On the path, we frequently err. We think that there are some other forces besides the Creator, which can help us. We suddenly immerse ourselves in our occupation or hobbies again. Having lost faith in spiritual advancement, we start relying on ourselves and the others in our circle.

We are surrounded by many obstacles that carry us away: a little religiousness, a little mysticism, and some other ways to jazz up our existence. But all of this is temporary. In the end of such quests (which could be quite lengthy), a person still finds himself in the same place. He realizes that he is faced with a wall here and that he definitely must reveal the Creator no matter what. And the problem is not in the fact that he doesn’t want it.

The upper state a person has to be brought to is a special one. I must rise above egoism not so that I may feel good. In that case, I simply choose from two states the better one, which means that I act based on the old egoistic principle. A person is expected to wish for something else.

Baal HaSulam describes it in the article “There Is None Else Besides Him”: If a person has committed a sin, he must certainly regret it and be sorry for having committed it. But here, too, we should place the pain and sorrow in the right order: Where does he place the cause of the sin for that is the point that should be regretted.

Then, one should be remorseful and say: “I committed that sin because the Creator hurled me down from holiness to a place of filth….”

The same is true for the state of ascent: A person should clearly realize that it occurs solely because the Light is elevating him at the moment.

Spiritual ascent occurs in two stages. At the first stage, a person feels completely dependent on the upper governing force. The second stage is when he realizes that everything that governs him both on the outside and on the inside is the very same force. Both good and bad are still it. There is neither reward nor punishment. And naturally, there is nothing ahead since everything is programmed and he is a mere implementing instrument in the hands of the Light.

Later on, the point in the heart awakens in a person, with the help of which he is brought to the environment. The correct environment is comprised of the teacher, the Kabbalistic texts, and the group. By making an effort to work with them based on the old rules, a person still cannot receive anything spiritual since he connects with them through his egoism.

Why do we need all these stages? And there are many more inner, much more sublime degrees on top of that. All of them are designated to demonstrate to a person that there has to be another solution: to act not so that you may feel good in your egoism, but so that you bond with the environment foreign to you, with the force that seems as external to you: the Creator.
[34354]
From Lesson 4 Berlin Convention 1/29/2011

Related Material:
Through A Lane Of Obstacles
Truth Will Grow Forth From the Ground
When The Upper Force Wears You Down

Filed under: Conventions, Inner Work - No Comments →

The program of creation gets carried out in us under the influence of two opposite forces. On one hand, we have been advancing by way of egoistic development so far. On the other, at a certain moment, an additional force unfolds within us: the “point in the heart,” a desire to aim at equivalence with the Creator. This desire, albeit unconscious and confusing for now (why, what for, how?), begins to push us forth.

With time, it will emerge in all people. Based on what is happening in the world today, the process will go very quickly. After all, we don’t have that much time left: 229 years until six thousand years expire. It isn’t a long time when history is concerned.

The wisdom of Kabbalah states that there is no need for these centuries either. When the point in the heart begins to emerge in humanity, even in small part of it, literally a few years is enough to correct and complete everything, to reach the final stage of integral correction.

In that case, our whole world will rise to the next level in terms of its internal fulfillment. Nothing will happen to it; we will simply ascend in our sensations, perceptions, and in what will get revealed to us. In our life, we will rise to the higher dimension where we will feel truly infinite and complete.

Nowadays, the points in people’s hearts are “hatching” progressively fast. A person gets more familiar with this new sensation and aspiration and feels as if being drawn to or rejected from something. In beginners, this manifests as good or bad sensations: I feel good or I feel bad.

One falls into depression, after which something gets better in life, some purpose surfaces, and some light glimmers ahead. And then everything is crushed again, followed by the re-appearance of the Light, step by step.

Baal HaSulam describes this in the article "There Is None Else Besides Him": And the benefit from the rejections is that through them a person receives a need and a complete desire for the Creator to help him since he sees that otherwise he is lost.

