Our entire reality is divided into two parts: the unveiled one that we are aware of and the concealed one that we know nothing about. Through advancing conventional science, we can certainly broaden our knowledge of the evident part of reality, but only through refining the same five sensory organs we have always had and nothing more. However, this will not allow us to make a quantum leap and discover a new dimension.

Kabbalah says that we can develop an additional sense that will allow us to perceive the reality beyond. Yet, we should be aware that we will find it opposite to the one we see today. Currently our perception of reality depends on our ability to absorb it by means of our five corporeal sensory organs: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. The sensations supplied by these organs are called our world.

But we have an ability to develop additional perceptions. It doesn’t mean to receive additional arms, legs, tastes, or such, but to step outside our self through developing another five organs of perception: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut. In these extra organs of perception, which are completely opposite to the corporeal ones, we begin perceiving all that takes place outside of us.

This means that our perception becomes limitless and we exit into an endless open space. We see all the worlds. Our ability to perceive them depends solely on how developed our spiritual organs of perception are. We are not limited to our body which is bound by how much we are able to consume till satiated. Now everything depends upon how far we can expand.

We then begin to grasp all forces, thoughts, desires, tasks, and the purpose of creation: the whole world around us. We begin to understand what is happening within us. In contrast, without this knowledge, we will never understand what is happening around us and how it impacts us, neither in the world nor within our self.

The science that teaches how to step out of self and unveil life in the Upper dimension is called the wisdom of Kabbalah. When we finally exit our ego and begin exploring the universe, we discover the purpose of creation, why everything exists.

When we step out of our self, we break free from the restrictions of our tiny body and rise above time, motion, and space; that is, we rise above the corporeal perception of reality in its three axes of coordinates: up-down, left-right, back-forth. We stop experiencing time for there is no time in that reality. We see other causes and effects, meaning that we receive absolutely new properties and abilities, outside of the connection to our animate body.

In the same manner as we are able to see, sense, and understand a person directly in front of us, we have to know and comprehend the whole of reality called the Creator or the Upper Force. Hence, we will feel worse and more restricted in our limited reality until we find a way to step out of it into the open world!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, Article, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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A question I received: How do we imagine the processes that take place in spirituality and that are described in the wisdom of Kabbalah? Where and when do they occur or have they already happened?

My Answer: All these processes have already happened in our spiritual roots. All we do is reveal them by ascending from below upwards and in this way approach them. Yet everything has already “happened.” Time in spirituality is a sequence of causes and effects.

The Creator created the desire to enjoy. Then, this desire received the Light. Afterward, it started to experience shame, restricted itself, made a decision to start receiving anti-egoistically (using a screen/intention), and began to receive in order to bestow according to the degree of its ability, and so on. In other words, we study a sequence of actions that happened before we began sensing them ourselves.

Here I am being born, and from this moment, I begin to sense myself. I know that before I was born there were other people alive, but I don’t know what “before me” really means. I begin to perceive reality only from the moment I am born. “According to my perception of reality,” it appears that there are other people around who were born before me and even some who were alive and died before I was even born. But all this exists only in my reality into which I was born and currently live. “They” are something I conceive as images in my head. We all work only with our inner desire which needs clarification.

That is why my reality begins at birth. Everything that supposedly happened before I was born is a preparation to my current sensation. It relates to the Creator and His actions within me. He performed  them to prepare me to perceive the world and the reality around me the way I do starting from the moment of my birth. Who are my father and mother and all the people surrounding me? Why do they act this way? It is the Creator who prepared this system of caring for me. The whole world that I see is made by the Creator for the sake of my work.

Therefore, our life is connected with the spiritual processes that are meant to bring us to spiritual awakening and revelation of new sensations. Did you really think that there is even one useless moment in your life?

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Everyone knows what prayer is. It exists in all the religions and cultures. People turn to each other with prayer begging for something. Prayer can be directed at people or at the Upper Force (however a person imagines it).

Prayer contains great power because when a person feels that he is in a dead-end situation, a true prayer for help bursts forth by itself. This is a natural reaction that we call prayer, a plea, or a cry. There is also a prayer of gratitude that pours out of the heart. This action awakens enormous inner reserves of a person and brings about healing, the ability to overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable.

However, in Kabbalah “prayer” is not just any plea, but a request for correction, for attaining the goal of creation. Prior to our fall from the sensation of the Creator, we did not have prayer books because people felt the Creator and every person turned to Him from the heart, according to the verse, “A person’s soul teaches him. “Every person knew what he needed to discern and what he needed to do in order to come closer to the goal, to unite with the Creator and attain equivalence of form with Him.

This was the case before the destruction of the Temple because the entire nation lived in the higher sensation and felt what it needed to ask for. The sensation in people’s hearts was essentially the prayer. People lived by the principle, “Whatever one feels in one’s heart is what one speaks.”

People felt in their hearts an aspiration for bestowal, love for the neighbor, love for the Creator, and equivalence with Him. This was felt by the heart and therefore words were not needed. Expressing this verbally is often done for us, in order to hear ourselves and to understand what our heart feels.

