In such a case he’s called Ubar (embryo). Ubar is an embryo in the Upper Light. A person has absolutely no sensation of himself; he only desires to sense himself in the Upper. This is also called Galgalta ve Eynaim of the lower one existing in the Upper One. A person makes Tzimtzum Aleph on his desires and with his aspirations ( Galgalta ve Eynaim) he exists in the Upper One. In this way he reaches the Upper World.
Then, besides just being dissolved in it, a person begins to elevate his desires. That is, starting from this level on, there appear egoistic desires in him towards the Light. He asks the Creator to help him, and by partially correcting the egoism, he kind of creates his own Kli in the middle line. Desires constitute egoism. Corrections by the Light are the screen. And now a person can act as a Partzuf.
The degree to which egoism rises in a person is the degree of the Light he can attract for the purpose of creating a screen for it. Here he elevates in an even greater similarity to the Light, constantly correcting his egoistic self and attracting the Light’s force from Above for this purpose. In the middle line between them, using both this and that in the correct freedom of choice, a person ascends.
The correct understanding of the picture of the universe leads to this: everything, all the forces and all the desires are inside of a person. Outside of a person there exists only the Upper Light— the quality of complete bestowal, the total altruistic quality of nature or the ‘Creator.’ It can be called nature or the Creator since it is the same thing. The degree to which a person understands that he constantly interacts with Him even on his current level, to that degree he can properly interact with his own desires and with this altruistic desire, which is outside of him—the Creator, who is at the person’s service and whom a person uses for correction (as we learn in the Talmud Eser Sefirot.)
Everything happens according to the law of similarity of properties. That is, one feels like the Light to the degree to which one becomes equal to it. The egoism is in not nullifying oneself. Egoism inside, under the screen, becomes similar to the coming Light and that is why it uses this Light. This Light draws inside of a person—on his screen and on the imagination and here he sees and feels his corrected qualities. One never feels or sees the Light itself; one can only feel his corrected qualities within oneself and he calls them ‘Light.’
The Light created the desire. This desire can become similar to the Light. If the desire is simply egoistic, then it senses itself. If the desire is similar to the Light, it senses the Light, that is, its own corrected qualities.
A person can never sense anything outside of himself. He can’t step outside of himself and can’t ever say that he senses something on the outside. What does outside mean?
In what does he sense? If he is the created desire, he can only feel inside this desire. One can’t feel outside of the desire. One thing contradicts the other: to feel outside of the sensor, outside of the Kli. How can it be? There must be something that senses: some kind of probe, some kind of sensor. This doesn’t exist.
That is why by not forgetting about this proper attuning to the perception of reality, we produce within us a correct understanding of the fact that everything depends only upon us. It does not depend upon the Light, which is in a state of total rest, or upon the Creator, or upon those around us, which is also very important. When we draw this picture “I and the Light” and I imagine myself in relation to the Light then everything is clear—“He and I.” However, such a thing as “He and I” doesn’t exist.
What is ‘Light?’ Light is something that surrounds a person only he doesn’t sense it. How can the Light be sensed? In order for the Light to be sensed, the general desire was divided into many souls. If a person wishes to sense the Light, he can. Light is the quality of complete bestowal. A person has the opportunity to act like a cell in the body and create within himself the quality of complete bestowal in regards to others. As a result he will feel within his qualities that he is the Light. The breaking occurred to serve as preparation for allowing each one of us to realize ourselves in this manner.
Where does a person see Light? He sees Light in his treatment towards others. He can never sense it otherwise. He can only sense it through the quality of bestowal and never otherwise. This is his model. For this reason it is said: “Love thy neighbor, this is the main law of the Torah,” or of nature. Why is it the main law? It is because the main law is the quality of the Creator, the quality of bestowal. If a person, with his egoism makes himself the same, he will sense the Creator, the Light, the quality of bestowal or the main law of nature.
Question: You mentioned five membranes, which supposedly perceive from without, but in reality even these membranes don’t exist. Are they sensors of the desire to receive on the five levels of Aviut? Is it how uncorrected the five Masachim on the five levels of Aviut? The Kli broke with intention. The Masachim broke on all five levels of Aviut and because of our lack of correction these sensors perceive the surrounding world?