In other words, the Creator is wearing us down. He, step by step, over a long period of time, for as long as necessary, keeps “terrorizing” us: a little better, a little worse, and so over and over again. Sometimes, we think that it can’t be better, and another time that it can’t be worse. Then we start getting used to one and the other and begin to realize that it is all transient. But is there an end to it, or is it an endless process? Frequencies change, so what?

And this is where free will steps in, the freedom to move forth. I cannot force my own advancement. I will be going in circles, shifting from foot to foot, state to state, better to worse, worse to better, and so on. I will be able to move on only if I increase my desires and impressions thanks to the environment. My point remains a point. I will never be able to enhance it myself. It will not “expand” and turn into a vessel comprised of the ten Sefirot, in which I will feel the spiritual world.

It will remain a point until I start connecting with others, with those around me. I must keep doing it. Therefore, when a point in a person’s heart gets formed, after a while, he or she is brought into a group. But even in the group, a person does not immediately comprehend what is happening with him and what he should do. What he must do, however, is build a connection with others.
[34366]
From Lesson 4 Berlin Convention 1/29/2011

Related Material:
Through A Lane Of Obstacles
Another Solution
Work With Resistance

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →

Question: I would like to ask about the scientists who discovered Kabbalah through external science.

Answer: Over thousands of years many scientists including Plato and Aristotle came to Kabbalah. We can’t even imagine to what extent all ancient scientists were connected to one another and knew Kabbalah.

Newton learned Hebrew in order to study Kabbalah; he has entire works and articles based on it. Kabbalah isn’t an ancient, outdated science. In reality, it is a well-known science with the exception of the last couple of hundred years when instead of dealing with real science, the scientists got involved with technology.

Some scientists attained Kabbalah due to the fact that they studied from the ancient Kabbalists. This is especially true for the scientists who lived from around 800 years BCE until the Common Era. During these 700-800 years many external scientists came to Kabbalists to study. This is when philosophy and all other sciences came about.

The scientists of the Middle Ages arrived at this on their own. They didn’t have the practical attainment of Kabbalah, but felt what this wisdom really was. They had no one to learn from because at that time everything was concealed. From the 16th century CE and on, Kabbalah started to become revealed once again.

We know that the Ramchal, a great Kabbalist of the sixteenth century, opened Kabbalah centers throughout all of Europe. Parallel to him, a great Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia literally “furrowed” the entirety of Europe in spreading Kabbalah and even taught it to a Roman Pope. They went to all extents in order to speed up the correction process.

However, these “external” scientists achieved everything mostly through their own effort. They felt that Kabbalah is a source of general knowledge, but no more than that. Although in their works we can see genuine admiration of Kabbalah, I don’t feel that they attained it internally. However, what they did is a great feat.
[34341]
From Lesson 3 Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

Related Material:
Study Kabbalah And It Will Explain Everything To You
The Seven Sciences That Originated From Kabbalah
Renewing All The Sciences

Filed under: Conventions, Q&A, Science - 1 Comment →

Every person experiences his or her individual desires that they try to fulfill. There are people who oppose and resist them, but they, too, are governed by the Creator. He moves us all around like figures on a chessboard.

We don’t have any free will, so there is no point in labeling a person as good or bad. And he shouldn’t expect any consequences or feedback regarding his actions: neither heaven, nor hell, nor anything else. It is written in The Book of Zohar: “We are all like animals.”

Indeed, where is your free will? Even if you have an illusion of it, it is because you don’t clearly realize what you want. The Creator intentionally injects you with such instructions, such specific control signals that create an illusion of free actions, and nothing more. Therefore, to realize that “there is none else besides Him” is to realize that we are, first of all, cogwheels in an enormous mechanism.

Where then does a human begin? A human starts with free will. And in order to achieve it, he must evolve to it. That is why first, over the course of millennia, man is developing in his egoism controlled from Above by the Creator, and then he feels how the “point in the heart” emerges within. In other words, another desire comes to life: an additional one, opposite to all the others. It breaks a person in pieces, taunts, and twists him.

