Article "What is the Difference Between a Shade of Kedusha and a Shade of Sitra Achra? - lesson 1
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Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
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Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
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lowercase italics: emphasized words
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Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
We are reading in the book Shamati, Article 8: What is the Difference Between a Shade of Kedusha (Sanctity) and a Shade of Sitra Achra (The Other Side)?
It is written (Song of Songs, 2), “Until the day breathe, and the shadows flee away.” We must understand what are shadows in the work and what are two shadows. The thing is that when one does not feel His Providence, that He leads the world in a manner of “Good that doeth good,” it is considered a shadow that hides the sun.
In other words, as the corporeal shadow hides the sun, it does not change the sun in any way, and the sun shines in its fullest power, so one who does not feel the existence of His Providence does not induce any change above. Thus, there is no change above, as it is written, “I the Lord do not change.”
We learn about the state of Creation in several ways. On the one hand, we say that nothing changes in the state the Creator wanted to create, which He created through His thought of delighting His creatures, and that we, all of us, are incorporated in it in that moment, if you can say that about time. There is no other state, meaning that nothing changes or can be better or worse. The Thought of Creation to delight His creatures, with respect to the Creator, was realized, and we are in it.
In order to bring the creature to the sensation that it is involved in this process, that it will obtain this state to the fullest, the creature must undergo corrections in its impression, inspiration and understanding, that is, in its sensation, understanding and attainment of the state it is in, and by means of whom did it come to that state. This means that the creature must feel in that state exactly as the Creator feels it. Only then can you say that a creature has reached complete attainment.
Because this process must be attained by the creature, all of the details of the process, the whole process itself, takes place only to the extent that the creature can absorb it, can agree with it and wants to continue it. Therefore only through a long process can the creature attain the phases of awareness of both the good and the bad as a state of benevolence, that is, as the Creator’s will to do good. The pace of the process depends on the creature’s ability to absorb and to agree with every phase in this process.
To aid the creature in its ability to awaken, hasten and build itself, and to continue this process, the creature was given the Torah, a means by which we can invite a special power from Above, the Upper Light (the Creator), through which force we will know how to correct ourselves, and with what means we should cause our evolvement.
The arrival of this force depends only on one’s effort. Actually, here, in one’s work with the Torah, with the correction that he brings on himself, he expresses his level of evolvement.
We can also say that the darkness does not bring shade. It is only the light, the sun that does so. The shade is a sensation, an attainment that one attains and feels in a state where it is in contact with the Creator, and the deficiency in this contact that he discovers that he attains. This is what we call shade. Shade can only appear during the day, and, therefore, we should regard these signs as good signs, signs of attainment, and signs of a sense that assists and directs a person as to how to annul the shade—to see in the shade the correct means and use this concealment so as to progress.
Instead, all the changes are in the receivers. We must observe two discernments in this shade, in this concealment:
This means that with respect to the Creator, we are in His Light, which is called “under the sun.” If we speak from within our sensation, our attainment, it begins from concealment, complete unconsciousness.
A part of the unconsciousness disappears naturally when a person develops with the collective, through the Lights that shake the Kelim (vessels), the souls of the creatures that are in this world. And from the point in the heart, from a certain special state, a person feels an awakening by himself as if he himself awakens to attain spirituality, the Creator, the purpose of creation. Of course given his measure of attainment, he will not understand the purpose for which he is awakened. He needs though, from this point on, to already participate in his own evolvement.
Until he attains every phase in this evolvement, he will not be able to progress from one state to the next. Therefore, with respect to the creature, its states come from complete concealment to more and more advanced states when the creature begins to discern hues and changes in them, that there is a little bit more light or a little less. It’s not light yet, it’s not darkness, but it’s a change all the same in the sensations, in the perception, the understanding, and attainment in what belongs to spirituality and what does not. It is where you can already say that there are some shades and he can discern the differences in them.
This means that in concealment too there are hues that are considered shadows until you really reach the Creator’s Light, the sun, and correspondingly the shades, which are already high degrees where a person is in disclosure above the Machsom (barrier). It’s called “reward and punishment,” and all the more so with love, where the degrees become clear in a very extreme way, in light and darkness.
1. When one still has the ability to overcome the darkness and the concealments that one feels, justify the Creator and pray to the Creator, that the Creator will open his eyes to see that all the concealments that one feels come from the Creator, and that the Creator does all that to a person so that one may find one’s prayer and yearn to cleave unto Him.
