The crisis we are experiencing today is an indication of our lack of unity with one another. In essence, the crisis is letting us see that we are total egoists and individualists who are living in a global world. And this is the entire problem. Nature is revealing the world’s globality to us, but our egoistic nature is completely opposite to it.
This difference or abyss between the two is felt by us as a crisis. This is why we feel pain and confusion in everything we do, and it is the reason we are plagued by diseases and misfortunes. This comes from the lack of similarity between our egoistic desire and the upper Light.

Therefore, we have to see the current crisis as the initial point of humanity’s ascent to the special state from which it once descended, according to the program contained in the informational particle that was born by the Light. We were born here in our universe and now we are returning to that perfect state.

The part of humanity in which the point in the heart has surfaced is developing with the help of two forces. All we need are the right conditions: the group, studies, and teacher. The second part of humanity is going through a developmental process and reaching a state of crisis that is becoming unbearable. That is when a question arises: What does “unbearable” mean?

The sensation of horrible suffering can bring humanity to wars, annihilation, and all sorts of problems. This is exactly what is happening: A part of the population is forgetting about everything through drugs, others engage in terrorism, and others yet are not worried by anything—they have completely sunk in theft. Egoism is breaking out in every direction. Because of the lack of inner fulfillment people feel, they don’t know what to do with themselves.

These negative phenomena are exposing the entire extent of the despair and hopelessness that humanity feels today. And people aren’t guilty of this. They feel enormous inner pressure, which is causing explosions of violence. So what can be done to relieve their situation?

We have already talked about the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah. This is the salvation. If we spread the knowledge of the science of Kabbalah before people’s ego breaks out to the surface, then we will save the world from great troubles. Therefore, everything depends on the people with a point in the heart.

Nothing depends on the world and we shouldn’t wait for any actions to be done by other people who don’t have a point in the heart. They don’t have the positive force that is able to supplement their egos. They are just carriers of a huge egoistic desire, and only give us an addition of their dissatisfaction and pain.

We have to process this enormous desire, tune into it, and together with it, aspire to unity. We have to continue studying and, in response, increase dissemination with a special emphasis on the need to unite among us. We are the ones who have to unite our common broken desire into one—our common spiritual vessel. Even though it is broken, it contains parts that are interconnected, despite them having completely different qualities of desire. Therefore, if all others will join these interconnected desires, they will also become included in this connection.

That is how one part of humanity actively builds a connection among one another, while the other part of humanity participates in this process passively.
[45046]
From the 2nd lesson at the Madrid Convention, 6/4/11

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Question: In the wisdom of Kabbalah, you talk about man’s ego, about unity with everyone, and about us needing to reach balance with nature. But how does this relate to the connection with God (Elohim)?

Answer: In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we talk about nature. According to Gematria (the numerical value of the word), “nature” and “Elohim” are the same thing. That is, if we talk about the upper force, nature, God, or the Creator, whatever you want to call Him, everything around us is just a manifestation of that force.

If we talk about the upper force, then what is the difference in how we call it: “Elohim” or “nature”? There is the upper force (really the upper!) which gives birth to and rules over everything, and we want to know how to connect with it, how to reveal it, and to understand it.

Thus, if I exit myself, my ego, and begin to reveal the reality outside me, above my ego, this is called the understanding, realization, and revelation of the Creator. Naturally, all this happens within me and only relative to me.

Gradually, I organize my desire, my spiritual structure, meaning the property of bestowal and love towards others: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Hesed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod,and Malchut. According to this structure, I know the connections between them and thus reveal the Creator.

Elohim is also called the “Creator” (Boreh), from the Hebrew words “come” (Bo) and “see” (Reh) because we have to “see” Him, reach the state in which we understand Him, as if seeing firsthand. We are created by Him for this purpose.
[44882]
From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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People in whom the point in the heart has awakened strive forward for unification. Granted, when they are just beginning to study, they do not think about connection; they do not have this need yet. But the science of Kabbalah teaches that namely in the connection between each other can we rise spiritually and cross the Machsom, the spiritual barrier, to the revival of the property of bestowal within us.

We have to unite above the Machsom. From the Machsom itself until the state in which we all attain complete unity, from 0 to 100 percent, we have to ascend 125 spiritual degrees of unity.

