Question: Baal HaSulam writes that before starting to study Kabbalah, it is necessary to understand what it is. How can everyone learn its language if it’s so complicated?

Answer: To understand what the wisdom of Kabbalah is means to acquire the screen in order to rise above one’s egoism and see spiritual actions. Then, you will be able to understand a Kabbalist teacher and learn from him what to do next. You will comprehend and be able to verify all that he will tell you in practice, right here right now, as it is done by regular students in this world.

But until you are born in spirituality, how can I explain anything to you? It is as if I would be telling about this world to an unborn child that is still in the mother’s womb. So do Kabbalists speak to us from another world. We reside in this world, within its sphere, like in a bubble, while we are being told what is taking place outside of it.

Therefore, Kabbalistic texts work for us only as “miraculous remedy” (Segula). The articles are written for the beginners, but The Study of the Ten Sefirot is written for those who have been born in spirituality, who are already "spiritual babies" that can be told about the upper world. Thanks to it, they will advance and will start exploring the new world they were born into.

As for those who are still inside the mother’s womb, it is only a stimulus, motivation to be born as soon as possible.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “What Is a True Act of Kindness in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “The Sixth Commandment,” Item 219, Lesson 1
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 80, Lesson 47
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Lesson 3
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My Good Environment – Dr. Laitman’s Advice for the Week

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Our whole work is meant to prepare the desire for the next degree. I exert effort in order to check myself: What exactly do I aspire to? Maybe I still think I can rise to a higher degree with my own strength, or maybe I’m not so foolish anymore and already realize that I’m unable to do this on my own and only the upper force can help me. And then I begin searching for a way to reach out to the Creator, to force Him to help me.

Kabbalists say that we can turn to the upper force only through the society, the group. So how many years will I need to work in order to explain to myself that the society is the only means to attract the Creator to help me, and my participation in the group is equal to attracting the Creator’s force for my correction? After all, if I unite with the society precisely for this and ask for only this, then He will do it, and we—I, the group, and He—will all meet there together, as it is written: "Isra-El (one who aspires straight to the Creator), the Torah (the upper Light) and the Creator are one."

This is called trying to "gain favor" from the Creator. The Creator will like you when you have the same desires as He has. You need to understand that you depend on Him and must lower your ego. Kabbalists explain this to us using the most precise words, and the second you reach the end of this work, you will begin to speak in their words; the language of the branches will be realized in you.

You will have no other words! You will begin to speak verses from the Psalms or prayer books. This is because Kabbalists took these words from their attainment: the whole order of words and letters. You will begin to speak in the same exact manner since everything that is said is undoubtedly determined by the next degree, and it is impossible to say it differently.

This is the most scientific approach from all approaches. Regular science is very minute; it works only within the bounds of this world, in these limited conditions, and thus everything is relative. However, Kabbalah is an absolutely scientific method where everything obeys one law. Only one formula is in place in the whole universe: Bestowal and reception need to unite into one whole.

This doesn’t even need to be proven to anyone. We search for some scientific proof and examples just to bring people closer to Kabbalah. However, the wisdom of Kabbalah itself does not demand any proof; it is revealed within a person.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Where do the words of this world come from? Why did some peasant who once lived near Jerusalem look at the Mount of Olives and name it this way? It’s because he thought that this name suits it. This desire arose in him from nature, and nature comes from Above.

That is, there is nothing accidental in the words of our world; they all came from Above. This is why Kabbalists can use them for describing the spiritual roots, which is called “the language of branches.” And when we take the names of this world and explain what hides behind them according to their spiritual roots, we see the difference between the worlds. This is how we discover what stands between us and the spiritual world.

A stone of this world and a stone of the spiritual world, a tree of this world and a tree of the spiritual world, a man, a woman, a child, fire, water, this is how I study the difference between the worlds and the form I have to reach.