This is so because only through the suffering that one receives from Him, wishing to break free from the trouble and flee from the torments, then one does every thing he can. Hence, when receiving the concealments and the affliction, one is certain to make the known cure, to do much praying that the Creator will help him and deliver him from the state he is in. In that state, one still believes in His Providence.
As we learned (Baal HaSulam explains it to us especially in the Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot), our situation before the Machsom, before the disclosure, is divided into double concealment and single concealment.
In the double concealment, a person feels bad, the opposite of the sense of Providence of the Creator as benevolent towards those who are good and those who are bad, and in general he doesn’t see or feel that there is an Upper Force. There is no Creator in that person’s reality. That is why it’s called double concealment.
Sometimes he comes to states where even though he feels bad, he thinks that it comes to him from the Creator. Then he begins to justify the Creator, that maybe this bad situation is because he’s in his ego in order to receive, that this evil comes because the Creator deliberately awakens him and prods him to move him forward, etc. The measure of concealment that a person is in is called “shade.” It could be a greater or lesser amount of shade.
Here, Baal HaSulam explains that sometimes the shade exists in order to promote a person; sometimes it is sensed by a person as something that comes to reject him, and sometimes he’s in the shade and doesn’t identify it as shade—that’s how great the concealment is. The shade is so great that he doesn’t feel within the shade that outside of the shade there is still light and he can somehow identify the difference between the shade and the light of day.
Question: Can we say that every new situation that a person is in begins from double concealment and then evolves?
No, not necessarily. All of a sudden a person makes a discovery and something jumps in him and he feels and understands that he is in such a reality where the Creator’s force exists and it and leads him; that there is a reason for everything that happens to him; and that what he does is already calculated by the Creator and the person participates in that too. There are such states.
Sometimes he moves to complete unconsciousness. He comes to study, and may do something. We’re not talking about people who are just on the street. You can't talk to them. There are no laws which apply yet to these people. But if we’re talking about us, that’s the way it is. There are all kinds of states, but it’s not necessary that every state begins small and grows to something more revealed and advanced.
A person cannot know the phases that he undergoes and why. We are talking about effort in every state because a state is a given thing. It’s a Reshimo that appears and a person can’t say why it appears this way and not the other, and with respect to what: in which kind, way or time. But our problem is to work correctly with what we are given, because before a person discovers his own Kli, his connection to the other souls, the process of all the souls, he cannot know what happens with him and why specifically now and why to him.
We see in our process four-phases: the double concealment, the single concealment, reward and punishment, and love. In “love” a person begins to become connected to all the other souls. He becomes connected to them as one body. That’s why it is called “attaining love.”
To the extent that the person is connected to all the other souls, he connects to the Creator. He suffers from the public’s affliction and is rewarded with the public’s comforting, and accordingly, he reaches love of the Creator, which is one and the same thing. Either with respect to the souls or with respect to the Creator, it’s the same attitude because the Creator appears within the souls. Baal HaSulam explains this to us nicely in Matan Torah ( The Revelation of Godliness.)
Only then, when a person discovers his connection within the whole system of Adam, only then can he say why something happens to him, every detail, step and change, because he knows the system and is incorporated with everyone. But when he has so many degrees before that in concealment, he cannot say why it happens, why now, and which way, etc. So we say that of course every state appears necessarily, that it has to be this way and we should only realize it in the most effective way.
2. When one comes to a state where he can no longer surmount and say that all the suffering and pains one feels are because the Creator had sent them to him...
This means that he falls from the first concealment into double concealment. He had pains, he felt bad, and he could justify that bad situation because something of the Creator illuminated for him, shone for him, that there’s someone who’s present here, who supervises and leads the process. Accordingly, a person could justify his state, but then the Creator hid himself a little more, so the person felt bad and that there was no Creator. “No Creator” means that there is no cause or justification for the bad. He went into double concealment.
...so as to have cause to ascend in degree. Then one comes to a state of heresy, God forefend.
He already doesn’t see in his state the justification that through the bad that he feels and then perceives as coming from the Creator, he can, through these two discernments, progress to such an extent that he agrees with it and accepts it to a point where he may not feel the bad anymore but begins to feel it as good, as progress; that the goal becomes greater than the sensation of affliction. This is still considered concealment because disclosure means that he doesn’t feel sorrow, but feels good. The feeling of pain and at the same time justifying it is not a desirable state after all.
This is because one cannot believe in His Providence, and naturally, one cannot pray.
