A Glimpse Of Unknown Spiritual States

Connecting Through the Worlds A question I received: How can I tell if I have the right sensations while reading The Zohar?

My Answer: It doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to hold on to the text and flow with it; eventually the stream will bring you to the right place. While reading The Zohar a person goes through very difficult states, sometimes he is completely confused, and sometimes he has no idea what is happening to him.

We have to be prepared for this ahead of time, because when we acquire the next level, we erase everything that we had on the previous level. It’s like pressing the “Delete” button on the computer – everything disappears. That is how we advance to the next level.

These sensations don’t exist in our world. We still haven’t experienced transitions that are this intense, real, and serious. We only feel a sudden confusion, where we stop understanding the words and find ourselves in a fog. This will happen to every person, both those studying live and those studying over the internet. That is how our growth takes place. We no longer have to die and be reborn again, and then again and again, because we are going through these reincarnations during this life. A new reincarnation is always a new Kli – a new earth and a new sky; a new everything.

Therefore, you cannot know anything ahead of time. You should only accept the conditions that The Zohar sets for you, and if you are flowing together with this book, the stream will lead you forward and take you out of all of these difficult states. Then new sources of confusion will come, along with new epiphanies, while the old ones will be forgotten and gone. You will change so much that you won’t even remember that you used to be different.

Therefore, for the time being we should look at ourselves critically and simply keep going. The advice Kabbalists give to a person who is confused is to delve even deeper into the studies, to keep breaking through even further. That is how you will advance and break through the foggy state. You just have to make more efforts, and this will make the state shift to a different one quicker.

If, on the other hand, a person gives up and tries to leave the studies and to take a break, then he is thrown backwards. Later on he will have to take the same steps forward all over again, but under much more difficult conditions. Therefore, as soon as you feel that you are confused and in a fog, you should realize that this is a wonderful state. It’s a sign of a new level, and now all you have to do is “step on the gas”!

You Can’t Accomplish Anything Alone

A Reshimo Is One's Complete Future State I don’t exist by myself; I only exist if I funnel myself through a mechanism called the unity of all the souls. That is why I want to open myself up through The Book of Zohar, since its force comes in order to implement this connection between all my parts, which now seem alien to me.

This is exactly what The Book of Zohar is intended for; otherwise I won’t be under its ray of Light. This ray is very thin, like the beam of a laser, and if I veer even one millimeter away from it, I will no longer see it. I have to be exactly in this ray in order for it to influence me.

Kabbalists explain this condition to us, saying that if we connect to all the souls in the right way, then we will place ourselves inside this ray. As soon as the unity is broken, everyone falls apart and scatters in every possible direction. This ray is the only thing capable of holding us together.

This happens on every level of the spiritual ladder – we can only climb it along this ray. As soon as we let go of one another, everything immediately falls apart and the ray of Light is unable to hold us together. This is the only force that preserves our unity. Therefore, it is for the sake of this unity that we desire to attract the Light. We need the Creator to connect us together, and that means we have to attract the Light that Reforms.

How can we feel this unity? We have to demand it while reading The Zohar; it has to give it to us. This was the reason why Kabbalists wrote this book, and we have the right to ask, “Where is the unity that’s due to us, why isn’t it affecting us?” If we all think about this together, it will become a great concern that we won’t be able to forget for a moment. And then it will work. But alone, none of us will be able to accomplish anything.

Zohar Study Hinges On The Unity Between Us

We Must Only Unite Our Points In the Heart With respect to the spiritual world, we are not divided into smart and dumb. If you were to bring Einstein to Kabbalah, he’d be just as confused as everyone else. Until you acquire the qualities of the next spiritual degree, it is impossible to know it or sense it because it must first become revealed in you. Only then will you begin to sense, and then to understand what it’s all about. Indeed, it is comprised of a new set of ten Sefirot, which constitute all new material.