Naturally, this desire also comes from the Creator. There is no other place where it may originate from since it doesn’t appear out of thin air. After all, man is a created being. Therefore, even the formation of the point in the heart doesn’t make us autonomous, independent from the Creator, yet.

What else can one be “free” from? If there is only one singular force that governs everything from Above, then my freedom may lie only in my ability to neutralize it.

How can I accomplish that? Moreover, if I do neutralize it, what will be left for me? What forces will I possess, what mind? How will I choose? What will be governing me? It is totally unclear. If there were two forces, I would be choosing between them. But if there is only one, then there is no free will is there? Why then does everything exist, what for? To control these “insects”?

No, there is a purpose to it. The created being, man, has to master both opposing forces and by maneuvering between them, learn by the Creator’s example, imitate His characteristics, and copy Him in himself. Sequentially, step by step, property by property, he gradually transfers greater and greater amounts of information from the Creator onto himself and, as a result, can completely equalize himself with Him.

In that case, in the degree of his equivalence to the Creator, a person starts autonomously regulating himself, in the same manner as the Creator would, and even much better. A person discovers a desire intentionally created in him: He wishes to be opposite to the Creator. But instead, man learns the program, the management techniques from the Creator, and despite his egoism, starts to govern himself in the correct manner.

It turns out that the Creator created man evil. And so it is written: “I created the evil inclination. And at the same time, I gave you a method to transform this evil into good. Then, you become similar to Me and free; you can work on yourself independently.

You hold two reins in your hands: your evil egoistic nature and your good altruistic one. Imitate, copy Me, and apply it to yourself. Then, you will be named Adam, from the word “Domeh,” similar to the Creator.

Thus, we do have an opportunity to graduate from the upper management, to cease being puppets, and stop saying “there is none else besides Him.” There is one more force beside Him: It is the force of that human who copies the Creator and does everything instead of Him. And that’s where free will lies because then we work with two opposite properties of the creature: egoism and the property of bestowal.
[34273]
From Lesson 4 Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

Related Material:
The Spirit Of The Group
Breaking Free From The “Angel Of Death”
By Changing Yourself, You Change Reality

Filed under: Conventions, Free Will, Inner Work - No Comments →

Question: Throughout our lives we often suffer. How can we work with it? Why do we feel suffering? What should we do with it?

Answer: It’s impossible to advance without suffering. Until we reach our final goal, we keep advancing by the force of suffering.

Suffering is when I feel that something is lacking. Actual suffering isn’t necessary; I can derive pleasure from suffering. If I know that a special meal is awaiting me and I’m getting closer to it, if I know that I’m about to meet someone I love, a friend, and something good is about to happen, then it isn’t suffering any more. The feeling of hunger and emptiness stirs in me the anticipation of future enjoyment and fulfillment.

Therefore, our entire problem is not in sensing a lack at the present moment, but whether that lack has fulfillment, an answer in the future. If it does, then for me it’s as sweet as a feeling of hunger before a good meal. I can feel that satisfaction is coming. Suppose, you have a date with a loved one tonight, and you look forward to the meeting. Is there a chance that you will be miserable?!

In other words, the problem is not in my condition, but rather in if there is a pleasure that beckons me ahead or not. The problem is that people can’t see a proper, good future ahead of them and, therefore, feel suffering. If we felt that all the problems we have today would be successfully resolved tomorrow, we wouldn’t feel the hardships as suffering. Rather, it will be like an overture, a necessary preparation that precedes fulfillment.

Hence, our entire problem is in revealing the future in our current state, the one where everything will be fine. But it has to “shine” to us like a pleasant date.

This will be the answer to all our afflictions. We will agree to pass through all the unpleasant states—ascents and descents, all sorts of confusions in feelings and in mind—as necessary for our spiritual correction.