It follows that there are two kinds of shadows, and this is the meaning of, “and the shadows flee away,” that the shadows will flee from the world.
In single concealment there was a single shade and in double concealment, there was a double shade.
The shade of Klipa (lit. Shell) is called “Another god is sterile and does not bear fruit.” In Kedusha (lit. Sanctity), however, it is called, “Under its shadow I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my palate.” In other words, one says that all the concealments and the afflictions one feels are because the Creator has sent him these situations so that one would have a place to work above reason.
When one has the force to say that, that the Creator causes him that, in one’s favor, This means that that through that one can come and work in order to bestow and not for oneself, it is then one reaches consciousness. In other words, he believes that the Creator enjoys this work specifically, which is entirely built on above reason.
It follows that one does not pray to the Creator that the shadows will flee from the world. Rather, one says, “I see that the Creator wants me to work with Him in this manner, which is entirely above reason.” Thus, in everything that one does, one says, “Of course the Creator enjoys this work, so why should I care if I work in a state of concealment of His face?”
Because one wants to work in order to bestow, this means that that the Creator will enjoy, he has no abasement from this work, this means that a sensation that the Creator does not enjoy this work, when one is in a state of concealment of face. Instead, one agrees with the leadership of the Creator. This means that however the Creator wants one to feel the existence of the Creator during the work, one agrees wholeheartedly. This is so because one does not consider what can please him, but considers what can please the Creator. Thus, this shade brings him life.
Now we are speaking about an example where a person is in a state that he accepts. He accepts it not because he wants to stay in that state, because the Thought of Creation “to do good to the good and also to the bad” must come to a point where a person receives from the Creator unending abundance in the form of EinSof (Infinity). Before one comes to that, it’s not considered having reached the purpose of creation.
We are speaking about a state when a person, according to his own Kelim, justifies that state as correct, good, and necessary to attain the purpose of creation in general, to discover all the Light, all the Kelim in all the desires, and an infinite fulfillment. That’s the FinalState.
But here Baal HaSulam tells us how during concealment one goes from a bad sensation to self examination of where the situation comes from and what purpose it serves, and he begins to work on the importance of the goal and comes to a state where he justifies and respects the goal. Then he considers his state, even as unpleasant in the sensation, as necessary to such an extent that he stops feeling the pain, the bad within the Kelim, and he agrees with the Creator and the state he is in.
That sensation comes through corrections, where one complements one's Kelim although they are in concealment. He completes them or complements them through what is called Light of Hassadim, through the sensation of the importance of the Creator. But it is still complementing, not the revelation of the attitude of benevolence. That’s why it’s called justification. There a problem and there is a correction of it, where one justifies the state, even though to begin with according to the Kelim’s real state they are in the undesirable state.
This means that there is a Kli, which is for the time being in some correction. The Kli complements itself through something external, and not something that is coming to the Kli. What comes to the will to receive is pleasure; it must be filled with pleasure. But now it is filled through the importance of being in a process, and this is a correction, it’s not the goal.
This is called, “Under its shadow I delighted,” This means that one covets such a state where one can overcome, somewhat, above reason. Thus, if one does not exert in a state of concealment, when there is still room to pray that the Creator will bring him closer, and he is negligent in that, hence one is sent a concealment in which one cannot even pray. This is because of the sin of not exerting with all one’s might to pray to the Creator. For this reason one comes to a state of such lowliness.
This means that a person receives from Above a discernment that the state he is in comes from the Creator, that there is a reason for it. He enjoys that state because he understands that there is a reason and justification for it; that by being in that state he’ll probably gain something out of it in the future; that the state is on the way and should bring him even greater profits in the future; he can also be certain now that what he experienced before all had to be this way, and then his whole way, his life wasn’t just wasted away.
If he calculates this way, he is immediately about to lose, because instead of accepting the present state, the disclosure the Creator gave him, that the Creator exists in his bad state, instead of using that disclosure correctly, he only wants to benefit his own situation.
What he should do now is to exert himself in going above reason, not to relax in relation to the past, the future and the present. “Now I understand that it all came from the Creator and thank God, everything will be fine with me and was fine.” By that he may become a receiver. This whole disclosure will not yield anything good for progress.
If now he begins through it to ask for strength that the Creator appear, then this is a state from which you can ask. He now asks for the strength not to be calm about the past, present and future, but despite all the states, to go with “faith above reason,” where it doesn’t matter in whatever state he is in, but to be able to progress in the greatest darkness as if it is light.