I don’t want to go into all this. The best thing is to perceive it the way it seems to you since each time it will seem different anyway. For you now, in one minute, this whole picture will appear different. It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that in the end it will lead you to one thing—“the true sensation comes only from personal correction.” That is all.
The only way of finding out where you really exist is by nullifying the egoism. The On the small animate level, egoism is nullified by the death of the body, thus due to the nullification of the animate egoism we feel the minimum spiritual level. This is something sensed by people in a coma or clinical death. They sense breaking away from egoism as floating above themselves. In reality they don’t break away, these are imagined things. Still, however, disconnecting from this egoism consciously leads to such a state. However, these states are unconscious—some Light, some images. All this is still earthly since there are no images. There are no relatives coming to meet them, no railroad station with a market, no apostle Peter waiting for you, or someone with a scythe or someone preparing a frying pan.
It has to be understood that this is all allegory, that a person (his soul) experiences all this later from the realization of his own lack of correction. ‘Hell’ is called ‘burning shame,’ the shame which leads to Tzimtzum Alef. Our relative realization of a partially executed mission, which is called ‘heaven:’ the sensation of the Light, the sensation of one’s own corrected qualities constitutes heaven—the qualities of Bina. The state of Bina is called the world to come or heaven.
Everything is contained within the quality of bestowal or egoism. Don’t lead yourselves away from this picture.
The same thing regarding the worlds: the World of Infinity, Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria,Yetzira, Assiya, and our world. Understand that what is being talked about is only the extent of similarity of the 613 properties in our world, on the level of the World of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, AK, and the World of Infinity. That is, the degree of our correction or the lack thereof. Everything depends upon this.
We divide all this into ten Sefirot, into Galgalta ve Eynaim ( GE) and AHP. First we ascend to the world of Atzilut and in the process build within ourselves GE, the Kelim of bestowal. Then, we begin to descend from the world of Atzilut to the world of Beria, while elevating the Kelim to the world of Atzilut, the world of Yetzira and the world of Assiya. We have GE and AHP, that is, all the ten Sefirot of our Kli.
These are the ten Sefirot in Tzimtzum Bet (the second restriction). We elevate them from the World of Atzilut to the World of Adam Kadmon, where Tzimtzum Aleph exists. And later from the World of Adam Kadmon to the World of Infinity, where everything exists under one total correction.
What are all these worlds? They are states, which are perceived within our 613 senses. That is why ‘world’ is called ‘ Olam,’ from the word ‘ Alma,’ in concealment. A person senses concealment inside his dissimilarity to bestowal, or the Creator. With the white Light as the backdrop, a person senses concealment and his contrast in relation to this Light.
That is why the world is called ‘your dissimilarity to the Light,’ and that is why the world is called ‘concealment.’ That is, we sense the reverse. We don’t sense the Light but rather we sense these images, all that surrounds us and all that enters our senses. We sense dissimilarity. This is the picture drawn in our senses.
If we take any measuring instruments invented by us, they are all built to measure dissimilarities: this is bigger, this is heavier, this is taller, further, etc. Everything in measured by contrast; we measure one thing in relation to the other. That is why the concealment regarding the quality of complete bestowal draws the surrounding world for us. Why the surrounding world? It is because the combination of our 613 qualities draws the picture of the world for us on the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels. That is, on our egoistic desires, the first, second, third, and fourth (level of Aviut).
What does a picture of the world consisting of still matter, vegetative, animate, and human mean? As a result of having these four desires within, a person can see in them the four levels of nature: still, vegetative, animate, and human. If a person didn’t have them inside him, he wouldn’t be able to see it.
For example, plants can feel. Are they human? No. They feel what is similar to them but they can’t feel that which is above their level. Animals can’t perceive what above their level means. They perceive a human as an animal. Just like a small child doesn’t perceive. We can observe a child as a clear example. At the age of five he doesn’t perceive anything beyond the age of five. He stuffs everything into his little world, before the age of five: “this is a car, a plane, etc.” But how does he perceive all this? He perceives it on the level of his development. The same goes for us.
