Kabbalah Moments: Outside The Bubble
Posted on February 14th, 2011
Question: How can we attain unity?
Answer: Unity means that according to all the desires of the Giver and the receiver, the two unite with one another like the guest and the Host in Baal HaSulam’s famous example.
The guest has nothing to give to the Host besides his attitude, provided that he develops the same attitude to the Host as the Host has to him. Meaning, we don’t take into consideration the fact that the guest uses his appetite, and the Host—his power. They are initially this way: one is the Creator, and the other is creation.
But if we remove these initial conditions, the fact that one is the Creator and the other is creation, since they have to attain total equality, then by what criterion can they be equal? According to their attitude, which they build without any connection to what existed before.
That is, we must ascend in the relationships between us so it wouldn’t matter that He is the Creator, He is primary, and He created me in the desire to enjoy and does anything He wants with me because all of this initially comes from Him, being the upper root. And it doesn’t matter that I, the creation, am unable to do anything more than that.
However, if He and I attain this state where we have absolutely equal opportunities, then out of our equal opportunities we desire to attain adhesion and unity. First of all, the Creator and creation have to attain the state where they are both completely equal and independent from one another—the creation from the Creator and the Creator from the creation.
Once we are equal and we have the opportunity to create any connection between us that each of us freely desires, we attain the state where we desire only love, unity, and adhesion between us.
As Baal HaSulam explains, the guest and the Host reach a state where they depend on one another in equal measure: the Host on the guest and the guest on the Host, like children and parents. Then the will to enjoy contained in creation and the will to bestow that the Creator has both harness one another and obligate each other. And even though on one hand the Creator is able to do anything, this does not indicate anything because He feels love for creation and this love limits Him, enabling Him to do only what love dictates, rather than everything He can do.
That means that the force of love is the force of restriction, the reverse force operating in the Creator. It does not let you do anything. You cannot destroy the person you love. Love rules.
Therefore, the condition of unity is equality—in opportunities, forces, abilities, and freedom of expression. Once the equality is there, then out of all of these opportunities we activate precisely the force of love and attain unity.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/11, The Zohar
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Upbringing as we understand it has lost the meaning it had in previous generations when we used to raise children so they would be good, kind, cheerful, and pleasant, behave properly, and so on. Upbringing today is something altogether different and we are increasingly sensing that it is necessary to all. That’s because “receiving an upbringing” or “education” means knowing how to act with yourself, with the environment, with the country and the world, as well as in different situations that happen to us.
Stated differently, “upbringing” is a person who changes inside of me, while my parents and surroundings help me to build myself correctly so I would know how to live my life well, confidently, and securely. After all, everything we learn as children later becomes our nature, and then we can behave well effortlessly. This is also confirmed by the latest research which shows that children’s education from the ages two until six or seven is what serves as their foundation.
Our development throughout all of human history unfolded in the egoistic direction where every person thought only of himself: How can I succeed, how can I earn, and how can I swindle everyone without being harmed myself? This is the simple, egoistic formula by which a person was previously taught how to arrange his life. And this really was considered the right education.
Today this is starting to change as we feel that the world has become integral, meaning connected with all of its parts, on all levels, and in all elements. We are facing a very serious problem because we do not correspond to the new world that is now appearing and coming to us. A new governance is becoming apparent, a new method, and a new law of Nature.
Previously I didn’t care about anything. I could cut down forests over here, dry up lakes over there, and do anything I wanted in society. Each of us personally was able to do anything he wished without asking others.
However, now we have reached a world in which there is no freedom of the individual. Now you cannot do anything you like even in your own backyard unless it is for our good because whether you want it or not, through the common connection between us you evoke a blow upon everyone.
We do not know which of our actions bring harm and what the consequences are because we aren’t yet integrally connected with one another in our consciousness. And if I want to have some work done or make a deal with someone, then I have to take the whole world into consideration. But I am unable to do so. I cannot accept the fact that I influence the world and I don’t know whether the world will benefit from this or not.
Yet since all of us together make up a single organism, even a small tremor will later influence the whole system, just like in our animate bodies. If we don’t have the right attitude to the nature that is now being revealed, then what will happen to us? It means that I will not be able to succeed in business, nor at work, nor in upbringing, nor in my attitude to anyone.