He will then have a chance to progress in attaining the Light of Faith with “faith above reason.” This means that when in a state of disclosure of the Creator, where the Creator appears now and a person feels support in it, to ask that he will try to see that this state will be for him in the same way, with such confidence, in such a sensation, while the Creator is concealed. How is it possible? It’s possible when there is correction in the Kelim, a sensation in the Kelim called “faith.” It is as the example that Rabash gave “if a friend pays me a debt and instead of a thousand dollars I see that he gave me only one dollar, I should believe that it’s a thousand. Where will I complement the remaining nine hundred and ninety nine? I don’t know wherefrom, but I want it to be this way.” This is called “faith above reason.”
How does it work? I don’t know, but that’s what I want to happen. They have eyes and see not. I don’t know what he gave. To my ego, it seems that it’s one dollar. I want to see in my corrected Kelim that it’s a thousand. Who will add the remaining, missing, nine hundred ninety nine? The Light of Faith. It’s called “faith above reason.” My reason says its one dollar that I received in return, the Light of Faith should complement the sensation that I have a thousand and I want to go with the Light of Faith: not to believe my own Kelim, egoistic Kelim, but the corrections. What does it mean corrections? When the presence of the Creator will be clothed in me, so he will compliment what my will to receive asks.
Let's repeat this paragraph again.
This is called, “Under its shadow I delighted,” meaning one covets such a state where one can make some overcoming above reason. Thus, if one does not exert in a state of concealment, when there is still room to pray that the Creator will bring him closer, and he is negligent in that, hence one is sent a concealment in which one cannot even pray.
This means that he is in the single concealment where he feels bad and he feels the Creator, and he doesn’t pray to the Creator to obtain “faith above reason.” He uses this disclosure of the Creator where he feels Him (no matter how little this presence) for his own good. “Ah, it's relaxing, great, there is a Creator, someone who leads, who does everything, I can rest; everything is arranged, and taken care of. In the past He was with me too, in the future He will fix up everything, and whatever happens, happens.”
This means that a person agrees to just go with the flow. This disclosure is called the “Shade of Klipa.”He feels a shade, he feels the difference between them. This is the point from which he begins to decline.
He must from that point ask to go above reason. Then it might be for him a point of progress toward the Machsom (barrier). Otherwise, if not, he falls into double concealment as if he disrespects the revelation of the Creator.
This is because of the sin of not exerting with all one’s might to pray to the Creator. For this reason one comes to a state of such lowliness.
However, after one comes to that state, one is then pitied from above, and once more one is given an awakening from above. The same order begins anew until finally one strengthens in prayer, the Creator hears his prayer, and the Creator brings one near, and reforms him.
Baal HaSulam writes about it in very light manner. A person, who disrespects, meaning who falls, perhaps will awaken next time. Who knows when? In five years, in twenty years, who knows? It is not necessary that he’ll have it quickly. That’s why we have to be careful to use precisely the states of ascent, of Gadlut, greatness, states that one feels that he is in some contact with the Creator.
All the sins happen during the ascent not during the descent. In a descent, there is nothing you can do. You are down already. There is nowhere to fall any more. We should take care precisely when in ascent. And during the ascent, the will to receive is satisfied, it feels good like a child who received what it wants and one feels kind of dizzy. This dizziness doesn’t operate correctly. Again, here the force of the group can sustain a person in a state of obligation toward others.
Question: The way described, the state when a person agrees to everything, sounds a bit like a state of Ibur (conception.) What is the difference between these states of Ibur and shade of Klipa?
There is a shade. A person uses that shade and makes it either a Shade of Kedusha or a Shade of Sitra Achra. The shade itself has no form. A shade means that there is a Light and it is concealed. I feel that there is a Light, the presence of the Creator, and concealment from Him, meaning the bad in my state. When they are one opposite the other, we call it “a shade.” When you differentiate between them we have this contrast and it’s called “a shade.”
In that state you can use this shade. That’s the situation between the Light and its concealment called “shade.” Now, if you in that state ask for “faith above reason,” the force of bestowal, this is called a “Shade of Kedusha.” If you are satisfied with the present state of things that give you confidence, a nice sense, a good feeling, when you are using it for your own good, this is called a “Shade of Sitra Achra.” But, the shade in and of itself is shade that comes from the disclosure, the revelation of the Creator. You were just in darkness and now you have a shade, something shines a little bit.
