The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.

Daily Lesson June 11, 2025.

Part 2: Recorded lesson – May 11, 2006. Baal HaSulam. Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #16

Reader:  We are reading from The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, this is item 16.

M. Laitman Introduction: (00:15) We learned thus far that the Creator created the will to receive, and this will to receive exists in oppositeness of form to Him. And in such a way it cannot even feel more than its own existence from the state of rest, because the will to receive and the pleasure neutralize each other in this common feeling. And so, even though it's called, the world of Ein Sof, this feeling of Ein Sof is very limited. The will to receive exists under the governance of the light, doesn't feel itself as a created being. And it doesn't have the feeling of the deficiency and the pleasure together, which give the entire feeling of the revelation of the feeling. Even though it is Ein Sof, it's Ein Sof through the rule of the upper one, not in the feeling of the lower one, that should be according to The Good Who Does Good. The way it is rooted in the thought of creation, to do good to His creations. 

And so, in that, creation is not complete, but rather, the upper force should still bring the created being to the state that has been determined in advance, that The Good Who Does Good can only perform an act of complete benefit. And so, the created being keeps continuing through the upper force that compels it. And this development is in order to bring the created being to equivalence of form, to the same state, the same status, as the Creator. How is this done? That on the one hand, nevertheless, we need to keep the characteristic of the created being that he's the opposite of the Creator. He needs to exist, to be independent, to exist on his own, that's on the one hand. On the other hand, he needs to be as the Creator because in spirituality if it is the same, then it's not two – it is one. So, how can the created being remain outside of the Creator so that there are two and nevertheless there is one? 

So, the Creator creates the foundation of the created being, the will to receive, which is the opposite of Him. But He brings the created being to a state where His will to receive takes on the form of complete bestowal, just like the Creator. And in that, according to the action, they become as one. And according to the original nature, they are opposite to each other. And then they exist as two and both of them are on the same degree, in that same state, which is whole, complete. So, how to bring the created being to that? Baal HaSulam explains it once with the example of the host and the guest. That the guest is ashamed of the host, even though he very much yearns for all of the refreshments that the host has prepared for him. The host prepares these refreshments out of love. And the guest relates the refreshments, the moment he relates to the refreshments, then through the refreshments, he feels the host, his love. 

And then he has an inner struggle, an inner collision between the desire out of his nature for the refreshments, and his relation that has now been formed towards the host, to the extent that he recognizes the greatness of the host, and he has shame towards himself, and the pleasure that exists in the refreshments, opposite his desire. Then he begins to see within himself this system of relationships with the refreshments and the host as two separate systems. That, in relation to the refreshments, he has a will to receive with the pleasure, that upon this will to receive, you can make a restriction. You can perform on the will to receive an act of receiving the pleasure. And with the host, there is the matter of shame towards the host, this is how he feels within himself. Suddenly a force that neutralizes the pleasure for him, the pleasure from the refreshments. And then, he also has the ability, the possibility to invert his vessel to the opposite. It's not because he's ashamed not to receive the refreshments, that by this he just keeps his ego. But to start using his, specifically this ego of his for the benefit of the host. Not to refuse because he's ashamed, but to refuse because he wants to delight the host. Meaning, his ego also, the egoistic will to receive, to invert it into giving. 

And by that, he builds two systems: One system that works with the will to receive, more or less. And the other system is his intentions towards the host. And in that, it turns out that he comes out of the state of a receiver and becomes a giver. This example is the primary example; we need to see in this example the entire plan of creation. It's not just some nice side story, but rather this is the plan of the whole of creation that, later on, we see in all the construction of the worlds, and the Partzufim, and the Sefirot, and what passes through them. We see the realization of this story, of this example, this allegory, of how the created being reaches the purpose. Therefore, all of the actions that are done later with the created being, we need each time to return to this allegory of the host and the guest. And see in that allegory the implementation, step by step, of this whole process that is rooted in this story. And there are very deep things, here, that there are even no words to explain them. Especially, in that the guest feels shame, and he works with the shame as leverage. In spite of the shame, he's willing to feel shame later, he doesn't care about the shame for himself. But he turns this shame to the opposite of it. Towards the host, he turns it into love. 

