A question I received: Kabbalah teaches us that this world is just an illusion we depict inside our five senses, which conceals the true reality and the reason why the Creator created us. Since our egoism is related to our body, which is matter clothed in form, and since egoism is evil, then would it be correct to conclude that matter is evil, and our goal is to see beyond it into the spiritual realm? Or even more than that – to transform matter into its spiritual form? The more I study Kabbalah, the more I feel that it’s making me reject what my five senses are telling me. But of course I’m still operating and functioning in this physical world. The force of the physical world is very powerful and seductive, but it’s our obligation to fight against it.

My Answer: You shouldn’t fight against anything, except your own laziness in carrying out the instructions of Kabbalists in order to draw the Upper Light onto yourself. It will correct you, and then you’ll see how the two worlds are included one inside the other, and how everything adds up. Nothing was created in vain, but only to be used correctly. It’s a common human mistake to think that you have to correct yourself. The Upper Light created the desire, and only the Upper Light can change it. Nothing depends on the person, except making the correct plea for the Light to influence him.

Therefore, we are robots in every regard, and our only free action is a MAN – the request for correction – and Kabbalah teaches us how to do this. The fact that a person is completely governed is concealed from him, so that he won’t be coerced into reaching a connection with the Creator, but will reach it voluntarily. However, if we were to see how we are governed, we would immediately and involuntarily turn to the Light, the Creator.

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Two questions I received on the role of knowledge in spiritual advancement

Question: In order to advance, do I have to know what state I’m in and what spiritual level I’m on? And in general, how important is it for my spiritual development to have knowledge about the spiritual worlds?

My Answer: Knowledge doesn’t matter at all. However, it does help you connect to the topic (the correction of your soul). Nevertheless, the most important thing is to attract the Light of correction, and this happens during the study of authentic Kabbalistic texts. Item 155 of the Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot explains that the Light descends to the degree one desires to understand what is being said in the text, even though one doesn’t understand anything. This means that a person is trying to understand what the book says about him and his state. It’s because a Kabbalistic text includes all the states of all the souls, and every soul is able to find “its own frequency,” the frequency at which the common soul, the Creator, is speaking to it.

Question: You said that a person who advances in Kabbalah does not have to turn to books when it comes to realizing his freedom of choice, and that this is something he has to do inside. My question is: How do you keep an inner account with yourself if you don’t have the forces for it inside you? You said that a person should turn to the society when he wants to realize his freedom of choice.

My Answer: Baal HaSulam speaks about this in one of his letters. He writes that if you desire to figure something out inside you, then just be alone with yourself, without books. This way you will feel yourself and the result of what has happened to you by studying Kabbalah. You will be able to find yourself, your path, something that’s yours, instead of what others have said.

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Two questions I received on how to connect spirituality and regular life

Question: How does the spiritual world influence and enliven our world, if the two worlds aren’t connected? Do they have a “cause-and-effect” connection? If so, then why isn’t our world also perfect and eternal?

My Answer: Our world is governed entirely from above. And every day we are becoming more and more convinced of this, because no matter how we try to change things, nothing goes according to plan.

The only way we can influence the Upper World (from below upwards) is to evoke (ask for) an acceleration (but not a change) of the process of our correction (by studying in the group and disseminating). We will perceive this acceleration as if evil and suffering are replaced by goodness and pleasure.

Question: Why does a person have to separate the spiritual part of his life from the regular one?

My Answer: It’s necessary to separate the two worlds. However they aren’t separate in and of themselves, but only relative the person who attains them. Outside a person, there is only the general Light. Once a person attains the Upper World, through it he sees our world, and he is no longer confused about the origin of everything that happens and about the connections between all parts of the world. But if he starts attaining the Upper World from our world, then he will get confused and start seeing forces through objects. He will do the same thing that the religions and faiths do – start thinking that there is spirituality inside the objects of our world, worshiping material objects such as trees, lucky charms, red strings, holy water, or predicting the future. This is why Baal HaSulam writes that one first attains the Upper World, and only after such attainment, one starts researching (from the Upper World) the descending forces that form our world, and the phenomena in our world.

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A question I received: I have a question about our group development. It looks like everyone inside the group as well as outside has lost his mind. Many have dropped studying, left the group, are afraid of getting attached to the group, and are scared of Kabbalah. There are many doubts if it is an authentic path to the Creator and it becomes more difficult to remain concentrated. I would like to know what it means and how a person can overcome these doubts.

My Answer: Groups without a strong spiritual leader cannot exist because group members are people who are not corrected and have a big ego. Their hearts are filled with egoistic desires though they have “the points in the heart,” which are just the points yet. And so hidden (for them) competition kicks in – a game who’s the first, who’s the chief, etc. It’s said in this case, “Separation of sinners from each other is good for them and for the world.” I spoke a lot about it on the last American congress. I think that people should gather together only for mutual dissemination actions; meaning, the actions geared towards outside (of the gathered). All other connections lead to disagreements. You are too “young” to ascend spiritually together. But if you contact each other only relative to work in dissemination then you can be of help to yourself and to others. Kabbalah is for the ones who are ready give themselves up, give up their egoism for the sake of mastering the quality of bestowal. But this is a gradual process and you have to take into account your nature. Otherwise you’d be as in the saying that thousands come but only singles (a few) left. If there is a group of people aspiring to one goal there must be a guide, a shepherd, a leader, a king. That’s how the world is created. Therefore, if there is no undisputable authority in the group there could be no group and our practice proves it.

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