1. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1990), "Why Is the Torah Called 'Middle Line' in the Work? – 2"
The person sees people’s faces but he should believe that behind the faces stands the Creator and performs these actions. That is, behind the man stands the Creator and compels him to do the deeds that the Creator wants. It follows that the Creator does everything, but the person regards what he sees and not what he should believe.
2. RABASH, Article No. 13 (1986), “Come Unto Pharaoh 2”
We should know that we were given love of friends to learn how to avoid blemishing the King’s honor. In other words, unless he has no other desire except to give contentment to the King, he will certainly blemish the King’s honor, which is called “Passing on Kedusha [holiness/sanctity] to the external ones.” For this reason, we mustn’t underestimate the importance of the work in love of friends, for by that he will learn how to exit self-love and enter the path of love of others. And when he completes the work of love of friends, he will be able to be rewarded with love of the Creator.
3. Baal HaSulam, "The Love of God and the Love of Man"
When one completes one’s work in love of others and bestowal upon others through the final point, one also completes one’s love for the Creator and bestowal upon the Creator. And there is no difference between the two, for anything that is outside one’s body, meaning outside one’s self-interest, is judged equally—either to bestow upon one’s friend or to bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.
4. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, "Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?"
One must do every possible thing in the world to attain “for the sake of the Creator.” Then one can pray from the bottom of the heart, and then the Creator hears his prayer.
However, one must know, when exerting to attain the Lishma, to take upon himself to want to work entirely to bestow, completely, meaning only to bestow and not to receive anything. Only then does one begin to see that the organs do not agree to this view.
From this one can come to clear awareness that he has no other choice but to pour out his heart to the Creator to help him so the body will agree to enslave itself to the Creator unconditionally.
5. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 57
There is no happier state in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy. It is then that he is fit for a wholehearted prayer for His help because he knows for certain that his own work will not help him.
As long as he feels some strength of his own, his prayer will not be whole because the evil inclination rushes first and tells him, “First you must do what you can, and then you will be worthy of the Creator.”
It was said about this, “The Lord is high and the low will see.” For once a person has labored in all kinds of work, and has become disillusioned, he comes into real lowliness, knowing that he is the lowest of all the people, as there is nothing good in the structure of his body. At that time, his prayer is complete and he is granted by His generous hand.
6. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52
“While they speak, I listen,” meaning the measure of the Creator’s listening depends precisely on the measure of the longing that appears during the saying of the prayer. When one feels excessive longing, he should know at that time that the Creator is listening to him attentively.
Clearly, when he knows this, he pours his heart out even stronger, for there is no greater privilege than the King of the world being attentive to him. This is quite similar to what our sages said, “The Creator longs for the prayer of righteous,” for the Creator’s desire for a person to draw near Him awakens great power and longing in the person to crave for the Creator, for “As in water of the face to the face, so the heart of man to man.”
It follows that the saying of the prayer and the hearing of the prayer go hand in hand until they accumulate to the full measure and he acquires everything.
7. RABASH, Article No. 13 (1989), What Is the "Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man" in the Work?
We want to be rewarded with feeling—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that we are serving a great and important king, and that by this there will be love of the Creator within us, from feeling His exaltedness. However, all of our pleasure will come from serving the Creator; this will be our reward, and not that He will somehow reward us for the work. Instead, we will feel that the work itself is the reward, and there is no greater reward in the world than the privilege of serving the Creator.
8. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 12, "The Essence of Man’s Work"
The essence of man’s work should be how to come to feel taste in bestowing contentment to one’s Maker, since all that one does for oneself removes him from the Creator due to the disparity of form. Conversely, if one acts in order to benefit the Creator, even if it is the smallest act, it is still considered a Mitzva [commandment].
Therefore, one’s primary exertion should be to acquire the strength to feel taste in bestowing, which is through lessening the force that feels taste in self-reception. Then one slowly acquires the taste in bestowing.
9. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 19, "What Is 'The Creator Hates the Bodies,' in the Work?"
