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

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Since the day I have discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah and dedicated myself to it, I have distanced myself from abstract philosophy [its conclusions and reasoning] and all its branches as much as the east is from the west. Everything that I will write henceforth will be from a purely scientific  perspective, in utter precision [of definitions based on practical, repeatable experiment], and by means of simple recognition of practical, useful things.
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

Needless to say, today our generation has already recognized that metaphysical philosophy contains no real [based on practical experiment] content upon which it is worthwhile to spend one’s time. Hence, it is certainly forbidden for anyone to take any spices from their words [for examining oneself, the world, and their reasons and purposes].
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

Philosophy loves to concern itself with His Essence and [seemingly] prove which rules do not apply to Him [based on negation]. However, Kabbalah has no dealings whatsoever with it, for how can the unattainable and imperceptible [that has no practical experimental data but only one’s own guess work] be defined?
– Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Baal HaSulam’s article “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence,” section “Spiritual Expressions”: The spiritual has no image, hence it has no letters to contemplate with. Even if we declare in general that it is Simple Light, which descends and extends to the seeker until one clothes and attains it in the amount sufficient for His revelation, this, too, is a borrowed expression. This is so because everything that is called “Light” in the spiritual world is not like the light of the sun or candlelight.

For a person who does not yet perceive spirituality, spiritual concepts are a total jumble of abstract words. He is like child who doesn’t understand the meaning of the words and simply repeats after adults. And when you reproach him with “What have you done?” he cheerfully echoes, “What have you done!”

In other words, we do not understand the spiritual phenomena the words reflect, and like children repeat the words after the Kabbalists. Yet, gradually we have to approach their true meaning and feel what is hidden behind these words.

All spiritual concepts express a desire and the sensations within a desire since nothing else exists in the whole of reality. There is a desire (spiritual vessel) and something that enters it. The impression within a desire is called “the Light.”

Desire is divided into five levels: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut. Accordingly, we reveal within desire five types of the Light: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida. The sum of these five Lights and five desires defines the “name of the Creator,” meaning someone who influences me. The Creator is the one who created desires in me and gave me screens for them. He is the one who arranged everything in a manner that I feel His impact the way I do. He did everything. All I do is feel the consequences of His actions.

Therefore, all I perceive is called “the work of the Creator.” I call Him by the name that is instigated by the sum of my desires and Lights that I feel in them, that is, by the impression I receive. This is how words are formed in spirituality.

We only need to understand ourselves, and then we will reveal the Creator within us. This is why we call Him “Bo-reh” (come and see). The name of the Creator is me sensing His property of bestowal appearing in me. At first, we, like children, repeat vague words after Kabbalists: Keter, Hochma, Bina, AB, SAG, and so forth. Eventually, however, we will have to attain their meaning and begin sensing them.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/6/10, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Kabbalah TV Channel 66’s Kabbalah for Beginners, “Tishri Holidays”
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Excerpts from my upcoming book, A Guide to The Book of Zohar

The Upper worlds do not exist in corporeal space; rather, they are like qualities without space, volume, weight, or size. When a person exists in his inherited egoistic desire, his qualities paint for him the picture of “this world.” But once the “point in the heart” awakens in him, he begins to want to attain the Upper dimension.

By working on himself in a group of friends who study the wisdom of Kabbalah, he begins to draw the Light from the degree of “Infinity” which descends onto him from Above through all the worlds. This Light creates within him the need to achieve the quality of bestowal (Malchut of the World of Atzilut) along with his group. Having achieved that level, he begins to feel the Creator and to bestow to Him just as the Creator bestows to the person.

The common desire of the souls united in the Malchut of the World of Atzilut ascends to Zeir Anpin, then higher to Aba ve Ima, and higher still to the World of Infinity. Then the Light descends from the World of Infinity through all the degrees back to the souls and fulfills them. With this fulfillment the souls grow and unite with Zeir Anpin who bestows to them. This is called the unification of ZA and Malchut, the Creator (Kadosh Baruch Hu) and Shechina, the merging of the souls with the Creator.