If, however, through support from our environment, we know that a bright future lies ahead, then any of our current states would not appear as suffering. We would perceive them as a necessary sensation, a wholesome hunger before cherished satisfaction from the meal.
[34144]
From the 1st lesson of the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

Related Material:
Life Will Seem Wonderful…
Sweet Suffering Of Love
Enjoy Every Moment Of Life

Filed under: Conventions, Inner Work, Q&A - 1 Comment →

One of the books written during the time of ancient Babylon describes that Abraham set his tent with treats and started inviting everyone who was interested. This is how he explained his teaching to others since back then people did not have all these modern ways of communication.

Many people stayed to continue their studies. He formed a group from them. RAMBAM (a great Kabbalist of the 12th century) wrote that Abraham took a few thousand people with him when he left ancient Babylon.

In the end, together with them, he revealed Kabbalah. He was the first one who outlined Kabbalah and gave us the understanding of it in his work The Book of Creation. He attained great heights, but he did not attain them in detail.

The whole problem in attaining the world is that the first Kabbalists were attaining the upper world in general, on a high level, while we attain it in detail. Back then egoism was underdeveloped, but today it has developed so much that it allows us to enter and research every fine part of myself and through myself, the entire spiritual space. That is, the difference in the generations’ attainment is that they were attaining in general while we attain in details. However, the Light of our attainment passes through their souls and becomes revealed in them through greater Light.

Thus, they have been always revealing Kabbalah based upon the same single principle: attracting the Light to the common desire through the group. This is the way it was during the time of Adam and through the 20 generations of Kabbalists from Adam to Abraham, which are all listed and known to us. And it has continued in the same way.

There was not a single Kabbalist who would have attained spirituality alone, suddenly realizing it and then jumping like Archimedes out of his bath tub, running and screaming about his attainment. This is impossible. This can only happen in external science, but not in Kabbalah.
[34345]
From Lesson 3 Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

Related Material:
The Future Society Amidst The Ancient World
How To Recognize A True Kabbalist
Who Are You, Abraham?

Filed under: Conventions, Kabbalah Dissemination - No Comments →

Kabbalah is a system of knowledge and a method of revelation of the upper force in all of its manifestations, in all generations until the end of our existence in this world. It not only explains to us the purpose of creation, what is happening, and what will happen; it elevates us!

No other science changes us in any way, they only explain how we can benefit ourselves with their help, to somehow improve the world around us; whereas, the wisdom of Kabbalah is a method of raising a person from our world into the upper one.

By studying Kabbalah, you begin to ascend, to change your inner shape, and to alter your essence. You begin to open your eyes to yourself and the entire world, and truly ascend to your next level. It is no ordinary science where you stay on the “outside” detached from it; it is a method of self-transformation, ascension. This is perhaps the most fundamental part of it.

Let’s hope that, eventually, through our circulation, we will reach a state when people will know what kind of a method it is, and all of science will once again re-unite. How clearly and concisely Paracelsus expressed this in his treatise “Paragranum” [Das Buch Paragranum]: “Study Kabbalah (artem cabbalisticam), it will explain everything to you!”

Today each science exists in its narrow scope, and in each there are thousands of different niches occupied by scientists who don’t how to talk to each other. Kabbalah, however, is intended to re-unite all of these sciences together, to serve as a common basis for them, and to elevate everything to the single purpose and one common knowledge. That’s what makes it so special.

Ultimately, a person understands that the world he or she is living in is unified, whole, global, and integral, which is what all of us should be aspiring for today.
[34262]
From Lesson 3 Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

Related Material:
Now I Get It!
Kabbalah And Other Sciences, Philosophy, and Religion
The Most Powerful Medicine Is Here – And You Don’t Need A Prescription

Filed under: Conventions, Science - 1 Comment →

Excerpt from the speech at the 3rd World Spirit Forum “Toward Integral Consciousness” in Arosa (Switzerland), January 23, 2006:

If the cell of a living organism starts acting egoistically with regard to other cells, it becomes cancerous, kills the entire body, and, as a result, itself. A cancerous cell is continuously dividing. It devours all around it, having no obligations to them and no reactions to the organism’s commands.

