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Labor
of the Heart
Prayer is the labor of the heart. It
expresses desires coming from the heart. Yet man has no power over
these desires themselves. He has been created in such a way that he
never really knows what to seek or what his own true intentions are.
Therefore also the essential nature of his prayers is ungraspable.
Conversely, everything expressed in the prayer book is what man must
learn to want. If man works on himself to direct and control his
desires and thoughts he will reach the level of desires and requests
of the authors of the prayer book, the members of the Great Assembly
(who wrote the Jewish prayer book two thousand years ago during a
long exile).
In order for a person to harmoniously match his desires to those of
the authors of the prayer book, several preliminary steps are
required. He must understand the nature of evil and what it brings
about, namely, that man is essentially egotistically inclined. He
must understand that egoism is the source of evil. Furthermore, all
this must be realized and felt at the deepest and most intense part
of his soul.
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The Evolution of Souls
.Everything is grasped through comparison. By comparing the
Creator’s attributes to ours we realize both His might and our
lowness. One needs to be thus aware of His magnificence and His
omnipotence. Faith means actually feeling the Creator and His
Presence.
All souls go through the following stages:
1. The phase which precedes their descent into our world.
2. The phase during which they are endowed with a certain deficiency
termed selfishness. This is what souls perceive as physical
incarnation
3. The phase during which souls perceive themselves and the entire
spiritual universe after the ultimate consummation.
The phase preceding the initial descent of souls is called "Olam Ein
Sof”, the endless world where souls endlessly receive the light of
the Creator. Afterwards the soul is enclothed in selfishness and
descends to "olam ha ze”, this world, where its link to the
spiritual world is remote. It no longer feels the Creator and no
longer perceives its previous condition.
"This world" refers to the perception of the present moment, that is
to say the part of creation, of the Creator we currently perceive by
means of our sense organs. The selfishness is seated within the
senses.
The next level is attained by bringing the sense organs under
control. This higher level brings a wider perception of creation.
This level is felt before the process of attaining "the world to
come”, the world we will perceive supersensually, as opposed to the
« real » one we live in now.
Both worlds are nevertheless currently perceived within our physical
body. When we perceive our environment, and ourselves we perceive
our, "his world". However, it is in the present that we begin to
contemplate the future and the sensation induced by projecting
oneself into the future is termed "the world to come". The process
repeats itself "the next day" when the "world to come" becomes "this
world" and so on .
A close examination of Baal HaSulam's writings may help us
understand the process we go through at every moment.
Concerning man's spiritual behavior, ascent can only follow the
"middle line" (i.e. behavior not polarized to its extras).
Progression along this middle line establishes the condition in
which Torah-the Creator-Israel merge into one thing.
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The Work
of Torah
The Creator is the source that man yearns for.
The Torah is the light, which fills man at the present moment.
Israel is man himself, that is, his desire to bond with the Creator.
How can these totally independent concepts be identical?
The goal of creation consists in creating man in this world so that
he can cleave to the Creator while yet living in his physical body.
Man ascends and crosses spiritual worlds to reach the Creator. More
exactly, spiritual worlds penetrate him to such an extent that he
and the Creator become identical. This is what union with the
Creator means. One loves the Creator, follows His ways, and observes
His commandments. At this level, all of man's qualities, desires,
and attributes have become identical to those of the Creator.
The Torah is given to man so he can access this perfect and eternal
level and fulfill the purpose of creation. The Torah can only be
given to man after his descent into this world where he is endowed
with a physical body and selfishness. Angels cannot receive the
Torah because amongst all creatures only man possesses absolute
selfishness.
If man chooses the path of the Torah, he can neutralize his selfish
body and desires in such a way that they will no longer act as an
obstacle between him and the Creator. Man and the Creator unite.
This union is a throwback to the Procreation State, before the
descent of the soul into this world, before the soul is
"handicapped" by selfishness. Moreover, by correcting his
selfishness man can climb the rungs of the spiritual ladder and
reach the level of the Creator. Some creatures are devoid of
selfishness and therefore have no tool to progress and remain at
their initial level.
Except man, all creatures are said to be "spiritually inanimated,
motionless". Even angels, the divine forces through which the
Creator rules creation, are not independent "force-desires" but only
executors of His will. Man, by transforming his very developed
selfish desires can become equal to the Creator.
