The Kabbalists who attained an inner understanding of the world, described the entire creation as multidimensional, composed of many “worlds”: basically this is what both physicists and psychologists are beginning to talk about today.

The “multidimensional” world is composed of concentric circles which we investigate from within our small world which is found in the middle of their central point.

The great Kabbalist, the ARI, writes that after everything was contracted, a ray of light was drawn and created all the worlds up to our world, which is the last of all and is found within the empty gaping void. And only a narrow channel of Light passes from the world of Infinity (symbol ∞) to our world.

We began to be developed from its most central point, which within it, according to astronomy, through the power of an explosion that all matter was created. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, matter was created as a result of a contraction even before the explosion.

Our world is absolutely the opposite of all that exists outside of it. And therefore we don’t feel all that exists outside of it. Together with this, we feel only what enters by way of our five senses, and from this we describe to ourselves the picture of the world. This is what we have.

The entire creation was formed through a consistent contraction from above to below. This is to say, all the circles were gradually contracted until the area of the contraction was shattered into a multitude of parts under the influence of the Light. And therefore within matter (the desire to receive), the characteristics of the Light appeared, except in an opposite form.

If the characteristic of the Light is to bestow, to fill, to love, to connect, to enrich, and to create, which is to say, to create everything so that it will be beneficial, good, and eternal, then when it enters and shatters matter, it divides it into a multitude of parts, and in itself produces in this place characteristics which are its opposite, characteristics of reception, egoism, coercion, hatred, and rejection; these are within our negative emotions, although we use them because it has become our nature, and that is how we are.

Everything that separates us (the so-called “Pharaoh”) is the negative characteristics of the Light, its opposite. And from them we can learn, we can explain them in reverse all the time and can see what is happening.

Therefore, our work is realized with “faith above reason,” which is to say with bestowal above reception, with yearning for bonding, connection, and love, rising above ourselves, above our nature. In this manner it is possible to go forward.

But we ourselves can only make small efforts, and also, those who are ready for this are only people who have a “point in the heart,” the beginning of the characteristic of bestowal.

In principle, this spark exists in everyone; only it is discovered gradually, beginning with people who are more subtle and after that in those who are coarser. At the same time, the coarser the person is, his potential is greater. Even though it is more difficult for him to correct himself, but accordingly, the intensity of the discovery of his spiritual height will be greater also. Therefore, those who will be corrected after us will add immense Light to our perception.

Let’s say that in sum we attain the level of Nefesh, and after that, when this passes to them, the attain the levels of Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida. Every generation attains some particular level and the following generation that replaces it reaches even greater heights. And we develop in an identical manner.

Our development is gradual. Those in whom the point in the heart is awakened are inclined to search after the meaning of life. They are not influenced by any religion, what interests them is attainment, which is to say a real filling of knowledge, emotion, and ability to “take” the whole world, to discover it fully, to feel it within them, and in a real, tangible manner to feel themselves within it. The point in the heart pushes them towards this.

But the point in the heart alone is not enough for this, rather the mutual help of the rest of the shattered parts of the collective desires is required, or at least a part of them. Thus the group is gathered.

What is more, it is not we who gather the group. It is created as if by chance. The idea is that around us there exists a higher Light that fills the empty void that was formed (we call this an empty void because we don’t actually feel the Light), and it acts on us to the degree of the inclination of our yearning for its characteristic.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 3

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Question: When the friends are incorporated properly, I feel delight that I bring the Creator pleasure. How can I keep in mind that it is the Creator, that everything is under His control, and that it has nothing to do with me and my pride?

Answer: It is written: “I am the first, and I am the last.” This means that no matter what you do, it is the Creator who does it. Everything that you start, no matter what state you and your environment are in, it is He who arranges everything. Whatever happens in the end is also arranged by the Creator.

What doesn’t he arrange? There isn’t such a thing! Everything stems from Him!

So where am I? You are only the one who does his best so that everything would work out. But what for? After all, He arranges everything? When you make such attempts, you adhere to Him, that’s all and there is nothing but that.

