Afternoon Lesson October 12, 2023, Transcription

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio.

Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him – Selected Excerpts from the Sources. #14

1. Rav’s Introduction: These excerpts as we know, they all deal with preparing the person to the realization of spirituality so that he would feel that he is running to unity with the Creator, according to equivalence of form with Him. As the Creator is The Good That Does Good, also a person wants to be the good that does good, and then gradually he comes to a state where he becomes similar to the Creator, and then a person is called Adam from the word Domeh, similar to the Creator. We are in number 14, please.

Reading Excerpt 14. (01:22) Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52 “When a person introspects and feels....”

2. R. (03:13) Yes, this article is very beautiful. Let's hear it again.

Reading Excerpt Again: 14. (03:25) “When a person introspects and feels....”

3. S. (05:19) What does it mean that the Creator shows himself for search? What does it mean that the Creator presents Himself to be found?

R. It means that we would look for Him, it awakens in us a desire for Him that He is actually concealed, and we have to perform some actions, some movements to get closer to Him to find Him.

S. How do I understand that He is presenting Himself for this search and we need to make a move in response?

R. This is according to your desires, where do you get the desire for the Creator, because He gave it to you and the Creator is always first, everything starts from Him. If you have a yearning for the Creator, what to do with Him this is all because He awakens these desires.

S. And how do we respond to Him? He gives Himself full search and how do we respond to meet Him?

R. You have to try to get closer to Him, to hold onto Him, to grasp Him. This is what is said in this excerpt… “Seek the Lord while He is found”, so that He would give you so that you would demand, you will necessarily demand, seek Him which is He is always first, He always precedes to give you heart, to demand Him and when you know about this, that the Creator is always first and that He awakens you, and you will necessarily strengthen and seek Him for it is for man's way to move first because you will grow stronger, strong as you can ask, for the King is calling you.

4. S. (08:05) What does it mean that the King is calling you?

R. There can't be anyone else as we have learned from different sources that the Creator is behind every man and between people. The Creator exists and the Creator fills everything up and covers everything and that's why There Is None Else Besides Him, and all this you must in essence be directed at Him.

S. He is calling me through all of the images of reality? What do I do if the image is horrendous?

R. It doesn't matter. Obviously, in this way he finds that he can awaken you more, so wake up and get closer to Him and realize your connection with Him as much as possible.

5. S. (09:19) Where can a person find first original strength in order to start moving towards the Creator?

R. From the Creator Himself, He gives it, everything is done by the Creator. All that is left for the person is to ignite himself, and wake himself up, thanks to the fact that the Creator awakens all kinds of conditions for the person to address Him.

S. How does a man, how does a person feel about new states in regards to the highest states?

R. A person has to always be in a demand and directed at the fact that the Creator awakens him and see in what way the Creator addresses him through other people, through nature, and in such a way, he always through vegetative, inanimate, and animal in connection with the Creator.

6. S. (11:28) This is such a peculiar quote, a person is connected inside of himself?

R. I don't know how they translated it but in general when a person tries to address the Creator he gathers all his qualities and directs them at the Creator.

S. A person has to exit their bad state into the Creator at first, right?

R. Yes.

7. S. (12:21) The measure of our demand that we have to address the Creator with, does He demand this same demand, the same amount as we do from Him?

R. Maybe yes, maybe not. The main thing for us is not to leave our connection with Him behind.

8.S. (13:15) I raise my prayer to the Creator; the strength of my prayer has to be... I have a feeling that at the moment I cannot tolerate my current state and it is better to die than to live like this. Is this the first condition of addressing the Creator? The second condition is my condition in my ten, in the group has to be they help each other in joy, in strength on the path. What to do to strengthen these two? Where can I get the strength to do if form?

R. Adhesion, adhesion with the friends, and from them you strive for adhesion with the Creator.

S. How do I, in such an extreme state? I can accept that I become the loving mother in relation to all the friends, but where do I get the strength from? What is this adherence that you are talking about, what is this?

R. The force with which you want to connect only with the Creator.

9. S. (14:41) When a person starts feeling that they are under the control of the Creator, but this sensation is also a part of the Creator's control, what can a person do in order not to connect this to himself?