The entire path from the moment when we come to the group, begin to study, and try to connect is called the preparation period. Kabbalists say that this period may last from three to five years and may be longer because it is very important preparation: Without it, people do not understand at all where they are heading.

A person has to prepare himself or herself for the sensation of the spiritual world, create the correct environment for oneself, start sensing it, and advance together with it. In other words, he or she must understand the need for unity with others.

We have to unite again, having returned to the state in which we used to be in the world of Infinity, where we were united and filled with the upper Light. But to accomplish this, we have to tame our egoistic desire, and this is not easy and might take years….
[44890]
From Lesson 2, Convention in Madrid, 6/3/2011

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Baal HaSulam said that he was glad to be born in the generation when it was possible to divulge the wisdom of Kabbalah. Kabbalah teaches us how to combine the two forces of bestowal and reception into one, how to add them to each other so their sum (Σ) becomes a “human.”

This is really a science, a wisdom. This is not easy; it is difficult. We are used to going with the flow, and suddenly another force appears, taking us somewhere. Where to?

The integration of two forces leads to a unique result. In our world that we see and feel, there are forms of the still, vegetative, and animate natures. We belong to the animate level and have not yet achieved anything higher. The human level that we begin to discover within ourselves is a spiritual degree opening a new world in front of us.

In nature, one level gives life to another. Animals feed on plants, and plants take strength from the still nature. However, the still level does not know what it means to grow, develop, live, consume and excrete, and to feel the environment. The vegetative level, in turn, does not understand what it means to be an animal, move, bear offspring, and stay in the pack, not to speak of the subtleties of existence for “developed animals,” people who live very complicated lives.

A lower degree is not able to understand a higher one; it is a completely different world. For the time being, we exist at the animate degree and are ruled by our desires. We do not understand what the human degree is. It is impossible to show or demonstrate it, just as an animal cannot demonstrate its view of the world to a plant.

Moreover, a person who has integrated the two forces, the point in the heart and the heart, the desire for pleasure and the desire to bestow, and ascended to the human degree of development cannot convey his sensation to those who have not yet reached it. It is possible to say one thing: He feels beyond all the limitations of the corporeal body because he rose to a different level. He exists in connection with all the previous levels and is nourished by them; however, he himself is on his degree.

So will we, having ascended to the human level (let us hope, as soon as possible), preserve the connection with this world, with all forms of life in it. However, in addition, we will have completely different sensations and intentions. We will feel eternity and perfection on the first spiritual degree.

Our entire problem is that we want to receive the pleasure, the upper Light, while it cannot exist in us, and it immediately disappears due to a “short circuit” when the plus and the minus cancel each other. Thus, we have to work correctly in the third line between these two forces.

We create a correct combination: We put a kind of “resistance” (R) in the middle, through which the plus and the minus operate properly. This gives us the results of their work, and we get force from them. In the language of Kabbalah, the resistance between the point in the heart and egoism is called a “screen” (Masach). Namely in this place we receive and sense a new life at the human degree, Adam.

Then, we become free from death. Every time I want to receive the Light, I cannot adapt myself to it. Pleasure with desire disappears, and I taste a bit of death. I have nothing else to enjoy, and I fall into despair. I do not want anything and retreat. In the end, a person “dries out” because of this work, and he sees that he is not successful. He begins to “fade.” The animate, vegetative, and still natures gradually decrease in him until the person dies.

However, if we understand how to unite the force of bestowal and the force of reception correctly within ourselves, the plus and the minus, we will attain a sense of life at the human degree, an eternal and perfect life.
[44836]
From Lesson 1, Convention in Spain, 6/3/2011

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Question: Today we will be holding a convention to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot. But when I imagine what will happen there, I don’t want to go. Does that mean I have to rise above reason?

Answer: People will dance there, but you don’t like to dance. There will be delicious food there, but you won’t like it. There will be many children there, and you are not too excited about that. It turns out that there really is no reason for you to go.

Or you can imagine the situation differently: What do I care about the food, the movements people make with their bodies, the songs, the screaming children, and all the people who are there? All of this is the external form of the desire that is being awakened by the Creator. He puts people together who wish to come closer to Him. Out of the entire Malchut of the world of Infinity, He has gathered a group of separate desires in order to unite them in the future. That is why He now gives them this necessity. They don’t even know why things turned out that way. Every person has his own reasons for coming and every person imagines why he is there differently. But I came there in order to join the Creator’s desire, which is hidden inside of them.