Soon the connection between us will manifest to such a degree that unless I consider all of the consequences of calling the police or my landlord, for example, then I will definitely cause harm. In other words, as the science of Kabbalah explains to us, having reached the current level of development, we are already required to correct man’s nature. This correction is for all of us to unite “as one man with one heart” by the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
From my lecture in “Kabbalah L’Am” Hall on 2/8/11
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The Kabbalistic “language of branches” is the language of those who attain spirituality. It is incomprehensible for a person who hasn’t attained the connection of the branches with the spiritual roots.
First, I have to start sensing the upper world. And then, hearing the words that belong to the lower world, I will clearly understand what phenomena of the spiritual world, in which I exist together with the authors of Kabbalistic books, they point to. I will acquire a common language with Rabbi Shimon and Baal HaSulam since I, too, will be at the same level or place, that they are telling about.
Since I exist in this world in my physical body, I know what the words of this world mean: “sun,” “earth,” “vegetation,” “donkey.” First, I become familiar with the terms themselves, and then I hear their names: words, language. I ascribe this real, perceptible object, the “sun,” a name in any language. This is how we name all phenomena of this world, thereby creating a language, and it allows us to comprehend what is being described.
If I exist in the spiritual world as well, I attain an additional reality called “sun,” “earth,” “vegetation,” “donkey.” I sense these properties and find out their names. Now the author of the Kabbalistic book starts explaining to me the connection between all these phenomena of the spiritual world by using the words of this world.
Since I exist in attainment of the connection between the material branches and the spiritual roots, it’s clear to me what he points to in the spiritual world. This “language of branches” turns into my language; it explains everything to me.
When we teach a child to talk, we show him objects and name them. This is how we can explain everything to a “child” in the spiritual world as well. For this, he needs to sense the spiritual reality and discover how it is called. That is, he needs help in understanding the connection between branch and root as well as the connection between parts of the spiritual reality.
Kabbalists teach us to find our bearings in the spiritual world with the help of the “language of branches.” But first we need to sense what the spiritual flowers, grass, or sun are….
There are spiritual terms which a person does not yet sense, while a Kabbalist helps him perceive them. This language advances, builds us. The connections inside the language explain to us the meaning of words or why the words are composed out of particular letters. This is because in Hebrew, the form of the letters and their order in a word indicate the properties of a spiritual object that has this particular name. This is how the spiritual information is passed down to us.
This language is already prepared for us because all the worlds, from Above downward, are interconnected. We are born into this world, feel it, and get to know the connection between the words. Now we must rise from the lower world to the upper one, and we take everything that there is in this world, the knowledge of all branches and all their names, and start ascending equipped with this.
The connection directed at the root has extended upward till Infinity. Each level contains everything that exists in our world, but each time it becomes revealed to us in more qualitative terms, meaning that they are more strongly connected with one and unified root.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
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The only thing we can do is to draw the Surrounding Light upon ourselves. This requires us to study together and build from ourselves (not from physical bodies, but our desires) the spiritual reality. This is why we unite around the globe in one desire and begin to strive for something higher.
It is impossible to accomplish this without a common language. We can communicate via an interpreter, but we have to somehow picture our collective desire ourselves. Each degree has a very complex structure (10 Sefirot, 3 lines) which has to be uncovered in order to understand that it is part of Infinity.
Hence, nothing is accidental in the language of Kabbalists: Everything is defined with absolute precision from the first letter to the last, and already exists in the final state in the world of Infinity. There can’t be anything accidental, especially when it comes to humanity’s ascent from below upward.
We employ a single existing system, and there is no other way to use it. The language of our world defines the connection between all of its parts, whereas the language of branches also establishes the connection between the two levels, the material and the corporeal. No other language but Hebrew is endowed with this ability.
It is not just a spoken language; it’s like a programming language that defines a connection between elements. It shows how to transition from certain properties to others, from one state to another, by using a different kind of desire (Aviut), the informational genes (Reshimot), Kelim (vessels), and the ties between the souls, everything together. The initial state, the final one, and all means to transition from one to another are there, and all of it is called language.
The point in the heart that awakens in a person is essentially the desire to connect the branch with the root. I want to find out what this entire world hints at and tells me about!
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
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When a language is not connected with its spiritual root, we do not pay heed to its words, the names of the material branches. If a modern day Italian, Greek, or anybody else met a person of the same nationality who lived a thousand years ago, they wouldn’t understand each other. Some languages have changed so much that it’s hard to understand them in the form they existed 200-300 years ago. This is due to the lack of connection between branch and root.
Only Hebrew links branch and root directly, and hence, this language does not change. If Abraham, Adam, Moses, or Rabbi Shimon visited us today, we would all understand each other. In ancient times, the pronunciation was more guttural, which we have lost; the difference between the letters, which today are pronounced almost identically was more expressed, yet the language itself hasn’t changed.
