Article: Making Choices Impairs Subsequent Self-Control: A Limited-Resource Account of Decision Making, Self-Regulation, and Active Initiative

Making choices drains a person’s psyche. The freedom to choose is a fundamental value in modern society, where people find themselves having to make choices all the time. However, American physiologists concluded that the need to make constant choices drains the resources of the human psyche, damaging people’s ability to solve basic problems and overcome the difficulties of daily life. The results of the research, on how choice affects the human psyche, were published in the April issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

From the perspective of Kabbalah, when we ascend a level higher, we discover the control panel operating us, and that which seemed as the freedom to choose is actually the realization of the Light’s influence on the Reshimo – the gene of desires. This gene’s activation generates a person’s movement, physically, mentally, and in every which way.

When those studying Kabbalah receive desires from their environment, their group, to “ascend above themselves,” above their egoism, and demand the Light during the study of Kabbalah, then this Light elevates them, evoking a desire to bestow within them. We then “rise above ourselves,” above our desires to receive, and gain the “freedom” to act against our original nature. However, at the same time, we are obliged and compelled to act according to our new nature. This freedom to choose lies between the two natures, in choosing which nature to act in accordance with. Freedom lies in the choice that presents itself in Klipat Noga: “Who will rule over me?” and in response to this, choosing the Creator, similarity to Him. We receive the forces to make this choice to the extent that our environment provides us with the sense of the Creator’s greatness.

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From the book’s blurb:

Among all the texts and notes of Rabbi Baruch Shalom Halevi Ashlag (the Rabash), there was one special notebook he always carried. This notebook contained the transcripts of his conversations with his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Halevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), author of the Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar and of many other works on Kabbalah.

Not feeling well on the Jewish New Year in September 1991, the Rabash summoned his prime disciple and personal assistant, Michael Laitman, to his bedside and handed him that notebook. Its cover contained only one word, Shamati (I Heard). As he handed the notebook, he said to Laitman, “Take it and learn from it.” The following morning, he perished in his student’s arms, leaving him and many of his other disciples without guidance in this world.

Committed to Rabash’s legacy to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah, Laitman published the notebook just as it was written, thus retaining the text’s transforming powers. Among all the books of Kabbalah, Shamati is a unique and compelling composition whose power persists long after the reading is through.

Shamati (I Heard):
* Free Download (PDF)
* Purchase at Kabbalah Books
* Read at Kabbalah Library

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A question I received: My name is Noga and I receive messages from angels. I feel that my purpose and mission is to help people, and deliver them these messages. I am interested in studying Kabbalah, and I watch your broadcasts every morning. What I wanted to know is whether Kabbalah believes in this ability to communicate with angels? And is it positive?

My Answer: Angels are not images but forces, just like any other force in our world, such as gravity, pressure, radiation, and so on. Being at the level of these forces means ascending spiritually to the levels of the worlds Yetzira and Beria, and acquiring the equivalent forces of bestowal at these levels, instead of the desire to perceive, as is the case with you. You will see just how difficult this is to do when you read the article “Preface to the Book of Zohar.” My suggestion to you is to either stop fooling yourself or stop studying Kabbalah, which is nothing other than a science of self-correction.

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A question I received: The first time I ever heard the melody Bnei Heichala, I felt that it was very dear to me. Could I write an adaptation to these melodies? It would require changing the melody a little. Would this decrease their value?

My Answer: The value will definitely be decreased, but there is a chance that the melody in this form will touch several other souls…

Different Versions of “Bnei Heichala” taken from the “Melodies of Baal HaSulam” page on Kabbalah.info:

Sung by Rabash
Instrumental Version
Performed Live by a Small Ensemble
Modern Version (Ambient + Metal)

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Two questions in response to the post “Men and Women in Kabbalah“: Is it possible for woman to achieve Moses’ level of development of the soul?

My Answer: The Torah states that every person will achieve this level.

Question: Were there women who became true, great Kabbalists? And if the first is true, then why aren’t there any female teachers?

My Answer: There have been both female Kabbalists, and female teachers, for example, the prophetesses.

