Morning Lesson April 11, 2022 Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Baal HaSulam. A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar
1. R. (00.15) You know how we advance. We are reading something that is more relevant to our spiritual advancement and we will connect for more and more. We check and perform the connections that in the end they will be good for a spiritual ascent we will start feeling in the changes or improving of our relationships and by that we all feel the same belongs to the Creator and a force until we start feeling something that will be in order to bestow and that will already be in the Exodus and in the upper higher world and before that state is where we are. That is the first part of our lesson. We learn about the state with all of its details and the second part where we’re going over all of Baal HaSulam’s articles that explain who we are, what we are, where we are going, where we are going on and so on. Now we are starting to study a very important article, The Speech for the Completion of the Zohar. It is not too long but there are still many important things in it that we must go through like all of the articles and all of Baal HaSulam's materials. Please ask and we will advance.
Reading: (02:00) A speech for the completion of the Zohar
2. S. (02:45) Meaning how can we come closer to something that is completely opposite to me if coming closer to it is according to the equivalence of form. I cannot change any quality in me that it will resemble the Creator or how is it called that I am moving towards him? It is not like in corporeality that we can be physically close to one another and if physical distance and inside with our opinions and qualities be completely opposite. That is how it is in our world, that is why it is called the imaginary world because it does not exist in nature but only in that same bubble that we are supposedly existing in, but it is not according to the true laws of nature.
That is why our world is called the imaginary world or the fake world because we are in it in our imagination. It is as if what we think is what happens. In spirituality everything happens according to our qualities. That's why if I have qualities that are close to someone I'm closer, if I have other qualities that are opposite so I am distant or even opposite, that is why all of our spiritual motion is in the changing of our qualities whether coming closer or further away from one another. That is why each and every one by controlling himself can come closer or further than the others. In such a way we can reach all kinds of spiritual states under the condition that we correct and change ourselves, our qualities. Nobody here can do anything towards the other but only on himself.
That is the world of truth, the world of justice, the correct world and not like in our world that we can supposedly do what we want with our egoistic forces. That is why all of our actions come to a state of equivalence of form towards the Creator, to adhere to him, that we need to come to a state of adhesion, the complete equivalence of form with a complete upper force. Then we also reach the same complete state called the Gmar Tikkun (end of correction), and that is the purpose of all of creation. Creation means outside of the Creator, opposite the Creator, that it corrects itself all of correct creation and reaches a state that entirely resembles the Creator. To resemble the Creator is called Adam, man that resembles him and far from him opposite him is already the shattered us.
3. S. (06:17) We say that what we need to do is to reach adhesion, complete equivalence of form with the Creator. How do we do it with the tools at our disposal, what are we lacking?
There is just one thing that we do all time to come closer and closer to the friends, we are talking about complete adhesion with the Creator.
R. You didn't discover all of your qualities yet. To the extent that you can control the, they will be revealed more and more and then you will be able to change them more until you reach the complete equivalence of form with the Creator.
S. How do you exactly come closer to the Creator's qualities in this relation? we are connecting more and more with a friend every time so what is the adhesion here?
R. It is the same thing. There is no difference whether to come closer to the friends or the Creator. Only according to the conditions that we exist in egoistic conditions so coming close to the friends means it shows us how we can come closer to the Creator. The difference is that we can play, we can act, like children they can build buildings from blocks or from sand but actually it develops them to be adults, same with us.
S. How by connecting with the friends in the group (of my ten) how am I supposed to incorporate them in order to come like the Creator?
R. Your ten, that you want to connect to them you actually build inside you build a copy of it. You start feeling that they're in you and with those qualities and those states, desires, plans, everything they have, you come closer to them and connect to them. By that it turns out that with your forces you have to adapt yourself to that ten. When you work on it you have to discover that the ten is like the special mechanism of desires and thoughts. That they have a special quality in them, all in all, the quality of bestowal. Not that it's in the ten, that's what Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma said with his students, but my relation with them is what depicts them towards me. The qualities of the Creator, the quality of bestowal, the qualities of love, that's how I relate to them. Not that they themselves are like that, they can be as they are. The correction is on me that I change myself to love them. As much as I come closer to them, to love them, I discovered that it's not a ten, it's a collection of conditions or qualities or forces that depict myself already in a new reality, a reality of bestowal. The force that is revealed in me I call that Bo Reh, come and see, Creator now that's the new reality.
S. But like you just explained, I depict this picture, the model of the ten in me and then I become incorporated in that picture and there I start discerning the quality of bestowal. Baal HaSulam writes that I become like the Creator?
R. You relate to the ten and like the force of bestowal that you want to reveal within you and towards that ten you resemble the Creator. That's it. There are obviously a lot of details, you for them, they are for you, and who cooks up this whole process.That's already the upper force from above that watches over everyone but that's what happens with our attitude towards the ten. We have no one else to work with and nothing else can be revealed beyond that. In the ten we will see worlds, states, all kinds of opportunities, qualities, and that's called attaining the upper world. In such a way we will be revealed. There is no place, only in our relation, our attitude toward the ten, and in them we will discover all of reality.