Nevertheless, we have lost some of its words. Rabash used to read Psalms with me, and he occasionally mentioned that he was not familiar with a certain word. That is, their evident branch does not exist in our world; in the spiritual world, their spiritual root is still unclear and blurry, and for this reason, the connection between root and branch has not become revealed yet.
It turns out that we are yet to clarify certain words. For the time being they can only be found in the Psalms of David who embodies the entire general attainment (Malchut). Being dependent on the general correction, Kabbalists do not yet attain these words. There are a multitude of branches and corresponding spiritual roots, but not all of them have become revealed yet.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
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Question: Does my intention depend on the intention of the entire environment and the intention of the environment on my intention?
Answer: Definitely! It says in Shamati #225: One cannot raise oneself above one’s circle. Hence, [if one wishes to advance] one must suck from one’s environment. And one has no other counsel, except through much work and Torah. Therefore, if one chooses for oneself a good environment, one saves time and efforts, since one is drawn according to one’s environment.
This is clear. If I receive energy from the environment—and the fact is that I receive everything in order to ascend from it—then I will ascend only inasmuch as I receive from them. I cannot be above this level.
Question: How can I see my environment as great if I do not see my friends as great?
Answer: Therein lies the entire problem. Who do you consider great? There is no one great in your world. Meaning, the world was not created for you. Then what means will you use to advance? The Creator is concealed. The environment is small. You have no one to advance toward and you are alone in the whole world. That is how you feel.
In principle, everyone feels this way and this is what we have to change.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/11, The Zohar
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Question: How can a simple, ordinary person use the law of root and branch in his daily life?
Answer: His life will turn upside down whether he wants it to or not. And it’s better that a person knows what is going to happen with him so that he could participate in this inevitable revolution himself. If he does participate in it, he will feel good, and if he doesn’t, he will feel bad.
A person needs to understand that perception of reality is relative and depends on the point of reference which can be changed. Through this, reality changes as well since it exists only relative to a person who perceives it.
Hence, if one wants to change his life, it implies changing his reality. He can do it even today: from the present moment and on, and from this world to the world of Infinity.
Question: Do all human inventions (planes, machines, and so on) point to man’s unconscious aspiration to oneness?
Answer: Surely, they do. They are man’s aspiration to merge with the Creator, his desire to attain the upper degree. Every single action a person performs is aimed only at this goal.
And even when he is busy with something completely opposite, when he eats, drinks, or is having a good time, all of it is merely a preparation; it is all included in his movement toward his root.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
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Israel, meaning the souls that aspire to the Creator, exists only for the sake of the world’s correction because a broken Kli cannot correct itself independently. Only special sparks awaken in it, including Adam, the generations of Kabbalists that came after him, then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so on. This is talking about souls that were able to correct themselves without a method by virtue of their fine and pure nature.
They were able to feel what correction is to some extent without a group or a method because they belonged to the appropriate layer of desires. All the other souls followed and joined them.
Then came the stage where desires grew more powerful and the souls needed to mutually unite by mutual guarantee at Mount Sinai by using the method of the Light that Reforms. From then on, they had to attract the Light by uniting with one another instead of individually with their own forces.
Among them were those who were able to advance alone, practically without unification being a necessary condition. They are called “forefathers.” The others have to unite as one man with one heart and work on the common egoism by receiving awakening and ascent from one another. They bring their common desire to correction and then the Light that Reforms comes to them.
The same Light previously corrected individuals, but this was “personal illumination.” Now the Light does not come in response to someone’s personal desire, but to the common, unified desire that has become “the prayer of society,” the ten Sefirot. Our unity evokes an entire “package” of Light, which does what it has to do. Then the group is already able to correct itself.
However, for now it is only a group. And besides it, there are souls that are unable to awaken on their own. They suffer and are helpless. Therefore, the mission of the souls that have already gone through all the phases of correction and corruption is to unite with them, like Bina unites with Malchut. This enables the “incompetent” desires, the souls of AHP to be able to reach correction as well.
They cannot do anything to themselves alone. Nothing can be demanded from them. They do not have any conditions, method, or teaching. They receive everything from Galgalta ve Eynaim, which broke and descended to them. This happened because it is able to awaken them and to establish the right order among all of the broken souls that belong to itself, to AHP, and to the mixture between the two.
This is the mission of the nation of Israel before the redemption.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/13/11, Writings of Rabash
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