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

Daily Lesson (Morning) March 5, 2024

Part 3:

Baal HaSulam Body and Soul

We are studying the article, “Body and Soul”, by Baal HaSulam. You will find it in the Arvut system and in the book, “The Writings of Baal HaSulam”.

Reading Article: (00:23) “Before I clarify this exalted matter, it is…”

S. (06:53) Thank you very much Rav. He says that the wisdom of Kabbalah finds it as a diminution of light. He makes this distinction between the spiritual world and the corporeal world. In the body too the feeling of the physical body, its composition and the composition of the upper world, the spiritual world. So, what is the diminution of light that can hold onto and can give us many, many vessels?

R. I don't know but why is it so difficult? You have spirituality and corporeality. You have the light that is a spiritual force and the desire, the will which is a corporeal force. You can raise a desire to a spiritual degree through corrections and the light can't go down to the corporeal level. That's it.

S. He also says here that in the end spirituality protects the body, which is amazing that faith above reason covers everything. 

R. Yes, of course. All the forces descend from above downwards, yes. Okay. 

Reading continues: (08:34) Subtitle, The Method of Believers in Duality.

Reading continues: (11:20) Subtitle, The Methods of the Deniers.

R. (14:48) You're tired I see.

S. I'm not tired I'm just sorry for the collective.

R. How do you feel the collective? 

S. Well, I don't feel the collective but I somewhat understand what Baal HaSulam writes and it makes you ache for the confusion of so many years.

R. No, it's all good. As much as we get confused that's good too, it develops your mind. Tell me, according to your Torah, so children aren't allowed to read fairy tales because it's a lie. Like the sun talking to a tree or cats speaking to rocks and all kinds of things. It's not a lie. It's even more of a lie because here we see that there is no such thing but still you make all kinds of stories from it, imaginary stories, so. 

S. Indeed, why should we give such things to children?

R. I guess they need it in order to develop. They don't understand any other language or any other approach but for their benefit we need to write, or to turn to them, or to tell them in such forms that even though it's not the truth it does help their development. 

S. When they are confused and continue this confusion for generations? 

R. They are not so confused. They let it go afterwards and they keep going. You understand? Did you see adults that talk in a way that the wind came and told a story to the tree and the tree told it to the ground and the ground to the moon, and so on? You never heard that?

S. No, but there are more serious confusions than the trees in grown-ups. 

R. Okay, I guess that's also for their benefit. That's good. We have to understand that it's all for our good. The scientific meaning of body and soul, according to our Torah.

Reading continues: (18:15)”Now I shall explain this exalted matter…”

R. (20:00) Yes, well, I don't know if it's worth starting this matter.  

S. There are nevertheless things that humanity has determined and for decades or centuries thousands are standing as truth. 

R. As truth. Exactly. The as, as if it's truth. How do we know?

S.  I don't know. Science, it proves itself, we work according to it and things work. They determine all kinds of facts, that this is how the world works, this is how reality works and they use it accordingly and it proves itself, for decades, for centuries. 

R. We receive it for now, we accept it because it's not that it proved itself but it didn't come out of the boundaries that we have determined but who knows what tomorrow will bring? You know, suddenly some conditions change in nature and what we have determined before won't be true anymore, that happens. That's why this is the question, where are the boundaries of what we determine? What's certain and what isn't? Where are we? 

Reading continues: (21:55) Revealed and Concealed.

R. First of all don't say it's certain and determined. In reality there is no such thing. We are always working within some boundaries and we have question marks. If we will receive, if this if that, so maybe we'll get that. It will always have a doubt.

Reading continues: (22:42) Revealed and Concealed.

R. (26:35) Okay? That's how we live.

S. (26:44) How are we studying the writings of the sages? 

R. What’s up?

S. We discuss them, we try to understand them, we ask questions about them, we divide them, split them. 

R. That's in order to develop our brain cells.

S. He says it's forbidden to do it.

R. We're not attaining anything from it and we're not passing it beyond the borders of attainment. 

S. What does it mean we're not passing beyond the boundaries of attainment? 

R. We're not saying whether it's right or not, truth or false. We're studying, we're activating our brain cells and maybe some other vessels that are connected to our mind and our emotions, and somewhat, that can be more connected to what Kabbalists wrote about but it's not that we are actually getting into it.

S. From what should we be careful? 

R. For now we have nothing to be cautious of. 

S. When I study about spiritual laws, like there's None Else Besides Him, faith above reason and all kinds of concepts that I have no perception of attainment in them.

R. Yes.

S. I could make a mistake and think that I'm already there. 

R. Okay, think. What about that?

S. I'll be confused and I will not advance toward the goal correctly.

R. You get confused and then you advance? 

S. I will not advance. 

R. What advance? 

S. So there is something to be careful from.

R. You're not causing any harm by that? 

S. I'm harming myself by this?

R. No, so you were confused for a few years. What? You think there weren't people like that? 

S. No. I may be one of them too so it worries me.

R. How can you be concerned of yourself? 

S. He says here, you have to be careful not to philosophize, or I don't know, what's the law? How to work correctly with what is concealed, which is basically the whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah. 

R. The question is are we studying the wisdom of Kabbalah or not.

S. Or not. But here we are studying, we're reading, we're asking, we seemingly feel. Every lesson we have many questions about spiritual discernment that we have no attainment of.

R. Correct but we're learning. On what basis? Gradually throughout the years we are coming closer to drawing the surrounding lights upon us and in this way they bring us closer, so in whatever we can draw the surrounding lights upon us in that way we can advance to the goal and that can take a few more generations.

S. What should a student take into account while reading about the spiritual concepts in which he has no grip?

R. Yeah, no grip but there is some kind of connection which is through the surrounding light, reflected light and so on that still directs itself towards attaining spiritual discernments, and in this way we can advance another year, another year, maybe another hundred or two hundred years but that is on the path. Okay. All right. 

S. (31:36) It could be now or in two hundred years but what's the benefit that a person gets from everything he does? What are we celebrating here? It can happen any minute or even in two hundred years so why should I care when to move? The Creator will do it.

R. No, the Creator won't do it. The Creator gave you something to do. You have to do it and when today or in another two hundred years if we could even say that you choose that, that's also a question. Is the choice in our hands? 

S. If I look at all of creation from a side and I see there was Baal HaSulam, he lived but there were wars. From my childhood I don't see what Baal HaSulam did, the world still follows its path.

R. Yes.

S. What's the point? What's the benefit from all the actions? What are we correcting in those parts of Malchut as you said?

R. Yes, we're correcting. We have to believe that what we're doing, according to what we're learning, we are correcting. Yeah.

S. With what? 

R. We are discovering the parts of the Malchut, correcting them and connecting them.

S. If I do and don't do, I mean, if there is a feeling like I'm brokenhearted, no I don't really care about it. 

R. All right.

S. I got to a state or a friend got to state so this is fine, the Creator will do it or not do it and the light will shine. So what do we do?

R. No, there's a difference between people who invest forces in it, years of sleep or rest, or people that don't invest anything in it. They just hope for themselves to enjoy it in the future. There's a difference, there's a difference. A person that is now here, hundreds of people that have a purpose in their life and they also want to attain it. There’s maybe more goals and problems but still, this is something they also want.

S. Do we have anything besides prayers, like a group or something else that helps? Something that changes something in this world besides adhesion? Today you said adhesion but besides prayer, connection with the Creator, is there anything else that's practical we can do, like building a house, building something? Only connection and prayer? 

R. Connection, prayer, and drawing the light that reforms which means our study. 

S. What does it add to the world? What's the benefit from it? Only the Creator enjoys it.

R. It is that we are awakening surrounding light that works on all of reality, on us and on all the reality, on all created beings. We'll keep going for now. Let's go home.