4. S. (12:41) What is the difference between Adam and the creature?
R. What's the difference between Adam and the created being? In our world Adam or man is an animal on two legs but Rabash says what's the difference between him and a chicken? Right? It also has two legs. Man is called to the extent of the created being, the will to receive, no matter if he looks like a man or not, in his external form that we grasp. The will to receive that wants to resemble the Creator, and with its effort reaches a resemblance of the Creator, a revelation of the Creator, so this image, this form he attained, is called Adam. That's why it says a man and a beast the Creator will save. Either he has a little bit of the form of man, or he doesn't, he's still a beast but he wants to reach the form of man then the Creator will save him.
Reading (14:25) “and they replied they replied, “Adhere unto His qualities: "
R. (14:40) Meaning we should not approach the Creator according to our current qualities. We have qualities that are opposite to his and if we try to invert them on how we use them from in order to receive to in order to bestow, from hate to love for the other, this is the true practical realization. In that case we have to talk about those virtues. The Creator is merciful, a person also has to reach the same quality as well.
Reader Continues: (15:23) “this is perplexing how did our sages drift from…”
5. S. (19:16) He says that the measures of the Creator are merciful, he doesn't seem merciful to me.
R. If he doesn't seem merciful to you then we'll talk about it later. Go to an optician and check your eyesight.
6. S. (20.09) How is equivalence of form expressed in the ten in practice?
R. I don't know what to tell you. It appears to us in this world as well. Read what is written and try to see it also in this world. He doesn't write to us from the spiritual world. He is telling you that as much as people think the same, they feel themselves close to one another, and when they are opposite in their opinions and their thoughts and desires they are distant from one another. Accordingly, we say about two things that are close or distant. In spirituality, they're not close or distant according to family ties or nationality but rather according to their opinion or their views. There's proximity according to habits also. This is why he hates me and he also hates me, or he loves something, then he also loves something. Meaning,people according to their desires are either close to one another or distant. That's the only thing he wants to convey to us and later he uses that to discuss how to approach the Creator or move away from the Creator.
S. This is practically what I wanted to ask about. What form, what does Baal HaSulam mean by it?
R. The will to receive that we have there are many forms depending on what we want, how we want, and so forth, so as much as people are similar to one another in these forms they feel close to one another, they understand one another. It's clear, we see it all over the world and what's right before our eyes even a person on the street will tell you the same thing. What are you looking for here? There's nothing to look for here. He is mentioning a fact from our life.
S. How can we compensate for the distance that is revealed as a result of our coming closer because it seems like we never see the results even if we work correctly we're never looking to rejoice the results especially on our path. How can we compensate for it? What exactly are you supposed to fulfill?
R. My dear friend, we are now learning what Baal HaSulam is writing. Let's not leave the framework of his writing. What is he saying? He's explaining to you phenomena that exist in our world, in our nature, and our society. He says if people are close in their views and how they see things, they understand one another, they feel one another, you can say that they are close, and to the extent that they don't think the same about different phenomena then they are distant. He didn't say anything more than that.
I don't want make an entirely new philosophy or paragraphs we write, rather simply, what he's saying is people love one another because there's equivalence of form between them because when he loves everything that his friend loves and hates everything what his friend hates they adhere to one another and they love one another, but if there's a disparity of form between them meaning that one love something even though his friend hates it and according to that disparity of form they hate one another and they are separate from one another and remote. He wants to explain to us why we are so remote from the Creator that we don't feel him, it's as if he doesn't exist, where is that spiritual world that we cannot feel? It's right here but it's outside of my perception. Why? Because it's opposite to me and even that's opposite and I can't see it, that's what he wants to explain to us.
S. If we exist, come closer to something then we need to have some kind of equivalence of form to it so why does it seem that we don't feel it but even feel the opposite, that we're moving away from it,the more we advance the more we discover how far actually we are. Why isn't what we're doing bringing us closer like two people who are coming closer to some kind of common understanding?
R. It's not clear, it has to be, this is called darkness of Egypt that before the exit from Egypt meaning from that before the exit from Egypt, meaning the exit from the world of bestowal, the darkness in that state is worse. All that Exodus happens in the middle of the night. Soon we'll understand it from the article. What are you saying is all correct, we need to reach a state where our lives where we wish to discover the force that sustains all of this reality, runs it, where is that force? I don't understand anything about my life? I don't know what to do, my life, what's happening here? We get into the vortex of life, where is that thing that is managing my life?
Everyone is perplexed and confused and we are moving towards greater and greater chaos, greater confusion in our lives. On the one hand, we have intellect, we have feelings, power, science. On the other hand,we can't control anything. We don't understand where those forces are that manage and govern us? That's the problem and the spiritual reality advances us towards a feeling of darkness that we cannot control ourselves, our lives, our reality, anything. We just need to understand that as long as we don't want to discover the spiritual reality it will not happen.