One should believe that the obstructions of the will to receive in the work come to him from above. One is given the force to discover the will to receive from above because there is room for work precisely when the will to receive awakens.
Then one has close contact with the Creator to help him turn the will to receive to work in order to bestow. One must believe that from this extends contentment to the Creator, from his praying to Him to draw him near in the manner of Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” discerned as the annulment of the will to receive, so it is in order to bestow. The Creator says about this, “My sons defeated Me.” That is, I gave you the will to receive, and you ask Me to give you a desire to bestow instead.
10. Rav Laitman, daily Kabbalah lesson, 9.4.2022
All his work is to reach the source of light through the light, and in receiving the light, to bestow contentment to the source of the light, that is, to the Creator. We receive the light not in order to enjoy, but to delight the Creator.
Question: How do we feel this state in the ten?
Rav Laitman: In the ten, we discover it when I care more about the friends than about myself. If I am directed in such a way, then I am directed to the Creator and not to myself.
11. Rav Laitman, daily Kabbalah lesson, 17.12.2021
Each and every friend is a form in which the Creator turns to me. This is what is called "behind every friend stands the Creator", so the Creator is revealed to us in billions of forms, and so I can see the billions of people in the world, that this is how He wants to show me His form towards me. But instead of all those billions of people, it's enough for me to see my ten. And if I work with them and I do not want to change any of them, I just need to give them an example of how I relate to the Creator. Because the Creator or the friend should be the same, and even more important is how you relate to the friend.
12. Rav Laitman, Daily Kabbalah Shiur, 24.4.2022
Besides man there is only the upper light, the Creator. And what I see before me, now let's say everyone sees the general screen, yes? How many characters are there here? I have to say that I do not see these characters. This is in a very special way in which the Creator presents Himself to me. Himself, so that if I relate with bestowal, with love, without any relation to me, then I would actually discover here the appearance of the Creator towards me in such a way.
13. Rav Laitman, daily Kabbalah lesson, 7.4.2022
Strive to put the friends into your heart, and through that you want to bestow all the good to the friends. Pray to the Creator to help you arrange such an attitude towards the friends. And through the friends, when you get to the state where you think of them and pray for them, you will extend from that a prayer to the Creator. It is impossible to turn to the Creator if it is not for the friends. This is why Rabash wrote, "From the love of friends to the love of the Creator." Because it is impossible to arrange things otherwise, the Kli is incomplete.
14. Rav Laitman, daily Kabbalah lesson, April 30, 2022
We are together, truly together, in a joint effort between everyone, men, women, from all continents, around the whole planet. We will reach such an effort, that within the connection between us we will begin to discover the upper force. He is there, He is expecting it, and for His part He is open to it, and we need to open our participation, that's the most important.
Successful, unsuccessful, there is no question about this, but whatever we want is right, whatever we do is right. The main thing is to advance to connection, and to break through with the connection to a state where the Creator is revealed. From the love of people to the love of the Creator. Onward, good luck, I am with you.
15. Rav Laitman, daily Kabbalah lesson, April 30, 2022
Question: How in this convention, in these workshops, will we achieve annulment towards the friends?
I have to imagine, as it is written, that behind every friend stands the Creator. I can not reach the Creator if I do not annul myself towards the friend. It's just that the friend here is helping me, and seemingly he is hindering me, but in fact if I annul myself towards the friend, as Rabash wrote, zero relative to one, then in this way I reach a state where I am in the revelation of the Creator. In my annulment towards the friend I discover the Creator towards me.
16. Rav Laitman, daily Kabbalah lesson, April 30, 2022
I need to connect with the friends, and as much as I respect them above me, as much as I want to elevate them in my eyes above me, I build by this a condition that I will discover in them an upper appreciation, the upper light. From love, that I want to push them, from my desire to discover in them the light, the Creator, the force of bestowal, from that I make of them the vessel for receiving the light. And so I build my soul, I restrict myself, connect with the friends, the friends become the first nine Sefirot of the Partzuf of my soul, and I who restricted my desire become Malchut. I very much hope that in this way we will advance and get closer to building the soul.