Afternoon Lesson June 18, 2023

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

“I see the Lord before me always” - Selected excerpts from the sources.

1. Ravs intro: This is truly a very important and great condition that a person needs to depict for himself that he is always in front of the Creator, and he is with him truly face to face and this is the only thing he yearns for all the time to renew such an attitude I to my beloved and my beloved to me and the Creator is in front of me and I am in front of him and in this way from day to day we continue more and more getting to know each other, speaking between us and in this way, we advance which is why that I return to the Creator in front of me all the time, this is a great commandment each time for the revelation of the Creator more and more.

Reading Article: (01:39) 1. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 213, “Acknowledging the Desire”.

Rav: (03:13) This is what we need all the time to depict to ourselves, that we are in front of the Creator, and we want to see him, to feel him, to identify him, and to feel that we are truly in this tight connection face to face with him. We don't want to disconnect from this, it doesn't matter what incidents, or what states we go through, which is why it is written I see the Lord before me always. Why always, because to see the Lord because there could always be a disconnection and then we return to the connection, and then disconnection we return, and in this way, we try to get to know the connection between us this attitude until all the time from between us it's the Creator we feel as close as possible.

2. S. (04:36) What is this always?

R. Always meaning without stopping, that I don't want to see anything in front of me except the Creator. It doesn't mean that I erase the current reality which appears to me, but rather I understand that it also comes from the Creator, and so I try that all the forms of the world that appear to me, and the Creator that presents this in front of me, I connect them together and in this way, I continue in life from moment to moment, from moment to moment all the time.

S. (05:28) I understand that from time to time we’re trying ascents and descents, but to always? How do we see the Lord before us always?

R. Like we learn that There Is None Else Besides Him, it's the Creator who presents to us this picture of reality and each moment what I feel, so I just need to try more to identify behind reality the Creator who is presenting this to me. That's it, there is nothing special here. There is a force that presents reality to me and when I see it, I need to not stop feeling, seeing, and understanding that it comes to me from the Creator.

S. That we connect between I see the Lord before me always and to see the ten in front of me always? 

R. Also the ten. When I try to understand how it's all arranged, I need to connect myself and the Creator, and the ten, and the world as one picture of reality. As much as I yearn for this I need all the time to make that effort that I don't let this picture escape, not even a part of it, the Creator and I and the true reality and this current reality that appears to me, and in all of this I want to connect into one and all the time to guard it and all that I feel in truth it is the Creator there is None Else Besides Him he depicts to me, in my feelings, and in my mind, and in this way I want to tie all these things together to such an extent that I'm in adhesion with the Creator. 

3 S. (08:26) What exactly do I place the Creator in front of me?

R. That what you see of the reality that's in front of you, that you are in, this all comes to you from the Creator.

S. My goal is to determine Him in reality?

R. The goal is to set the Creator in this reality as the source, and afterward to arrange these things as such that only in your connection with the Creator and this whole picture, it depends on that.

S. The excerpt we just read, he reflects it into a certain structure that if the foundation is not proper then the whole thing is corrupted, this foundation of determining the Creator is always in front of us. How do we develop this foundation within a person?

R. That we basically, that we count for walls, but there's basically one foundation, the Creator, and he determines what impression you have from what he projects on you.

S. This ability to strengthen this picture of reality that it's the Creator that projects this to us. What does it depend on that we will succeed in determining this?

R. The ability to determine the correct picture that each time we return and check, is your perception as correct and true, that you receive it for sure from the Creator, that you get it from the good who does good and by that he wants to bring you closer for you to know Him and that's it.

4. S. (11:22) What is our task, or our major principles when we see the Creator before us? What are we doing then?

R.  That we already identify that it comes to us from the Creator.

S It's written, I See the Lord Before Me Always, so in that case what are the main principles on which we need to act?

R. We need to not forget and always renew within us the correct perception of reality, that we don't have any other source besides None Else Besides Him, the Creator, and when something comes from us, from a feeling in our feeling we need to connect to that and try to understand, to attain him, to arrange connections with him, to connect more from moment to moment until the form of reality will become clearer for us, that we are in the world that is entirely the Creator.

S. What does it mean, that seeing the Creator, concerning happiness, what do we do with happiness there? How does that work?