You can sit quietly in the corner and constantly try to keep an intention of being connected with their desire. I don’t look for their inner urges, but precisely for the desire that the Creator awakens in them. This is what I need. This need is my soul. After all, I have just the point in the heart and I have to attach these desires to myself, which will give me the volume of the spiritual vessel. Then I will be able to advance.

However, if I don’t make a connection with them, then where will I get the desire, where will I find my soul? Into what will I receive the revelation of the Creator? By myself I don’t and won’t have anything besides the initial point. So should I not go to the convention? Should I let the opportunity go by?

Question: Can’t I watch the broadcast on TV and join in people’s desire that way? Is it really necessary to be physically present?

Answer: This depends on what makes it easier for me to be permeated by their desire and its outburst, and on how many efforts I will make for it. Maybe if I watch it from home, I will receive 50 pounds of desire from them, but if I go there, then even while sitting in the corner, I will experience such great repulsion that I will barely acquire 2 pounds. However, if I prepare ahead of time, and if I start dancing together with them even though I absolutely hate doing anything like that, if I hold the intention inside—why am I doing this?—then it will be very beneficial.

We all work above the desire even though we don’t talk about this all the time. All spiritual work is done above the desire, so the mind will rule over the heart.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: We learn in the wisdom of Kabbalah that “there is none else besides Him,” and that the Creator is kind and perfect. But if a person who has revealed that becomes a witness of a murder, how should he feel about that?

Answer: When we see evil in our world, we wonder: “How can it be that the Creator is good and perfect, the good that does good? Everything that the science of Kabbalah says refers to states at a level above the “Machsom” (the boundary between the corporeal and spiritual worlds). Goodness rules only at those degrees. By obtaining the property of bestowal, you begin to understand that the world is beautiful and the Creator is kind.

Below this boundary, one eats the other, both literally and metaphorically. Here, we should not expect good deeds; on the contrary, all of us around the world will feel worse and worse because it forces us to get rid of our ego.

If we were comfortable, the Creator treated us kindly, and life were good, we would remain little egoists, enjoying the small things. Only unhappiness pushes us towards development.

When you cross the border between the corporeal and spiritual worlds, you develop further by your own will. You no longer need problems because you yourself generate the force for your development.
[44833]
From Lesson 1, Convention in Madrid, 6/3/2011

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Question: Are you familiar with the writings of Kabbalist Isaac the Blind (Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor, 1600-1235, Provence, France)?

Answer: We study three main sources of the wisdom of Kabbalah: The Book of Zohar, the writings of the Ari (mostly his book The Tree of Life), and the works of Baal HaSulam, the great Kabbalist of the 20th century. Baal HaSulam handed down the entire wisdom of Kabbalah to us in the form most suitable for its publishing and distributing to everyone in the world.

Among all the great Kabbalists, starting with Babylon and to this day, each generation produced many other Kabbalists. But some of them concealed themselves and others wrote very little since until very recently, just thirty years ago, to reveal any part of Kabbalah, one had to receive special permission from Above. Hence, Kabbalists rarely wrote and when they did, it was in a secret form.

And only in the 20th century, when the time has come for the revelation of Kabbalah to everyone so as to correct the collective ego, Baal HaSulam wrote what was permitted to distribute. And we are offering this specific part of Kabbalah to the world.
[44767]
From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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Question: How did the first teachers of the wisdom of Kabbalah receive this knowledge? Where is its origin? People think that Kabbalah is something close to magic, and many myths surround it.

Answer: Adam was the first Kabbalist who lived 5772 years ago. He was the first of all of humankind who discovered that an integral system of nature exists and it is possible to reveal it.

People had lived before him, but he was the first man in history who had questions: “What do I live for? What is the secret of life? Where is its source?” He wrote a book about this; it reached our days and is called The Secret Angel (Raziel HaMalach). An angel is a force. The “secret angel” means the “hidden force.” It is a small book, a few dozen pages.

The next book was written by Abraham around 3700 years ago and is called The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzira). This book explains for the first time in a systematic form, the “Sefirot,” the 32 forces that descend to us and are connected among themselves.

At the same time, several Kabbalists together wrote one more Kabbalistic book, The Great Midrash (Midrash HaGadol), which means explanation or commentary. Many more books were created after that, until the greatest Kabbalistic book appeared, The Book of Zohar, which was written around 2000 years ago.

