Ask Anything

[Gil]

Ask, connect, inspire.

[Greg]

Good Morning, I have been travelling, and reading articles…often I end up reading several articles because questions are spawned from the original article I was reading, so forgive me for being full of questions today.

A friend and I are reading Baal Ha Sulam’s #1 There is none else besides Him. In the article he says, “hat is, he lacks the strength to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] even Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], for only by genuinely overcoming all the obstacles, above reason, can he observe the Torah and Mitzvot.

Yours truly, did not know what Lo Lishma and Lishma meant so I jumped onto article the Rabash Article 23 What Beginning in Lo Lishma Means in the Work.

Here is my two part question:

In the Rabash article one of the discernments in Lo Lishma is 2. One who studies in order to annoy. What is meant by annoy? Is this a translation limitation?

In the first article what is meant by “Not for her Sake” as opposed to “For her Sake?” Who/what is the “her?”

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

Hi Greg,

To annoy…there is such a state a person goes through where he studies in order to annoy his friends. There’s no need to open it up because one has to discover this inside, that he finds himself studying with that intention – even though he had hoped to have better intentions. It’s one of the many misdirections of the ego that one will discover while trying to locate the corrcet direction of Lishma.

Lishma means for the sake of the Creator. And Lo Lishma means he aims that way, but it turns out that the Creator has to grant him Lishma – because the person doesn’t have such a fuel, but only all sorts of other things can fuel him.

[Kimadigital7]

Could we also say, for the sake of the Creator, could be,  preparing a place for the Creator to dwell in?

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

There is the place for Him to fill, and there is the intention – why it should be filled.

[Kimadigital7]

That means there are two things, the place and an intention- the why it should be filled
What is a place?
Is the filling done at once or step by step?  What does it mean to fill?

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

The place is the desire. The filling is done step-by-step because first one needs to show they can be entirely above the desire.

[Greg]

Thank you, Gianni, for all you do for friends near and far.

[Vince]

Are suicide and divorce considered “free choice” outside of being in a ten or are these actions also done by the Creator?

 

Thanks in advance Gianni!

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

By the Creator, of course. If I don’t know where my true free choice is, then I’m operated in everything like a puppet. But once I know, I have to choose. But before that, my choices aren’t real choices – I only feel as though I’m going through a decision making process while the Creator decided in advance. There’s a space for choice, but I have to study to locate it.

[Zorica Kostadinovska]

Hi Gianni, I need help understanding something please. I don’t have problem to annul during a lesson, or workshop or anything similar, but during leisure time, singing dancing drinking, my whole being protests, I cannot even think of annulment! I want to run away! In my defence, I never liked such big gatherings, and tend to avoid them. Do I have to have physical contact with people to achieve spiritual one? If yes, I am doomed! Thank you in advance.

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

I feel the same way, Zorica. When you frame properly the height of the spiritual goal and understand the purpose of the gathering, you’ll be able to see it as a unique opportunity to advance, especially when the gathering is done properly. The goal should be clear all the time, and be in front of our eyes. It should be serious, and of course if there is alcohol it should be fairly limited so that it doesn’t cloud the goal.

[Zorica Kostadinovska]

Btw, duty is a delight, no problems there either

[Kimadigital7]

If only the Creator can connect the friends together. And the Creator means to love and to bestow.
What comes first? The Creator’s intention or the desire to bestow?  If the intention comes first, that means that before taking any action, I must prepare my intention. My intention should be so strong that it will produce results.

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

We don’t want to get confused with the Creator. He is the Will to Bestow through and through. We are the Will to Receive through and through. To become similar to Him, we need to place an intention before the action.

[Kimadigital7]

I don’t know to express it well…

Is all our work leading us to that state of Oneness? Is it, for example, I work for the connection of the friends, I hold the one single thought of bestowing to Him with an intention to give back to the Creator? For the sake of the revelation of His Godliness to His created beings? It is just like we are taking back everything to Him. That means there’s no TWO but ONE

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

But in the end, there will be two: Creator and Created Being. But for this, we have to become one, in order to be that Created Being.

[Dave]

I have a question about our relationship with the Creator, particularly in light of Shamati 16, which describes how the Creator does not receive or need anything from us. It mentions that our relationship is like a game to the Creator, as expressed in the phrase, “He sits and plays with a whale,” referencing the verse, “There go the ships, and Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it” (Avoda Zarah, p. 3). A teacher once explained that the whale alludes to the final correction, symbolizing the full rectification of the will to receive. However, I’m still pondering the meaning of the word ‘play’ in this context. What does it mean that the Creator ‘plays’ with the whale? Is this play something ongoing with creation—meaning, is He playing with us now—or does it only occur at the end of correction?

Additionally, is play a strong mechanism for connection with the friends? For example, I ‘play’ with the friends, giving and pretending to receive, but deep down, I don’t actually care to receive anything. Is it like playing a board game with my son—winning and losing is just for sport, but I’m really doing it because I enjoy spending time with him? Is this a good understanding of how the Creator relates to us?

[Gianni – KabU Instructor]

It’s the right understanding.

[Author]

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