Morning Lesson July 8, 2021, Transcription
PART 3
Baal HaSulam. "Study of the Ten Sefirot" (TES). Vol. 1. Part 2. Inner Observation. Chapter Six. #65 ("Now we will explain about the screen.")
42. R. (00:25) We are continuing the study of TES, it is not a small book it is nonetheless more than 2,000 pages and this is why we have to see here how we are advancing, advancement in TES is not that we understand from reading and it becomes clear in each and every moment or every page. Rather we want to invest our attitude and our intention into it, we want the things we study to affect us as the light that reforms, that the inner force that exists in these words will affect us and correct us. That is first of all, so let us read and ask and we will advance.
Item 65 “The reflected light is divided into ….”
43. S. (03:18) What does it mean that the fourth phase clothe in the previous phases, ZA and Bina?
R. The fourth phase is the will to receive when all of the previous desires, the previous phases don't have the will to receive like the fourth phase, and thus it is in complete opposition of the light; it performs the restriction, the screen, the rejection, and it responds to the action of the light by that it's seemingly returns the light back and it wants to bestow back onto the source of the light on Keter. This is why to the extent that it wants to equalize, to resemble the source of the light from Keter, it raises its response, and the light reflects up to Keter and then it turns out that the fourth phase reaches Keter.
S. It turns out that the fourth Phase to start with needs to be aimed towards equivalents, resemble Keter and then she connects with ZA.
R. Correct and what that stems from, maybe I will draw it to make it clear (Rav is drawing) we have learned how from the forth phases we are getting the development of the forth phases, the root, 1,2,3,4 and only the fourth phase, the last phase is the true will to receive. The fourth phase now as it receives it has performed the restriction from Malchut, the first restriction, Tzimtzum Aleph, then it decides that it wants to reach a state that it will have a reflected light. After that it also needs a screen and then it reaches the action, and it is there. What comes to it is that it is completely divided into ten Sefirot, then the light cloths in Sefirot of root,1,2,3,4,5 and the light goes through all of these Sefirot until the fourth phase, the fourth Sefira, and when its cloths the ten Sefirot there is a condition that Malchut rejects it and then what develops is the reflected light. Now we have two tendencies, they direct light and the reflected light. The direct light comes from above downwards and the reflected light comes from below upwards. This is what he tells us here; the reflected light is divided into Sefirot, according to the clothing of these Sefirot and the Ohr Yashar the direct light, we have this direct light with a clothing of the reflected light in them and vice versa. The more that we have reflected light so is the direct light clothed in that.
44. S. (09:48) The purpose of creation is to receive or reject the light?
R. The purpose of creation is to reach adhesion with the Creator, it is manifested in a way that with the will to receive you reject the light and with the will to bestow you receive the light.
45. S. (10:18) When Malchut was emptied and the reflected light as far as the line goes, the first three Sefirot and even the forth one is filled, but the only one that's not filled is the Malchut?
R. Yes, Malchut is not fulfilled.
S. So the first four are filled and when Malchut creates a Masach I receive the direct light which comes from the first four?
R. Yes, Malchut is only filled with the reflected light.
S. From the force of reflected light?
R. Yes.
S. This is one division so how do we get the division Rosh, Toch, and Sof?
R. That is something we will talk about soon.
46. S. (11:35) What changes in the attitude of Malchut to the Sefirot that pass her the light before the restriction and after?
R. Before the restriction there wasn't any prohibition, Malchut was filled with all the light and after the restriction Malchut has a condition of the restriction where the light will not enter to receive in order to receive and then it stays empty, it only acts in the form of the reflected light.
S. How do these Sefirot proceed before the restriction and after?
R. I don't understand what your confusion is. I am sitting in front of the Host with what He gives me and I make the calculation of how much I can receive or not, that is all. You are confused with your own philosophies, accept it, simply.
