We have gathered here to establish a society for all who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam [who described to us this entire path], the way by which to climb the degrees of man and not remain as a beast (Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 1“).

In our world there are inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human levels of nature. If we want to rise above the human level, we must unite with one another.

If, above all obstacles, rejections, hatred, and unwillingness to unite, we achieve connection between us, we do not need anything else. The science of Kabbalah does not teach us any actions other than mutual unification.

If in any group in any point in the world, people are able to rise above their mutual rejection and connect with one another, they will reveal the Creator, the upper force, the upper world, their eternal image, called the “soul,” because they will create the condition for the revelation of the upper force in the connection between them.

Therefore, the science of Kabbalah is universal; it has no limitations except one: above your egoism, connect with people like yourself who want to unite together in order to reveal the Creator. There are no other conditions beside that.

Baal HaSulam adds to this: There is no point in hoping that the time will come when we will be able to achieve the goal of our development in any other way. Undoubtedly, we achieve it only through connection between us. Then we will see that the upper force is pushing everyone toward connection: the inanimate, the vegetative, the animate, and the human levels.

We see how everyone is connecting more and more whether they want to or not under the pressure of all kinds of problems and sufferings. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, technology and means of communication are developing in this direction. This is how the upper force, the only one operating in the universe, pushes the whole world toward unity through great pressures and sufferings.

However a new, different path has opened for us: we can advance toward unification ourselves, increase the speed of our unification, and work among other selves as in a laboratory, constantly connecting more and seeing what we achieve in the process.

Therefore, according to the advice of Kabbalists, we unite in tens, in small groups, so that it will be more convenient and easier for us and so that we can increasingly connect in a more flexible and manageable way, and see how we reveal the upper force in one form of connection or another. According to the type of our unity, we reveal it, since our vessel determines the revelation of the light in it.

Therefore, we do not have to advance unwillingly toward the ultimate goal where all parts of nature will unite together in an integral, global form as a single whole. We can accomplish this work not under the pressure of suffering, but with understanding, awareness, and self-control; we can choose the speed of advancement, see how we are doing it, and also draw all of humanity to follow us.

After all, if we bring them along, drawing after us, we become stronger, and then the upper force is revealed with greater power, because it is no longer thousands of people who unite, as in our world group, but millions and even more.

Accordingly, we reveal the power of the upper force in all its depth, in all its scope, in all its systems, we attain how it reigns over everything and governs everything, how this entire system operates. This is called the revelation of the Shechinah.

There is no greater pleasure than to see this harmony, how all parts of creation—different, scattered, hating one another, distant from one another—come to connect with each other and between them, not merely a connection is revealed, but mutual love. This fills us and gives us the sensation of eternal life.
[163417]
From the International Kabbalah Convention 7/17/15, Guadalajara, Lesson 1

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In many Kabbalistic sources it is said that the spiritual is attained only by the power of prayer. Most people in the world think they understand what prayer is, but in reality, this is far from the case.

In the science of Kabbalah, we study:
 Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created, The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence. And there was no vacancy (The Ari, The Tree of Life).

The upper light (the Creator in His unrevealed form) filled the desire that He created out of nothing. “Something from nothing” is precisely the act of creation.

Then the Creator began to modify and transform this desire into something from which an independent created being could later be formed. He performed various actions upon it until the desire shattered into many parts, which in Kabbalah is called the shattering of the common soul (Adam).

The fragments of the common soul divided more and more until each of them became a point, the point in the heart which ignites within us and through which we feel a longing for the Creator.

At first this sensation appears unconsciously. We do not know where it came from or why it gives us no rest, but it leads us to a Kabbalistic group. This is how our spiritual path begins.

While working in the group, we begin to understand that in the nature of creation there is no other material besides egoism, as it is said: “I created the evil inclination and gave the Torah for its correction.” Egoism was intentionally created by the Creator so that one could immerse oneself in it, take it along, and then, by correcting it, ascend to the Creator.

Therefore, our task is to reveal egoism within ourselves and bring it to its correct form, which is called “desire” (Hisaron).

The point is that when we are immersed in corporeal desires, we do not influence the spiritual system, we are not within it. But a properly formed desire, directed toward integration into the spiritual system of Adam, toward uniting with its parts, influences it is called “prayer,” i.e., a request to connect and function correctly within the general system of creation.

That is why it is said that everything is attained only through prayer, through the proper formation of one’s desire.
[187776]
From the International Kabbalah Convention 5/2/16, Lesson 3

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Rabbi Elazar said, “The Creator said, ‘The whole world was created only for that.’ This means that the whole world was created for the fear of God” (Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 1”).

There is an exalted goal that is not perceived within our egoistic sensations, within the aspiration to take everything “into oneself.” The exit “from oneself” and concern for what is “outside of me” is called spiritual fear (Yirat HaShem).

At present, I am anxious about how to fill and protect myself. This is called fear for oneself.