That is why there are no smart or dumb students in Kabbalah. We are all in the same boat, and with respect to the next spiritual degree we are all equal: an intellectual or an ignoramus, a nerd or a dolt, a professor or a student – there is no difference between them. All that’s needed is a desire to attain the goal, steady nerves, and patience. Therefore, you should exercise, stay in good physical shape, and focus the rest of your energies on your inner work together with the group.

We’ve been reading The Zohar for two months now, and it’s beginning to affect us already. However, right now each of us is fluctuating in his own direction, as though on random, chaotic waves. Unity has not yet been attained; we don’t feel that we are parts of one collective movement where a sequence of strong waves washes over us after every lesson, shaking us like a tsunami.

The Zohar must affect everybody in the same way, regardless of how long a person has been studying, in what language, what is his place of origin, sex or age. The very source that we study must affect every one of us.

For instance, when it’s light outside, then everybody knows it’s day and not night, regardless of whether you are a baby, a man or a woman, a senior, and even a cat and a mouse. Similarly, we must come to a state of unity where everybody reacts to reading The Zohar in the same way, in unison.

Our present goal is to work on our unity, so that The Zohar will begin to influence all of us at once, like a single whole. And in so doing we are working to reveal it, for it will only be revealed in a united desire, in the union of the points in the heart.

The Ray Of Light That Lifts Us Up

There Are No Creatures On Other Planets A question I received: What is the Light that Reforms, which is supposed to lift us up?

My Answer: It is a force that comes to you as a result of your study and your desire. There is a very thin ray of Light that begins to influence you if you “walk” into it. You and your desires take up the whole sphere, but you must find this narrow ray by moving toward the spiritual goal. Then this Light will begin to influence you, returning you to its Source.

The Light comes out of that very goal, and if you attune yourself precisely to this Light, you will come under its influence. It will begin to shine on you and draw you toward the goal along its ray.

What does this have to do with reading The Zohar and thinking of the unity of souls? This ray takes root precisely in the source of unity – in the collective soul before its breaking, where all the souls are united into one, in Malchut of the World of Infinity. That is why it is so important for you to desire to come under the influence of this Light that Reforms and to feel that you depend on it completely.

In addition, you have to find this ray on your own. It is aimed sharply down from Above, from the World of Infinity, the root of your soul. It spans across all the worlds and reaches all the way into this world, “touching” you. However, it shines from Above only at a specific point in this world, and you have to come to that point by having the right intentions. Only when you find this point will you see that narrow ray of Light shining from Above, and then your soul will ascend along the ray up to its root.

You have to change in order detect this point. In the meantime, the Light is all around you, but you cannot see it. You will only see it if you find a way inside it; therein lies the challenge.

Food For The Soul

foodsoul A question I received: When I read The Book of Zohar I cannot connect to it. What should I do? We have looked forward for so long to this cherished moment when we would open The Book of Zohar, but now we feel disappointed.

My Answer: Baal HaSulam wrote that there is no better moment in a person’s life than when he senses complete disappointment in everything he has done up to this point. He sees that nothing has helped him, that there is no source of salvation, and no hope of spiritual ascent if everything continues as is.

Once he reaches this realization, he then reveals a new feeling of hope. However, he does not know who he should rely on. Eventually he realizes that only the Creator can help him, and that’s when he cries out: “Save me!” That is when he receives help.

Studying The Zohar is not like regular study where you receive knowledge immediately, by the principle, “You apply effort and receive.” In this case, another principle comes into force, “You apply effort and find.”

You probably hoped that as soon as you opened The Book of Zohar, miracles would start happening. But nothing can happen in the very beginning. My teacher Rabash gave an example of a man who bought a little gosling and wanted to turn it into a big, fat goose. So he started incessantly stuffing food down its throat. He would stuff the gosling and then immediately check whether it got fatter, which it didn’t. He kept stuffing more food into it, but the gosling still didn’t gain weight. Smart people told him: “You should wait a month or two to begin to see the difference.” The same applies to a child – the parents have to invest a lot of effort before the child can get up, walk, and become strong.