And out of that, we need to understand that here there are stages where the guest, the created being, needs to get to know his whole nature, his whole will to receive, up to its most despicable and lowly form as a receiver. He should also get to know the great shame to the extent that the host is revealed in the oppositeness of form, that he is the giver and the guest is revealed as the receiver. And that he yearns according to his nature only to receive; the guest should realize that this longing to receive doesn't come from the host. Otherwise, if it would be on the account of the host, it would be on the level of the beast, on the animate level. But rather, he developed this longing, and therefore, he feels shame towards this longing, this is something very special, as he writes. That shame is a feeling that appears only in the high souls, in unique souls, and then it is possible to work with this quality in order to invert it into love. It's through an opposite way, a direct way, and it includes all the different stages that you might say that they all go against human reason. And so they seem to us as hidden, we don't understand them. The spiritual world, meaning all the processes that our desire goes through, it is hidden from us, hidden from our intellect, from our feeling, because we are not yet in this development. There is no hiding, like in this world, where there is a concealment through time, place, or movement. But rather concealment in spirituality is concealment because of the development of the created being. 

And therefore, the advancement can be through faith above reason, meaning in the attainment of spirituality, against the determination of the present states. Faith means a feeling, a feeling of the present reality, and above reason. It means that each time this feeling, the state that is revealed, this state is revealed in the opposite form that is undesirable, and cannot be identified in advance to the created being. But whichever way you look at it, what we learn later in the entire Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, and in general in the whole Wisdom of Kabbalah, is the realization of this allegory of the Host and the guest. So, please, Item 16. 

Reading: (11:49) Baal HaSulam. Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #16

From the above allegory between two friends, we can understand the matter of coupling by striking and the reflected light that rises through it, which then becomes new vessels of reception for the upper light instead of phase four. We can compare the upper light, which strikes the screen and wants to expand into phase four, to the pleading to eat, because as he yearns for his friend to receive his meal, the upper light desires to expand to the receiver. And the screen, which strikes the light and repels it, can be likened to the friend’s rejection and refusal to receive the meal, since he rejects his favor. 

M. Laitman: This means that we see here in this story that even though we say that the upper light, the direct light, comes to the created being and wants to enter into him, so we say so. But, according to the allegory, the will to receive, Ratzon, desire, feels within itself that it wants the refreshments, the upper light, and it then draws it. Meaning it is not that the upper light comes and pressures the desire, but rather the desire wants the upper light, the pleasure. This means that everything happens inside of the created being, it's just that the created being interprets it in a way that seemingly there is something on the outside that operates on it. But in truth it is impressed within itself. The desire feels the pleasure that seemingly exists on the outside, and that this pleasure is pressuring it. And actually, it is the desire that awakens towards it, towards this pleasure, that is also felt within. The Host does not pressure; if I didn't have a desire, I wouldn't feel his pressure. But rather, it is my desire that gives me the feeling that this is pressuring me. And this is with respect to anything that is happening to us in this world, with respect to the relationships between us, with respect to everything. If not for our desires, would we feel that he is relating to me this way, and he's relating to me that way? No, meaning our desires determine our image of reality. 

Reading: (14:50) Baal HaSulam. Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #16

Just as you find here that precisely the refusal and rejection have been inverted and become appropriate vessels to receive his friend’s meal, you can imagine that the reflected light that rises by the striking of the screen and its rejection of the upper light became new vessels of reception for the upper light instead of phase four, which served as a vessel of reception prior to the first restriction. 

M. Laitman: What's the difference between the directed light and reflected light? In the reflected light there is coarseness, so reflected light means direct light plus coarseness, the coarseness of the vessel. Meaning, its desire to use the coarseness in order to relate back to the Host. Now, reflected light is not just plain refusal; what does it mean refusal? It doesn't want because, and here there's a question, why, because of what? That's the intention. It could be that it is rejecting it because it feels shame. It cannot allow the host to harm it, harm its honor. 

