Advancing Toward The Truth With The Help Of The Group

A person can never take a step toward the goal on his own. It is done only by the rejection of suffering or by drawing the light; more accurately - by both.

And if one thinks that he will be able to advance or see the direction towards truth as long as he remains in his nature, it is a lie because we will never be able to be in the right direction with our nature. On the contrary, we are a machine that always has to be tied in with thousands of strings, thousands of shackles, and only when they manage us, we will advance. The advancement will always be against our inner desire, against all the thoughts in the brain and against all the desires in the heart, and this will always be in what is called "overcoming," in opposition to our nature, and never in agreement with the body.

Furthermore, our advancement is similar in form to a cone - the more we advance, we enter more accurate work in choice, in mind and heart, in identifying spirituality with respect to corporeality, in details that are more and more delicate. So work on the spiritual path will certainly become more and more difficult, the scrutinies even more accurate and delicate, and the treatment even tighter, which does not leave a thing to a person.

Therefore, we need to wait for directions and pressures,  for the close and strict escort that is like an educator who does not leave us for even a moment and shakes us in every single step. And we must agree to it, and feel how good it is that we sense His care for us each and every moment, to want it and appreciate it.

But it is impossible for us to agree to it and want it without the greatness and importance of the goal, without what the group can provide us with, because it is against our nature, against everything that we used to think and decide. This is completely opposite to us - in the whole depth of our nature. We do not have the desire or the habits that will prepare us for this.

Therefore, external support is a necessary condition for receiving some treatment from Above, from the Creator, from the Light. Without this support, I will not be able to receive It, very simple. Therefore to the degree that one chooses an environment, he allows the Creator to take care of him and lead him to the truth.

The group's control over a person amounts to, that it gives him a feeling of the importance of the Light's treatment, the Light that Reforms, in opposition to our nature. And this control must be truly absolute and constant. To the degree that it does not occur, the Light cannot operate and the person does not advance. And even if it seems to him that he is advancing, it is not so.

We must stop counting minutes and years, and start checking how much the group controls us, above our mind. And if I agree with it, it does not mean that it controls me. Only as a result of it controlling me forcefully, will I be able to become ready, deserving of the Upper Light's treatment.

This is similar to a fear of something that truly frightens us, which sometimes comes to a person in life, and he cannot get rid of it. It can be said that similar to this description, I must feel that I cannot get rid of the pressure that the group puts on me about the importance of the goal, against my nature, and I can relax and continue on my path, as Baal HaSulam writes "continue with the streams of life as the ones of yesterday." Know, that he does not say it to people who are external to the spiritual way, but to those who are already entering it and entering the current according to their nature.

Let The Upper Force Treat You

We think that there is something pleasant about the way the Upper one treats us. However "pleasant" is when something is received with agreement by our heart and mind. This is incorrect because this sort of treatment can never be accepted willingly, only with opposition from our heart and mind.

Correct treatment and the right steps in the right direction are always against my nature in a way where I can't find my hands and feet, can't find where things end and where they begin, and I cannot agree to this in my mind or heart.  If this would have been done without my knowledge then it would have been fine, you could have done whatever you wanted with me, but if things were this way then it wouldn't be free choice, it wouldn't be advancement. 

This is why we have to come into an environment, into an overall system that was whole or complete and then broke with respect to us. Intentionally and to the extent that we want to see it whole again, it provides us with the strength to do so. I only want to see it whole, I yearn to do so and become inspired from it to the extent I yearn to see it whole. It shows me the Hissaron through unity, to the extent it does so I am prepared to take in the treatment of the Light and the Light treats me right away, then I have the strength to stand this treatment. I let the Upper force treat me. The readiness to put myself through the treatment of the Light is what's called a prayer.

The Uniqueness Of The Zohar

No other book influences a person like The Zohar does.  One who reads, hears - whether he understands more or understands less - it does not matter.  This book fills him with various impressions, influences that he does not even recognize.  Slowly, like the process of our physical growth, we learn The Zohar and receive impressions each time.  These impressions infiltrate us and help us grow spiritually.

Clearly, we will accompany the reading with some explanation in order to enable one to connect to the text to some extent.  However, even if a person reads The Zohar himself without our explanation, but out of his own desire, like a toddler when opening his eyes and immediately wants to run because nature does not allow him to sit still. If a person develops his senses, his heart and his brain, to absorb what is emanating from this book, like a baby looking at the world with wonder, he will progress.  It does not matter if the person studying the book is smart or lazy, agile or wise, intellectual or emotional; everyone will receive from The Zohar the optimal help according to his own needs for spiritual development.