The illusion that you exist separately and independently, that you do something, that you think, etc. is given to you only for your sake. It is so you will attain the revelation that you are totally adhered to Him anyway and that you constantly move together in your desires, intentions, and actions in everything
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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Question: How should a group behave if it notices an eruption of the ego in several friends, or disrespect of one friend toward another?

Answer: You should set a quiet example with a hint. Suppose I see that one friend treats another disrespectfully. I will try, as if by chance, to speak respectfully about the one he disrespects, in a conversation that we may have. I will do that without hurting or humiliating anyone. It only relates to the spiritual work.

If we speak about our work with the public or here at the center, which is not related to spiritual contact, then we can object to one another and not agree with one another. But then again, it has to be totally detached, and absolutely clear that it has nothing to do with our spiritual adhesion.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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In a Kabbalistic group, love for another is attained when we stop paying attention not only to the externality of the friends, not only to their physical appearance, but also to their inner potential, because all this mixes together and each one works within the other.

We have already spoken of this not just once, that I don’t have those desires in me that I can fulfill through the Upper Light, through the Creator, through attaining the upper world. They are all found in you; whereas in me, they don’t exist. There is only a point in me and no more than this.

To the degree that I acquire your desires as mine, “and you shall love your friend as yourself,” so I acquire that spiritual Kli, those desires, that I can fill. And through their fulfillment, I fulfill myself.

Together with this we transform into very big egoists, only this is no longer called “egoism” because you see I overcome my small physical ego in order to acquire a gigantic desire that is filled by the Light through the presence of the Creator. And all of this is mine!

Therefore don’t separate from anything, don’t escape anything, don’t sacrifice anything, and don’t pretend you are heroes. On the contrary, you are approaching very great reception of Ein Sof, therefore this wisdom is called the “science of reception.”

The one thing, as Baal HaSulam says, is that there is a small psychological trick here where we must overcome a psychological barrier that I “as if” fulfill others relative to my present self.

But as soon as I gradually begin to feel the way a mother feels towards her child with the group, that this is mine, then immediately it becomes understood by me that it really is mine. This is my acquisition, my Kelim. And that’s it! This is your world of infinity. Please, be like the Creator, take control of it, you will get it, and enjoy it!

Because what is the goal of creation? To enjoy! Therefore don’t try to make of yourselves holy martyrs. We sacrifice the smallest most nothing ego in order to leave it and acquire a truly limitless Kli filled with infinite pleasure.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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The main thing is the group. I heard much about Baal HaSulam dreaming of creating a Kabbalistic community. He brought tannery machines with him from Poland, thinking that he would open a small factory where he would work with his students and this would be enough for them to survive. And in a small and compact circle like this they would learn the wisdom of Kabbalah. He had many similar programs. From his articles one can feel how much he dreamt about this. He was an immense spiritual romantic.

But this was still impossible in those times. Even in our times we see that in the meantime we are only on the way towards it. I could put it that this will be possible, but in what way we still don’t know. It’s not necessary to override time.

Anyway, we see that in all times, all the Kabbalists learned specifically in groups and related within it very fundamentally to its constitution, laws, and general rules of conduct.

All the laws that are described in the Torah and in the rest of the sources are laws of behavior within a group. They are not meant for a nation, nor for the masses, but only for Kabbalistic groups. Even though the impression is apparently created that this is how the masses should behave, all this is very conditional. Basically this effects only those who want to “go outside of themselves,” from their ego.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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The yearning of the person for spiritual attainment depends upon a group because it can lower or raise him. In accordance with this, Rabash writes that there is nothing more terrible than neglect, carelessness at work, when a person thinks to himself, “Not bad. It’s okay, anything goes.”

Control of a person over himself is established only through his choice of an environment, how much the group influences him is the degree he can control himself. Therefore the group needs to direct, to motivate, and to encourage him so that he will feel that he cannot go any lower than this level but can only rise, always continuing upwards. If the group is directed correctly, then this is easy.