The soul is a part of the Creator placed in man. Man is born with an
envelope of selfishness and can no longer perceive neither the
Creator nor anything spiritual. Selfishness permeates his sense
organs, which possess qualities opposed to spirituality. When man
transforms his selfishness into altruism by removing his selfish
envelope, he begins to perceive the essence of creation in such a
way that nothing separates him from the Creator. At this point the
three above-mentioned concepts unite.
Our task is to remove, with the help of the Torah, all obstacles
between the soul and the Creator. Of all Torah studies Kabbalah is
the most efficient because it draws towards man a ray of light of
the highest intensity while he is studying.
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Selfishness
There is no such thing as motion from one world to the other in
spiritual "space". There are only inner states, which enable us to
perceive our inner envelope. It is the Creator that we perceive but
this perception is clouded by screens representing the different
manifestations of our selfishness. The perception of the Creator,
creation and space, as obstacles are suppressed, is progressively
revealed but we are not aware of it. The portions of selfishness
that we remove correspond to the levels of the spiritual ladder or
"worlds" we ascend. Worlds are nothing more than degrees of
perception that we have of the Creator.
Selfishness, which separates our perception from true knowledge, can
only be found in man. This is not the case with the Creator because
perfection and openness define his relation to man. The absence of
the Creator is only felt by a man who dissimulates the worlds from
himself, as if he were hiding behind the veils of his own
selfishness.
The removal of selfishness does not occur all at once. In the
beginning, the Creator grants man periods of time corresponding to
lives in this world as an opportunity to elevate himself
spiritually. Man is master of the whole process. During each of his
consecutive lives, man must remove a certain part of his selfish
nature and draw himself closer to the Creator. Man will repeat a new
life as long as he does not correct himself. Correction means that
his desires termed "body" in Kabbalah will no longer form a barrier
between him and the Creator. When this occurs man's attributes will
bond him with the Creator regardless of the world in which man finds
himself.
The abandonment of one's selfish envelope is called "terrestrial
death" leading to rebirth in our world. The corrected parts of the
soul's selfishness merge and a kind of "redistribution" takes place.
This is because all souls are but one creation and all envelopes are
but pure selfishness. The correction of the original soul was made
possible by splitting into parts the one and only creation, Adam's
soul. These parts are individual souls and it is easier to correct
each fragment than to correct the whole.
This explains why souls move from one world to another during their
correction. When the correction is completed, all individualized
souls will be once again brought together within the primordial
desire. The primordial soul will receive all of the Creator's light
revealing his perfection .
There is, ultimately, only the endless world, the world of perfect
bonding with the Creator. Outside that world, all that man perceives
is nothing but fragments of the infinite perfection, the endless
world.
One fragment of the endless world is called "Adam Kadmon", the
following one « Atzilut » then "Briah" then "Yetzira" and "Assiah".
The smallest fragment of the endless world corresponds to our world.
In other words, the endless world as we see it with our senses
contracts to reach the size of our world. When our perception
broadens we can call this world, for example, the world of Briah and
so on. It all depends on the scope of our perception.
The subject of our studies is only man. Besides man and his
sensations there is only the endless world The Malchut of the
endless world must go through numerous corrections. Nothing is
created in vain.
The Baal HaSulam quotes the example of a small insect in the jungle,
spending all his life to find food and whose existence is totally
unknown. Even this insect and all his parts are very important for
the fulfillment of ultimate consummation.
Nothing is created in vain by the Creator, and all events occur in
harmony with the goal we are nearing. As far as we are concerned
this process takes place whether we want it or not, whether we
understand it or totally ignore it. Everything progresses towards
the fulfillment of correction as planned by the Creator, towards His
complete revelation to all creatures in this world.
The various parts of Malchut of the endless world differ in the
intensity of their desires. They correspond in our world to the
parts of the natural kingdom- mineral, vegetal, animal, human.
Similarly mankind is composed of many types of peoples.
Why, then, do we study man so closely and not in the spiritual
correction, say, what stones, for example, need to accomplish?
Haven't they been placed in our world to reach the purpose of
Creation?
Man is set apart. The correction of nature depends on human
correction. By working on himself, man "animates" nature to help it
reach the state of full correction.