Many such actions are necessary before all the desires within the souls actualize themselves and bring about the adhesion with the Creator. When all the desires are corrected and bestowing to the Creator, just as the Creator bestows to them, it will be the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun).

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Baal HaSulam’s article “Preface to Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 7: Now you can understand their words about the verse, “I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.” The Sanhedrin (98) interpreted, “Not rewarded – in its time; rewarded – I will hasten it.”

Thus, there are two ways to attain the above-mentioned goal. Through their own attention is called a “Path of Repentance.” If they are awarded that, then “I will hasten it” will be applied to them. This means that there is no set time for it, but when they are awarded, the correction ends, of course.

If they are not awarded the attention, there is another way, called “Path of Suffering.” As the Sanhedrin said (97), “I place upon them a king such as Haman, and they will repent against their will,” meaning in its time, for in that there is a set time.

There are two paths before us that lead to the same goal, and we are at their intersection. At every given moment we should feel that we are at the crossroads that determines our freedom of will, and the choice here is very simple: to take the path of the Light or the path of suffering.

A third path does not exist. We must advance by one of these two paths and decide at every given moment what our next step will be. Your foot is already up in the air, and now you have to choose where to land it: on the path of Light or on the path of suffering.

The moment will pass, and you will once again have to make a choice. Your foot has been lifted from Above to force you to make a step, and it is up to you where to place it, on which of the two paths. In accordance with our choice, you will receive the strength and the means to advance since you have to keep moving ahead, one way or the other.

If you advance by the path of “Beito” (natural development, in due time), the forces of nature are pushing you onward against our egoism since you wish to advance led by your ego. Hence, you are impacted by the forces that oppose your egoism, trying to keep you in bestowal. But on the path of “Ahishena” (hastening time), you start to consciously convince yourself through the environment that being in bestowal is worthwhile. Thereby you draw the Surrounding Light, and it returns you to goodness.

On the path of “Beito,” you receive blows and learn through them. Sooner or later it will result in your request or prayer for correction and advancement like you would have by the path of “Ahishena.” Conversely, if you initially take the path of the Light, you will save time on the first segment of the path, where you would have otherwise wasted time through your lack of desire to listen and exert your own effort.

There is no time to think about where to land our foot! Everything depends on the preparation of the spiritual environment.

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

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “Preparation for Repentance”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Lech-Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 423

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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 15, Item 15, Lesson 10
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot” Item 8, Lesson 10
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Not only is it the wrong place to argue with them [philosophers] about their fabricated conjectures, but also the time of supporters of such [practically unfounded] views has already passed and their authority has been revoked. We should also thank the experts of materialistic psychology for that, which built its [realistic] plinth on the ruin of the former [practically unfounded philosophy], winning the public’s favor. Now everyone admits to the emptiness of philosophy [its conclusions], for it is not built on concrete [practical] foundations [but originates from assumptions of human intellect].

This old doctrine became a stumbling stone and a deadly thorn [for a regular person to understand] Kabbalah because where they should have been subdued before the sages of Kabbalah [that is, to correct themselves with its help, to alter their properties from egoistic to altruistic, and then study Kabbalah through their newly acquired qualities since it is the only way to comprehend the essence of Kabbalah], and assume abstinence and prudence, sanctity [the property of bestowal], and purity before the sages disclosed before them even the smallest thing in spirituality [the nature of bestowal and love], they easily received what they had wanted [instant external knowledge] from the formative philosophy [without correcting themselves]. Without payment or price [without exerting the needed effort in correcting themselves], they watered themselves from their fountain of wisdom [Kabbalistic books] to satiation, and [without setting a goal of self-correction]refrained from delving in the wisdom of Kabbalah [self-correction] until the wisdom has almost been forgotten from among Israel [replaced by useless arguments and observations].