However, the language of branches is not intended for an ordinary person, but for those who sense the spiritual world. Only they can comprehend what is taking place between the branch and the root, and they pass to each other knowledge using this language. When one Kabbalist describes a certain connection between the roots in the spiritual world and wants to pass this knowledge to another, he relates it in the language of branches.

For the time being, we do not speak this language, but rather use a spoken one. When you will sense spirituality, then by listening to the words of your teacher who is telling you about the spiritual world, you will understand what he means. Or, he will teach you like a little child who is being taught words.

Imagine that you are at the spiritual level together with your teacher, and he points at a certain phenomenon and tells how it is called. Seeing the spiritual phenomenon and hearing its name, you can connect them together, attach the word of this world to the spiritual object. This is called learning the language of branches. A newborn in the spiritual world learns the language of branches much like a newborn in this world learns to speak an earthly language.

And later you will be able to converse with the teacher; you will have an active vocabulary.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: What do you think about “practical Kabbalah,” a connection with the Sefirot?

Answer: I regret having to disappoint you, but none of this has anything to do with true attainment. There are no red strings, holy water, or ceremonial actions in Kabbalah.

Any person in the world with the desire to learn, regardless of their sex, religion, or nationality, can attain through the proper study and only through it. It’s as if they do not have a body. In other words, clothes, habits, and traditions do not matter. All of these things have absolutely nothing to do with Kabbalah.

Kabbalah is a science, and when we study it, we begin to perceive this world as a more connected, global world. This gives us a new perspective and a new life. We rise from a level where everything ends inside my body to a global, external level where I float outside of time.

This needs to be felt. I promise you that if you were to begin studying and enter this wisdom, you would feel that this is the way this works. A person of our world must rise to the degree of eternity.

Everything Kabbalah predicted has come true. Two thousand years ago, Kabbalists wrote that the world will enter a new phase of development when The Zohar will be revealed, and we will have to begin to work on our correction. I did not believe this when I started studying Kabbalah in the mid-seventies, but this really happened twenty years later, in the mid-nineties.
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From my lecture in Paris 2/1/2011

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Question: What is the Creator?

Answer: The Creator is the upper force that controls and brings into action the entire system. We reveal Him as much as we resemble this integral system. To this extent, we connect with the Creator, the general governing force, and become as eternal and perfect as Him.

This is the degree that every person must reach, sooner or later, if not now. Every person will have to become aware of this common system and attain the Creator.

Question: Do angels exist in the spiritual world?

Answer: Angels are forces. “Angel” (Malach) comes from the word Malchut, force.

Question: What are Sefirot?

Answer: Sefirot are specific qualities that are present in every soul, but in different combinations. This determines all the differences between us.

Question: What is “correction?”

Answer: Correction is the adjustment of our vision, our perception, which enables one to see the way the world is connected in reality. Nature is global and integrated. It does not break down into separate parts, the way we are used to dividing it in biology, zoology, botany, geography, and so on.

Nature includes everything. It is the general picture. Correction is in my newly acquired ability to see everything connected into one picture, and I, myself, also enter it together with everyone else. This is why holistic medicine is so popular in our time as it approaches the entire organism and the world in general as one whole.

Question: What is a soul?

Answer: Our soul is the part of the eternal system that we attain. We become included into this system over 125 degrees until we merge with the entire system in general. Every person must ascend the entire 125 degrees.

We have at most 230 years left (until the expiration of the 6,000 years) to complete our correction, to reveal the global, integrated world, and become completely included in it. However, we can do this sooner.

Question: What is “reincarnation?”

Answer: A person who has not completed the correction of his inclusion into the common, global system must keep reincarnating to continue his correction until he will stop being included into the common system as its part, and every one of us will “diffuse” or “spread” throughout the entire system. We will continue to reincarnate in this world until we correct ourselves this way.
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From my lecture in Paris 2/1/2011

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Question: Why is there such resistance to learning Kabbalah on the part of the religious, Orthodox world?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah became revealed thanks to Adam (“the First Man”) 5,770 years ago. He wrote a book about it entitled Raziel HaMalach (The Angel Raziel). This teaching continued through his students, and twenty generations later, there came Abraham, a sage who lived in ancient Babylon.