R. When I try to see the Creator as the good who does good, that always arranges the picture of reality that I feel, so I need to reach an inner attitude that there cannot be, that even if I feel something it's not so pleasant, not so whole, but it's all because that moment there's a certain corruption in me, in the middle between me and the Creator, which is why I correct this as much as possible. In general, my correction is that I return to him and ask him to help me to correct my perception. From him for sure comes only good, and that it is not so good, this is what I need to correct, I need to correct my qualities for them to receive the Creator as he is. 

5. S. (14:53) How can I always raise my desire towards my friends and the Creator?

R.  We need to direct ourselves to the Creator to open our hearts to him. For us to have a common heart because he is one and we want to be one, and for him to enter into our hearts and give us the feeling that he is coming closer to us and fulfills our hearts and we're so happy from that.

6. S. (16:13) How behind all the pictures that can get revealed to us, how do we see specifically him, specifically him?

R. We cannot see the Creator; he doesn't have an image, a picture, he has nothing. We see just his influence on us and the result of his influence on us, we feel about them, and this is what we call the Creator, Boreh, come and see, that you need to correct yourself to come closer to placing yourself in a direct way in front of him, then you will start to discern what actions, desires, thoughts, and feelings that he arranges in you, and from that you will come to know him, this is called from your actions we will know you.

S. Well this picture that's opening up in front of my eyes, I can simply say that it's the Creator or I can try to see him as quality. How do we find his quality there?

R. Simply delve further into what you feel and describe it to the Creator. Start to try to come closer to him and to see how much the change is in your influence and the differences of the perception in your perception of him. It's like when I change glasses, I see something else, I change some kind of instrument for my ear, then I hear something else, etc. It all depends on the person, try in this way to see it, and to play with it, and you will see that there are a lot of opportunities for the Creator to arrange us.

7. S. (18:52) The Creator wants us to recognize him, what does this mean to understand him?

R. To understand him, to feel him, to reveal him, this means that I start to identify his actions in everything that influences me, everything that influences me, it could be from the smallest things until the greatest things, that all this comes to me from him, that there's Nothing Else Besides Him, and all of this is working on my desire to receive and formatting it and making my desire to receive such that gradually inside I start to depict to myself this image of the one who is depicting it.

8. S. (20:21) If the Creator does only good, then where are all these bad things that come into our life, where do they come from? Or is it just our perception that they are bad? Is the Creator trying to teach us a lesson and make us stronger? Can you explain it to me?

R. Until we study in the wisdom of Kabbalah on how to change yourself, so that we will be impressed by the Creator exactly what in the way that he wants to show us himself. Therefore, there is nothing problematic here, we simply need to correct our qualities for them to be similar to his qualities, and then we will receive from him his attitude in the true way.

S. I'm going through some really hard times. Part of me is saying to give up, but the other part doesn't want to give up. How can I find the strength to not give up?

R. To cancel, concede, and change into subjugate all of my qualities that I want to change, all of the strength for this I get only from the Creator. It's not in any other place or in any other address, that strength, that I need, in order to change myself and to bring myself to a state of the absolutely best one.

9. S. (22:36) What does it mean to be closer or further from the Creator and the ten, and how do we examine this?

R. To the extent that I'm included in the ten that I hug it, want to be with them, truly in the connection as internal as possible, then I am connected to them, and to this extent, I am coming closer to tying myself to the Creator. Although I still don't understand this, or identify this, I need to believe that this is how it is, this is how the Kabbalists explain it to us.

10. S. (23:43) What's the right orientation towards the goal, towards the Creator, for us to move towards the goal, how not to deviate? How do we examine ourselves?

R.  I recommend trying to be in connection with the friends, that there's nothing that can separate between us, try in this way, let's try to depict to ourselves everyone, that we are all, all of us, we want to connect between us, and there's no one that is separate between us. Even if there is such a thing, we can overcome it and subdue it, whoever wants to show us that we don't quite connect it here and there it's for us to connect even more, in an even more successful way. And this is what we need to do. I also want to say thank you very much to the female force for yesterday's afternoon lesson you made a great effort, and we advanced in the connection between us an important step forward. I hope you will always reach the connection between you and that we will meet together, and we will go through stages quickly.

