Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
We do not know what man is. When we call some external image “man”, it is not exactly something that fits the spiritual definition of “man” in the science of Kabbalah.
The spiritual notion of “man” consists of three bodies:
1. The inner body (Kli), in which the Light (soul) is dressed;
2. Klipat Noga (another body) which is a desire like the first one (inner body), but of a different kind;
3. Klipa Mishcha de Chivia (the third desire or body).
What does the “inner body” mean? These are the desires with regards to which a person can gradually acquire (although not simple, but possible) an intention for bestowal for the sake of the Creator. To the extent that one can use desires for bestowal, the Light dresses them, and the Creator (the sensation of Him) fills them. In this case, these desires are called “the soul’s garment.”
The desires Klipat Noga and Mishcha de Chivia are evil, and it is impossible to use them with the intention for the sake of the Creator. Therefore, a person should isolate and stop using them.
"To free oneself from the two last bodies (desires) and be able to use only the inner body, a person should think only about things that are connected with Him." In the spiritual world everything happens by means of thought, as it is said: “HaKol be Machshava Yidbarer,” everything is singled out, defined, sorted, and executed by man’s thought. This happens on the condition that a person constantly thinks "about the Creator’s uniqueness, remembers that “There is none else beside Him,” only He has performed, is and will be performing all actions in the universe, and no creature or force in the world can separate him from spirituality."
Everything comes only from the Creator, from His uniqueness. If a person constantly keeps in mind that he, his actions, and thoughts, and the Creator are One whole, then he connects himself only with the inner body. He has desires and thoughts in which he can be constantly united, merged with the Creator, and he never leaves them for other desires and thoughts, where his contact and unity with the Creator is impossible.
Just this separation of correctable desires from those in which the intention for the Creator’s sake is impossible can detach the Klipot Noga and Mishcha de Chivia from the inner body.
“Since man does not think about the two outer bodies, they die off without sustenance.” No Light reaches them because the person completely ignores these two desires.
“A person’s thoughts about what these desires contain, constitutes their life force. Therefore, the Creator told Adam after he had committed the sin: ‘By the sweat of thy brow shall thou eat bread.’ Whereas prior to the sin, man’s life was not dependent on bread, i.e., he did not have to perform special actions to receive the Light; it was shining on him anyway.”
What does “after committing the sin” mean? After all the Lights and Kelim have been mixed, a person finds it difficult to free himself from the desires in which he cannot treat the Creator in the same way as the Creator treats him.
We have many desires that contain small egoistical “Netzutzot” (sparks of Light). The small Light in these desires compels us to deal with them, and this way we only increase them. They control us and do not let us break away from them.
Hence it is said: “By the sweat of thy brow shall thou eat bread.” Bread is the property of Bina, meaning that you will be attaining the property of bestowal by the sweat of your brow. It will seem to you that there is pleasure in the desires of Klipat Noga and Mishcha de Chivia and it will be very difficult for you to break free from them.
In a group we defy this by exalting the Creator. By its actions, the group opposes these two desires (Klipot Noga and Mishcha de Chivia), and helps me to break away from them.
“However, after the sin, when Mishcha de Chivia had clung to man’s body, his life became dependent on bread (sustenance). This means that every time one should attract more Light for these two bodies anew, because they die without sustenance. Ridding oneself of these two bodies is a significant correction. This correction lies in making efforts not to think about them because they receive their sustenance from one's thoughts about them.”
By focusing one's attention on some desire a person revives it. Hence, it is said that if you want something, you better do it and stop thinking about it. By keeping it in mind, suffering, constantly returning to this desire, and being attached to it you sustain it.
It is written: “Irurey Avira Kashim mi Avira,” meaning that brooding and struggling against a transgression is much worse than the transgression itself. This is because a transgression has its beginning and end, yet when the person is immersed in doubts, he constantly concentrates on one same thought, and by that he cultivates and sustains it.
It turns out that this thought and desire reaches unreal proportions because the person begins to attach enormous fulfillment of his entire Kli to one certain desire. Therefore, the most important thing is to detach one’s thoughts from the Klipot Noga and Mishcha de Chivia.
“Such thoughts feed them and provide them with a life force. Therefore, one should think only about the inner body, which is the garment for the soul.”
A person should remain in thoughts that enable him to connect with the Creator. The group, articles, studies, and work on circulating our materials should fill all your thoughts. Our calculations are made in thoughts, not in actions. The main thing is to stay away from the desires that are not connected directly to the Creator.
“Therefore, one should think only about the inner body, which is a garment for the soul, beyond one’s body. ‘Beyond the body’ means to think not about one’s own benefit, but about the benefit of others.”
Indeed, this person has no contact with Klipot (egoistical intentions) beyond his body. "Such contact with Klipot exists only within a body" when a person cares about his own good. Klipot immediately cling to everything that is “dressed” in the body, however, they have no contact with anything that remains outside the body.
If a person diligently and constantly keeps his thoughts beyond his skin or body (i.e., thinks more about the Creator and less about himself), he deserves what is described as “This is beyond the body, and I will reveal the Creator from my flesh” ( “Mi Bsari Echazeh Elokay”)."
What does this mean? We have five kinds of desires: Mocha, Atzamot, Gidin, Bassar, and Or (marrow, bones, tendons, flesh, and skin). Mocha, Atzamot, and Gidin are one's inner desires. Bassar and Or are outer desires that we can sort and somehow use for the sake of the Creator. “Flesh” is already outside the body.