This was a time when we were in a corrected state. However, then the Temple was destroyed in our hearts due to the general fall of people from “love for the neighbor” to “unfounded hatred for one another.” Thus, we stopped being similar to the Creator and lost equivalence of form with Him. Therefore, He disappeared from our sensation and we started asking for things for our egos instead of our own correction!

We ask for things that are requested by the new desire that has taken over us, our egoism. And what can egoism possibly want? It wants to feel good and for others to feel bad since then it will feel even better compared to them!

That is how our new heart, “the stony heart,” operates. Obviously, we don’t attain the true prayer until we correct our desires. But on the other hand, we still have to know what the true prayer has to be in order to understand it at least with our mind (if not with the heart), and to advance in this direction by correcting our qualities.

That is why Kabbalists composed a prayer book for us, so we would know what to ask for.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/10, “The Importance of the Prayer of the Many”

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. Commentaries in brackets are mine.

Why Is The Creator Concealed From Man?

That deficiency [in our sensations] was born only as a result of the concealment of the face of the Lord, who did not wish to shine His face upon His creatures immediately, and [by this concealment] create them whole from the start. Rather, on the contrary, the Creator hid His face [perfection of the property of bestowal and love] from them, leaving them lacking [since the opposite property of reception and hatred appeared in them as the result of concealment], as the Light of the King’s face is surely life, and Its concealment is the source of all evil.

However, since the initial intention of concealment is not to be concealed, but on the contrary, to be revealed later and to transpose any evil born only from that concealment, He thus established law and order in order to reveal His concealed benevolent face. This is achieved by people’s actions, by fulfilling the laws and the doctrines which He gave us in His Torah, the doctrine of truth. By carrying them out, man reaches [reveals the sensation of ] eternal life since the reward of a Mitzva [the correction of each of 613 desires of the soul] – Mitzva [the act of bestowal itself], that is the Light of His face [fulfillment by bestowal and love], which He concealed from man at the beginning of His Creation.

Thus, the creature’s toil [by aspiring to become similar to the Creator], being dominated by his evil [egoistic] inclination, and his evil manifests in all sorts of [egoistic] deficiencies [with regard to the others], and his distance from that which would give him the Light of life [the property of bestowal]. And the acts of Mitzvot [the acts of bestowal to others and the Creator] draw the [previously] hidden Light upon him, so that by the time he has completed the law of the Mitzvot [has corrected all 613 corrupted, initially-egoistic desires], he himself complements them [in similarity to the Creator since Adam (man) comes from the word “Dome” (similar)] in drawing the Light in this life [and thus sensing the eternal and perfect existence, similarity to the Creator, in the property of bestowal].
– Ramchal, Klalei Pitchei Hochma ve Da’at (The Rules of Gates of Wisdom and Knowledge)

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “The Importance of the Prayer of the Many,” Lesson 1
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Lech-Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 2
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 2, Part 7, Item 12, Lesson 8
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 17, Lesson 13
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A question I received: You say that the Light that Reforms can only be drawn from the lesson. Then what’s the point of singing, dancing, and holding friends’ assemblies at the forthcoming Mega-Congress?

My Answer: All of nature’s systems come from the four phases of the expansion of Direct Light. And what happens there is the combination of just two forces: reception and bestowal, or the Light of Hassadim and the Light of Hochma, respectively.

They work like a piston: one part is filled while the other is emptied, and so on, one after the other. This sequential filling and emptying takes place in phases Aleph (1), Bet (2), Gimel (3), and Dalet (4). All the systems in our world operate according to this principle as well, similar to the pulsation of the heart. There is no movement without alternating filling and emptying.

The same thing happens in our spiritual progress: in one period we study, and in another period we unite, dance, and sing. The two periods have to alternate.

Our world is built in such a way that a person has to work, eat, and raise children. In essence, what are we doing in all of these actions? We are communicating with ourselves and the Creator, and without realizing it we are transferring these two forces, reception and bestowal, from one quality to another. Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut, the Light of Hochma and the Light of Hassadim, one becomes filled while the other is emptied (see Part 5 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Mati Ve Lo Mati” – “The Light’s entrance and exit in the soul”).

Therefore, there’s a time for unifying and a time for studying. That is what Kabbalists have ordained. That’s why we hold a friends’ assembly once a week, regional unity events once a month, and a worldwide Congress once every several months.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/10, The Zohar

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The spiritual world is a world of qualities, forces, desires, and intentions. There are just two forces or two desires: reception and bestowal. Everything else comes from their interaction and inclusion inside each other. When the desire to bestow joins the desire to receive pleasure, it evokes the force of opposition in it, a screen, Aviut (thickness, coarseness of desire), Zakut (purity, fineness of desire), and so on.

Yet, there are only two forces operating in the entire universe and they are mutually incorporated inside one another. This is what we learn in the four phases of the expansion of the Direct Light. Nothing else exists. “Existence from existence” (Yesh Mi Yesh) is the force of bestowal, and “existence from absence” (Yesh Mi Ein) is the force of reception that was created inside it.