S. What is the Host?
R. The Creator.
S. Where is the reality of the will to receive in the system, what is that?
R. You have a source for the light.
S. But I don't have a connection to that.
R. In this light you have the will to bestow that comes from the Creator?
S. Yes, but the Host is not standing before me, before me a system is standing and I don't grasp it.
R. That is incorrect. If this is the way you're thinking, you're completely wrong, you have a wrong perception of reality; You are standing before the Creator and between you and the Creator there is a system and the system distinguishes between you and Him, and you want to adapt yourself to the Creator.
S. How is this adaptation done before the restriction, what changes Malchut goes through after the restriction?
R. This is what we learned by the restrictions, screen, and reflected light. Malchut adapts itself to the Creator, so that the bestowal from the Creator called direct light becomes the same essence just like Malchut does to the Creator; from Keter to Malchut and from Malchut back to Keter, and in these twenty Sefirot from up and down and back up, then we see how they connect.
47. S. (14:39) How do you explain this practically in the work?
R. To the extent that you intend to be in the direction of the Host, to that extent you can receive from Him.
S. What in simplicity is the essence of this action?
R. That you seemingly reject everything because your will to receive now has to be established correctly with a new approach to the Host, and to measure how much the Host gives you and how much you can give Him, in this way you reach a state where you may reach equivalents, identification, connection.
S. Today as you see it in our groups are we succeeding in causing the reflected light according to what we said right now?
R. We are examining to what extent the Host wants to give us and how much we are capable of returning it to Him and then accordingly we should work, but before we examine this stage called ‘I to my beloved and my beloved to me’; I to the Host and the Host to me, I have to perform the restriction when all of the things that I'm about to measure now, all of these things I measure in my tendency to bestow to the Host, this is how it happens, truly for the sake of the Host and always for the friends and for the Creator, if this is the way you try to establish yourself you can measure that everything is correct.
S. The question is are we managing to cause this reflected light today in our measure, where we are?
R. Except for you.
S. Ok, but are some achieving this?
R. Yes.
48. S. (17:40) Why do the teachers write it for us in such a way that the light comes down and is brought from below upwards? Is this how they feel it?
R. This is how we accept reality: that the upper force, the bestowing force is above the intellect and above the emotion, above our perceptions so geometrically if you look at the illustration or geographically that it is always this way as the perception of reality that we have. When you say about a person that someone is stronger or taller than him about the upper force that it is higher or above. What is the question? It is not only us, but also in every place, in every method and in every science, the bestower is above and the receiver is below this is how it is. The male faces downwards and the female faces up. This is the matter of receiving and bestowing, the bestower, the giver is always above and the receiver is below. When we reach a state that everything that exists in the desire to receive and the desire to bestow will be in equivalent form, we will have a circle again as it was prior to creation.
49. S. (19:42) When the higher light expands the direct light leads to mutual guarantee and the reflected light leads to the creation of purity?
R. No, the direct light comes to us just like reflected light comes to us from the upper light, from the Creator and only that the direct light comes to us from His desire to delight His creatures and the reflected light comes to us according to our response where we want to come to equivalence of form with them and to that extent, we receive from the light that shines to us a force that can give us the reflected light.
50. S. (20:56) When you say receive from the Creator, what do I receive from the Creator?
R. If you are in order to bestow, you have a sensation that you are in connection with the Creator and you are receiving from Him.
51. S. (21:37) If we go to the well-known as the host and the guest when he is ashamed standing before the Host and he restricts him so, the question is in our work, before the restriction you should feel the Creator and each and every state that is prior to the restriction?
R. To see the Creator before me I don't know how to tell you but you need to feel that you are the one who is receiving and that you are receiving them that you have a sensation that there is someone before you operating upon you and giving you and you feel the shame in this, then you have no choice but to do a restriction, that is under the condition that you are working in the group and then you intensify the force of bestowing on yourself from above and then also through the participation in your group can increase your force of bestowing in return from below. That means in the group you are carrying out the action of the restriction, in other words the action of restriction cannot take place if you are not receiving all of the Sefirot to Malchut that is common and shared and from that you discover all of their responses from the comment Malchut.