After that, plenty of books were written, up to the time of the Ari who lived in the 16th century. The Ari’s main book was The Tree of Life (Etz Chaim), which talks about Sefirot and worlds and is full of drawings and diagrams.

From the immense number of books that appeared after it, the most important for us are the books of Baal HaSulam, written in the 20th century.

All these books were not known to the general public. They were mentioned only occasionally, as though “leaked.” This formed a mysterious aura around Kabbalah as if it involves mysticism, secret forces, performing miracles, and predicting the future through Tarot cards. In reality, this is not related to Kabbalah at all!

Of course, Kabbalah uses symbols, diagrams, graphs, drawings, and Gematria (the numerical value of words). Kabbalah studies the soul and its stages of growth. But there is nothing mystical in it. I would say that it is simply the physics of the upper dimension.

Kabbalah is not associated with religion and any mystical practices. It is a science for people who want to know. Naturally, they have to work on and correct themselves. I would compare this with tuning a radio which is surrounded with many radio waves of various frequencies. If I tune the radio and create the wave that corresponds to the wave existing outside it, I receive that external wave and can hear the signal.

The science of Kabbalah helps us create these waves inside ourselves, and we begin to sense the force existing outside us, perceive, and study it. We develop the inner sense of hearing and inner sense of sight. The inner sense of hearing is called the degree of Bina (Sefira Bina), and the inner sense of sight is called the degree of Hochma (Sefira Hochma).
[44671]
From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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Question: The problem is that people think they own the earth and in their desire to extract from it as much as possible, they are destroying the earth. People don’t understand that the land was given to them only to use, not as their personal property. It drives humanity to wars, struggles to conquer more territory and resources.

How can studying the wisdom of Kabbalah harmonize the different views people have and make them understand that by using the earth selfishly, first and foremost they harm themselves?

Answer: It can be done only if one sees the reverse side of the tapestry! If we don’t learn to see this world as transparent and detect the forces working in the surrounding reality, we will not change. Our ego can break only if it clearly sees how its actions are bringing it pain: “It will hurt me.”

We must come to a state where we reveal that nature is integral. Then I simply won’t be able to commit evil since I will see how in doing so, I harm myself. That is the only way! There is no other possibility. People won’t learn in any other way.

But we can reveal this kind of mutual connection between us through working in an environment in attempting to connect and unify, and trying to rise above our egos. Then we get to feel how difficult it is and begin to examine ourselves, our nature, and all our egoistic properties; we discern how we are or are not able to unify with the others against our desire and to elevate them in our eyes.

This is tremendous inner psychological work, and it continues until we start to discover the internal forces. Basically, it occurs when we reveal the general force, the power of unity, which transforms every one of us.

Yet, we don’t have a choice. Today, humanity finds itself in a very perilous state. We can clearly see that in another 10-15 years we will have exhausted all the world’s resources for energy. Production of all main sources of energy, such as oil, gas, coal, and water, is sharply diminishing. We need to reach balance with nature.
[44676]
From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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As we rise above egoism, besides everything else, we make a wonderful discovery: We begin to discern that essentially, the entire world exists within us, and not outside of us. And this is logical because I really don’t know what exists on the outside.

A person only perceives what enters his senses and through the nervous system reaches his brain, which processes the final “image.” This is the way we perceive the world. It is enough to sever a nerve to make a part of our reality disappear from our senses.

Thus, as a person rises above himself, he sees that his perception is not at all on the outside, but fully depends on his senses, desire, thought, sensations, and mind. And when we know how to change these parameters, we can expand our perception and rise above the limits of the five senses.

This is where the name “the wisdom of Kabbalah” comes from, which literally means the wisdom of  “reception.” A person uses it to gradually come out from the physical senses of his animalistic body and expand the sensations to the point of infinity. While living in our world, he advances to the level where he no longer associates himself with a corporeal body since he sees a much greater reality above it.

Now he no longer conditions his life to perception in the five senses. And even after the body dies, the person remains in the reality he has acquired above it. He does not feel death since a new dimension has entered his perception before the death of the body.

This way a person lives on two levels: the corporeal degree, like all of us, and the “incorporeal” degree that rises above egoism.
[44614]
From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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