Man himself however has not received the Torah of our world in the
same way: the peoples of the world have received 7 commandments, the
Jews 613. These commandments are also observed different ways
depending on the number of corrections a soul must carry out when
coming to this world. Being born to the nation or the Jews does not
grant any specific privileges. The Jews have more corrections to
perform, the others less.
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Precepts and Spirituality
Individuals need to observe mitzvot according to their natures.
However, this does not depend on their desire to come closer to the
Creator; many believers and non believers never ask themselves
questions about the Creator, the purpose of Creation, corrections
and so forth.
These men have simply not received from above the desire to
transform themselves and they perform mechanically what tradition
has taught them. It is those mechanical gestures, which
differentiate men, nations, man and wife, and children and adults.
Clearly, a man who wishes to elevate himself spiritually has
received this aspiration from the Creator. He will therefore be
different from another man who has not received the same aspiration
from above.
Hence, men should not be distinguished according to their
appearance, race or gender. Whether or not they should study
Kabbalah is not the issue. Those who study it are simply those who
have received the call from above and express the desire to study
it. Among women there are also examples such as the prophetesses
Deborah and Hulda who were also Kabbalists.
Angels are robots who perform certain tasks in the spiritual world:
they "move" things from one place to "another", nothing more. They
cannot grow spiritually or move through various spiritual levels
like human beings. They are spiritual forces acting on each
spiritual level.
Degrees of prophecy result from personal efforts. In our world there
is only the Creator, man and the path leading man to the Creator,
who is called Torah. Man's environments (society, family, friends)
are only sheaths separating him from the Creator and through which
he influences us. Man is placed in often complex and unbearable
situations, sometimes leading to suffering and disappointments.
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How Do We Come Into
the
World
The Creator removes from Himself a tiny part (so to speak) and
implants in it selfishness. This « universal » selfishness then
breaks smaller selfish parts. Thereafter, a progressive
reintegration of those parts causes the creation of the Upper
Worlds, Atzilut, Briah, Yetsira, Assiah. The purest "fragments" are
used for the creation of the highest spiritual worlds. Later, the
most selfish desires, the very heart of creation, the Malchut of the
Endless World brings about the creation of the soul of Adam, the
first man. Then, after the sin of Adam, again the spark of
Godliness, trapped in selfishness subdivides itself again into
smaller and smaller fragments, that form our souls.
Beginners who study Kabbalah often do not perceive how the world is
ruled. They ask whether actions depend on our choice or on the
Creator? Before a man can launch a project he must be convinced that
his actions have consequences. Yet after succeeding, « paradoxically
», he must understand that all depends solely on the Creator. If we
think this way, we will progress correctly.
There are things, which can only be felt, not explained. The
incarnation of the spiritual in the material is difficult to
describe in words. Modern science may justify itself, but how can
the process by which one world takes the shape of another be
explained? Kabbalistic explanations are only possible up to the
point when Adam's soul is fragmented. This is not because Kabbalists
do not wish to provide more explanations, but because the
explanation pertains to what a man feels and cannot explain.
Selfishness is such a powerful spiritual force that the thought of
getting rid of it hardly ever crosses our mind. In order to know
ourselves we need to look at ourselves from outside, to feel
something different other than ourselves, to compare ourselves to
something outside of us.
Surrounding objects are perceived because they are made up of the
same selfishness. Otherwise they would remain invisible. Selfishness
takes many forms. Its most restricted form is the one that can only
perceive itself. This is the perception that man has in our world.
We are so selfish that we can only perceive ourselves.
When we "grow" a little bit, our selfishness reaches beyond the
limits of our world and we begin to perceive the Creator. Our
selfishness becomes spiritual. Our desire is no longer based on
physical or worldly pleasure but on spiritual enjoyment brought by
the light of the Creator.
Man is only animated by conscious or unconscious desires. Our reason
is given to us in order to help us make sense of and achieve all our
desires. Hence man cannot rise above his desires. Motivated by his
desires and emotions, man first directs the course of his actions
and becomes conscious of them teleological only afterwards after the
choice.
How does he indeed become conscious of an event, which takes place?
In reaction to man's actions the Creator manifests by degrees, His
almightiness in order to give man a more aware retrospective
awareness of the consequences of his actions. Even remembering our
way of acting depends on the Creator. He will teach us the meaning
of our actions by responding to us, giving us pleasure or suffering
according to our merit or guilt.
