Part 2:

Baal HaSulam. Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #20

Reading Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #20

1. S. (02:29) What is the connection between Malchut and her ten Sefirot in the terms of the reception of the light?

R. Receiving always depends on Malchut. Malchut is always the receiver and the nine Sefirot above her only arrange for her what to receive.

S. So the light is never received in the ten sefirot?

R. There are no vessels of reception there; the vessels of reception are only Malchut.

S. He talks about the four phases of coarseness in her, so what does that mean?

R. Yes, they prepare Malchut to have the vessels of reception and this is why she is receiving.

S. So the right amount of light was received in Malchut?

R. Always.

S. And the prior phases prepare her for being a vessel of reception?

R. These discernments cascade into Malchut and arrange in such a way that she is the receiver.

S. Can we say that they organize in her their intention, the relation to it?

R. Everything, yes.

2. S. (03:43) When a person reads it, and it's written here, a vessel of reception, how can we picture to ourselves, this vessel of reception within me, my Ten, the World Kli?

R. The will to receive.

S The will to receive of the Ten?

R. We only speak of the will to receive, the will to receive is the creation and the will to bestow is the Creator.

S. That's clear, but sometimes when a person tries to picture he pictures his Ten being in restriction.

R. I don't know what you're talking about, in this way don't ask.

Excerpt #21 And you already know

3. S. (07:50) What does it mean that the screen on one hand is hard and repels and the other hand we know that sometimes it's the light past through it. How does it work this mechanism?

R. First of all there is restriction. The will to receive and the vessel does not work in the regular way that he wants to receive unless it receives, rather it blocks and stops the upper light that comes to it and does not allow it to enter inside, into the fourth discernment. Then it sees how much it is capable to equalize to the upper light, in order to bestow which is called that he rejects the upper light, and in it he raises the reflected light as it is called and clothes on direct light, then those two lights, the pleasure of receiving from the upper and the pleasure of bestowing to the upper, these two lights enter inside into the will to receive of the fourth discernment, the fourth stage, Finally it enjoys the action and this is what fills phase four.

S. This is clear. I'm asking more about the substance of the screen. The screen itself seems to be rigid, so what does it mean on one hand it's rigid hard and on the other hand it allows things to pass through it, so what is the substance?

R. What is the substance? Rejection. That as much as the Masach, the screen does not want to receive directly the upper light, but the vessel makes a calculation in order to bestow. It gives the screen an opportunity to work in a new way, to receive in order to bestow. Then it becomes not as a barrier, as a border, as something that interferes with the upper light, but there's a calculation that I can reject it. If it belongs to my quality, but in essence if it doesn't belong to my quality that I can bestow, then I'm willing to receive it and it will be reception in order to bestow. Meaning if not for my own sake but for the sake of the giver, I am willing to perform that.

S. This change of intention like a change of potentials that opens the border?

R. It's a shift, a complete shift in the content of work.

S. That's what changes the sub-system, the materials where it becomes like air or something you can go through?

R. No, the material of the screen, the Masach remains the material of the screen, but together  along with phase four, this material turns into the vessel of reception.

S. The screen itself becomes a vessel of reception?

R. No, Phase Four. The screen only gives the condition that in this fashion, in this way, the vessel becomes a vessel of reception with a new quality of receiving in order to bestow.

4. S. (12:18) We already know that the material of the substance is hard like something is very hard that doesn't let anything push into its boundary. It's like you want to give your friend a glass of water, you kind of patronize him and he says to you, no I don't want it. This blocking is he pushing you or is he pushing himself, is he blocking you or blocking himself?

R. He does both but in essence mainly it is towards the giver he wants to show the giver that he doesn't want to receive for his own sake. Then when the giver comes to him with a different intention, that he wants to through his own reception from the giver that he gives to the giver, then they equalize between them. They both give to one another and receive from one another. Then there is a complete equivalence of form.

S. Yes, but what's you described now it seems like there's no anger here from the created being.

R. You want to always see that it is against or contradictory to the desire?

S. No, I'm trying to clothe it into something more practical.

R. More practical. If I arrived to the guest and give to him and ask of him that I have made specifically for him and to do me a favor and I try to convince him in that. Then he feels himself not as a receiver but as someone who bestows back to me the pleasure. And what sorrow will he give me if he does not accept from me? So let's say I as a guest feel obligated to receive from the giver at least something.