S. Out of my connection with the attempts of connection, the friends with the group we get this force, the feeling of the Creator?
R. Yes.
Item 65 again (24:08)
52. S. (25:53) It is clear how Malchut expands to the first three phases and incorporates them by the force of the reflected light but how did these discernments become Sefirot, how does Malchut identify Sefirot?
R. The same phases that the direct light moves through the Malchut and Malchut raises in return to them her desire to connect with these lights so these lights the response of Malchut becomes this discernment, these phases of root 1 2 3 4 to illuminate, why does it mean they eliminate? Because Malchut adds her desire to bestow and they start to illuminate and become from phases to Sefirot.
Desires to receive that Malchut raises become Sefirot?
R. With the intention to bestow, which Malchut raises from herself to Keter then they become Sefirot because they have the coarseness from the Malchut and the refinement from the Keter and when they meet together become Sefirot.
S. So Sefirot are the corrected vessels of Malchut?
R. They are the corrected vessels of Malchut. They are called Sefirot from the word sapphire, this is why they illuminate and shine because they have some kind of opportunity to work with the light.
S. Malchut does not identify the light outside of it, what does it identify is her corrected vessels that become Sefirot?
R. Yes, but you can't say that someone identifies something outside of themself as there is no such thing in spirituality or in reality, we identify what enters the desire to receive only.
Item 66 (28:31)
53. R. (30:07) What we are reading right now are a very special man wrote this who has reached high attainments and he doesn't write one word that does not come from his exalted attainment. If we have difficulty with these words even if we don't quite understand then we receive from it a certain illumination, the reforming light this is how we purify ourselves and advance. If we don't do that this is like a donkey is looking at the side of the book and doesn't understand. So please, you need to think about what the purpose of your study is, not to be so indifferent, how to awaken yourself more, how to understand more and to feel more. To ask from the Creator for more understanding, more feeling. That it is impossible to remain this way, what will I have and what will be with me if I stay this way, a beast? We need nevertheless to rise up.
S. You said we need to connect to the text, how can we as a ten connect to this text practically?
R. Whatever you can do, whatever is possible to do with your hands, do it, everything is read and you heard, let us connect all of these things together and demand and yearn for all of this.
S. What are we demanding when we read TES?
R. Now we are going to enter a workshop, what did we demand from the study? Knowledge, intellect, intention, maybe the weather can change, it doesn't matter what, workshop. Everyone is in this, please.
54. R. (38:45) To add to this, we are in a special time and in this time of the year that we are in usually states, events that are very not good happened to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah and also belong to the attainment of the Creator, this is the ruin of the first temple and the second temple, all kinds of such events that are typical to this time of the year. Therefore, it is no wonder that we are also feeling a certain hardening of the heart, this is a heaviness that is upon us right now. With that we must rise above it, so what if there is heaviness, this is not important as we need to be above it. Let's lift ourselves up, rise and come to states that are good so that we will do the states and not that the states will dictate to us what we need to be, but rather the other way around.
55. S. (40:49) How to rise above this heaviness of the heart, that has fallen upon us suddenly?
R. As I explained it's not all of a sudden, it is guided from above that there are times for good and times for bad see, this is not such a good time meaning that there are lights that influence all of humanity and to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah and coming closer to the Creator especially. We are under these times, meaning not the times operating in us but that the upper light is operating and shining on us in such a way and that rises to be above this, specifically to rise and this will pass soon.
S. Are we capable to be above this?
R. Somewhat, not completely, we are dependent on this force as we don't have a restriction, this screen and the reflected light with a vessel that we can rise with to uplift ourselves and against the charms of the stars. As I'm explaining now, we need, despite that, to wake up and to continue.