11. S. (25:52) Does it count that we have a goal, if yesterday we wanted to reveal the Creator and today, we want to get the force of bestowal? Is that something that determines the goal or not?

R. You have everything, you just need not be lazy, and at every moment try to realize that problem of our closeness.

S. What is the difference between a deficiency and a desire?

R. There's no difference.

S. Regarding the revelation of the Creator and how to feel him in the ten. There are such moments when you feel that through the friends there's if one person is speaking to you, something singular, is that what it is to feel the Creator, as if it's coming from one person a single force?

R. That's already along the way.

12. S. (27:28) How can we see the Creator behind the friends?

R.  If we want to connect with the Creator through the friends and we’re hugging all the friends, the ten, and we want to get incorporated in them. Then I can feel them, that root, that spiritual one, that spiritual one of ours that's pulling us toward its connection and is waiting for us, which is the Creator.

S. By us needing all the time to return to the Creator, that I see the Lord before me always, is this what builds in us that yearning and adhesion?

R Yes. 

13. S. (29:10) In the material world can we also relate to people in such a way, even if we don't have this common goal between us? Do we need to relate to that way if it’s the ego that gets revealed in this relation, it's also the Creator, right?

R. The rest of the people won't understand your new attitude towards them, which is why we relate in such a way only in the group, otherwise they will think that you have some psychiatric issues.

S. You told me before to sort of comb through these thoughts and these feelings. These thoughts change very quickly, and if someone is thinking about me that I'm not okay, it's not pleasant. How do we relate to this?

R. Don't relate to this, don't try to prove anything to anyone, live inside of yourself, inside of yourself.

14. S. (30:33) How do we allow the Creator to correct my intention? What do I need to prove to him or show to him in order to do this?

R. Open up your heart to him for him to examine it, just like you're at the doctor, so you let the doctor hear what's happening there in the heart, and in this way, you'll advance.

S. So what do I say Creator please examine my heart and correct it?

R. Yes, this is how we feel it and correct it.

15. S. (31:39) How do we feel and see this place of correction that's always hidden? Is this connected to feeling the Creator? How do we see the place of correction which always gets concealed from us, what do I need to pay attention to? Is this connected to us that we need to feel the Creator in the place of correction?

R. The place of correction is your inner contact between you. Try to find it, aspire towards it, hold on to it, and start to develop it, and then you'll feel how you're advancing. 

16. S. (32:43) You said that we need to see the Creator as the artist drawing this reality to me. How do we learn from the Creator to draw this reality? 

R. It's very simple you try to see the world in the right light and then the world begins to change from the one that it was to the one that it needs to be. Don't differentiate everything will work out, but for that, you need to truly start to change your attitude toward the world and the Creator. 

17. S. (33:42) How do I encourage the friends to enter into this direct contact with the Creator and not to just hide in the ten?

R. We need to have such talks and exercises without this we won't advance, but I'm adding from lesson to lesson such things.

18. S. (34:33) Why do we need to work to get joy from the smallest contact with holiness?

R. How else can we obtain the Creator, if only we pay attention to the smallest instances of his revelation in us.

19. S. (35:05) How do we turn to the Creator through the friends? Do we need to just do it only in the thoughts, or the request to the friends?

R. Well in general you need to help the friends and everything possible. I'm not talking about material things but physically learning together and studying, etc., so you need to do everything that's possible to show them an example.

S. How do we differentiate if thoughts come from the Creator or from the ego? It's hard to understand that a person thinks it's from the Creator and we find out it's from the ego.

R. Is it for the benefit of your surroundings, of what it seems to him, or what?

S. Yeah, of course for the direct benefit of the surroundings and that's what the ten is thinking about.

R. Not for your ego?

S. Why?

R. What do you mean why?

S. Well why not for my ego?

R. Because if it’s for your ego, these are bad conditions.

S. So we just need to work on our ego and then we'll understand and differentiate what's from the ego and what's from the Creator?

R. Yes.

20. S. (37:11) How do we convince our ego that everything's from the Creator and all comes from him?

R.  I don't know how to tell you this, you need to constantly, throughout your life's path, all the time, to do what Baal HaSulam writes, not to worry ourselves, there is None Else Besides Him.