Hence, we are [have to be] grateful to materialistic psychology for handing it [useless, groundless philosophy] a deadly blow. [At the present time, we see that philosophical contemplations are no longer taken into consideration. The “science” of philosophy continues to exist by inertia, and the word “philosophy” has acquired a contemptuous meaning.]
– Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Baal HaSulam’s article, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8: Therefore, come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers, who impart to us their sacred Lights and dedicate their souls to do good to our souls. They stand in the middle between the path of harsh torments and the path of repentance. They save us from the netherworld, which is harder than death, and accustom us to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning, as we have said above.

We shouldn’t regard these great Kabbalists as people who lived some time ago; they are parts of an enormous system: the soul. A Kabbalist is a soul that attains the Creator, knows and feels Him, and resides in the collective system of souls, Adam HaRishon. He is its integral part and acts as an inter-medium that binds us to the spiritual world at a time when we do not realize or perceive it.

In other words, a Kabbalist not only leaves us his writings, he also actualizes a connection between our souls and the collective system. We ourselves do not perceive the souls of the Kabbalists. Yet, they connect our souls (points in the heart) with the common system, allowing us to connect with each other and become part of it. Thereby, a stream of Light that flows within the system reaches us and revives us so that we may become its integral active parts.

This constitutes the work of Kabbalists in all the generations: They ensure our life within this spiritual system. For the time being, we exist in it merely as points without consciousness. But Kabbalists assist us by transmitting the Surrounding and Inner Lights that are present in the system thereby awakening us.

Therefore, the life of a Kabbalist doesn’t end with the death of his physical body. When we speak of a Kabbalist, we are talking about a soul that exists in the common totality of souls and acts regardless of whether or not his body exists in the material world. This soul is the active and the part of the system closest to us (as, for example, Baal HaSulam or Rabash).

Our whole Kabbalistic group represents a certain spiritual organ of the collective soul, and they take care of us spiritually. This is written about us: “We should be grateful to our teachers who impart to us their sacred Lights.” They are imparting them to us right now!

We do not shift from one system into another. We always remain within the same system and only awaken toward more consciousness.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: What did Baal HaSulam add to the soul’s correction that the ARI began?

Answer: The ARI did not write anything himself. His student Marchu (Chaim Vital) wrote everything and the records were published over the course of three generations after the ARI’s death.

Baal HaSulam explained and systematized all of the Ari’s teaching. Before him, the teaching of the ARI was not arranged in an orderly fashion, and therefore it was impossible to study. That is why many people who began to study the ARI’s teaching gave it up and instead studied the works of the Ramak.

I also studied the Ramak until I discovered Baal HaSulam, and I encountered many Kabbalists who studied the Ramak instead of the ARI because everything is clear and orderly in the Ramak’s books. On the other hand, the ARI’s works were not orderly. Baal HaSulam systematized, detailed, and explained them, and gave them shape: three lines, the First and Second Restriction, the Creator and the creation, the definition of the worlds, Sefirot, Partzufim, NRNHY, KHB, ZON, he created a compilation of graphs of the Upper Worlds – The Book of HaElan.

Even though certain parts are missing which he could have put in order as well (such as Adam HaRishon and the impure worlds of BYA), apparently he did not want to work on this. Without Baal HaSulam, we would not have the teaching of the ARI and it would be impossible to understand the ARI.

When you read other Kabbalists now, you understand them because you are familiar with the works of Baal HaSulam. Without him, you would get confused. No matter what texts you look at, whether books on Hassidut, the Ramak, Agra, or others, you will only be able to understand them because you studied Baal HaSulam.

In addition, without the Rabash’s articles we would not be able to understand what is required of us and what the work of the Creator is. Without these two Kabbalists, Baal HaSulam and Rabash, who supplement one another, we would not have the right approach to the method of correction.

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

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