Part 2
Morning Lesson November 28, 2021, Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences from audio
Shamati 225
Baal HaSulam - Shamati 225. Raising Oneself
1. R. (01:29) This means that here also we have a beautiful result that the Creator did when he broke Adam HaRishon, he created a single desire, arranged it, filled it with his light and then broke this desire to receive into pieces, in order to give it a greater desire the intention to receive and then this desire broke into pieces and each and every piece is found in each and every person. From this we need to follow the environment, because that leads us back to the complete vessel and we need to constantly adapt ourselves, adjust ourselves to the environment and build the environment both physically as a group of people studying together and then more than that to begin to assemble out of ourselves this spiritual group internally, and building a miniature human being as we call it and this way we can deliver ourselves to this structure called the group which is the miniature Adam, the miniature human of the general vessel. Also by devoting ourselves there we can nurse and suckle all the forces of development, this is why he writes that the person cannot raise himself, cannot raise oneself from the state the person is in above one’s circle, where he is. If our circle is selfish if it is only serving the ego, then the first time I come out of the circle is the conception on the spiritual level, the nullification to the friends, to the group. This means that they are the womb and I am the beginning of the embryo inside this womb, the drop of semen.
So this is why one cannot raise oneself above one’s circle, that circle is the group so one has to nurse from the environment, it depends on the environment one chooses and from there he is nursing and he does not have any other way except Torah and much work. Meaning the correct environment, the correct attitude, to know how to suckle all the forces from them, this is the solution to our progress. Therefore if one chooses for oneself a good environment and Rabash writes what is the good environment in his articles on the society, then he saves time and effort because he is drawn according to his environment. According to his choice of environment the person can develop just like an embryo inside the mother's womb, he develops according to how much he is adhered to the womb, there is the force of nature doing it for the baby, but for us it is according to our exertion. In this way it's time to raise ourselves using the environment, each time the environment appears to me higher, most exalted, special and accordingly I can pull myself to it. What is the truthful shape of my environment? There is no shape or form except what I give to it, I can be in the environment of Rabbi Shimon and among his students, I can be around them and not feel anything special, and I can be around my friends who are like me and it could be a great environment for me for spiritual progress. As behind every environment there is the Creator and according to his attitude to the environment, he has the attitude towards the Creator.
2. S. (06:49) What does it mean that I chose an environment?
R. I accept the environment as it is, everybody is studying, everybody is in connection more or less, they gather, they understand to some extent what the direction of our development is. I explain it to them, I progress together with them and the important thing is how I position myself relative to our connection, not to the group as everybody can define the group as much as they want, but relative to our connection I am in devotion. There is more nothing more important for me than raising the strength and to expand the connection between us as much as possible, so that my connection, what I imagine, what I depict, all the friends should enter this connection and they all receive the fulfillment of the Creator, for the Creator to fulfill us. So it will be like this sphere that we are the sphere and what is in it is the upper light, the Creator and fills the sphere with all the NRNHY, this is what we want, this is the group.
3. S. (08:36) We are thanking you for visiting Italy.
R. I am still feeling this energy the warmth of this visit, I get so much power from you, such an excitement, such connection both to the men and to the women, and the great big thanks to Moshe who arranged for us the translation and to all the managers of the group in general, with each and everybody it was very pleasant to meet with you again and let's hope we will have more such meetings!
S. We hope for this meeting, thank you. The question is how is it possible to grab hold of this state of smallness and nullification as a good state, as the ego does not allow this, how can we have more strength and can I receive this strength from somewhere, because otherwise I do not have any chance?
R. Although in many places we see that the Sages speak of the desire to receive, speak of our ego as an enemy, like King Solomon, a great Kabbalist who referred to the desire to receive, the ego as the enemy, as a hater, but together with it we have to appreciate it because, the Creator created this and the Creator sustains it and becomes against the ego. It becomes help against because without this enemy, hater, evil doer we can’t discover the Creator as the good doer and without this contrast between the black and white, the love and hate, in all areas of our sensation we would not be able to feel anything. Therefore the more we develop, the more we will have the feeling of evil and good because between them, only between them can we determine our attitude to the middle line, which is called the golden path that we follow, until we adhere to the Creator. Because both of these forces come from him, reception and giving, plus and minus, darkness and light and through the correct combination of darkness and light, love and hate, everything that we have, all kinds of feelings, if we arrange them correctly the connection between them, if we want to be in the middle line with both together, not erasing anything, then we accumulate these impressions and come to the concept of the Creator that it appears as the source of the two forces before us. This is why the Creator himself is called Bo Reh, come and see, you come through the darkness and you see in the light
