In the corporeal world, there are three categories of time: past, present, and future. In the spiritual world, however, there is no time, but rather an order of actions, degrees, or states, in which a person reveals where he truly is.

Each state that a person goes through is part of that eternal, perfect state we actually exist in. But the attitude toward a state must come from the two nearest degrees: from the previous degree and from the future degree. This is what is called “from the past and from the future.”

Everything depends on the connection a person has with the upper and lower degrees relative to his current state so that everything enters into the present. He takes confidence from the past, builds faith in the future upon it by rejoicing in the next state, draws surrounding light from the future world that shines for him in the present, and in this way builds the states he goes through.

Therefore when we do not see the future and do not even understand the state we are currently in, and do not know how to correctly use the past, but we try to relate purposefully to these three states, to these three times, then we can always be in ascent, in inspiration, with the strength to use every minute solely for the sake of the goal, and thus shorten time.

We are constantly under the governance either of lights or of vessels, meaning that either Reshimot from the vessels are revealed in us, or the lights that shine in them. When the lights shine in the Kelim, we have no difficulty coping with our states because these are already states we merit after corrections at each level.

But if we are still in the illumination of Malchut, this state illuminates emptiness and imperfection for us, which is expressed as a lack of confidence, suffering, fears, and all kinds of deficiencies of fulfillment.

However, if instead of being attached to the vessel, a person turns to the future lights that are destined to be revealed in this Kli and tries to connect himself with the future, with the surrounding lights, then they immediately shine for him in his present, and he is in adhesion with the Creator even in the worst states. Thus, in every state, we have the opportunity to be connected with the lights, with the giver, and not with the vessels, with the deficiencies.

Therefore in whatever state I may be, whether a state of lack of perfection and lack of fulfillment, or, on the contrary, fulfillment and work in the right line, each state is determined by a single criterion. It must be as high as possible, and enable me to be in adhesion with the Creator. And if, despite all the pleasures with which I am filled, I can also remain in adhesion with the Creator, there is no reason for these pleasures to disappear.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/31/26, Rabash, “Three Times in the Work”

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Thus, on the one hand, each person should feel lowly, and on the other hand, be proud that the Creator has given us the chance… (Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 1“).

From all of humanity, He chose a handful of people, and wished that they would draw closer to Him, reveal Him, and ascend to His degree while still living in this world. This life does not prevent us from living in the spiritual world, and we will feel it until the very end of correction.

…the Creator has given us the chance to be in a society where each of us has but a single goal: for The Shechina [Divinity] to be among us (ibid.).

In other words, to reveal the presence of the Creator between us.

From this follow several principles. First of all, we need a society that will allow each person to recognize the importance of spiritual life.

Of course, it sounds wonderful to talk about attaining eternity, perfection, and freedom; about not depending on anyone; about being able to achieve whatever we desire; about success, health, and prosperity accompanying us; about understanding all of reality and all of nature. It is easy to say, but a person does not yet feel it.

In a short article called “Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator – 2,” Baal HaSulam describes to what extent a person changes his perception of reality upon feeling the spiritual world. His perception of the world is transformed into its opposite.

Problems, suffering, and everything bad in people and in the world that he previously saw suddenly appear in the opposite light. It turns out that everything is good and wonderful, and the whole world is filled with the presence of the Creator. A person feels himself in nirvana, in a great, eternal spiritual exaltation, and his entire world is filled with the force of spiritual energy.

This depends on how much we exalt the goal in our environment. We can resist our egoism, which always pulls us backward, only if society “washes” our mind and heart with the message of the importance of the goal.

Moreover, this must be done artificially. In the same way, the ordinary world captures our attention with supposedly important things that we must buy, discuss, and think about. Why? Because it is important and profitable for someone and so he fills my life with his preferences.

Therefore, let’s fill our lives with what is important to us. We have such an opportunity. As Rabash writes, we must thank the Creator for having brought us into an environment through which we can reveal the spiritual dimension.

Do what you can, and the salvation of the Lord is as the blink of an eye (Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 10).

We are not required to do anything beyond our strength. The problem is different, it is that we do not apply the efforts that we are capable of.

Baal HaSulam continues: The most important thing before you today, is the unity of friends. Exert in that more and more, for it can recompense for all the faults. In other words, there is nothing more important. To “recompense” means to fill in, to cover all flaws. As it is written: “Love will cover all transgressions.”

In truth, the transgressions are not ours, egoism is not ours, hatred is not ours; all of this was created by the Creator. As it is said: “I have created the evil inclination.” But in order to reveal the connection above all this, we, and specifically we, must make the effort.