Our education is therefore a process, which unfolds every second,
but it cannot make us correct ourselves in any way. We only need to
become aware of our selfishness and how helpless we are when we
confront it. The Creator looks after everything which is not part of
this awareness. The more man advances on a spiritual path, the more
he moderates his self-esteem and the more he understands his true
nature. As the Creator unveils himself, man gradually realizes what
he actually is with respect to the Creator.
When we realize this, we progress along the spiritual path. Imagine
a person who has achieved 99% of his correction. The remaining 1%
that is not corrected appears much bigger than the previous 99%. The
"small chaff in the eye" seems enormous.
Our actions and our study enable us to become aware of the Creator
and of ourselves. When man realizes his absolute insignificance he
despairs. He does not see the Creator and the whole world seems dark
to him. If while in this dark state, a man bears in mind that the
spiritual source of all this is nothing but the Creator of whom he
can ask things and upon whom all matters depends, he will become
aware of his spiritual link with the Creator. He will then cease to
despair. He will understand that these seemingly negative conditions
are sent temporarily from above and that they are unavoidable.
The way we connect ourselves to the Creator does not matter to him.
The most important is for man to understand that He exists. The
Creator sends desires so that we can react to Him and grow
spiritually.
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The Intention Behind Our
Gestures
I do not make myself well understood and this is my drawback. When
one lays the emphasis on spiritual and inner development, mechanical
observance is not put forward. It is simply not evoked. The
attention is focused on the intention behind the commandment not on
its physical observance. A third party might conclude that physical
observance is neglected.
It is said: "a commandment without intent is like a body without a
soul" (mitsvah bli kavanah keguf bli neshamah). The difference
between kabbalists and believers, non-believers, Jews, Goןm
(gentiles) lies in the fact that Kabbalists want to develop the
intention placed within the gestures. They do not contemplate
gestures as such. The way to observe commandments concerns the
revealed (conventional) Torah. It is described in the Jewish Code of
Law (the "Shoulchan Aroukh"). The laws described in this code are to
be followed by all. They are easily understandable and do not
require any prerequisites.
The intention placed in the performance of precepts has no
importance and the commandments do not transform man or oblige him
to spiritual growth. These commandments can be repeatedly performed
by an individual without modifying the selfish person that he was
when he first became an observant.
Usually the observance of law is a matter of education. One is not
asked whether one wants to observe them or choose to be free to act
in a certain way. One is educated from the cradle and one’s behavior
is conditioned by habits. These habits are called "guirsa de yankuta".
Promises of all the blessings of this world and of the world to come
strengthen these habits. As man is selfish, he enjoys and accepts
those promises. Moreover many conditions are set for him, far better
than those of ordinary people who do not follow the commandments.
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Modern Times
Nowadays, because spiritually "mature" souls descend into our world,
the above mentioned education becomes insufficient. Man needs to let
his intention be modified to match his desires. Kabbalah enables man
to change his selfish intentions into altruistic ones. Using a
screen (masach) one begins to work on his self aimed desires with
the intention of directing them toward the Creator.
The process of correcting selfishness is called "the spiritual
observance of the commandments". Man is endowed with desires so that
he may develop his intention to use them "by turning them toward the
Creator". These desires were not his so long as he did not have the
capacity to create a screen (masach) .
These desires are new; they are of spiritual nature which means that
they correspond to the desire to rejoice in the divine presence.
These desires are cultivated in a man capable of building a screen
in the form of selfish desires to rejoice in the Creator. These
desires are termed "klipot" (shells) or "impure desires". At this
stage man has overcome worldly desires such as sex, wealth, fame,
power, and craves for more spiritual pleasures.
There are 613 impure desires. They are born in man and range from
the easiest to the most difficult ones to correct. When man acquires
a screen against receiving for himself alone (klipa), one endows
oneself with an intention "turned toward the Creator" (kedusha).
One’s corrected desires can then receive spiritual "light", feel the
Creator, and they lead to the joy of having equivalence of form with
the Creator.
The correction of desires corresponds to what is called the
observance of commandments. The spiritual light received is the
perception of the Creator which corresponds to the Torah.