S. So you feel pressure although you're blocking?

R. No, I feel pressure from him so that I receive, so that he really wants me to receive, and then I pressure myself to receive, but receive in order to bestow back to him. And it comes out that my reception is in order to bestow.

S. He has this calculation that you will receive only for him?

R. That I will receive as if for my own sake and I have a calculation to receive for him.

S. But rejection is something violent?

R. Why violent?

S. I mean when he writes that in general it’s hard and doesn't let anything, it's pushing it, so?

Well I'm doing a favor to the host.

S. You just said he wants you to receive and he presses you and makes you feel unpleasant.

R. That I reject in the first response, in my first action, and I don't want to receive and then he's asking of me and pushes it toward me so that I receive. So that at the end of the day I received and show him how flavorful it is and delicious and how much I appreciate everything he's done for me.

S. He describes it differently, he says that he presses me to receive something I push him back.

R. Why do you instantly go with muscle?

S. No, I mean I'm blocking him, I'm not taking it.

R. Nothing happens here by force. You have to obligate him to want to receive from you, and to enjoy what you have prepared for him. Otherwise it will not be pleasurable. In the Wisdom of Kabbalah we speak about pleasure of the Creature from the Creator.

S. So I limit him and I push him away and then he presses me again?

R. You're speaking about your meetings in the yard?

S. No, teacher I mean, sorry.

R. It’s ok.

5. S. (18:03) Maybe the feeling here is what I call the gravest of the grave, that this restriction is something very grave, very serious that the created being does to the Creator. So maybe this feeling that he's in a state where he does something very grave towards the Creator, how does he maintain it? What is this feeling? How does he remain in this pleading in a way that he doesn't offend or insult the Host?

R. If he would erase his rejection, his repulsion of it, he would never be included in creation, then who is he? There would be no space, no role, there wouldn't be anything for him. That the fact he's saying, I don't want to receive, it's the first time now that he shows everyone that he is a creature, that he's opposite to the Creator and stands opposite to the Creator and is ready to determine for himself a place.

S. This justification you just said, that the created being describes that if I don't do this, meaning if I don't receive now that I'm not incorporated and I can't be in front of you, does the Creator accept it and kind of allows him to?

R. Certainly, the Creator is happy because the creature finally determines that He exists.

S. So it's like a dialogue that begins here?

R. Yes,there is someone to speak to now.

S. Yes because in the beginning you feel like a criminal by not receiving?

R. Yes, if I simply don't receive then I'm a criminal.

S. But then the Creator kind of has a dialogue with a person on this matter?

R. Yes, He asks, He begs towards the guest, the person, to receive, look what I've prepared for you as a present: the whole world I have prepared for you; I created.

6. S. (20:25) A friend says that there is a matter of brutality, violence, force. Baal HaSulam says it too, that is why it is called coupling by striking. It’s not something that goes easily, there are many resistances until it falls into place.

R. Yes, until the final correction you always have striking because it is the will to receive that never wants to work according to its own natural inclination.

S. Concerning the striking, the rejection the restriction: from where does he get the power to do this?

R. He exists in connection with the Creator, with the Host, with the guest, so he receives from the Host all of the strength; just to receive. You're lacking an appetite, receive, you're lacking intention for what you want, receive, whatever you want there's no limitation. You are in front of the Host, in front of the Creator that is really ready and willing to do anything for you: just fill up.

S. So the Creator gives the created beings the power to repel Him, to restrict Him?

R. Certainly, who else exists other than the creature and the Creator, of course.

7. S. (22:10) Is there a difference between power and pleasure that we receive from the Creator?

R. Certainly there is.

S. What is it?

R. power forces the force of reception or bestowal and pleasure is revealed as a result from this in the will to receive.

S. I need to do the restriction with force, no?

R. I don't know what state you're talking about.

8. S. (23:00) In the hardness of the screen and the coarseness of the vessel because sometimes you talk about the coarseness of the screen?