As a matter of fact, this is the key to all the problems, not only the cancerous ailments. Our egoism develops such characteristics, although balance where everything lives according to the principle of equilibrium, harmony, and striving toward a comfortable state is instilled in Nature at all levels, be it the still, vegetative, or animate one. One way or the other, everything exists solely to maintain balance and grow toward it.

However, we don’t understand the problem correctly, and our view on the imbalance of forces is erroneous as well. The lack of balance in Nature is necessary in order to bring it to even greater harmony. We always advance by way of two states: balanced and imbalanced.

Initially, we existed in a perfect balanced state between minus and plus. All systems of our organism were working fine, Then, nature created in us an imbalanced state, and the negative outweighed the positive.

Why was it made so? It was done so that we would bring ourselves to a better state. How can we possibly bring ourselves to a balanced state? The negative is given to us from Above, by Nature, while we must balance it with a greater positive force, equal to it. This action is produced specifically by us.

Thus, Nature forces us to compensate ourselves, intentionally making us imbalanced. As soon as we have brought ourselves to equilibrium, it again creates in us an additional minus, from Above, and we must bring this minus to plus, to a balanced state, on our own.

Thus, we advance if we understand correctly that in this manner Nature wishes to elevate us from one degree to the next. At first, our egoism was valued at zero. Then, it acquired value minus one. Next, it gained an altruistic value plus one, and again, minus two egoistic degrees, then plus two altruistic ones, and so forth. This is how Nature makes grow.

If we understand this principle, then we pass through the “minus” states of descent very easily and come out to the states of ascent. Everyone who walks on the spiritual path feels this.

“Yesterday I felt so good. I understood and knew everything, experienced the subtlest sensations. Everything became nice and easy in my head, but today I feel a block. Nothing is clear; I feel nothing, and I hate everything. This is all so stupid. What am I doing? All of these so-called friends….”

For us, right now, it is exactly so. That’s why we should record our states. It will clarify what we are like and how we pass through them. Later, we will gradually realize that descents are given to us so we may compensate for them with ascents. By going through such step-by-step actions, we do advance, but only if we understand what needs to be done.

Unfortunately, people usually do the opposite. Instead of enhancing the plus, they want to annihilate the minus. This is where Kabbalah warns: “Don’t do it!”

Minus is all our energy, all our understanding, all our awareness. The greater a person is in his desire, the higher he stands. He can do more, good or bad, it doesn’t matter. The key is a great desire. Do not ever destroy it or lower it to a vegetative degree.

After all, egoism is our vehicle, our instrument, which helps us move forward. We must not eliminate it, we can’t anyway. We are constantly growing egoistically and have come to an egoistic crisis today, precisely so that we now could start using and realizing our desire correctly.
[34209]
From Lesson 2 Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

Related Material:
A Dangerous Tilt
Work With Resistance
Preparing For A Descent

Filed under: Conventions, Crisis, Egoism, Group Work, Inner Work - 1 Comment →

Question: What is the connection between depression and our nature?

Answer: Depression is a sensation of emptiness in desire. There are desires but no fulfillment. It is the most vivid manifestation of our nature. After all, the Creator created desire, and this desire yearns to be fulfilled. This is our essence.

The collective desire where we all reside or every individual, little desire it is comprised of requires fulfillment. When desire lacks inner fulfillment, the question is where the fulfillment is. If it is somewhere near and the desire feels that it is close but not inside, then depression occurs.

If this fulfillment never existed in the first place, there would be no depression. Who knows what kind of emptiness I feel? How does some African peasant know that he lacks a laptop or a washing machine? But if future fulfillment, which could be but isn’t in you yet, appears in your vision, your sensation, it gives rise to depression.