If we observe our soul we’ll see that it grows in the same way. When I want my point in the heart to grow into a soul, I have to treat it as a newborn baby within me that has just started to develop. It will take time for a soul to grow out of this point.

Building The New Stairway To Heaven

onlything A question I received: What is the fastest and most effective way to disseminate Kabbalah in the world?

My Answer: A variety of ways are required as we are now climbing stairs that no one has stepped upon before. Up to now, Kabbalists went their own way and taught their students using the same method that originated from Adam, the first Kabbalist. Later on Abraham established the methodology and the group that eventually became the people of Israel. However, they later fell from that spiritual level and for the past two thousand years Kabbalists have been transferring their knowledge from one to another.

Now, however, we are living in an era when millions of people around the world are waking up to the desire for spiritual ascent and are walking side by side with us. Studying Kabbalah on an individual basis has become a thing of the past. Today we are returning to Abraham’s original intention to offer correction to all Babylonians.

How should we disseminate Kabbalah under these new conditions? I can only say what I think and feel, but we won’t know for sure until we accumulate enough experience. Even Rabbi Shimon wouldn’t be able to give us advice since these new states of development have yet to be explored.

In Baal HaSulam’s time, he had hoped that his newspaper would change the situation, but it was shut down right away. He then published books and his disciples thought that these would cause a spiritual revolution and people would finally see that they are in the dark. But the world continued on as if nothing had changed.

This is why we presently are trying various methods and approaches to determine the most effective ones. One thing is clear: Dissemination has to be conducted as widely as possible in all languages and for everyone in the whole world. Abraham wanted to reach out to all of Ancient Babylon, and today, Babylon has expanded to include the whole world.

Our Perception Of The World Is An Optical Illusion

A New Year's Wish to the World Our perception of the world and sensation of life are found inside our desire since in truth, our desire is the only thing that was created. Therefore, we live and perceive everything within the self. However, there are two pictures (or formats) of our perception. We perceive one part of the picture as “us,” and the other part as the “world around us.” This perception within our desire is split in two – inner and outer, “us” and “our environment.”

Likewise, our picture of reality divides into circles that expand from inside out. These circles are comprised of the soul, the body, our immediate surroundings, and our distant surroundings. In reality, however, this whole perception exists within us, within our desire. Therefore, if we want to change the world, we have to change our desire. It’s because our perception of the world depends on our desire, and moreover, the whole world is perceived within it.

Our perception that the world exists outside of us is an illusion. The world exists entirely in our desire, but we currently don’t feel it. We relate to nature and to humanity, which are actually parts of ourselves, as something alien, and as a result of this attitude, we suffer. If only we realized the harm we cause ourselves with this imaginative view of the outside world.

It is a mistake, an optical illusion! It only appears that there are people around us whom we can disregard. We simply don’t realize that in so doing we bring miseries and problems to ourselves. Our entire lives are filled with problems and suffering only because we have this terrible and twisted perception of reality.

The science of Kabbalah teaches us how to unite our disconnected parts. Alone we are incapable of it, but we can make a request for the Light to correct our perception. Then we will see one reality, one desire, and inside it – one soul and one Light.

As we move toward this goal, we should try to aim ourselves toward unity. When reading The Book of Zohar we must continually bring ourselves back to the sensation of “the entire world is inside me.” Whatever the text may speak of, all of it is describing forces, qualities, and desires that are inside us.

All the spiritual worlds are within, while outside there is nothing. The world must not be divided into inner and outer, because it is one common soul.

By remembering this we draw upon ourselves the influence of the Light which unites together the separate parts of our perception.

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.03.10

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat),” Item 61
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 102, Lesson 41
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Preface to the Book of Zohar,” Item 27, Lesson 8
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Evening Zohar Lesson – 01.02.10

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat),” Item 37
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