The relationship regarding the friends must be gentle; we need to understand that each has his characteristics. We are not teachers and not critics of the character of one another in any way. For each there are characteristics that must remain in him, but in a corrected form. That is to say, one is stingy, another is a fool, and a third is lazy, jealous, and irritable and so on. It’s forbidden in any way to suppress these characteristics! It’s necessary only to help transform them. That is all!

It’s necessary to direct anger against my bad characteristics; jealousy is a wonderful characteristic if it’s aimed in the right direction. We always tell a child: “See how he is, learn from him.” That’s how we ignite jealousy in him. This is to say, we need to look at each other as a mother looks at her child, and see that there is only good in everything that leads to connection between people. And the opposite, all kinds of seemingly good characteristics can destroy humanity if they are not directed towards connection and unity.

Enter into all kinds of sources of psychology and philosophy, whatever you want, and you will see what kind of nonsense was invented around the characteristics of a person. For with them everything is considered relative to the characteristic itself, and not its usage. But if we direct this characteristic correctly towards connection and unity between people, then it’s possible to be convinced that there is nothing bad in us. Everything depends only on intention!

Certainly this should be reflected in our relationships regarding each other. There are no bad people, they are not corrected. For this sake we are together. Therefore we love each other.

If I discover some seemingly unbearable characteristic in someone and feel that I cannot get along with this, I immediately stop and begin to develop another side in me (in myself and not him), and then from this I receive spiritual powers. I recommend that you remember this! I am telling you this from my own experience. Try it!

Suddenly new powers appear within you. You begin to feel how the Creator gives you sources for forward advancement. Specifically instead of “turning it,” open yourself. Relax, behind it stands the Creator. Agree and that is all! You create within yourself an open new space full of spiritual energy because you have changed yourself.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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A good environment is the only means of attaining the goal. When we gather together with an intention like this, with intensity like this, with a desire like this and see how all of our friends throughout the world are following us, are found together with us, and we feel their pressure on us; then certainly this subject is heard and invites a completely new and strong influence.

I have told the story not just once that when I asked Rabash: “What is bothering me? Why don’t I advance?” he immediately answered that I required friends. Frankly, I didn’t completely understand for what, but what was said. I began to search, to give lectures and ultimately brought people to him. From them groups were formed.

And then Rabash began to write articles for them because I didn’t know what to say to them. First he wrote short articles on silver cigarette pack papers. In general that is how it was when we walked and talked in the park and we had no other paper, I would take out the silver paper from a pack of cigarettes and he wrote.

That is how the first articles appeared. And after this I would take sheets of paper folded in half with me. After that we bought a typewriter for him and he began to type texts with one finger. Much later we got an electric typewriter and so it went. Therefore, as of today, we have many articles by Rabash.

These articles set out all of the basics of human interaction in the group as the most important environment for spiritual growth. We learn them again and again methodically and according to our growth we see how in those sentences, in those words, new meaning is discovered all the time.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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The spiritual growth of the person begins with the fact that he completely forgets about himself and finds himself with his entire mind, intellect, and emotion, with the desire to think only about the group as a unified whole. Moreover, this doesn’t depend on the group itself, as in the example of Rabbi Yossi ben Kisma.

The person “dissolves” in it and begins to see it in its true form. Apparently this is not a group and not his friends with whom he spent so much time together, no. He simply sees a gathering of great Kabbalists, one soul. It could be that they don’t even suspect this; whereas he already discovers this in them because everything depends upon our personal characteristics through which we see the world.

Today it is like this when we look at the physical world; we suppose that it is as we see it. The moment that we change our characteristics, we see instead a completely different society and environment, and those friends of ours will be seen on another level, in a different form.