Since there exist five levels of Aviut within us (not counting the zero level, since it’s the initial level), our surrounding world divides into four types of nature: still, vegetative, animate, and human. Each of the levels divides into thousands and thousands of qualities.
Where do plants get billions of various qualities? Today we suddenly discover two thousand different plants and tomorrow two thousand and fifty more. Did they exist yesterday or not? Additional desires appeared in us on the egoistic vegetative level. Suddenly we discover in it a new opposition to the Light, thus revealing additional types of vegetation in our world.
Think about what I’m saying because with this you draw a connection between the pictures that you see with what happens within you. This is similar to the way you find delight in some flowers, lights, and different pictures on the monitor; however, the technician knows that by regulating some potential, he is doing something that brings you this delight. To him, this is the result of matching various electrical potentials, and for you it is the picture of the world.
The same thing occurs within us. Today’s science is gradually making the connection of the fact that this entire picture is within us: electrical, chemical etc. This is nothing more than images drawn within us. We can influence ourselves and change these images.
Regarding the picture of the world, a person defines his world by the level of his correction. There is no point in waiting for mercy from anyone, or from nature. Only more suffering can be awaited. If we are going to remind each other about the correct picture of the world, it will bring us to the realization of the necessity of personal inner changes, your own inner changes.
Whatever goes on in the world around you, whether it is wars or something else, ultimately if you want to change it, you can do so only by changing your own inner qualities. Don’t rush to correct anybody. It is said, “There is no coersion in spirituality.” Don’t think that the world will change from you correcting others. A person can never correct anyone other than his own self. That is the only chance.
This isn’t a pacifist picture of the world: you’re being hit and so you leave. While I’m not corrected and do not sense the world in total correction, total bliss, I have to act in accordance with the way I sense the world in my desires. A person always has to act in accordance with the level he is on. If a person is on the level of our world, he can imagine and assume that the picture of the world is drawn inside of him; however, it doesn’t mean that he should conduct himself this way. A person should conduct himself in accordance with the level he’s on.
If someone comes and punches me in the face, then I can’t say: “I’m imagining this, you don’t really exist, I only see you in my desires this way but in reality this isn’t taking place. Just disappear!” A person always has to strive towards elevating his level of correction and adaptation to the Light, thus to that degree he will see the world, and to that degree he will feel how the world supposedly exerts influence over him. Everything that happens he will equate more and more with his desires.
Never, under any circumstances should a person act unrealistically. Actions should come from what is within us. It is said: “ Ein Le Dayan Ele Ma She Eynav Ro’ot”, meaning, “A person has no more than what his eyes see.” Eyes are our most powerful information source. Not because of what we see but because our strongest and most reliable desires, our most felt desires are on this level. Our actions can only be based on this. Do not draw any unrealistic pictures for yourself. Assume that such a thing exists, although not in your sensations, but do not act according to it. This is very important.
This is because questions have appeared already: “There is none else beside Him.” How am I supposed to act in such a case?” You have to act according to the way you feel inside, within your realistic 613 feelings or desires. That’s how you have to act. How should you assume your existence? In the way explained to you by people who have corrected these 613 desires. Why should you assume that such thing really exist, along with this corrected perception? You do so in order to elevate yourself to it, but not to start acting like a big Kabbalists while you’re on the lowest level. If a child would start acting like an adult, he would only harm himself. This is the same thing. We have to advance gradually.
Question: To the degree of our correction we sort of feel a new reality, we change the reality in our sensations, is that so? To what degree does the reality change in the sensations of people who don’t correct themselves and who sense this reality in the five senses?
Everything is clear in regard to those who correct themselves. Their picture of the surrounding world changes because they truly change themselves to become similar to the Light. Those who don’t truly correct themselves to become similar to the Light, feel the constantly growing egoism. They don’t feel or realize it but they are in the process of constantly growing egoism. They try to fill this egoism more and more, but they feel that they’re unable to do so. As a result they experience all these crisis': stress, depression, drugs, etc. All these things will ultimately lead them to a point where they’ll have to search for a methodology of fulfillment.