Question: If a person justifies in principle everything that happened to him, isn’t that annulment before the Creator?
Look, we are speaking of Lights and vessels basically. The Light sustains the Kli like a magnet that sustains a piece of metal. It can keep it up in the air. It can drop it. It can elevate it and attach it to itself. Now, undoubtedly if the Creator appears, then all kinds of phenomena appear in a person: confidence, a good sensation, some expectation or anticipation for the future. These are all results of the revelation of the Creator.
The question is, does a person settle for it? A person’s reaction to what he feels, does he settle for it? Does he accept it as something that relaxes him or does he accept it above reason, meaning, despite the sensation? He asks for progress now and looks for deficiencies, how he can compliment them.
The fact that a person receives a sensation of confidence from it—everyone gets confidence from it. The fact that a person gets a good sensation—of course, everyone gets a good sensation from it. This is a direct result of the appearance of the Creator. You can’t help it. That’s how the Kli feels.
But we are talking about a reaction that a person should add. This reaction is seemingly one’s free choice of what you do in that state. I take it to receive extra spiritual strength, wanting that state to work in me and operate in me for the purpose of progress or I settle for it, wanting for that state to remain, so that I don't have any less than that. That’s it. We are talking about the reaction. Of course the revelation of the Creator creates good phenomena in everyone.
Question: So after the Machsom this is the work?
No, no, we are not going to talk about what happens after the barrier, past the barrier of Masachim (screens).
Question: How, with going above reason, and justifying can we not fall into flattery?
No, there is no flattery here, we are not flattering. We are not talking about the heart and the mouth not being the same. I know the state I'm in, I am not hiding that state from myself, I am not talking about the Creator; what’s to hide from the Creator? The whole question is how I work with myself and what I want the next state to be. This means that now that the Creator shines, you are discovering that you are under His control. Either you indulge in the fact that you are finally under His control, which is the natural form of the will to receive, or you desire His control, His domination, as a correction in your Kelim.
Actually, where will one attain the need for correction in his Kelim? Such a thing doesn’t exist naturally, because if in my Kelim the presence of the Creator should appear, then I won’t be deficient. Where will I take this deficiency? It’s only through your previous work with the group, with humanity, and with the rest of the souls. Through this work, when you desired, actually you didn’t desire, but you made efforts to connect, because you had to, you now begin to feel these deficiencies that you still have to connect to yourself.
A person only progresses on condition that he prepares his connection to the general Kli. He cannot feel a deficiency upon himself. For with himself he feels only one thing: I am bad, I am terrible, I am this way, I am that way, and “A fool folds his hands, and sits and eats his own flesh.” That’s what he discovers when the Lights from Above come. He decides that he is bad. So what? He might say it’s the Creator's doing and the Creator showed him and everything comes from Above and all that.
If he does not connect to the general Kli, he doesn’t have anything to work with. It’s just that he doesn’t attain the thoughts and the sensations that bring him to correction because the whole correction is in the bonding. If he is locked in his own Kli, then the thoughts and desires that appear are not in the same direction. They still don’t bring a person to the right action.
This means that it’s very important what one occupies himself with before he receives the sensation of the shadow. This determines what he will want when he finds that he is in the shade, what he will ask of that state.
We should understand that this whole motion from double concealment to single concealment to reward and punishment is toward love, toward preparation of the connection of a person with all the other souls, with the public. Even though for the time being it’s like his own private correction, it’s in his private correction that in the last degree he’ll make the general correction for all the souls when he connects all the deficiencies of all the souls to himself and corrects them and fulfills them. This will be called being a healthy cell working to benefit the whole body. The process is already going toward it and that’s why it’s impossible that he will have any correct advancement here without having prepared himself as much as he can to connect to the society.
Question: What we read before about free choice was that during the sensation of the shade it was also a result of the preparation, and it’s not that he has any real free choice there?
Free choice is determined through the preparation, of course. A person is in a certain state. What is “a certain state?” What are the reasons that he's in that state? Which attributes, which Kelim, what has he discovered, what has he worked on, which environment, which supports has he prepared for himself? All of those are taken into account, because whether we like it or not, we are in a system.
To the extent that I want to connect to that system, to that extent I prepare for myself the right deficiencies, altruistic desires, and the proper conditions for progress, and correspondingly if I have revelations of the shade, then I feel that disclosure in the right way as I prepared a deficiency of connection with others. Then, I will interpret the revelation of the Creator differently. He programs me to advance with the disclosure in that direction.