R. It's not important, let him. Just think that it's from Him, the main thing is to move forward with more connection with the Creator.

10. S. (15:19) Why can we still not correct even though the Creator is demanding it from us?

R. Because you're all big egoists and you don't want to unite, and you don't ask to unite, otherwise, the Creator would have already created unity and you would feel Him in the unity.

S. In the material, the period that we are going through is it labor pains if, yes...?

R. We haven't come to labor pain yet.

11. S. (16:16) Why does a person fall in a sensation as if the Creator doesn't help him?

R. Well because a person needs to invest a lot of himself into connection with the Creator.

12. S. (16:46) Alongside trying to find the Creator behind the friends, is there any merit in trying to distance oneself from the image of nature?

R. No, there's no need to distance yourself from nature. The main thing is for us to be closer and closer to the Creator. No, there's no need because you will be confused.

13. S. (17:58) If the world Kli reaches internal war against its evil inclination would it help the world?

R. Of course, only in this way can we come to Gmar Tikkun, the end of correction. When we fight with our ego and ask the Creator to help in this.

14. S. (18:34) When we search for connection with the Creator during the day, what happens to us during the night? I mean I have the sensation, that this conversation goes on and on even if I am sleeping?

R. Very good, that's the way it needs to be.

15. S. (19:25) We already have, I think, a thought clear enough about the fact that everything that is happening is done by the Creator, it is all His decision and His action, and there is also a request towards the connection and unity, especially during this period now it's so intense and it feels the only solution is connection with the ten. It feels as if the Creator is calling straight to our hearts and then you reply to Him and He disappears. It feels as if it is a one-sided connection that we cannot really prolong and continue?

R. Ask, to ask, so that he wouldn't leave this connection with you.

S. How this internal strength of the heart, how can we increase this power to the maximum?

R. We don't leave this, we don't stop this prayer, we don't stop asking.

16. S. (20:39) If the Creator is completely silent what do we do?

R. We have to continue until you get a response. Continue with all possible means, the prayer.

17. S. (21:07) If our misery makes us ask for his mercy it is therefore necessary to be in a sincere and good spirits of attitude for us to be for Him to reveal Himself?

R. It's best to be in connection with the Creator and as much as possible be in good spirits because of this. This is a sign that we are in good connection.

S. The Creator reveals inside always even if we are a little far away?

R. Yes, we just need patience.

18. S. (22:22) How do I demand the Creator, not for myself and not in order to receive?

R. How to demand so the Creator responds?

S. She's asking how to demand Him, just to receive Him?

R. And if it's not for yourself and not to help the world then what for?

S. How to demand the force of bestowal?

R. For this we need to demand what the Creator needs, look what the Creator needs and demand this. To achieve this, to give this to the Creator.

19. S. (23:28) We are now raising a prayer on two levels: on a level of our connection and on a level of dissemination, and our dissemination we really only have to take part in our message or also do it in our environment in order to connect with the Creator?

R. This depends on how, at least, we explain the messages.

S. If we have to take care of the environment in this environment that we have today, and the environment of Kabbalah and the campus is also the immediate environment?

R. No, we shouldn't worry about this. We have courses, groups, all kinds of discussions, talks meetings. We have to just disseminate ourselves more and more, but where to turn, you have this people have this.

20. S. (24:53) Sometimes we say that a person has to be the first one to be asking to become closer with the Creator and sometimes we say the Creator is the first one to awaken a person. So who is the first one after all, and who is the last one?

R. The Creator is first and the last.

21. S. (25:22) You have called the North American Kli, and the people have responded. How can we make it so that we strive towards the goal altogether?

R. According to example, give them an example.

22. S. (26:18) In the current state in our work in the ten how do we be in the connection between us and reveal Himself? We are simply in a common prayer and along with it we also feel that we have to convince each other again about things that we were clear about before. Now we have to convince each other that unity and connection are in the middle of it all and not what is going on outside. The main thing is unity between us and we have to talk about it constantly to each other because if we forget about it and we don't mention it, it always disappears and goes. How can we make this connection between us the main thing so that we know that it is the main thing?