21. S. (37:59) What responses does the Creator expect from us when he sends us things that are different and contradict one another?

R. The Creator expects from us that in trying to connect between us as much as possible in a tighter way, we will start to realize and sort out and carry out those qualities that help us to be as much as possible in a tight connection with each other.

S. What is the right attitude to the father, and what is the connection between the father and son?

R. The correct connection between the father and the son for that you need to turn to our system. Who is responsible? Not sure who is responsible, but you can turn to the general email at boardworldkli@gmail.com.

S.I think the question was more about the interconnection between.

R. There they will explain everything to you. 

S I think she was talking about this Father's Day and that we need to all relate to that father as the father. What does it mean to relate to the Creator as the father?

R. It means to subjugate ourselves, to connect between us, to subjugate ourselves to the side of the group, and inside all of humanity as much as possible more and more. More than that we don't need. We already understand that we don't have strength, we don't have the intellect, and we don't have any possibility to correct reality, but only if we cancel our evil inclination as much as possible and we ask the Creator to cancel it, that evil inclination of ours and to correct reality that specifically in every place the evil inclination appears, our ego, we want to see the Creators action for connection toward the good who does good.

22. S. (41:27) In truth you already answered it now, canceling our nature it's possible only in the ten?

R. Yes, if we correct ourselves towards the ten, by that we basically in general, we correct ourselves toward all of reality.

23. S. (42:14) How do we come to this convention only for the sake of others, to give to the friends rather than receive for ourselves?

R. By me intending only to come for the benefit of the friends, it says if I leave myself like it's written in our articles.  I leave the house and the family and everything and I think only about the friends on the one hand on the other hand by that I connect with everyone and the Creator and therefore there is no better action than by me leaving everyone for the sake of connecting to the Creator. That's it, let's try to do that and see to what extent it's beneficial for us, for our spiritual advancement.

24. S. (43:49) Question about nullification. What is the main indicator, the main measurement of nullification towards the friends? Sometimes we're confused in that regard.

R. Nullification needs to be towards the friends and afterward towards the Creator. If we cancel ourselves towards the friends, then we can also cancel ourselves towards the Creator. The main thing is towards the friends. If you can’t cancel yourself towards the friends, then you also won't be able to come closer to the Creator.

S. This nullification always comes together with pain and suffering of the ego. Is that correct?

R. Of course, without a doubt, but it's not important, the main thing is that nonetheless, you're going in that direction and if it's not successful then ask from the Creator.

S. Nullification is an active action or passive? 

R. It's an active one.

S. Meaning sometimes I come to the feeling that I don't care, is that correct?

R. No this needs to be an active action. I cancel myself meaning, I place the others instead of me higher than me.

25. S. (46:02) We learn in our ten about correction and the friends correct us, and in the material world we also receive some kind of lesson. Do we also receive that type of thing as a lesson about our correction, or out of our correction in the ten we see everything differently? In the connection with the Creator, you understand that you have some kind of correction, and you see your situation completely different, or do those material situations also correct us?

R. Continue, and in a few weeks, everything will be clarified. I don’t want to say anything to you. 

26. S. (47:13) How can I always raise my desire towards the friends and towards the Creator?

R. If you're in a group then as much as you speak about that talk to advance, that's how it will come out for you, don't worry. It's all arranged this way by the Creator. 

27. S. (47:58) You said that we must reach a state where there's nothing that can separate between us, and we need to overcome everything, and now we have a congress in front of us and we know in every Congress great changes take place, but now two weeks before there's a feeling of indifference, a lack of importance, and we don't exactly know how to help the friends. Four of fourteen are registered, and we're always repeating this, and raising this importance and we want for all of us to be in this one goal.

R. I don't understand at all why we need to, why constant groups and tens need to register for the Congress, simply in advance we need to be registered. Even without some kind of list, it's clear everyone will be there. What is four out of fourteen?

S. There is a registration that each one registers. Everyone needs to register himself. We have a link. We need to know how many friends are registered. Now there's a certain indifference toward that, and I understand that's in the whole world Kli.