The question about the meaning of life “Why do I exist, with all this suffering, what is the point?” will lead them to finding the methodology of Kabbalah on their own, independent of anyone else. If we disseminate, then of course this path will be quicker for them. We have to help others. Ultimately, each and everyone will find it.
There exists a path of suffering by which we all advance, up until our century, until we collect a critical mass of egoism, that is, until the point in the heart. This earthly egoism has to collect within us. There was egoism in a person of still, vegetative, animal, and finally human level.
A person of the twenty first century is the biggest egoist. When this human egoism comes in its full beauty, let’s say this is minus 5760, and this is the 21st century. The growth of egoism goes according to the hyperbola. People are not left with much because the greater the egoism, with greater lack of fulfillment, the more suffering there is, to the point where a person wishes to die, only his egoism doesn’t allow him. It is written “ Tov le muti mi haya,” “Death is better than such a life.” However, he can’t die, and must live.
This is because the egoism only gives him the degree of suffering he can handle; however, there are cases of suicide. But suicides also happen for a reason. They happen in order to transfer to a new state, with a qualitatively new level of egoism. This is what happens with death, and this is why we die. It is because all of our collected knowledge is transferred into qualities, into our characteristics in the new life.
In our time there isn’t anything else remaining. That is why I’m sure that we’ll soon find an enormous number of people. They exist today, we simply don’t search for them and we don’t feel or see them. You start talking to a person and he denies, he rejects, he is rude, he swears, he comes across as very self-assured, all knowing, as if everything is in his hands. I’ve met with hundreds, even thousands of people such as big scientists, philosophers, wealthy people—anybody. There still comes a minute when you touch something within them and feel a complete lack of confidence, total fear and confusion from life. Moreover, these are people who are in their sixties, seventies, and people with experience, who have everything, even in this life. Today, there practically isn't any one person who doesn’t understand that we are in a state confusion and crisis.
We are at fault before those people who don’t find the methodology for fulfillment (Kabbalah, the science of receiving) in time, because it doesn’t appear in front of them, like it once did in front of you.
Each one of us has to make an effort. This is his work regarding this general system called Adam. Within the group, a person creates his personal correction. The realization of this correction happens only in relation to what’s on the outside of the group. You will see how much this helps you in understanding the picture we were talking about.
Egoism is our friend, so take care of it. We have no enemies. Egoism isn’t the enemy since it comes from above, from the Creator. It is said “Go to the Creator who created me,” if you don’t like me. Egoism descends from Above, as well as the Light. Our enemy is our lack of desire to analyze it and bring it the realization of evil. Egoism in itself isn’t evil. It’s like the wolf that ate the sheep. The wolf is only evil in the children’s fairy tails. The egoism which descends from above and which is instilled in us isn’t evil. Even though we say it is, it really isn’t. Evil is the lack of analysis, the lack of the realization of evil.
Our laziness is the evil that doesn’t allow us to feel. Our laziness is evil, not the egoism inside us. On the contrary, it is called “the helper against you” which pushes us towards a decision. If we turned on the analysis before our egoism grows and reaches a frightening magnitude, bringing us to a state of shock, wars, death and so on, then we wouldn’t need these blows from the egoism. However, if we are lazy and we don’t do it, then the egoism unwillingly continues to grow exponentially and we experience even greater suffering until we become smarter.
Through our dissemination, we allow a person to realize quicker what he has to do with himself, how to prevent evil. Our intention for dissemination is in preventing the blows of faith of each individual. The blows will lead him to the same result; however, this prolongs the process by tens or hundreds of years. If we have to love him as we love ourselves, then demonstrate the fact that you’re ready for this through the action of dissemination.
What can we set against the blows that come to us? We set against the blows, or the descending egoism and the Light, which exists for the purpose of correcting the egoism; we set against them from below, by the dissemination of Kabbalah. That is, we practically disseminate the methodology of similarity to the Light. This is what we do.
That is why the Kabbalists who’ve reached attainment are on the levels of similarity to the Light, similarity of egoism to the Light, and they describe this methodology through the books. We use this methodology in order to ascend quicker. Not by suffering, under a stick so to speak, but precisely by becoming similar to the Light, by attracting the Light of Ohr Makif. We wish the same thing for the world. This is the idea behind our dissemination. This is the elevation of consciousness: what world I’m living in, the perception of reality and that everything depends on me, etc. All this is included in our methodology.