As it is with us in our life, usually, I'm ashamed. What does it mean I'm ashamed? I have self-respect, self-honor, and as much as my self-respect allows me, I'm willing to make this calculation, so I make this calculation. And it could be that I make the calculation already with respect to the host because I want to do good to him. Or I make the calculation towards the host because I love him. So, there are many calculations here with respect to me as a receiver, that I will not be harmed because I receive. And there are calculations where I already stop thinking about myself, that I will not be harmed, and I relate to the host – how to do good to him, and so forth. 

So the calculations, those calculations between the receiver and the giver, those calculations, in and of themselves determine if the calculations are in the direction of the receiver, because of his shame, because of his pleasures, because of his calculations with respect to his suffering. If the calculations are with respect to the receiver, it is called, corporeality. And then the receiver only feels himself, it is considered that he is in this world. If the calculations are with respect to the host, that I do not take myself into consideration, but rather I use myself as a vessel of giving, of bestowal to the host, in order to give him pleasures. And whatever will come out of it for myself, I don't even take that into consideration; this is called, without self-benefit. Meaning that here, I'm above the restrictions, I don't care about my individual suffering or pleasures. But rather the suffering or pleasure are only determined according to what the host receives from my action. If it is so, if we can calculate the action in such a way, it is considered that the person is in the upper world, in the spiritual world that is above his nature. And then he feels not himself, which is called this world, but rather he feels the host, the state of the host. Which is called that he feels the Creator, the upper force, the upper world. And this determines in which world he exists – in this world or in the spiritual world. This means that it is only our inner relation to the state that we exist in. We, by that, determine in which world we will live, we will feel, we will exist. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (19:57) When we say that the Kabbalist lives in both worlds. So it's not in two worlds, he can live one time in this and the other time in that? 

M. Laitman: No, he can't. The two worlds that we were talking about here are one world in considering myself, and the other world is in considering only the Creator. There is a state, which is also the state of our body – this physical body that does not change, the still. Which is not a world, it is simply existence, and the states of our body are unrelated to the corporeal world, or the spiritual world, in order to receive, or in order to bestow. But rather this is just something that exists in and of itself – just like animals and beasts – it is the same with our body. It's only just like that, and it is not better than animals in any way. It lives out of the feeling of itself and the feeling of the environment, just like any animal and in its functioning towards itself or the society, there cannot be calculations of in order to receive or in order to bestow, the change according to the Creator. But rather these are all only bodily calculations, just like a beast, and it's not even considered egoistic. 

We have let's say our physical bodily desire with the five senses above it. There is on the left, Klipa, shell, and on the right, Kedusha, holiness. These are the true desires of in order to receive and in order to bestow in the intentions. And what happens down here, for us, this is just some sort of existence that doesn't change when a person up here goes to build himself all the way to the end of correction. All the way to the end of correction, the state in which his body exists, does not change. It has to reincarnate each time to exist in his body until you reach the end of correction, why? Because all the states that he's going to correct here, each and every state, is a new state, which he begins from zero. And with it, he reaches, until he realizes it, 100%. So, when he starts it from zero until he realizes it 100%, the realization of a certain degree. Then in that degree, he has to stand as though he was just born. So, it turns out that he only exists in the physical, the bodily desire. This is called, Shimon from the marketplace in each and every state. And so we have to also exist in a body where there is this connection between the degrees, where every degree begins with me existing only in my body.

Reading cont: (23:51) Baal HaSulam. Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #16

However, this was established only in the Partzufim of Kedusha of ABYA, not in the Partzufim of the shells, and in this world, where phase four itself is considered the vessel of reception. Hence, they are separated from the upper light, since the disparity of form in phase four separates them. For this reason, the shells are considered wicked and dead, as they are separated from the Life of Lives by the will to receive in them, as it is written in Item 13. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (24:27) How does a person determine that the Creator is able to enjoy his giving? 