R. These are exercises that the Creator is doing with us to show us where we are and where we can be. Here we can see ourselves in a clear way on what spiritual degree we're on, if four registered out of fourteen, so this is our spiritual degree in the meantime, and in these measurements, we can see ourselves where we are.

S. And is there something we can do about it? With this degree?

R. Is there something to do? Of course, there's what to do, to speak about it, that participation in the Congress on our behalf on this inner ten of the world Kil, Moldova, Turkey, Kyiv, Moscow, Etc., English, Carmel, German, Latin, Bulgaria. I don't know how it could be that all of the groups won't be in the Congress. What does it cost a lot of money no, do we need to fly anywhere no, it demands a lot of time no, not so much, and whoever's not in it, I don't know what to say, it truly needs to be condemned.

28. S. (51:40) You reminded us tens, the Congress, what is the role of each ten to participate. Is there a single role for all the tens?

R. The same role for everyone is that it's such a connection that will surely push us towards the purpose of creation and that's the kind of connection there needs to be.

S. Well in my ten for example or another one, does it need to see some kind of role in front of itself?

R. It's not even just a test, but it clears by itself, it's not some kind of test we need to realize. I don't understand you, if you want to reach a goal and we have a certain group of work, so how can we not take it upon ourselves?

S. I mean let's say the ten can go to the Congress in order to connect within itself or come up with a mission or task that we need to influence and help everyone?

R. There cannot be one without the other. There cannot be one without the other, everyone must be in the Congress and there shouldn't even be discussions about it. If someone moves away from us and doesn't want to be with us, doesn’t want to take another step forward towards correction, okay that's his matter.

S. Should the tens be active in a more active way?

R. To support everyone, the main thing is to support everyone, because our success depends on everyone individually and the common success of everyone.

29. S. (54:14) We just wanted to talk about registration because we're getting these things. It’s very important to register first of all this shows participation and it helps us to get organized to prepare things, and secondly the Congress there's a lot of things in translation and technology and a lot of content and if we're part of the sum that we’re collecting goes to part of that. Also and those that are coming physically to Israel this money is also towards the meals and alcohol and all those things, there's a lot of things. Therefore the registration is a very important action and we want to remind ourselves at the Congress we engage in prayer and we're creating this atmosphere, this important one, that we're all nourished from, and we're taking another step forward towards the connection between us and the Creator, so we ask from all the friends men and women to register and this helps all of management and everything that helps us to prepare everything. 

S. Maybe we can do this group action right now towards the end of the lesson for whoever's registered great, but whoever is not will enter it now, just do it all together. 

S. If you could explain it to us?

S. The links are on the Congress website, and the explanations are there.

R. Okay nonetheless try to make it a little closer for each one.

30. S. (26:26) From the excerpt we always need to depict ourselves as a guest towards the host of the Creator is hosting us. Is it as if the goal is always in front of our eyes? 

R. Yes.

31. S. (57:00) We're always talking about these tools for spiritual advancement and unity with the friends, unification, dissemination. What is the spiritual advancement? Can we feel it in a certain way or is it not important?

R. We will soon begin to feel it. In the meantime, we don't have enough strength in order to move ourselves forward to such an extent that we will feel this advancement. 

32. S. (57:39) What is the work in the ten to depict these things? How important is it to do?

R.  Each ten needs to know itself, from the inside each of its members to what extent they are carrying out their responsibilities. Besides that, it's desirable for each ten to create such a daily agenda of what they're doing, a journal today is this, yesterday's was that, and tomorrow we want to do that, that's it.

33 S. (58:57) The preparation: What is the weight of preparation of the woman towards the congress?

R.  I think the women, in such events, need to take upon themselves actions that are more important and greater ones than the men. Because the men they're not so, they don't quite know how to do this, something correct to do, but women they're more capable because they're built in such a way to arrange the house, to prepare the food, and to arrange the whole family together, and they don't forget about any family member, what's with him and how we need to arrange things, how we need to arrange him in a certain place with a certain thing. Women are more capable of preparing everything. I really trust in them, the women. It's been one whole hour since we finished, thank you. I recommend, let's make a diary of each ten write in there the conclusion of things you want to do and check to see if you're advancing. Write your registration letter to the Congress if you want to come, everyone’s probably invited.