R. Only from what we are talking about.

S. It's just that it is very scary to forget about it.

R. Great, this is very good already.

23. S. (27:40) You said that we have to direct our hearts towards the Creator this is more or less clear, we ask from the Creator Himself to do that, but how do we direct our heart towards the friend in the ten or as the center of the ten, what kind of actions do we have to do?

R. The same ones, as the Creator, to direct the intention of my heart.

S. So that He gives us a desire?

R. Yes.

24. S. (28:24) If a man is asking for 15, 20 years and he feels that the Creator doesn't reply and he understands that his prayer is incomplete and he can continue to pray as he does now because he has got used to it, but where can he find strength to strengthen the prayer if he understands that he is used the Creator not answering him?

R. Maybe he needs to tell himself that he hasn't started asking the Creator.

S. Well, that's even worse, we have been asking for 20 years?

R. So he didn't know he didn't know how to ask and now in the end finally he can take everything that is written about addressing the Creator and address Him. This is what happens to you.

S. So what does it mean to request correctly, what are we doing wrong?

R. So that you would have the right necessity desire, direct to the Creator and nothing else.

25. S. (29:50) I realized from the age of about four or five that I felt very special because I had this point in the heart, but I didn't know what to do with it. I thought it was me that I was special and the first thing that I learned with Kabbalah was that it is not me, it’s the Creator that did that. During this time I have worked, read, listened, and wanted to progress and that's all I can do because I don't really know what it is that I want, they are just words of course is this the right approach to just keep pressing on and pressing on even though you are blind to the truth, that you don't know what it is that you are doing?

R. No, you have to learn how to unite with your ten; this is the only thing that you lack.

26. S. (31:04) A lot of people have been asking for years they have a prayer and it doesn't have any reply, is it possible that we just cannot really see this reply and it's like encrypted because we have studied a lot that sometimes we ask for one thing and the reply comes in a different place and we simply didn't register a reply from above, so maybe we shouldn't try and decrypt it and continue working?

R. You have to check once again to what extent I greet the group correctly and through it to the Creator; this is what is important.

27. S. (31:58) I heard that we are big egoists and if we want to play, act as if we are on the next step in order to reach the demand. How do we act altruistically?

R. Always care for the unity, “As one man with one heart”, with your friends.

S. We have a lot of soldiers and what message does Rav want us to forward to them to support them?

R. Strengthening is only possible with one thing we want to be in connection between us and from that to connection with the upper force, that's it.

28. S. (33:28) You said previously to a friend that prior to a person asking the Creator when he collects all his qualities, and he addresses them to the Creator. The question: the fact that a person has to collect all these qualities that he feels in the ten or the contradictions or the distances and he collects them together and he is asking from a huge desire from a huge lack for love to appear between them and a reply from the Creator to his prayer that he feels all those contradictive parts as if they are his soul?

R. Yes, little by little He will reveal.

29. S. (34:20) We learn that it is called strengthening ourselves in None Else Besides Him to attain the Creator, what is attaining the Creator, and what does it mean? Is it attainment in a feeling or a feeling in the mind?

R. This is in feeling when I have a connection with the upper force that exists and controls the whole of reality.

30. S. (34:59) I have a feeling that if a person doesn't love me then he cannot love the Creator too?

R. Yes, yes, so we need to come to a state where we are all for the others and then there will be perfect love between us, that's how we will come to this.

S. I cannot feel, I don't feel the use of my desire to receive because the Creator is happy with my desire to receive?

R. Very good, it's very good to advance this way, the Creator guides you.

31. S. (36:04) A friend is describing a state that she feels herself cut into. On one hand, she has an internal world of pain and suffering of what is happening in the world, and on the other world there is spiritual work in prayer, and she has sent me a message that her mind is boggled. How can she act on both of those levels and find the middle line?

R. It's not the middle line that she thinks about. We have to unite between us with our whole heart and we will receive from above the middle line.

32. S. (36:47) It is written in this article that we have read that the King is calling you. How does he do that? For example, there is a war right now and He's calling for us. How do we know that He's calling for us, and in what state?

R. He calls us to unity between us and Him.

S. I agree with you. I am on this path for a couple of years, and I hear what you are saying, the fact that we have to unite and we are exerting all the effort in order to unite, and during the Congress we were uniting, but we entered war. What is good and what is not good, what was our mistake, what was our sin?