Egoism is a moving force. It has developed humanity up to our time and now it is pushing us further towards the final correction. Only now can we use it properly and go through this final remainder wisely, by being drawn forward by the Light instead of being pushed from behind by suffering. That is, having a positive moving force instead of negative.
It’s necessary to have the kind of environment that will talk about our present state as negative and our future states as positive and desired. To have the kind of environment that will give us the importance of the goal as well as reassurance and the feeling of confidence in achieving the goal.
Question: If I understood the methodology correctly based on today’s lesson, that basically I draw some sort of an ideal of the Creator to the extent I’m able to draw Him for myself today. And throughout the day I try to do this, as though I am He, imagining this as being true.
No, no, wait a minute. Am I doing the right thing if I’m constantly drawing the Creator's image in front of me? I don’t know the Creator’s image. My corrected states are the image of the Creator. My corrected desires in their total sum draw for me the image of the spiritual world, or the Creator, or of my self, which are the same thing. It is said “ Israel, Orayta, Kud She Brihu, Had Hu,” meaning, “A person who corrects himself, the Light, and the Creator are the same.” It all merges into one idea, into one sensation called Dvekut, meaning union.
One shouldn’t imagine, “The Creator, what is He like, the one behind the wall?” Why do so? Everything should be imagined the way it appears before you. It will appear before you in your own sensations.
We are talking about one thing and that is the sensation of the Light. The coming Light of Ohr Yashar isn’t felt. It is felt as something that stumbles upon a screen and I feel the effect of it on the screen. I push away this effect, which is sensed as a foretaste of pleasure, and make a calculation, only after which I feel the pleasure within me. This diffusion within is called Ta’amim, meaning, ‘taste.’
When it says “ Taami Ve Rey Ki Tov ha Shem,” “taste and see that the Creator is good” it is talking about Ohr Pnimi, which spreads within the Kli. One always feels inside of oneself. There isn’t anything for one to draw, of something existing around him. One never feels it. One doesn’t know what it is. If one corrects his qualities according to the principle of similarity, only then can he say,“Now I am similar to the Creator.” This is because right now one is approximately 20% similar to the Creator. Everything is within your self, including the Creator.
That is why we say that there occurs a union. What does a union mean? The Light enters the Kli to the degree of its similarity to the Kli. Inside the Kli, inside of you, your corrected qualities, is where this sensation, this merging with the Light, or the Creator, takes place. Why so? Because you feel your desires, your corrections, and you feel the merging with the quality you’ve acquired. This is the Creator.
If we’re saying that we don’t perceive anything outside of ourselves, then it means that we perceive the Creator within ourselves. It is never from the outside. The fact that we’re saying that besides these sensations there are additional sensations that exist, such as the thought of the Creator, only says that there occur additional sensations within us, within the Kli. We may not understand them or where they come from, however, they are still within. This is the most important thing.
It is best to imagine yourself totally corrected: “I am like the Creator.” Like a child who looks up to an adult and wants to be like him. How does he imagine this? He imagines it within his perception. We see how he tries to become like the adult.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the corrected states are. You should act in accordance to what you imagine them to be, but only act that way in relation to the friends, not in relation to the entire world, because the world won’t understand you. In relation to friends, act as though you are the Creator. Then you will develop an attitude towards your friends. Imagine how He treats the group and how you treat the group. In this you will become like each other.
You have a third object, in relation to which you can become completely like the Creator. How so? If the Creator’s treatment towards the group, towards the general soul, towards His creations is that of love, then you should try the same. If you do the same, you’ll be like Him. Make a sign of equality. Nothing else is needed.
The reason the Creator made the general soul and then broke it apart was to give each one of us the opportunity to become like Him. Meanwhile He doesn’t reveal Himself. If He did reveal himself, you would be like an animal; you would automatically give everything to others, just like a cell in the body, because otherwise it doesn’t survive. It knows exactly that this is what happens to it.