S. There are states where the fact that things around us are hidden from us are to our benefit in order for us to be able to work in faith above reason?
R. We have to reach a state of despair. What is the meaning of and the children of Israel sighed from the work in Egypt? What are they crying out? But they can't do anything, that they can't do anything, what is that cry all about? It's simple. I don't know what to do, there are no possibilities, there's no means in order to correct the world. I don't understand and I can't feel and I can't do it.t Then each time I get into greater mistakes, greater problems, so what am I supposed to do? That's what those who wish to come out of Egypt cry about. What do they want to discover? They want to discover the essence, the purpose of their lives, who's running their lives, where is that Creator or someone that I can grab and shake in order to understand what's going on here. This is our work. If we're in a state where we have to come close to the conclusion let's go to work
7. S. ( 30:23) Why can't we grasp Him in thought?
R. Because all our thoughts are upshots of our desires. Our desires give birth to our thoughts and our qualities. Therefore, we are unable to grasp the Creator because our desires are in order to receive and the Creator is the force of bestowal, opposite. Hence, we cannot discover him. There are also many phenomena in our world in our corporeal world that are beyond our perception and we cannot discover them and reveal them. What can we do? There's nothing we can do. We need to keep going according to the advice of the Kabbalists. We will discover such actions in which we will begin to feel spiritual forces and it will happen.
8. S. (31:31) How is it possible to adhere to him. He is consuming fire meaning what and why does that stand in the way of our adhesion of the Creator?
R. Kabbalists say that, they tell us that we will see what it means that the fire devours him. Kabbalists say that we cannot feel, we cannot discover any forces, any qualities, any actions that are spiritual because we lack the vessels to identify them, we don't have such vessels. They just slip between our fingers. I can't receive them like radio waves do I perceive them? No, they're just waves in the air. I can't perceive them because I lack the receiver with which to sense them, to receive them, and that's what's happening
S. It says to adhere to his qualities as he is merciful, what is the difference between Rachum and Chanun?
R. Let's say there's no difference. That's how they say, we're not going to get into it but what do we want to say? That if I want to grasp or perceive a force of nature I have to be according to this force. Hence, if I wish to perceive this radio wave I have to build a receiver or receptor that can receive, perceive this wave, and then I can see that this wave exists in the air. It all depends on the receiver, on the receptor. The Creator, he fills all of reality, he's got an infinite number of waves of different forms, different frequencies. He is the general frequency that sustains all of reality. How do I perceive that? Kabbalists start telling us you're missing a receiver by which you can receive him, this receiver, this receptor.
You'll see later it's able to receive many waves like in a radio receiver you're changing the wave inside the radio and accordingly you can receive a wave that's outside of that receiver. In this way you'll be able to receive the Creator in different ways and different modes, forms, he's got how many modes? He's got 125 degrees of reception and in each degree you have ten Sefirot of direct light and reflected light and all kinds of phenomena. In this way you discover the Creator gradually. The method that reveals the Creator or a person according to how a person changes himself because the person has to become the receiver. This method is called the wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom of reception, receiving. Receiving the revelation of the Creator in a person. That's what we are learning about how to reveal him in us and we can't reveal him any other way but each one of us builds his receiver inside of us. How do I do it ?
By incorporating with the friends, by absorbing from the ten their qualities, I absorb them into me and then the entire ten is in me. By that I come to discover the inner force that ties together these ten parts and this is called Bo Re, come and see, the Creator. The beginning of the building of this vessel in which the Creator is revealed, this is called the exodus from Egypt. I begin to construct from my different desires to receive, foreign desires, I begin to construct above reason meaning the force of Bina bestowal, the force of connection, by beginning to build above them a connection. This web of connections, this network that I begin to construct above these forces of reception in that network of connection I perceive the Creator, this is called the revelation of the Creator to the created being. That's what we come to by exiting from Egypt, in a state called the Passover festivities. What is Passover, Pesach? Skipped over, we come out, we take a step ahead of our will to receive, that's it.
10. S. (37:11) In an uncorrected state how do I connect with corrected qualities in the ten?
R. By surrendering.
11. S. (37:27) How among us is that expressed in spirituality? Is it a feeling and if so how do you calibrate it?
R. This again according to the connection between us. I come to a state where I connect to the friends by that I change myself and I bring myself to a willingness, readiness,a willingness to perceive the Creator
12. S. (38:03) Someone broadcasts something on the radio. What is nature broadcasting that I don't hear?
R. It is called I dwell in my people, as much as I'm included in the friends, incorporated in them, by that I can perceive what the Creator wants to tell me, what he wants from me.
I hope with the help of righteous women we will come out of Egypt. Righteous women is Malchut that comes to the degree of Bina, my heart becomes right, righteous and bestowal, so righteous women are our egoistic desires that get corrected by the force of Bina and after that we rise from our egoistic state to mutual bestowal, mutual connection call the exodus from Egypt.