Thus, depression characterizes not a primitive person, but rather someone advanced. And the farther we move forth, the more depression there will be since desires mature and so does the awareness of the lack of their fulfillment.

It is evident how for the last forty years depression has been getting more wide-spread in humanity. Today it is one of the top problems. Moreover, it has also become an illness. It will keep growing, and there will be no way to stop it.

In the nearest future, they will have to legalize and sell drugs to anyone who wants them. Basically, we will be glad to take anything to not feel this depression. But we won’t be able to overcome it anyway. It will come to the point where a person will see the “fix” before him or her but won’t be able to use the drug. Why? Because they will feel that it is not the answer to their question, not the “fix” to their internal void.

Therefore, the battle with depression is the major battle of man with his emptiness that is precisely what pushes him forth. Hence, by the number of those who are depressed, we can judge how close humanity is to becoming aware of its evil.

Nothing will help a person except a decisive, firm, and dynamic engagement in the correct society. Only there will he be able to suppress his or her depression, and very intensively at that: by switching themselves off, by turning off their feelings, and thrusting themselves into the environment as if flinging themselves into the water. There is no other medicine but the influence of the environment. And as a result, fulfillment will come and immediately eliminate one’s depression.
[34202]
From the 2nd lesson at the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

Related Material:
Don’t Go For Overkill
Permission To Reveal Kabbalah
Spiritual Pleasure

Filed under: Conventions, Crisis, Depression, Q&A - 3 Comments →

Question: You have said that we shouldn’t suppress the ego, but rather increase the positive. What do you mean by that?

Answer: This refers to a person walking the path of spirituality and engaged in a Kabbalistic group. How then can one increase the positive when he falls?

When I feel sick I take a pill, and when I’m in a bad mood I go dancing. But by doing these things, I don’t suppress or negate my ego in the slightest degree. If you feel ill, acknowledge it as a fact, but don’t beat yourself up. It isn’t you! It is just a little more of your egoism being shown to you. Don’t take it personally.

The negative constantly evolves in a person in order to develop the positive. What is this positive then? It isn’t the annihilation of egoism or balancing it on the corporeal level. In no way should I compensate a minus with some earthly plus. No matter how dreadful my sensation may be, I wish to compensate the minus solely with a spiritual plus. Otherwise, I will be similar to the “reformers” of the world.

Whatever the case may be, I don’t compensate for the negative by reducing it. After all, it is deliberately given to me since nothing is accidental in life. So what should I do? I need to increase my positive relations with the group, the right environment. Why? It is because my entire future depends on our mutual inclusion in one integral system.

If egoism is evolving in me, then this is the only correct decision. My plus lies on my path to the group. If in my entire emerging egoism, I increase my positive connection with the environment, then it is really an altruistic force with which I balance the egoistic force. And it turns out that I rise to the next level through compensating the minus.

Then, needless to say, a new minus emerges in me, and I must become rooted in the group again. But at that point the group seems to even worse to me: “Idiots, hard-hearted dummies. I don’t want any of this anyway, let me go chill out.”

And thus, gradually a person lowers his head, over and over again, and turns to the environment until he reaches a complete connection. Nature encourages us to do the same so that we are together as one integral whole. Hence, the global crisis and complete dependence on one another shows us in what direction we need to correct ourselves.

So, we have agreed not to work against egoism, but to work in order to use it properly. As a result of the minus, we transform it into a plus. Otherwise, we would never have it.

My “I” is a resistor, like the resistance necessary for producing current from a power source. Minus and plus create the tension that draws and forms my reality. Therefore, having reached a certain potential between minus and plus, I begin to see the picture of the upper world on my “screen.”
[34205]
From the 2nd lesson at the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

Related Material:
Living In The Stream Of Endless Light
I’d Rather Jump Into The Water
Be Happy About The Evil That Becomes Revealed In You

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →