Morning Lesson October 6, 2022 Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 1:
Rabash, Article "Sometimes Spirituality Is Called “a Soul”"
1. S. (14:45) Here in the article he begins with concepts of Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Body, Guf, in the body and he ends in the classic way with love of friends. This is the most important thing so in what moment in love with friends do we start revealing these degrees of Nefesh, Ruach?
R. We start with the degree of Nefesh, we need to reach love of others just like the Creator. Our goal is to be like him, so we need to reach love that is the superior quality. That's how the Creator appears to us, is revealed to us. So on this path we have 5 degrees, all the lights NRNHY, but we're talking about the first three degrees, Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, because Haya and Yechida are attained later, it's a different kind of work, that's it. It's all attained through connection to the extent in which we are connected and are tight, connected, bound to one another, the more we want to be together as one man in one heart to the extent that we want to be connected and embraced as one.
To the extent and which we want, accordingly our height is measured, the height of our connection, Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida until we reach 100% connectivity with it one another as tight as we are together, as connected as we are, accordingly we rise in 125 degrees.
S. So for us love of friends, it's emotion in this connection that we feel? So how nonetheless this feeling and emotion that has these kinds of spiritual concepts and understands them, let's say Nefesh, we're speaking about Nefesh?
R. I don't understand you, maybe, when do you reach the degree of Nefesh? When you can be connected with the friends in such a manner that you understand that you cannot attain spirituality alone. Call that Nefesh.
S. What do you mean I cannot attain it by myself, that we are in need of the Creator's help or one another?
R. You just need to be connected between you ,to the extent to which you connect in bestowal and giving to one another, in this tendency towards one another then the Creator will be revealed before you and the degree of Nefesh and then you will connect even more and deeper and then you will discover the Creator between you at the level of Ruach.
S. What do you mean deeper, as soon as we start connecting on a deeper level it comes to us sometimes.
R. This is not yet degrees, this is still ahead of you, these are still kind of like the Creator coming and reminding you that we need to think about connection and attaining it in the connection. So he's kind of moving you in a way, awakening you.
S. The degrees, the steps, how are they expressed here and how are they built, in the way that I can personally work?
R. The degrees are that each to the extent that they can invest and their forces so one attains Nefesh, the other Ruach, to the other even Neshama. That's all ahead of us, it's all measured according to the efforts one is willing to invest in connection, that is why one will help his friend, we have to awaken and shake each other up, to be bound and tight to one another, that is how it is.
S. You said that one attains Nefesh, the next Ruach, the next Neshama, how is it actually expressed in the ten, each person has its own?
R. Each according to his effort but all together we can attain this only in the ten, making ourselves tight to one another in this way, but this way there's the individual, private details of each and every one towards each other. For example you're sitting and you're hearing an article so one understands that more, one understands that last, one understands more with his feelings another feels that with his intellect and understands that more that way that's how it is here too.
2. S. (21:18) Whenever you say connect, here he talks about, start serving, what do you mean you start serving or you acquire the quality of bestowal?
R. To connect means like that I'm willing to be like glue between everyone.
3. S. (21:44) The second half of the article he speaks about needing to come to the recognition of evil because otherwise you cannot ask for correction, you cannot advance, so every time we gather with the friends we don't actually have these states that he depicts here in the text?
R. No, this needs to be with preparation work and then gradually and slowly, slowly, we enter into being able to even feel through which effort of ours we attain something of connection.
S. Is there something else you can do besides these questions here, that he raises in the end, together maybe feel what we lack together?
R. Only one thing is missing, only connection between us. Only connection where I want to be connected with all the friends without any boundaries. No limitations and the first degree is the most difficult.
4. S. (23:06) Love of friends, what he speaks about here in the end of the article, it seems like it's a state that you can reach only when you have no choice, when you have no other strength left. Is that correct?
R. It could be that's how you feel it for the time being the main thing is to continue.
5. S. (23:35) What's the significance, the meaning here whenever Rabash asks here, when he talks about reaching these torments?
R. Why is suffering, where is it written?
S. He's talking about whenever a person sees that he cannot stand the evil within him any longer.
R. Of course we suffer along the way when we're not corrected yet, we want to be connected to the Creator, to be connected between us, we discover that we don't have this and that and who knows when it will be and several years have passed along the way, so what do we do? We continue. We continue, we just need to check our cells each time whether we are in the correct exertion in a sharp way, exactly towards the connection and that with the friends and between the friends, I want to truly be like glue between everyone.
6. S. (25:02) He said what is required is connection without boundaries. Is this possible when we have religious friends who believe in religious concepts in our ten?
R. I don't think it's quite as big of a problem, even if friends are religious amongst which there could be all kinds of forms of religion, it's not important. The wisdom of Kabbalah is talking about the connection between people above all these differences. Therefore you'll see that if you continue you will have to connect above all the faiths and religions and conditions in these and those, it doesn't bother. There's no problem here, it's like Baal HaSulam who writes that everyone will have to reach love of others and my home will be called The House of Prayer to all the nations. And so forth, the main thing is you're wanting to connect with them is to have an open heart to them and then you want everyone to connect, that's it. The fact that there is some customs for each that is different, it's really not that important. Everything stems from the same matter from the same principle of Love Thy friend as Thyself and then it was divided in all kinds of methods.
7. S. (27:04) How does it work out that we correct ourselves from light to heavy but the first one is the most difficult level? Why is the difficulty not according to the degrees?
R. This is as difficult as the first degree as it's light, it's just hard with us begin with it, because the beginning is difficult but not that it's more difficult than degree number two or three, excetera. No, rather to put ourselves up, to erect it in some way, that we don't exactly know how, that's why it's a problem. It's like you're going to school so first grade, when you go, number one: you don't know how it is and how it will be but afterwards it works out and you enter. It's not that it's harder than all the degrees, the first degree, but only for a person who enters he just doesn't know where and how and what he exactly has to do.
8. S. (28:35) These degrees of attainment of NRNHY, these are things that are attained in the ten or we need to incorporate ourselves into broader and broader circles?
R. No, it's enough in one ten just like the Rabbi Shimon.
9. S. (29:04) The end of the article here with this question: how much are we going towards love of friends? This question always needs to be on the table when we gather? To put it on the table it means what, it's revealing.
R. It's an open disclosure between the friends.
S. Maybe there's negative aspects of this and we are not going in this direction?
R. We need to talk and scrutinize and talk delicately, slowly, slowly, not reject people but bring them closer and raise the importance of the connection through which we don't attain anything and only in connection we attain the spiritual degree and then slowly, slowly, it happens, slowly. I'm telling you, it could be months and even years.
10. S. (30:12) You answered to the friend about the different actions that a person does, why is it so easy to keep these actions with arms and legs even if it's love of friends even if you have such difficult resistance to it?
R. Matter of love of friends you do with your desire or with the repulsion from your desire, whereas all kinds of religions and faiths and customs, you do them out of a desire, out of the desire specifically it's the version that you were born with where you have become accustomed to it for years and that's how you were educated. Hence there's a matter of religion and customs and that's easy and good and the person feels that it truly clothes him in an excellent way in a nice similar way to him and then there's the matter of the scrutiny with the spiritual work. Which is completely not suitable for a person and he needs to work on it against his desire, against his nature.
S. If we enter into our matter a little bit more, the correction, we see that dissemination is really important, to disseminate all kinds of things to friends, to people.
R. That's because we're in the last generation.
S. Here he talks about habit and actions with your arms and legs and here it's even spoken about to where it's friends and where it's easier, you don't really have this repulsion.
R. Because you're not working in your desire, dissemination you don't need to suppress your desire, you don't need to squeeze it, you don't need to spin it towards love or towards the others which you're usually distant from. You push him, you hate them, therefore love is the most foreign thing to us, whereas all kinds of tasks and work to do together and study together and do some preparation for some meal, for some holidays, to go out to disseminate, that's not a problem. Eventually it's something a person can do, it's not against the desire. But on the other hand it advances a person to the goal. But from afar.
11. S. (33:29) Does imagination have any importance for us connecting?
R. Yes, to the extent in which I can imagine more correctly the states of connection and to try to stabilize them correctly in me and before me and certainly this helps. It's definitely worthwhile to talk about this and to try to pass to one another.
12. S. (34:22) What is this love that doesn't depend on anything, unconditional love?
R. Such a love, it has no reason, I love without a reason, let's say you could say that there's a reason nevertheless, but let's say the love of a mother to her son. This is love that doesn't depend on anything, meaning it doesn't depend on what he does, with the measure of his behavior but because it's her son, the mother's son, she loves him. That's it, there's no questions, there's no questioning it. On the contrary if you don't see her love towards him, towards her son then that's a question. Because that's unnatural, this is unconditional love, love has got no reason or cause you could say that there is a reason that he's her son but correct it's without a reason that we need to stabilize this reason and then love comes. Love comes above it.
13. S. (35:58) We really were successful in reading this article with a good preparation without all kinds of different criticism that each person brings about whether or not he understands or ask questions, it's a Yom Kippur that I will never forget. We read the prayer of atonement and we got to this part where Rabash tells us that the desire to receive is against them only in this doubt and the will to receive doesn't really reject it but only from doubt, meaning this doubt it's part of this concealment or this will to receive?
R. It's part of the concealment.
S. So one time you said that there's no greater…?
R. Don't go into philosophy here.
S. But you said it.
R. I said it in something else, why are you pulling it here?
S. I thought that….?
R. Don't think, think only about what we're talking about here, otherwise by you already saying it you are already confusing it.
14. S. (37:35) He says in the article that the first Bechina is a quick answer and then after that it's the negative reply where a person sees the bad in him, so the question is how do we expedite going from a place where he sees the evil with him to a place of fear? He says in the article before the person reaches the true attainment of completion, the first degree, it's a quick reply but before that there's even a sign whether or not he's walking on the path of truth but it's where he sees the evil in him. So how do we expedite from coming to see the evil within you to the fear?
R. It's only from connection, I have no other answer here, only out of connection one will help his friend. We need to push one another to the common connection. To take out of this, mutual connection forces and then enter them into connection and that's how it is several times, just like you do, let's say, you take a spoon into a pot and you mix it with whatever you cook it, so that's how it is also and then you'll get to that much faster to connection.
15. S. (39:38) It says in order to reach under and conditional love, I have to give everything to the Creator that I have. Is this really how to get to unconditional love?
R. Of course, because this is unconditional love, it doesn't matter. It's from one end to the other, the Creator can change his attitude towards you and you nevertheless love him.
S. So how do I reach that state where I give everything that I have to the Creator, what does that mean in our working the ten?
R. That under all conditions you love him 100%.
16. S. (40:24) What does it mean to be the glue between the friends?
R. It's to try and adhere all the relations between the members of the ten to one connection and that you're doing this role and actually each of us has to do this, because each adds to the adhesion his quality and without that there won't be a complete adhesion.
17. S. (41:05) What is with all of your heart?
R. With all your heart is with all your desires, with all your desires, it's called with all your heart because heart is called desire.
S. What does it mean in relation to our work?
R. With all your desires where what you what does raise some desire in you with it and with it and with all the different kinds of different desires all these 620 desires within us, you want to adhere to the Creator. That's how you check yourself.
18. S. (42:09) If you could tell us about regarding these two matters you say that first of all we have to stabilize the reason and love comes automatically?
R. Let’s say yes, the Creator is the beginning. He gives us all kinds of states and we, upon the states, arrange the connection between us all the way to love. That is our work.
S. Meaning if we created this reason, the space between us, that's the Creator between us?
R. I don't know what the reason is you're talking about.
S. They translated it this way that we are the ones who create the reason and then love comes automatically, this was about unconditional love.
R. Let it go, it'll get clear just from continuing.
S. You said every condition and everything that happens, you have to stay in love and he says that we need to love one another more and more than more than a mother loves her child. You could even say that is not ever good but it still needs to love regardless?
R. Of course, yes.
S. According to this corporeal desire, let's say that I could continue loving my child even if it wasn't my kid?
R. Go ask your wife, what are you asking me?
S. No translation
R. I don't want to go into this nonsense, it's nonsense, what you're pushing yourself into, you're being given an example like a mother to her little child. That's love, that's it, that you understand, yes, that's it. So you have to come to such a state where I love a friend because we are with him together connected to the vessel of Adam HaRishon. Now you're going to scrutinize what is the love of the mother to her son, in what way or not and why do you need that. Approach directly that connection with a group, that's where you need to see the use of love.
S. Sorry, maybe I went in the wrong direction. I just wanted to ask this love of a mother, we understand that, this reason is clear. But for us in the ten that were all taken from this vessel of Adam HaRishon. so I need to go and check maybe that the friends have the same goal, that they have the same aspirations towards Adam HaRishon?
R. That's different, how do I check that I am with the friends in the group and we together are yearning towards one goal, there's an article about that not and not just one. You need to check whether you're in the group and that the whole group yearns for the goal of connection, that in the connection you want to reveal the Creator and you're discovering him according to the extent in which you connect between you as one man in one heart, try and see how it's done and less philosophy. You think that here there needs to be some kind of wisdom, there's no wisdom, there's just what's written is written, that as it's written, understand, no more. Without all kinds of philosophizing.
19. S. (46:41) What's more important the goal or the method meaning, we need to wait all the time for forces and strength from the Creator or maybe we can get rid of this egoism in order to do something for the group or for others?
R. He writes to us about that in all of his articles, Rabash. That we need every single moment to try and renew the connection between us and the Creator on his behalf at any given moment will add to his desires between us such that they will distance us from one another, and we upon that distancing will try to come closer to one another until all the work is done. The Creator on his behalf, where he's distancing us and we on our behalf where we're bringing ourselves closer to one another.
20. S. (48:00) It turns out that there is love in every state, just in some ways it's not revealed?
R. Yes, we need in each and every state to try and come to the feeling of love.
S. So this is the entire essence of our work from the smallest thing, from each smallest thing you need to extract love that is in it?
R. In each and every state we need to come to the degree of feeling of love.
21. S. (48:58) He said in the article that he blew into his nostrils the Neshama, can you please explain the sentence in what the nostril is?
R. That he will feel that within him there is some special upper light called the soul, it's not yet we didn't yet get there in order to talk about it. There's certain things that he writes in one article about several states and we're still before the first state but the main thing is don't go into all kinds of being wise philosophers here like some kind of big researchers. Smart guys, you need to understand these things in the simplicity and specifically in the simplicity of it, to implement it.
22. S. (50:25) Is it simplicity or being a wise philosopher that I need to love the friends because that's what the Creator wants?
R. Yes, you can say it like that in love.
23. S. (50:56) How does the Creator love people that are so contradicted to him?
R. It doesn't matter to him the Creator loves each and every person with unconditional love.
24. S. (51:23) In this process that I need to connect to the friends, I need to exit myself and it creates a fear in me that I will not know myself anymore or being lost. How to overcome this fear of losing myself?
R. Try more and more and even on that, ask the Creator.
24. S. (52:00) Does the ten also have a soul?
R. For the ten specifically Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Yechida, these lights reveal in the ten.
S. Do we have a personal soul and what's the difference between a personal soul and a general soul?
R. Each one is incorporated and included in the ten and each one feels within the ten his personal feelings. Even though in the ten the general light spreads from the mutual Malchut between us. But each person grasps it in his individuality. Let's say that we receive from one pot, each person receives this bowl of soup, so each of us out of the ten we have the same soup, and then we eat. For sure what I have in my mouth and in my intestines and my stomach, everyone else has. But each one receives it in his inner qualities, and we cannot compare these qualities.
Let's say when we speak about the soup that each one feels it for sure, somehow we can speak about it but speak about it only, not feel. I cannot feel what my friend feels and another friend and another friend. But we are in this agreement, we agree but I can feel it only in my vessel but that we receive from one source, through this one source, through the Creator I connect to the friend and to another friend, another friend and then them to me. This is how all of us together are connected to the Creator. This is, he will be joyful from us.
25. S. (55:21) So many times we talked about feeling the friends and continuing this beautiful explanation that you described with the soup, what does it actually mean to feel the friend?
R. Feel the friend means to feel how we complete one another, in order to incorporate with the Creator. If it wasn't for the Creator we wouldn't feel one another.
26. S. (56:08) He writes in the text that prior to obtaining his evil to the extent that they cannot tolerate he has nothing to correct so from the path we can see that you can get to know the evil to recognize and the rejection from connection excetera but the state of not tolerating it how do you come to such a state that you cannot tolerate it anymore?
R. Try to depict that this evil is disturbing you, that it's keeping you from attaining that goal.
27. S. (56:49) He writes all that a person has he has to give to the Creator. What is everything that he has he has to give to the Creator?
R. To be in order to bestow, everything that a person has he wants to give it to the Creator in order to bestow like the creator gives us we give to him. I am for my beloved and he is for me and that is what we say. In this way the Creator is revealed to me.
28. S. (57:28) A person who studies the wisdom of Kabbalah also reveals the evil in him and it can take him in all kinds of directions. How do we remain focused and what's the right attitude towards the evil inside of us?
R. Attitude towards the bad and the evil is something that disturbs me from reaching the goal, this is coming to connection with the friends and with a connection with the friends it disturbs me from coming into connection with the Creator. This is all the evil that we have.
S. Do I need to erase it to hate it or what do I need to think of it?
R. You didn't hear enough about this already? We read so much about it, what evil means? Nothing stops me from reaching the purpose of Creation because I have nothing in front of me besides the purpose of creation and the purpose of creation is connection with all the friends and with the Creator.
29. S. (58:52) Why in giving is there pleasure that is so great?
R. Because it's limitless if a person enjoys giving he can bestow in order to receive, it's a limitless vessel.
30. S. (59:31) What is the important thing that we need to take from this article for the work?
R. That we need to come to love between all of us because if I have this kind of love in the Ten that according to that I can say that I am in love with the Creator, if I have no such extent not even the smallest measure I cannot say that I have love towards the Creator even in anything. There is not any option to evade the fact that it is, that it's not, that it is worthwhile, can,can't. If there is love between the friends, then there is love towards the Creator. If there's none between the friends I am not in love with the Creator. Because love to the Creator only comes on the condition that I go through all the friends and then I can touch the Creator.
31. S. (01:01:05) There's a different strong feeling when you read the whole article straight forward like that compared to the select excerpts, it's like there's more time to breathe into the heart, what's the pros and cons of reading a whole article?
R. I agree, we will read more complete articles. We have already done a lot of work with these excerpts but nonetheless these passages. you can read many of these excerpts compare between the, delve into them, and it's different completely then to read an entire article. It's just a different way of looking at it.
32. S. (01:01:54) Is unconditional love meaning that you love the friends without any reason. Should we ask the Creator to give this to us because it's unnatural to love others in such a way?
R. There's a reason, the reason is that by my connection with them I come to a connection with the Creator.
Why when we have such an article, why am I specifically connecting with these friends and not with any other such article?
33. S. (01:02:42) How to make sure that connection and knowledge of the sources don't deviate us from the deeds but I note quite often about this from my friends and myself?
R. We just need to continue, we lack a lot.
34. S. (01:03:02) If the Creator is bestowal which we develop in the Ten, then who are we praying to?
R. The Creator is not bestowal. He is the force of bestow that dwells and all of reality and within Him, He distinguished or created this place where the will to receive can exist even in order to receive.
35. S. (01:03:35) Can we say that the attainment of degrees in the spiritual work is gradual revelation of the ego inside of us?
R. Yes. it's the gradual revelation of the corrected ego within us.
36. S. (01:04:03) How do we work if there's critique from the Ten?
R. You work with this, on this criticism on the critiquing. You do a criticism on the criticism. The main thing is, are we drawn to connection? That's the main thing because if we start each person starts spinning themselves as if they're correct then they have no place in the Ten. It's very simple, either we are building relations and attitudes between us or we are spreading apart.
37. S. (01:04: 47) What is love of friends?
R. Love of others and love of friends, each one loves the friend because is the single partner that the Creator gave him in order to attain the Creator. To attain the goal.
38. S. (01:05:08) How to be connected with the friends without any boundaries?
R. This is great work that we need to try, but to the extent that I connect with them to the friend to that extent I reached the Creator.
39. S. (01:05:30) How will we know that we are complementing one another and spirituality, we did not yet reach spirituality. How will each complete her part?
R. Look at others and try to, what does it seem to you that they're lacking?
40. S. (01:05:58) How should we exit lowly thoughts and why do they exist and take over?
R. These lowly thoughts control a person the more that we advance and we're going to have more of those kinds of thoughts just like Rabbi Shimon and the students there. They wanted to kill one another so much that evil grows within us and according to that thoughts, desires, and tendencies. We just need to learn what we're engaging in and see what else we are expecting to reveal and what we have and what we're expecting.
41. S. (01:06:55) I cannot feel the friend. How can I love her?
R. I have to if I want to reach my purpose of creation otherwise I am born a little beast and I will die a larger beast.
42. S. (01:07:17) How do you feel the friend?
R. You need to make all kinds of efforts just like the Kabbalists say and don't put it on the side, don't say tomorrow or later on I'll do it. Every day something and in some way just say then you beat the go.
43. S. (01:07:45) After Yom Kippur we feel like a new day is starting, a new page. We feel renewed forces, how do we take these forces and pass them to the friend? How to help the Ten make a leap?
R. Each and every day you need to add.