M. Laitman: This all takes place within the person, as the will to receive develops. And inside, the will to receive: Keter, and Malchut, and the eight Sefirot between them begin to be felt. Then he feels, all in all, this reality called, ten Sefirot, that there is someone who bestows, the Keter, and someone who receives, the Malchut, and someone between them called the in-between, by which you can bestow from one to the other, from the other to the first, from Keter to Malchut, and from Malchut to the Keter. All of the processes in the vessel exist in its ten Sefirot. And there is his entire world of the person; and out of that, he determines who is the Creator, who is the created being, what are the relations between them. It is all inside the vessel, outside of the vessel, there is nothing. As we said before, even direct light, the created being feels that the light comes, that there is pleasure, and it wants to enter him.

Out of what does he feel it? He feels that his desire awakens, and he feels that there is some pleasure. From where does he feel it, is there pleasure on the outside? No, but rather, this pleasure is felt inside of the created being as seemingly still standing before him, that he didn't yet completely enter into his desire as a feeling. But it exists already in his vessels, but in vessels that do not yet reach phase four. This is why it is considered that they come from the outside. 

This is how all of the processes take place inside of the created being. Later on, it seems to him that he is giving – giving outside of himself to the Creator. From where does he know it? What does it mean, outside of him, to the Creator? But rather, from phase four that feels itself as receiving, he develops an attitude towards the Giver, which is the image of the Creator in the vessel. That he is giving that to the Creator. And it all takes place inside of the created being. All of the worlds, all the Partzufim, all of the discernments, all of the actions, none of that comes out of the created being. So, it turns out that the upper light is in absolute rest. There is something on the outside that invites within us all kinds of actions. But, all of the actions take place inside the vessel and they're  registered in a vessel as records, screens, etc; it all happens in the vessel. This is why the Creator, and Bo Reh, is called Bo-U-Reh, Come and See, this is what we attain inside the vessel. Seeing, meaning actual attainment, it's inside the vessel, it cannot be outside the vessel, just like any attainment.

Student: So, basically, what's changing?

M. Laitman: Everything changes only inside the created being. Outside of the created being, we cannot say anything, it is Atzmuto, His Self. The upper light exists in absolute rest, you cannot influence it in any way, you cannot operate on it in any way. Everything happens inside the created being. But it doesn't lower the importance of our work because out of that we feel that the upper light – this is what He did, this is what He wants – even though He in Himself exists in complete rest. There are things here that are impossible to explain, now, it's just words, and we have no perception of that. But nevertheless, whether we understand it or not, these points are important because they position us with the right relation to our work, to the corrections, to the inner change. You might say, ah, so everything that changes is all in all my inner feeling, the inner calculation, what I think inside. That is true, but this is everything, and this is important, and there is nothing beyond that. 

So, maybe you can't grasp it, but it's just that you don't know how important these things are. So, where is this someone that I give to? Is it someone that I imagine by myself? Yes, this someone – let's say the Creator – is what you imagine within yourself. But rather what? You bring out your hand, or your leg, your eye outside of you, and you see Him somewhere. No, you perceive Him inside of you; so, whether you perceive Him or not, I don't know what it means on the outside. It's His image inside of the created being, and when the created being begins from his structure to feel, why is he built in such a way, and he reaches the root. Then out of that he nevertheless understands the intentions of the One who created him. You can call it the Keter, but this is the One who created me, as my root. 

Student: We've learned that, who is the Creator? The Creator is my next degree. It's me in my next degree. 

M. Laitman:  If I speak about the sequence of degrees in my development, I always imagine my next state as the Creator. I cannot imagine more than that to myself, this Supreme, the Bestower, the Great, that is all above me. When I work on myself, I get help, support. Then I advance towards this state, and I identify with it, and I adhere to it. I equalize with it. When I equalize with Him, I become like Him.