S. So do I need to nourish my ego with the greatness of the Creator because I cannot cancel the ego?
R. You do not need to cancel the ego, you do not need to play with it, just play with the force of love and connection. Don't pay attention to the ego no matter how much it is revealed, you have to place above it the force of love and bestowal and connection, if not for the ego you would not need to increase the good force. The ego is called help against, it is helping you to go above it helps you to grow the good qualities.
4. S. (13:55) Many times we say that we nullify towards the friends and we do not care if the friends are great or small, but what is the actual rank here between small and great?
R. I measure according to my selfish ego so there is no other meaning except that I need to nullify the way I see them, I have to see them all as good, as above me. I have to be like Rabash writes in the social articles because all our measurements are through the ego, it doesn't matter on what degree I am on, so all these measurements appear and I have to disqualify them and rise above them, on that it says that they have eyes but cannot see.
S. Towards what exactly do I nullify?
R. You need to nullify to the force of connection in the group and we have to imagine it as existing in the center of the group and the Creator is expecting this force of connection from us and wants to connect and build the common force in the center of the group where he can reveal himself.
5. S. (15:35) To what extent does it depend on us the matter of choosing the environment?
R. It is not so much up to us. It says that the Creator brings us to the good fortune and places our hand on the good fortune, and this is what he explains in the article The Freedom. It used to be called the Free Choice that's why I'm used to calling it this way. We don't exactly make a choice but rather where you find yourself you have to try with all of your might to grow stronger with them and to continue with them. There is no group that is bad or that is good but rather wherever a person, whatever the group, if he will go deeper into it and try to connect with them he will see that there are no coincidences and it fits his spiritual development perfectly.
6. S. (17:18) What does it mean to be nourished by the environment?
R. I suckle from the environment, the forces of advancement, impressions. As it is written about Rabbi Yosef ben Kisma who was great, yet he knew how to look at his friends who specifically with their help he will be able to rise higher and higher. Specifically because he was great. He knew how to connect to them and direct himself, and that's how he would advance. It is a beautiful example, Baal HaSulam brings us this example but it has been written about 2000 years before his time.
Freedom Article (18:34)
7. R. (20:20) Meaning if we are not in a group we cannot develop.
Reader continues: (20:26) “Which is the soil rain and sunlight”
8. R. (22:05) Meaning it is a method for how to adhere to the correct environment. This is called Torah, that’s what accompanies a person. I hope this will influence men and women a little bit more, we all lack that.
9. S. (22:34) I am trying to be every day in the lesson and one time the friend told me you don't get anything from advancing every day and that we all have to reach that together?
R. Incorrect, I don't want to hear any more than that. It is incorrect. We arrived from within the group and there are those that will arrive first and those who will arrive later and everyone is helped by the group, but to the extent that each one receives forces from the group. There are those who connect once a week and those who connect once a month or during the holidays and accordingly, they will advance, if they advance at all. Because what can you receive from the group if I connect to it once a week? I must connect with them daily. That is why our lives are measured according to these portions, these daily portions. Each day I have to have contact with the group.
10. S. (23:52) The one who is asking is in the lesson every day and her 10 is a bit less than coming to the lesson every day. So she is asking whether she should be at the pace of her 10 or her own pace?
R. No, she needs to advance at as great a pace as possible, and she should have meetings with the ten and studies on her own.
11. S. (24:32) How to correctly absorb the forces of the 10?
R. Through devotion. If I don't know how I need to annul myself like an embryo in the womb and then I receive everything like a little one who is among the great ones. So he only annuls himself and that is according to nature. We need to do this by ourselves and accordingly we can receive. The small one can receive from the grown-ups and each one needs to make himself the smallest. Also Rabbi Yossi ben Kisma made himself smaller relative to his students. You don't feel it perhaps but this is what he did in order to receive through them, because he cannot receive directly from the Creator, only through his friends that are like a Partzuf, and he received from the Partzuf. No one can receive directly from the Creator, no one. It is an unchanging structure.