R. It combines that together.

S. Okay, so it's the whole pack?

R. Yes.

S. He describes the hardness of the screen as the one that pushes away the light and doesn't let it cross into Malchut and the restriction also doesn't let the light enter and the screen also doesn't let the light enter. So what's the difference between these two actions?

R. Restriction comes from the Kli, from phase four and the screen comes as if standing before phase four.

S. I didn't quite understand.

R. We'll work on that, a few more paragraphs, we will get to it.

10. S. (24:09) What allows the screen to calculate how much pleasure it can receive?

R. It exists in connection with the light, the light passes through him, he can make a calculation with the light. However much there is pleasure, make a calculation with the will to receive, how much there is a desire for that light, and how much he has an ability to reject and all of these calculations he built himself.

S. But how does he make that calculation, he sees all the food on the table and he repels them. How does he know he can take the ice cream and not fall into [...]?

R. I don't understand what calculation are you making, that you're doing this calculation with your hand?

S. How does he know to make the right calculation so that with this pleasure he will bestow upon the host and that will not fall into the pleasure?

R. The host really wants him to.

S. Everything?

R. Everything and not pay anything. He's looking at what is in front of him and making a calculation with his stomach, how much can he receive, what part can he receive from whatever is brought to him all of the pleasures and it's all pleasures not like there's something that I don't really like or from the beginning to the end, all of the plates are filled with everything that I really enjoy. And I still make a calculation for myself what I receive from each and every plate, from all of this menu, in order to maximally enjoy in such a way that I give pleasure to the host.

S. So how do you make that calculation?

R. I make the calculation according to how much I feel every portion that is in front of me and how much the host wants me to receive it. There are portions in the light of Yechida, Neshama, Ruach and Nefesh and I make a calculation: what does He want from me? And I feel that I need to receive from these portions some combination of things. I can't receive just from one and from the other no. I have to receive, to take from each portion because I have desires for all five, of these forms of pleasure and I receive them. I take them and I make a calculation: how much am I capable for. Let’s say I'm capable of receiving 20% of all five dishes.

S. In this calculation is there also the element of the friends, how much you could convey for them because he's not receiving all these pleasures for himself?

R. I receive within myself, in myself you, I connect to the friends and I make a calculation: how much the host gives us not me.

S. In other words in this calculation there has to be the connection and the calculation is common? It's not the person himself: it's from a common place?

R. Yes, like you sit in the ten in a meal.

11. S. (28:38) What is the reason that because of it, the ability to restrict himself appears in a person?

R. Shame, shame from the giver.

S. Shame from what? In what?

R. From receiving. If he stops, it stops him from receiving from the beginning to the end of creation. It holds him each time in all of the degrees. In this way he advances to the giver.

S. In this way the ability called restriction reawakens in him because he's ashamed?

R. Yes, yes.

12. S. (29:34) I have all the pleasures that the Creator wants to give in front of me and I now I have to repel it. How do I repel it without offending the host?

R. You don't repel the host, you only make a calculation: how much you can receive for the benefit of the attitude to the host, in order to bestow to him. So that you really feel where all my bones will speak it, that you're doing it for Him, in connection with Him, in adherence to Him. This is why you repel, make a calculation, and take from all five dishes, all five plates, as much as it's possible to bestow back to the Creator and you have a very clear calculation.

S. He wants to give me all the abundance on the table?

R. He wants to give you all the abundance but it's in order to receive, this is how He constructed you and brought to you the feeling. But in order to bestow, you're capable for only this, a very thin line.

S. So what gives the host pleasure? My receiving everything He wants to give me or my taking the right measure and relating it to Him?

R. What you awaken in the Creator, pleasure, from you rising above the degree of receiver, that you become like Him.

S. I become like Him, wanting to give back to him? I don't want to receive from Him?

R. You're doing this in your intention, otherwise what can you do? Give Him back what He gives you?

S. That's exactly the question.

R. No, it's not a question. If you receive what He gives to you and then you bless Him back, on what He gives you, then you are in equivalence of form.