R. What your sin was? You don't understand what your sin was about?

S. Well, I'm a big egoist. Yes, we are performing those actions, but we still remain egoists.

R. Yes because your request is still not okay.

S. So what can we ask for?

R. I have to learn how to ask about something right and something where the Creator can help straight away.

S. What does it mean to ask correctly? To ask for unity?

R. Yes.

S. But the unity didn’t come.

R. Because we are not asking correctly.

S. Do we have to ask the Creator to teach us?

R. That’s also correct.

33. S. (38:48) We have a friend in the ten and her son is fighting in the war. What prayer specifically, do we have to raise in order to help them?

R. A prayer from the bottom of your heart for the Creator, to guard all the soldiers our sons and daughters so that we will try all of the time to rise above our ego and unite.

34. S. (39:41) I feel a problem with unity. I know that it depends on our correction, and I know that I am the only one not corrected. How to accelerate in this direction? I can't accelerate myself. Should I ask the Creator or the ten?

R. It all depends on the request to the Creator.

S. A correctly constructed request, yes?

R. Yes.

S. And how to build it correctly?

R. I don't know, you will help, otherwise you won't help.

35. S. (40:44) The special time in Israel we have an opportunity to talk to people with external people with soldiers. What do you think should we create a radio during the conventions that we have for external people so that the soldiers could listen in Russian and Hebrew and external people could just listen and we could talk to them?

R. No, no we are not ready for this. You have a good heart but not enough knowledge yet.

36. S. (41:30) We have a feeling that the Creator always gives us a reason to unite, and it is as if when we feel that we are not we are unable to deal with it then there is a special prayer, a prayer about society. What else can we do so that the prayer would appear from inside of the society to transfer it there to move it there?

R. Nothing, it should be enough for us if we are praying for the society for it to be one and for it to strive towards the Creator; we don't need anything else.

37. S. (42:23) We go to daily prayer with a gathering of 600 women for a prayer. How do we help our friends feel support from the Creator in our support? Maybe we should do some additional actions?

R. No, my dear there is nothing else. If you are all praying together, together for peace, for the Creator to be revealed in people you need nothing else; there is nothing else.

38. S. (43:09) The suffering we feel does this also, is this included in correction?

R. Yes.

S. These days the feelings that come out as despair, anger, and fear, how to balance your feelings correctly at this time?

R. Direct ourselves towards the heart of the friends and from a common heart we address the Creator.

39. S. (44:11) You said that He will help, but millions of people are crying and asking, including our whole world Kli, where is this help at the moment?

R. What are you crying about?

S. About Israel first of all, and Ukraine; there is so much evil in the world.

R. We are the ones doing it, performing it. We are the ones performing this evil. In fact, we don't want to become closer to each other and help each other.

S. We are all making so much effort, the whole world Kli to unite, is this not enough?

R. Read in our books what is demanded from us, what does it mean to connect, to unite, and what does it mean to become closer. Try, try, and understand it all and ask the Creator to help us in all of this, and you will reach together with Him a single work to want to work with Him, He wants it so much.

40. S. (45:42) A request for peace in the world, is felt sometimes very general and normal. Is this enough to have such a request if we unite around it in the group or should we find something more concrete, something more specific?

R. No, it is enough for now.

41. S. (46:10) Has the lack of work hastened the arrival of those tragic events?

R. No doubt about that.

42. S. (46:36) What is it specifically that causes a person to turn from believing that he made some of the actions to There Is None Else Besides Him?

R. The fact that he sees how it really does not depend on him.

43. S. (47:17) Can we say the fact that we see the war, is that a result that we couldn't use the light that we attracted from our unity?

R. Yes, yes.

44. S. (47:55) A person is made in such a way that without effort he can't value the result. That's why the Creator creates all these obstacles?

R. Of course.

S. The more effort we can make the more pleasure we can give to the Creator and He gets delight in this?

R. Yes.

45. S. (48:30) All the history of humanity’s wars, including in Israel, we know how much suffering the nation of Israel went through so nothing helps, you are stuck and you don't know what to do. R. Until we become smarter.