12. S. (25:52) What does Baal HaSulam mean when he says one cannot raise himself above the environment that he is in?
R. According to how much he annuls himself to the environment, to that extent anything the Creator can give to the environment he can receive. The Creator can give him until the end of correction. It all depends on the extent one annuls himself to the environment. It doesn't matter if the environment is small or great, according to its height or degree, if he annuls his attitude to his environment, even Rabbi Yossi ben Kisma annulled himself and received according to his degree. Let's say he was on the 100th degree. He annulled himself towards the students who have no degree. By annulling himself towards them Rabbi Yossi rose from degree 100 to degree 101. Because we have no clear measurements for the group, rather only the annulment of a person toward the group. The group by itself if we could see it, it is already in the end of correction. Everything is relative from the person to the environment, and the environment is already in the end of correction except we can't see it.
13. S. (28:34) We read that when a person dies, gold or silver doesn't accompany him, only Torah and good deeds. Is it possible to see during the day the end result, what will you have left?
R. It is good but it is better to see the world as concealing the Creator. Why should I look at those things? Like I’m not dealing with this world that there's nothing in it. Maybe I should deal with the next world because that is internal and whole and contains the Creator in it. Be this way.
14. S. (29:33) Is there a connection between my readiness in each state and the ability to see the spiritual world? Should my work be focused on devoting to anything new that comes?
R. Not to anything that might come. You have to be devoted to connection in the group and with the Creator that is in the group, only in this way. A person, the center of the group and the Creator who is in the center of the group. Three things that we have to connect as one.
I feel today, according to this group of Italy that arrived to our meeting, to what extent it is in a new state today. Indeed they had a great effort and labor and there was a very powerful rain coming down all day long and it took us ten hours to drive there. When we came in, I didn't have the strength to be with you longer and I regretted that I didn't have the time to stay with you another 30 minutes to an hour, but on the other hand I felt I wanted to leave you with a bit of an appetite for the next meeting. You have put in a great effort and prepared everything, and it is felt on the group, this general investment you have put in. I love you.
15. S. (31:41) Continuing the story of Rabbi Yossi ben Kisma, why do I need to be in the environment of the sons of the Torah? What is unique about it and how to recognize them today?
R. No, we need not search for where the students of Torah are. Students of Torah are people who are drawn to reveal the Creator, and there can be revelation of the Creator only in a group that is organized correctly in order to come to achieve the vessel of bestowal, which is similar to the power of the Creator, to bestow. They reveal according to the law of equivalence in form, they reveal the Creator who is revealed within them. Just as later we talk about the ten Sefirot, that upper light is revealed in the ten Sefirot. it is the same law, the same rules apply. So you can't just be in a group somewhere on Earth. It is where people gather and all of them want to reveal the Creator and are willing for it to happen. To connect in a group and be connected among themselves to the point where the Creator is revealed among them. Their connection has to have the same quality, the same as the nature of the Creator, and then the Creator can be revealed among them, within them. This is our whole work, to come to such a connection between us that the Creator is revealed between us and then we will feel ourselves as ten Sefirot in which the inner light is revealed.
16. S. (35:20) What we feel in our current state is that the geography doesn't have any importance, that the world group is felt more as a new degree. How do we use this more correctly, what should we do so our movement forward will be more intense?
R. Thank you for your question. How can we connect more above boundaries? For example, this evening we have a unity evening and we are gathering here, those who can come to our center, but it is not for those who are coming from overseas because we came only yesterday and we had difficulty getting here with all of the tests. And now they're saying they're going to close the borders, close the airports because of the new virus strain. So we are expecting everyone to be connected to us together this evening, together with us. And we will try to connect the hearts without any boundaries in our desire to connect. And it is no less. Sometimes when you watch the friends from afar it doesn't confuse you with the external manifestation. You want to penetrate deeper into the friend’s heart and this is better. I will happily fly to friends where I can go as I was basically in all the places already, but I don't think it's necessary. We will learn how to connect in the contemporary way, virtually, in a spiritual way. We will learn also this evening how to be in the connection of the hearts above all of the differences in groups and languages. How to be together and feel the heart. To feel the heart you don't need any distance, interference or language, nothing, only the desire. Just as when you look at a person's eyes and you can see what is in him. And all of the languages that started with the breaking of the vessel when people stopped understanding one another, it all comes as a result of our breaking. So let us hope that we will rise above the breaking and connect and in the evening. I am waiting for all of you.