Therefore, such a person has no claims against the environment; he always gives his friends the benefit of the doubt without criticism: They are absolutely right, they absolutely believe in the goal; and he justifies all that they do. The main thing for him is simply to nullify himself, and to give them all that is possible, all of his energy, all of his vitality. To this degree he enters the group and sees them spiritually. And so certainly according to his efforts the “Surrounding Light” influences him, corrects the quality of a person, helps him, and he begins to see an absolutely different world instead of the former environment to the completion of correction. This is how it all happens.

Therefore this work, and especially the intention towards it, becomes a foundation for the spiritual ladder. And after that descents and ascents take place.

The descents and ascents of normal life do not interest the person—family, work, and whatever else—he needs certainly to arrange all this to the degree that this is required for his physical existence, since this won’t end when his spirituality begins. This remains because all of our ascents begin from this, we again fall to the level of this world, we rise to the next spiritual level, and again fall into the egoistic state of this world. And that is how it is 125 times. This is most complicated and difficult.

Therefore I always emphasize that the most difficult thing is the first level when the person is able to be detached from himself for the first time and enters into a group such that he loses himself, he doesn’t exist. He is not afraid; he is happy about this; he discovers himself in a different form, in the form of the entire group. Within it he discovers the right reciprocal link between all the friends, which is called the “Creator,” that is found between them, and he is mixed with this network of reciprocal linkage. This is called his adherence with the Creator.

To the degree of a person’s spiritual growth, more and more opposition, contradictions, descents, and doubts appear. And again he is elevated above them to states like those through which great souls, the students of Rabbi Shimon, have passed, who were ready to burn each other to ash with the fire of hatred. And this was the first condition of that high level upon which they were found. That is to say, before they could begin with spiritual work, they had a beginning state like this.

Therefore the ascents and descents are compulsory. Thanks to them we rise, changing the ego to bestowal and love. And all the time, the greater our ego becomes, we can attain greater adherence between us above that hatred that is to be discovered on higher levels, and we go forward.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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How is it possible to help a person choose the right environment? We need to describe it to ourselves correctly and how to bring people to us, for from them the environment that will influence us, in which we will dissolve, is created.

And there is a problem here. On the one hand, we want this environment to be as wide and rich as possible, both quantitatively and qualitatively. On the other hand, it could be that it is made qualitatively large, but at the expense of quantity; and the opposite, it could be quantitatively large at the expense of quality. In this regard, we have these questions and concerns. “Should the group be small but cohesive and strong? Or the opposite, should it be wide and large, but all kinds of subgroups and streams might appear in it without any special unity?”

What should we do in this circumstance? How should we behave? There are no recipes for this. We must do both. It is necessary to constantly vary. And in doing so, we ourselves grow.

It is absolutely necessary to try to bring new friends. Certainly we pass them through some kind of “waiting room,” there must be some kind of absorption here, an international academy for Kabbalah or all kinds of other courses and lessons. There could be evening lessons, even postgraduate lessons and then, if they agree, it is possible to bring them gradually into the group.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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Question: During the last convention there was a clear feeling that everything depends only on the friends, that they do everything in order to attain the goal, and that we enjoy this state. Then you said that being in this state we forgot about the Creator. Where is the borderline between the friends and the Creator? What efforts should we make now in order to add to the state of our unity with the Creator?

Answer: This is a difficult question. If I believe that the Creator does everything, then what do the friends do? If I believe that the Creator manages my friends and bestows upon me through them, it means that I connect the friends with the Creator and I am external to both of them, or that I connect myself with the friends and we all look for Him, but we are together, and He is not among us yet. So how can we find the right state here?

Baal HaSulam says that in order to advance correctly we have to imagine an equal state simultaneously (there is an equilateral triangle in the drawing): the Creator, the group, and me. We have to meet in the center in order to find Him, myself and also the group, all three elements. Therefore, we have to yearn for the center so these three elements will constantly move together in our consciousness: I, the group or the Torah (Light), and the Creator.

We must constantly feel that we are getting closer together between us until we find ourselves in the center. This means that the condition for spiritual development is I = the Light = the Creator. When these three parameters in me are identical, it means that they are all one point.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/13, Shamati #59 “About the Rod and the Serpent”

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