It is clear that the physical observance of the commandments differs
from their spiritual one. However inner spiritual observance does
not prevent or cancel the physical one. It is exactly because one
who observes a commandment lives in both worlds that one can
reconcile within oneself the two modes of observance.
From the above it follows that the physical observance of a code of
law does not affect the spiritual worlds. This is what is meant by
the sentence "a commandment without intent is like a body without a
soul" - spiritually dead. A commandment cannot be inspired by a "li
chema" intention when its corresponding gestures do not refer to a
spiritual observance. A man may be handless and still observe all
spiritual commandments requiring "spiritual hands", i.e. spiritual
desires.
Our soul is referred to as a body, "partsouf". It is composed of 613
parts, the attributes of our biological body. Each of the 613 parts
of this spiritual "body", this partsouf, corresponds to a specific
desire. The partsouf divides itself into two parts, two types of
desires: the ones corresponding to the desire to give without
restraint (lehashpia al menat lehashpia) and the ones corresponding
to the desire to receive without restraint, but not for one’s own
satisfaction (lekabel al menat lehashpia).
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Division of Desires
The 613 desires of the soul are divided
into 248 positive desires, through which man can acquire a "li chema"
intention, and 365 negative desires man cannot use in order to gain
a "li chema" intent. The difference between the two desires has
nothing to do with intention. In both cases the intention is
naturally and exclusively "turned toward the Creator". The
difference lies in the power of the desire itself: if the desire is
weak it will not awaken intense pleasure. However, this desire
enables one to feel the bond with the Creator. The pleasure sensed
is called the pleasure to give without restraint. That is to say the
desire to please the Creator as it is only possible to please Him by
receiving from him. But since this desire cannot be felt with
sufficient intensity, it cannot truly give to the Creator. This
desire exists only at the level of equivalence of form with the
Creator.
All desires born in man are selfish desires. This is the desire to
receive for one’s own pleasure. Only the intention "turned toward
the Creator" will transform it into an altruistic desire. Hence the
difference solely lies in the intent.
That’s what makes Kabbalah so important. It helps us transform our
intent. The intention "turned toward the Creator" is called "screen"
because it prevents one from "receiving for oneself" and generates
the intention "turned towards the Creator".
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Birth of the Soul
This transformation is called "the
birth" of the soul because the soul corresponds to the desires
turned toward the Creator. When this phase takes place it reveals
the soul of man. It is the intensity of this new desire, which helps
man begin to sense the Creator. This desire to receive pleasure
coupled with an intention "turned toward the Creator", fills itself
with His presence, spiritual bliss and light (all these are synonyms
of one and the same sensation).
The right intentions appear progressively along with the study of
Kabbalah. Kabbalah is the science of intent (kavannah), enabling
man's heart to long for spirituality. If man studies Kabbalah but
cannot grant an altruistic twist to his intention while studying,
this corresponds to the "lo li chema" period during which there is
no orientation toward the Creator. At this stage man still works for
himself and he belongs to his selfish desires, to our world. This is
the level preceding the crossing of the makhsom (barrier).
If man does not care about the transformation of his intention, he
is not at the "lo li chema" level. The gestures he makes are
lifeless. However, all beings must eventually return to the Creator.
The change of perspective will take place for those who observe
mechanically as well. They will be obliged to clarify their relation
to life, to its source, the Creator, and move from "lo li chema" to
"li chema". In any case physical gestures are justified but man must
strive to surpass their limits. This is what makes Kabbalists
different.
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Is the Messiah
a Force or
a Man
The messiah is a spiritual force, it is
the Light which penetrates self aimed human desires to correct them
so that they become altruisitc that is to say identical to those of
the Creator.In our world all spiritual forces are manifested in
material garments.
For example Rabbi Shimon , the ARI , Yehuda Ashlag represent a
spiritual force radiating the Light of correction.This force appears
in our world as a man, a kabbalist, a professor, a book author.
Therefore the Messiah is a guide who becomes progressively accepted
by mankind. Mankind will follow the path pointed by the Messiah
because evil and suffering will be felt by all and there will be no
other way out. People stand on a level where they cannot imagine the
coming of the Messiah as a Light but only as a human leader. But for
Kabbalists the Messiah is the spiritual force of correction (in the
image of the world of A'B-SA"G)
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