When a person sorts his desires correctly and remains beyond his body this already constitutes the third level of desire called Bassar. Since Tzimtzum Bet and Parsa separate Shoresh-Aleph-Bet from Gimel-Dalet (Gimel is Bassar or flesh), man’s desire turns out to be outside the body. Thus, he begins attaining the Creator from these outwardly directed desires. He reveals a form of bestowal and begins to feel the Creator within it. So the revelation of Shechina takes place outside his “skin.”
“The Creator reveals Himself when He dresses in the inner body. This happens only when a person is ready to work beyond his body, without dressing in it.”
Do not mix up these two notions: “inside the body” and “outside the body.” My thoughts should be “outside the body;” they should be outwardly directed. “Inside the body” means that I use all my desires so that the Creator will dress in them.
“Those who wish to receive within the body (“within the skin”), or inside their own desires, are called sinners. They die from a lack of Light" because they stop thinking about the spiritual and concentrate on themselves, and this is called death. Indeed, they have no garments or desires that can accept Light, and hence they receive nothing. At the same time, only the righteous can attain garments of Light within the body.”
When a person enters the Upper World, he already works with these three bodies: the inner body, Klipat Noga, and Mishcha de Chivia. His work becomes precise and conscious. Baal HaSulam advised us how we should treat our desires today, in actions and in t houghts. The main thing is not to think about desires that are unconnected with the Creator and cannot be directed to Him.
First of all, one should, by all means, leave such desires. Actions do not matter; desires and thoughts are important. Next is the group. The work should be directed to help man to exist outside his body. The importance of the Creator, group work, and circulation should help a person to keep his thoughts outside. As soon as he concentrates on himself (what about me?) he becomes isolated and enters into these two impure bodies.
Afterwards, when a person joins the spiritual process, he can tell precisely where his inner body is, which desires relate to him and which to Klipat Noga. In other words, he understands that there are desires which he can attach to the inner body called AHP de Aliya, and desires which one cannot correct until the Final Correction (Gmar Tikkun). Only afterwards will they be corrected from above (Mishcha de Chivia). Mishcha de Chivia (serpent’s skin) is the last level of egoism.
We have Mocha, Atzamot, Gidin, Bassar, and Or (marrow, bones, tendons, flesh, and skin). Desires have exactly this structure (from the outside within). The outermost desire is called Mishcha de Chivia, or the skin of the primordial serpent. It is the most egoistic desire, and a person has to cut it off from himself and refrain from using it. In this way, he corrects this desire or watches over it until the Gmar Tikkun.
The structure of Klipat Noga is based on its attachment to the inner body. The inner body is Galgalta Eynaim, the Kelim de Hashpa’a (bestowal). Once they have been corrected, there is nothing else to do besides attaching the Klipat Noga to them.
All our work is in the Klipat Noga. Why? This is because Galgalta Eynaim were corrected even before our breaking. Galgalta Eynaim were broken only to correct the AHP. Only the Klipat Noga (AHP de Aliya) can be corrected in the AHP. Hence, all our work is in the Klipat Noga. Joining the Klipat Noga with the Galgalta Eynaim (inner body) is called the AHP de Aliya, the ascent of desires from the worlds of BYA to Atzilut. This is the way they get corrected.
Desires that cannot be elevated to Atzilut have to be isolated in the so-called Mador (section) of Klipot. They remain in the worlds of BYA under the Parsa, below the Chazeh de BYA. Thus, in one's thoughts a person does the inner sorting of his attitude towards desires.
However, at the moment we do not know exactly where our desires are and how we can distinguish between the first, second, and third body. The Light does not shine inside our desires yet. It does not reveal them to us to such an extent that we can see these desires (Mishcha de Chivia, and Klipat Noga) in their depth. The Light that can reveal it all to us is still absent.
Therefore, we should treat all our desires in a very simple way. We should remain all the time in desires through which we can see the Creator and stop thinking about desires in which we cannot aspire to Him. If nothing can be done, these desires have to be satisfied in some way. Yet, a person should ignore them, stay away from “Irurey Avira” (doubts), and refrain from building plans and making calculations for realizing these desires.
The main thing is not to let them occupy our thoughts. Attaching thought to a desire sustains and develops the desire, and this is the worst thing one can do. Above all, we need to detach thought from our desire. That is why we practically pay no attention to actions, and only to thoughts. It is said: “HaKol be Machshava Yitbarer” (everything will be sorted and corrected in thought). This is very important.
Question: How can one control one’s thought?
We cannot directly govern our thoughts or directly control our desires. We can only govern something that determines our thoughts and desires, i.e., our environment which influences and determines us.
We know that everything depends on the society to which a person belongs and on the thoughts and desires that others stimulate in him. Therefore, by determining our environment and connecting with it, by participating in as many processes as possible together with it, we thereby protect ourselves from “wandering” thoughts and from desires that are useless and ineffective for our advancement.
However, if I am already engrossed in a bad thought which cannot simply be a thought because a thought is always connected with desire, (It is a program for use of a certain desire), and if I cannot break free from it, then it is better to do away with it by satisfying it, and allowing one's thoughts to be occupied with something else. Hence, it is said: “Irurey Avira Kashim mi Avira.” A person is estimated according to his thoughts, and his advancement depends on them.
There are masses that assess themselves only by their physical actions, and there are individuals who are estimated only according to their thoughts. Everything else follows thoughts. This already depends on how intensively a person corrects himself which happens gradually. Correction takes place only in our thoughts.
Question: Is there any difference between thought, intention, and desire?
Intention is my attitude towards the group because in that I express my desire to see myself as a different, more corrected person. This is my intention. And how can your intention be seen? This intention is realized through participation in group work.