Abraham worshiped stars, spirits, and trees and made idols until the wisdom of Kabbalah was revealed to him in the global form. He wrote about it in Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation).

Abraham led his disciples out of Babylon and into the land of Canaan. He organized a Kabbalistic group out of them, which lasted until the very fall of the Temple. All of them lived interconnected as a global, integral society, as one man with one heart. However, 2,000 years ago, at the time of the fall of the Temple, they fell from brotherly love into unfounded hatred.

This event was what is called the “fall” since they fell from the global world into our human egoism. That is how they lost the sensation of the spiritual world, the upper dimension, and started to feel just as all of us do now, meaning as existing only in our world, each one separately, egoistically.

Instead of living in the wisdom of Kabbalah and the collective, integral system, they began to experience only our world, as people still do today. At that time, Kabbalah, which is wisdom, attainment, knowledge, and spiritual science was replaced by religion and religious faith. After all, the spiritual world disappeared from their view.

This is the form we exist in to this day. Religions such as Judaism sprang up, which gave birth to Christianity, followed by Islam. All of these religions exist because the spiritual, global, and integral world is hidden from us.

However, as it unfolds, there will be no place for religions. They will become the cultural traditions of a nation. This is why there is such resistance between Kabbalah and Judaism, which has continued for the last 2,000 years.

Religious folks hate Kabbalah because it explains to them that they live in the dark and don’t understand where they are and what they are doing. However, there will come a time, and specifically in our days, when we will have to rise from the level of blind faith to the level of spiritual knowledge.
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From my lecture in Paris 2/1/2011

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We are using the Kabbalistic method to correct the part of “Israel” as well as the part of the “nations of the worlds” in us. They help one another through disturbances as well as support, and thus, they work together.

People have to understand that everything that happens is for their good. Everything that becomes revealed along the path must be revealed in that exact manner and a person should only arrange himself the right way in relation to all the elements: the teacher, the books, the group, and the Creator. That is how one should advance.

We have to understand that the realization of the goal happens when all the components come together. People must not deviate from this unification by increasing the importance of one component over another.

Some people prefer to only strive towards the Creator, which is where religion comes from. For religious people, the Creator is on top. All their prayers and hopes are directed towards Him, while love for the neighbor is secondary.

Others concentrate on the teacher and fall into Hassidut, worship. For them, the teacher is more important than the friends and the Creator. Others yet concentrate only on the friends—a good society is the most important thing for them. As a rule, this is impossible in our groups because we study the Force that awakens hatred between us so we would strive toward the true correction. And this is why we cannot just be good friends the way other communities do.

Only an equal attitude towards the teacher, the study, the friends, and the Creator enables us to attain the goal.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Who is more interested in the correction – we or the Creator?

Answer: The Creator. He would not awaken us otherwise.

Question: Then why is it our job to awaken the rest of the world?

Answer: He is the interested one, so what do we care? Well, the fact is that we do not have a choice – the Creator obligates us. He awakens us so we would awaken the rest.

Question: But why didn’t He awaken the entire world?

Answer: We will find out about the entire system and about each person’s role and connections with everyone only once we attain the absolute, corrected system, whereby every person will include this full system entirely within him.

Then you will find out why all the souls have been on this path and have gone through this correction. It is impossible to ask about this now, while we are in the middle of the path. This is similar to the development of a fetus which suddenly grows a hand, then the tongue, then the leg, then a tail-like piece which appears and then disappears, then the eyes appear, and so on. We do not understand all these forms of development.

“Don’t show a fool a job half done.” For now we are fools, which means that we still lack the Light of Hochma, the Light of Wisdom which has to spread through our desires or Kelim.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/11, Writings of Rabash

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