Question in response to the post “Why Is Studying Kabbalah Good for You?“: I neither have a teacher nor a group, so does that mean that I don’t have a choice and I have nowhere to go? The only thing that people around me think about is how to survive another day, how to pay rent, and getting some food makes them happy. So what am I supposed to do, wait for another reincarnation? Did I end up in the wrong place at the wrong time?

My Answer: The Creator has placed you into the most appropriate conditions for your correction in this world. Also, He may possibly change these conditions according to the extent of your movement towards Him. In any case, since you see the truth, you need to concern yourself with studying and correcting yourself regardless of your location, and Kabbalah has found its way to you, which means that the Creator has sent it to you. Read the article: “There Is None Else Beside Him.”

Question in response to the post “How to Make Nature Change“: How will people be able to change their desires, mind, and heart over a short period of time? The only thing that we see is the growth of anti-natural technologies and an increase in the quantity of ingenious methods of gaining control over the human mind. Don’t you think that it’s too late to save us from our own selves?

My Answer: No, it’s not. The time of correction will be millions of times faster than the time in which we’ve developed through our egoism, because it will take place through the Light’s influence. This means that we will spend our time only correcting whatever we have done over the thousands of years!

Question in response to the post “Love Covers All Sins“: Concerning your speech in the film The Seed of Life*: I am a lady. Will I always recarnate into a female body, and never into a male body? Did I understand you correctly?

My Answer: Yes – be happy about getting a chance to realize the calling that the Creator has given to you!

Question in response to the post “Where Is Our Moses?“: As I read your posting and “The Arvut,” I cannot help but feel that this applies to my own country, the United States. Politicians and televangelists preach “God’s word,” but the U.S. honestly does not love one another as the Wisdom of Kabbalah states. Though I know it has another meaning according to Kabbalah, we are not our brother’s keeper.

I am a beginner and am making a lot of mistakes in my path of learning this wisdom, but I see now how huge the ego of myself and my country is and the destruction it is causing inside and outside. The fact that the United States does not have national health insurance like Europe and other continents and countries says a lot.

I am re-reading your Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah, and I am not sure if I understand this correctly – the chaos outside me actually comes from within me. To correct this, I need to correct myself. I will read your post “How to Make Nature Change” for more wisdom.

My Answer: Correction begins with the person, and it takes place by disseminating Kabbalah throughout the world, in order to provide every person with the opportunity to discover it, without pressure, and start their correction. After this, the rest of the world will follow.

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Two questions I received in response to my post “On Love”:

Question 1: When I do not feel that my relationship with my friends is based on love, is it because my attitude towards them isn’t as it should be?

My Answer: Of course, it depends only on you.

Question 2: If love is only possible between the Creator and man, how is it possible to know when the Creator is among the creatures’ relationships?

My Answer: You discover it through your love for Him.

Related Material:
* Practical Advice by Rabash

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Love, Q&A, Rabash - 2 Comments →

News Story: UN Urges Biofuel Investment Halt

“The UN’s new top adviser on food, Olivier de Schutter, has urged a freeze on biofuel investment, saying the blind pursuit of the policy is ‘irresponsible.’ He also wants curbs on investors whose speculation is, he says, driving food prices higher.

UN officials liken the rise in food prices to a silent tsunami, threatening 100 million of the world’s poorest.”

My Response: What comes to mind is “Cannons instead of butter!” – Goebbels’ proclamation in his 1937 New Year’s Eve speech. As usual, we’ve wanted to do what’s best, and it’s turned out like it always has. Furthermore, we will continue ending up with unfavorable results every time, because our egoistic intentions are in disharmony with the force of Nature controlling us. While aiming ourselves egoistically, any “good initiative” we can come up with is destined to fail from the start, and moreover, as a result of our “great minds” and “good intentions” throughout history (since the time of Ancient Babylon), we are today witnessing an avalanche of collapses all at once.

It’s time to realize that we can no longer act against Nature. On the contrary, we need to study Nature and act in harmony with it. For this purpose, Kabbalah reveals Nature’s Upper Governing Force to us.

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A question I received in response to the post What Do You Do with an Unsupportive Wife?: What does a woman who studies Kabbalah do with an unsupportive husband? What happens to the children? Is it correct to believe that the Creator has put us in this situation for the good of all, or should I do what is important for me as a woman?