I interpret why the Creator appeared to me completely differently and what it should give me because I’ve prepared the deficiencies for it due to the lack of connection to others. Even though I have prepared them artificially and I participated in it with others who are also not doing it because they want to, but because it’s written that they have to, it doesn’t matter because here the habit becomes the second nature. If a person accustoms himself and wants to feel a taste in it, then he does begin to feel a taste in it. He develops a need for it. Why? Because then this need exists within. It’s just that we are here in this world for a reason in our superficial existence, because we can, through superficial actions which are suitable for my superficial state, reach inside.
Our world is an opportunity to be outside of spirituality and reach spirituality. It’s like a structure. A sensation called “this world,” a special sensation in our Kelim where we can reach spirituality even though we are not in it; only through superficial actions like a child who wants to grow up. The child doesn't know what being a grown up means but he pushes himself. This occurs because it is rooted in his nature and sealed there and this whole process exists there, so he progresses.
This means that with our efforts we don’t have to know what happens. We just have to participate in it. That’s why it says “whatsoever thy hand attainsto do by thy strength, that do.” “I labored and found.” You'll find later. You’ll understand later. That’s why it’s called “faith above reason,” effort above reason, above human power.
In relation to all of this, you are not asked to understand first, because it’s impossible. As you progress, you understand not like a child who doesn’t know how he progresses, but you begin to attain the understanding of the process of your progress and you begin to lead it. By that you become big. It’s not that later on at the last degree you begin to understand everything that happens and the reasons and the process, but what is called “the three lines.” When you begin to progress by three lines, you have a connection between mind and heart through effort.
You have two opposites here. On the one hand you progress seemingly without intellect and on the other hand you immediately discover through it a great intellect. That’s why when you progress above reason, you become wiser and those who want to progress within reason or below reason become more foolish and then you have to become either fanatical or merely a philosopher.
Question: So the way is, while in concealment, to ask for strength through artificial efforts to connect to the group?
We should understand that we cannot just cry, “help,” but the more we work in the group on bonding, the more deficiencies you’ll have. These deficiencies that you’ll have in your heart will ask for help themselves and they'll ask for the correct help. If you just spell it out or say it out loud it’ll be flattery and false. So what you do, because habit becomes the second nature, eventually becomes your desire and that’s the prayer. We should talk as least as possible and exert as much as possible according to what Kabbalists recommend, meaning in bonding. By that, the heart will discover the desire for it or the necessity or the opposite, hatred toward it. It doesn’t matter.
But the states will appear correspondingly. It doesn’t matter whether they will be negative or positive, but you’ll get them. You are not responsible for what you feel about something. When you want to connect to it in whatever way possible, the results of it, whether you like it or you hate it, don’t matter, but you have an attitude toward it. That attitude in your heart gives you the prayer. What a person feels as a result of the effort is the prayer. This is why we should do more and less of, how should I say it, less of just sitting and eating your own flesh.
Question: On the one hand we say that a person’s work is in scrutiny, so what is scrutiny?
Scrutiny can only take place, as we just learned, once you have a shade, once you have discovered from above that there is a difference between what you feel and who gives you that sensation. Observations can only occur in the light.
Without that sensation that comes as a result of effort, all of your scrutinizing is not scrutinizing; they’re just knowledge that you read in all kinds of places. You connect them in all kinds of ways to all kinds of teachings. It's written this way, it's that way. It doesn’t come from working on the premises in your desires. That’s why it’s useless. That’s how philosophy started and all those others who occupy themselves with it.
In short, the effort, the act, when we talk about effort in the society, we also are not talking about having to run around all day and do things. Actions are thoughts in this case, but in this direction. It’s not that you sit and theoretically begin to think and discuss. This is called working with abstract forms from matter.
If you are talking about progress towards spirituality, then you have to speak from within the Kli. The Kli for spiritual progress is bestowal (Returning Light, Light of Hassadim). That’s the Kli, the Masach and the Returning Light after the Tzimtzum Aleph (the first restriction). That’s the Kli. You have to speak from that, from within matter itself. Otherwise it’s just like in Talmud Eser Sefirot, you talk about Talmud Eser Sefirot itself without drawing the Light that reforms on you. It’s abstract form. It’s useless.
Question: What is our effort?
Our effort is Arvut. This is the Kli by which you attain a spiritual degree. That’s it.