13. S. (32:20) How do I know what's the level of hardness in the screen?

R. This we learn from the action. When I receive the new degree, I check it, in what coarseness and what purity and details do I have.

14. S. (32:49) In item 20, it says that phase four was the place of reception to the ten Sefirot, “as He is One, and His name One.” What does it mean, He is One and His name One?

R. That only the Creator activates everything.

15. S. (33:10) What awakens shame? How do we come to the feeling of being ashamed of receiving?

R. We arrive to shame and check shame in me rising above the restriction, above the screen and meet with the Upper Light and check it and measure it, however much I'm able to receive it in order to bestow. That's it.

16. S. (33:56) This me who does the checking: what is it, is it our common desire in the ten or is it me that feels this desire?

R. Yes, exactly. It is the common desire of the ten and everything we are speaking about we're speaking not from the individual, but from the person who is connected with the ten, with the friends and relates to it together with it, with them.

S. A person who is connected to the friends: what does it mean that he's relating to the Creator with this common desire?

R. He's in a mutual common vessel that the Creator has created, as if it never shattered. He takes from the broken vessel some small part that can be as a vessel, that includes within it all other parts and he's working with it. And a little more and a little more until he connects all of the broken, shattered desires for in order to bestow. This is what he's doing.

17. S. (35:33) Allowing the will to receive to decide is a little like letting the cat watch over the cream. How can you decide objectively?

R. You're correct, the will to receive has to be under restriction, that I never received for my own sake, that I am above myself only in connection with my friends. Then in such a way I can arrive at the right calculation and ask the Creator to give me strength, and then I receive the strength from Him and I do an action. And I miss, I don't miss, I don't lose, I don't make a mistake. Meaning, that here there has to be already this feeling of the state of where you are. You, the Creator and what connects between you.

S. So the ten allows the will to receive to really change all of the considerations, the whole system that operates it?

R. The ten does it in such a way, yes, through the light that reforms, that returns.

S. So the ten is like there's a light and there's a vessel?

R.Yes, the ten demands of the Creator to receive the light, that returns, that reforms, to make calculations in bestowal and the action of bestowal.

S. So the ten is the vessel?

R. And then the ten turns into a vessel.

S. Where am I in this?

R. You are in the ten. Why do you need to be an individual? Where do you win by being by yourself alone?

S. There has to be some part of me that remains?

R. Certainly within the ten you have a part, and more than that, from when you begin the action, you operate it, so you are the first who is managing the ten.

18. S. (38:17) Is this a good exercise for us during the day to no matter what we do and where we are to try and kind of live in the ten, to live the ten, to shift ourselves into the ten?

R. Do whatever you want, as much as possible, even confuse the heads and the legs and it will only be for your own benefit.

19. S. (39:10) What does it mean that the vessel of the ten feels the pressure of the light? The correction is connection, so how do we feel that the light pressures us and we restrict ourselves when we receive? We don't want to connect or we calculate how much we can connect. The question is: what is the pressure of the light that's felt in the vessel of the ten?

R. However the ten will be arranged it will feel whether the light or the Creator pressures it in order to do this or that action.

20. S. (40:15) If we don't necessarily feel all the time that we are sitting in front of a table filled with dainties, with delights, you don't always feel this way, so how do you come to this feeling?

R. Try to depict it because it is really so. Try to depict it.

21. S. (40:50) Today I'm leaving, turning back to Turkey, this time I stayed nearly twenty days. I received so much force and example here, force and example and my question is: when I turn back, how can I implement what I received in the Turkish vessel to give to the friends, to advance the friends? What shall I do?

R. You probably know better how to do it towards the friends in Turkey. So, try as you understand us and are connected with us, to also build a bridge between us and the Turkish group. We want to be connected, in contact with them very much, and to try to be with them in meetings as much as possible with happy meetings. Everything depends on us. So we'll be in touch and call, write, participate in everything that we do, everything that we are in. I see that there's a little descent in the Turkish group. Once we had six or even seven, now there's maybe two or three groups. Well, we will improve the situation. The state will work together and other than that, you already know that you're welcome here whenever you want. We love you and through you we want to give all of our friends in Turkey a warm hug and success and our help in all of our ways; together.

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