By connecting above hatred, we attain a power that raises us through 125 degrees to the world of infinity. And therefore, in another of his letters, Baal HaSulam writes:

I order you to begin to love one another as yourselves with all your might, to ache with your friends’ pains, and rejoice in your friends’ joys as much as possible. I hope that you will keep these words of mine and execute this matter to the fullest (Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 49).
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From the Congress “We” in New Jersey, 4/2/11, Lesson 5

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Question: Do you ever get tired of that pressure of the egoism when people ask you questions? Do you have some kind of limit?

Answer: As soon as the relevance of the questions disappears, I immediately stop answering.

Question: Let’s say an evening lasts five hours. You cannot answer questions for five hours straight, can you? Do you have some kind of resource limit?

Answer: No! Usually the questions end by themselves. There is a certain limit to how much the listeners can be filled, and then there is no point in continuing.

It is the same with lessons. Our lessons run according to time: three parts of 45 minutes each. But sometimes I break this barrier and give, instead of 45 minutes for one part, two consecutive blocks of 45 minutes because I see that there is a serious emptiness there that can be filled.

At our congresses, I first give a lecture for 40 to 50 minutes, and then another 40 to 50 minutes answering questions. After that, the listeners are no longer able to absorb the material. Even that is already too much for them. In other words, if I were to give a lecture lasting an hour and a half, they would not absorb it.

Only if we are trained to study for three hours straight (it is possible to study for five or six hours as I once studied with Rabash for eight or nine hours straight, that is a different matter), then there are no problems.

When you enter your own world, and within it you develop your own qualities and feelings, you live in it and communicate with it from different angles, that is a completely different matter. Kabbalists can remain in it without limit: for days, for a lifetime, for eternity.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call.The Limit of Egoism” 9/12/10

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First of all, a person must understand the state he is in. He is sent a very low, even humiliating state. He discovers that he is a creature for which there seems to be no need at all, and such a condition is by no means honorable; it has neither cause nor purpose.

It is precisely from this moment that a person should use his freedom of choice. That is, he must nevertheless find strength in the environment because without an environment we are like animals. If not for the environment, I would live with my wife in the forest, produce children, obtain food for them and for myself like all animals and beasts.

But unlike animals and beasts, my desire to receive keeps growing, while theirs does not increase. It is said: “A one-day-old calf is already called an ox.” A newborn calf already knows how to walk; within a day or two it stands up and walks, it already knows everything it needs, and it will never harm itself or cause itself injury. The calf is still small in size, but its mind is the same as that of an adult cow.

With a human being everything is different. The desire to receive constantly grows and rises above the animal level. There is nothing one can do about this desire.

Therefore methods appear that claim that one must suppress the desire within oneself, become like an animal, and then one will not feel any suffering. Live like an animal.

Food? You will always obtain a bit of nourishment. Shelter? You need some corner, some hut—no problem, you will always find a place to sleep. Family? You will find a suitable wife, have children—everything will work out. If you do not demand much, you descend to a very low level. You are told that dieting is good, breathing less is also good. In general, reduce your needs, and you will become righteous.

By acting this way, you begin to feel good. You descend to the animal level, limit yourself strictly to what is necessary for life, and you have no troubles. An animal has far fewer problems than a human being. We say, “a dog’s life.” But it is a dog’s life for a human being, not for a dog.

However, there is another method: not to endure deprivation, but on the contrary, to learn how to use the desire to receive. Then you must take it fully and completely, not suppress it, but learn how to use it correctly. For this, you need a specific method, not methods of suppression, which usually include Eastern teachings or various religious approaches based on suppressing the desire to receive, but the method of Kabbalah.

Kabbalah is the only method that claims the opposite: do not suppress the desire to receive, but use it as much as possible.

It is true that the world has always preferred to reduce the desire to receive just in order not to suffer, since that is more convenient, calmer, and easier. This was possible in previous generations, when the desire to receive did not burn so intensely in a person. “He who increases knowledge increases sorrow”; this is understandable.

In our days, when the desire to receive already burns so strongly in a person, and in the coming years will grow even more, a person will not be able to restrict it and descend to a natural, simple way of life like the one proposed by yoga and other methods that say “Go to a monastery, sit quietly and peacefully in your cell, and be content with little.”

We live in a transitional period in which all methods of suppression become untenable. They no longer work, and then there truly remains no other choice but to turn to the method of Kabbalah.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/26, Rabash, “Lishma and Lo Lishma“

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