Everything else forms from the opposition between these two forces. It is forbidden for us to imagine anything besides them since we imagine everything else detached from the true sensation. If you desire to return to the true sensation, then you must make efforts to try to return to the authentic picture, as if you are gaining consciousness from an unconscious state.

Therefore, when reading Kabbalistic articles or The Book of Zohar, and even when going about our business in this world, we have to try to reveal the forces that govern us, the roots of what we perceive in this “seeming” world. When reading The Zohar, we must constantly make these efforts. If you are always trying to reveal, using this book’s text, the qualitative picture, the picture of qualities, forces, and desires, then by so doing you evoke upon yourself the force from that state, from two forces, reception and bestowal, and this influences you.

The Zohar speaks about how to find the connection between the two forces. This is all of reality. It doesn’t matter what exactly I am reading: Aba ve Ima, ZON, ascending, descending, the state of adulthood (Gadlut), the state of smallness (Katnut), and so on. In actuality, there are no words in the sensation of the spiritual world. There is just a combination of two forces in all sorts of forms, and that is the true reality, the only one that exists.

One quality belongs to creation and the second one to the Creator. It is impossible to speak about one without the other, but only about the connection between them, ranging from nearly total disconnection to total unity.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out) – Part 2,” Item 381: All the admonition that Jacob had with Laban made Laban repent and thank the Creator, as it is written, “See, God is witness between you and me,” that he mentioned the name “God.” It is written, “The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor … judge between us,” meaning that that wicked returned to his bad ways. When he said “The God of Abraham,” who is holy, he mentioned the god of Nahor again, who is idolatry.

We think that this excerpt speaks of events in the corporeal world. But later, we reveal that it actually speaks only about the connection between the souls and the types of those connections. The Torah speaks exclusively about these connections and the way to strengthen the connections between the souls. Other than this, there’s nothing to reveal to man, nothing to show, and nothing else that he needs to be taught.

After all, the breaking between the souls was in order to separate them from one another. By connecting them and putting them together like Lego bricks, we learn how this system of souls is constructed; we learn the Creator’s action, and reveal the thought and purpose of creation.

This is why The Zohar speaks only about the types of connection between the souls and the ways to keep strengthening them. In other words, all the events described in the Torah only address the way to reach absolute connection.

And for this reason, our intention to connect with one another, as well as reading about an even greater connectivity of souls in the spiritual world, are both directed in the same way. We are trying to realize this connection between us here in this world, the world of our understanding, while The Zohar reveals the higher degrees. We want to attach ourselves to these higher degrees in order to receive strength from them, so they will influence us and connect us with one another.

As soon as we attain the very first, smallest connection with one another, the first spiritual degree, we begin to perceive the spiritual world. We had the same condition at Mount Sinai: "Unite as one man with one heart – and you will receive the Torah, the Light, and reveal spirituality, the Creator."

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, The Zohar

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A person who doesn’t yet understand the style of Kabbalistic writings experiences difficulties while trying to comprehend them. While reading words such as “Mitzva,” “the Creator,” “to please the Creator,” “fear of sin,” and so on, a modern secular person doesn’t understand where he is and what the text is really about.

In fact, the whole problem is that we don’t know how to read the text correctly. Kabbalists have been using this style of expression from generation to generation since the times of Abraham who was the first to expand the wisdom of Kabbalah (although it was Adam HaRishon who discovered it.)

Those who perceive spirituality comprehend what the books are talking about; they understand that there is a will to receive whose sole aim is to gain for one’s self, and indulging in this desire is called “sin” because this behavior is opposite to the Creator. On the other hand, receiving in order to bestow makes one similar to the Creator, and this is called a “Mitzva.”

However, it has nothing to do with physical actions in this world. A Mitzva (spiritual law) doesn’t relate to the physical body. It refers to our inner desires regarding the Upper Light, the Creator, and not the corporeal world.

All of this was evident to the sages who wrote the Torah and lived according to its laws 2000 years ago because they attained, mastered, and perceived spirituality. They understood what was written and did not confuse it with corporeal acts. But after the destruction of the Temple, there was a general decline; man’s sensation of the Creator disappeared.

From then on, people started interpreting the books [of the Torah] from their perception which was solely materialistic and ascribed them to our world. They translated the words and sentences, thinking that they referred to actions and relationships in our world.

This was the period of spiritual exile, but it is now coming to an end. We must return to revealing the Upper Force again, to our connection with it, and to mutual bestowal. Thus, we must understand that there was no other way to write these books.

To follow the laws of the Torah means to use the Upper Light in order to correct my 613 desires, which means to carry out the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah. If a person remembers to translate everything he reads (all the terms heard since childhood – Torah, Mitzvot, sin, etc.), into the spiritual language and spiritual definitions he will have no trouble understanding what Kabbalah is talking about.

The language and its definitions comprise one simple system of the basic laws of nature; after all, the word “Creator” means “nature.” Kabbalah, therefore, is a science that involves the entirety of reality including our world.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, Shamati #108

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