S. So it's like he wants to kick the ego out of us?

R. Yes.

46. S. (49:15) How to learn to demand the power as it is called the King is calling you?

R. We unite and we ask together.

47. S. (49:56) I am speaking from my ten because I don't exist without my ten, but I am speaking in the first person. I am looking for the way to the right prayer and is this correct what I'm about to say, that in me there is something important in each person? I am very concerned about this like my child, and this is hidden in me. Should I ask the Creator for the love that's directed at something that is the most valuable for me so the same love would change the direction towards the ten and towards others?

R. Yes, yes.

48. S. (51:07) What's the difference between the soul and one man with one heart, is this the same thing?

R. Yes.

49. S. (51:28) Is it correct to feel suffering for the suffering of the Creator and pray for Him?

R. Yes. With the right path and with the right prayer.

50. S. (51:51) Where to get the strength to kiss the hand that slaps us?

R. Only in the group and in the Creator.

51. S. (52:12) Is it correct to say that in the ten we practice placing the Creator behind the sins and afterward we discover him there?

R. Yes.

52. S. (52:46) Why can't I fully realize the power of the prayer and think that something else can help?

R. Because you don't really give all of your heart to the prayer.

53. S. (53:08) What does the Creator want to show us by the fact that some big groups are physical in Israel?

R. He wants to show us through this that we have to work in unity way more seriously.

54. S. (53:57) I can't understand why the blow, that the part of the people that can't understand why they get blows, get the blows. How should we work with this? Maybe we should justify for them?

R. It was always like this. The people who you can say don't have any direct connection to it, are suffering.

S. But if we feel the turn in the mind, should we try to put this in our heart, what should our work be?

R. Yes, that's our work.

S. When a blow comes it seems very important to justify the Creator, but you understand that you can’t, but you want to receive the result in you, I justify it. Can we say that some people in the ten can justify this blow for me?

R. No don't think this way, the whole ten has to work and everyone has to work in justifying the Creator and registering the reason for those blows.

55. S. (55:24) I wanted to send a message to the Israeli Kli that you have several thousands of friends all around the world. The Creator put us around you for a purpose; to pray for you and to make sure that we give you strength. Please let us use this also as an opportunity to give gratitude you are not alone. We pray we don't sleep; we wake up in the morning, we think about you, you are not alone. Please let us use this time for gratitude. There's a reason why we have to go through this: you have 6,000 friends around you.

R. Thank you a lot, Sheila, thank you a lot, and warm embraces to you.

56. S. (56:28) Everything that we are learning now in the spirit after the congress, to rise to the next degree, this is a question for us to strengthen each other and altogether in faith so that the Creator would give us the force of faith because the force of faith is the feeling that this is what we need from Him, that he would help us so that we would unite around this because he is the one that controls everything.

R. Very good, thanks.

57. S. (57:26) I would like to thank you from our whole heart for your good heart full of patience. We love you and we love the Creator.

R. This is mutual.

58. S. (57:56) Can there be winners in war and is it to say that the one that wins is the one that makes peace?

R. The only victor that there could be is the Creator and this is the kind of war that we want to see. This is a war in which ego will be defeated and peace in the whole world will be established.

59. S. (58:40) What does it mean suffering of the Creator?

R. What is suffering? Suffering of the Creator is we are looking and still not finding the right path to correct the world, the right way. From this, He is suffering.

60. S. (59:37) How to bring to the material world through the feeling of joy and unity. How do we get into the lesson, and how do we pass it on to the external world?

R. To pass it through the external world, you can only through your heart, and then you will also learn how to speak, and how to write. You'll be passing it on in all ways possible, in all the possible ways.

61. S. (01:00:16) If all the people felt themselves as citizens of the world and stopped splitting into nations and countries with this help stop wars?

R. No, no. We have to do what is expected of us despite the fact that we are split into nations, into separate people, by gender, and some other factors. We still have to connect between us in our hearts “As one man in one heart” and this way there will be peace in the world and we actually are approaching this state. You might not believe me of course but you will see it soon, so let's make somewhat effort and we will find ourselves together in a good, calm, world. I wish you the best. I will see you tomorrow.