My Answer: First and foremost, you should fulfill your earthly responsibilities, and only in your free, personal time, study what interests you, without imposing it on anyone else.

A question I received on the Ask a Question page: If my husband’s soul isn’t yet ready for Kabbalah, does this affect my spiritual advancement?

My Answer: It has no affect on it whatsoever.

A question I received on the Ask a Question page: I am relatively new to the study of Kabbalah and I’m still a little confused about the woman’s role in Kabbalah (I’ve been attending the fundamentals lessons at www.arionline.com and this subject came up last week about men and women having different methods of study, which led me to the article “A Talk about the Spiritual Advancement of Women”). So, I have the following the questions that I hope you can help me to understand better…

If a woman’s desire should be for the men to find/achieve the nine Sefirot, will a woman not receive the Light until that happens?

My Answer: No. Everyone attains spirituality at a different rate, because in general there are two groups advancing – the men’s group and the women’s group.

Question: Are the women totally dependent on the men to provide the path to spirituality or cohesion with the Creator?

My Answer: No. What matters most is a woman’s desire for the goal, while in general, men attract the Light by studying toward women’s desires. Every person receives the Light’s influence to the extent of his or her desire and efforts in dissemination.

Filed under: Women, Zohar - 1 Comment →

A question I received: Looking at Bnei Baruch, it’s clear that you practice “love for thy neighbor.” However, you do so only inside your group, and not toward the whole world. Why? Isn’t that similar to a cult?

My Answer: The Kabbalists of the past, our great teachers, provide us with strict and detailed instructions on how to arrange our studies, our life, and our attitude to ourselves, our friends, society, and the world. Naturally, we study and need only their advice, because besides them, no one else understands the Creator, the world in which we live, and the path that we are to walk.

And about the accusations that we’re a cult: some people benefit from it, and are thus ready to tar our reputation in any way possible. These are especially people who feel like they’re losing their stable grounding, because they’ve discovered that regular religion is inadequate, but they are still unwilling to replace it with Kabbalah.

Today, people aren’t the simpletons they once were, and as such, the attitude displayed by our critics only shows their ignorance in understanding the Creator’s Plan, and their rejection of the Torah as the method to correct man’s egoism. Could you show me anyone, besides Bnei Baruch, who also explains the necessity of “loving thy neighbor as thyself” as the main principle of the Torah? What other society have you seen that educates people according to this principle?

As for displaying an attitude of love only for our friends – we have the same attitude to anyone who’s moving toward the same goal; this is what makes a person our friend. And as much as every person will want to move toward the same goal, then anyone who wants to will be included in this principle and in our attitude of love!

Baal HaSulam. Igeret (Letter) 49 (1927). Pri Chacham: Igrot (Fruit of Wisdom: Letters).

I am giving you assignments, obligating you to carry out all my instructions in the observance of Torah and Mitzvot [1] properly and with dedication. I direct you to dedicate all your strength to loving others as yourself, to suffer when your friend suffers, and to feel happy when your friend is happy.

As for the love between you, I am talking precisely about the love between friends in our Kabbalistic group, since it is written, “to love thy neighbor.”

[1] Baal HaSulam considers love for one’s friend, for the sake of attaining love for the Creator – to be the main precept in the observance of Torah and Mitzvot.

Filed under: Group Work, Kabbalah Study, Kabbalistic Sources, Love - 2 Comments →

A question I received: In order for people to understand one another, i.e. to speak “one language,” they need to operate with the same concepts. I think that you are often misunderstood because when we hear your Kabbalistic terms, we inject our own familiar meaning into them. So can you please definite the following terms:

My Answer:
Desire – the entire material of Creation, the place where Light (the sensation of the Creator) is received.
Intention – the purpose, the goal for which an action is performed.
State – a sensation in the desire and intention.
Feeling – a) sensory organ, b) sensation.
Sensation – the desire’s reaction to what it feels within.
Perception – the measure of sensation.
Joy – the sensation of fulfillment within oneself or in another.
Euphoria – the feeling above the Masach (screen).
Sorrow – the sensation of the absence of what is desired.
Sadness – a state of low fulfillment.

Related Material:
* Kabbalistic Terminology

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