Subconsciously we are constantly preoccupied with attracting what is beneficial and distancing what is harmful to ourselves, to our egoism.

Spiritual fear means that I experience fear for what is outside of me. I worry about others and about the Creator like a mother worries about her small child when all her thoughts are in him and about him.

In this fear, in this concern for the other, outside of myself, outside of my egoism, I feel the upper reality.
[18070]
From Lesson No.1 Mega Congress, 7/24/10

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Question: How do you behave when you realize and feel yourself as worthless?

Answer: You must realize that it comes from the Creator, and thank Him for revealing it, that now, finally, you understand who you are.

From this state, you can advance correctly. It will not allow you to stay in place. Therefore our worst states are actually the most productive.
[255918]
From Lesson No.7 Congress in Moldova, 9/8/19

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We are discussing the topic of perception of reality in order to gradually orient ourselves in the right direction. After all, everything depends on intention. There are many people who study Kabbalah, and in particular, there are currents that have nothing in common with it.

The science of Kabbalah is intended for the correction of our nature, and the more we correct ourselves, the more we feel the upper force, reveal the upper world, become included in it, enter it, and rise above our material life. This is called “liberation from the angel of death” because we stop feeling completely dependent on our body! We rise above our animal, biological body to the degree of general nature.

I do not feel pain from cutting my nails or hair, because my body belongs to the animate level, while nails and hair belong to the vegetative level, one degree lower. And from the height of the animate level, I do not feel any loss from the loss at the vegetative level. In the same way it will happen when I rise from the animate degree to a higher degree, to the degree of Man.

“Man” is not us today. “Man” (Adam) comes from the word “similar” (Edomeh) to nature, the Creator, light. And when I become such a “man,” I will stop feeling loss from what is happening in this material life. Therefore, the science of Kabbalah is called “a remedy against death.”

Let us hope that we will attain such a degree and begin to experience spiritual life today. It all depends only on our inner efforts. Let us try to connect our inner points and appreciate this special state.
[40042]
From the International Kabbalah Congress 4/1/11, “We!” Lesson 2

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A proper prayer must consist of two parts:

1. Gratitude—praising the Creator for bringing us into the group, uniting us, forming us into a single whole, for responding to our intermediate silly and not-silly requests and whims. Otherwise, to whom are we addressing ourselves?

2. An urgent request for one another, not for oneself. After all, if we all unite correctly, then this request for one another no longer even makes sense, because it immediately turns into a request for the Creator, i.e., we desire to turn to Him.

A mandatory condition must be the understanding that only the Creator can answer our request. He is the only One who exists, the only One who responds and acts in the entire system of creation.

Moreover, we must suffer from the fact that we have a great desire, yet we have not yet received an answer to it. And later, when I receive an answer to my request, I feel joy, delight, and fulfillment. The difference between the magnitude of suffering during the prayer (not animal suffering, not for oneself, but for the benefit of the created beings and the Creator) and my delight upon receiving the answer constitutes the amount and quality of the joy that fills me, that is, the group.

Therefore, the more effort we invest in properly shaping the desire for the light, the closer we will come to it and the faster we will pass the path of forming the correct desire to which the light will respond by entering it. Thus, we will be granted the revelation of the Creator.

And it does not matter how beautifully this desire is formulated or whether it is clothed in lofty words. Only one thing matters—the sincerity of the heart in the request for the friends, for the group, for the world, for the Creator. Then my desire will truly become a desire to bestow, to which the light will instantly respond according to the law of equivalence of form.
[187817]
From the International Kabbalah Congress, Moscow, 5/2/16, Lesson 3

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The desire for spirituality given to us originally is a point in a person’s heart. Therefore, a person in whom it awakens has to begin to work with this desire and shape it so that it becomes similar to the desire for the light.

Light descends to us through 125 degrees of the worlds: 5 worlds with 5 Partzufim (large steps), each of which has 5 Sefirot, a total of 125.

In our world, we receive it in the form of a very small light Nefesh. “Nefesh” comes from the word “Nefesha,” which means inactive, passively existing, enlivening at the most minimal level and nothing more.

Before beginning to work on ourselves, to reveal our desire, to form it (like, say, we make pastries out of dough) and give desire a specific form and direction, it is necessary to understand what we should strive for. It is said: “Make your desire like that of the upper degree (the Creator), so that it can remake you in its likeness.”

The problem is that we do not know how to achieve this. For this purpose, we have been given our world, in which we can correctly shape ourselves with the help of working with our friends in united prayer, in the united, correctly-tuned, mutual desire.

In striving to unite among ourselves, we talk about coming closer, mutual balance, mutual fulfillment of each other, and mutual support in order to come together to one common desire, a common intention, a common goal.

By this, we form one single correct desire out of everyone, which fully corresponds to the aspirations of each of us, and which is accepted by all at the degree on which we are. Only then will it receive a response from above.

And if the Creator does not answer our prayers, that is, if the upper light does not begin to be felt in our desire, this means that it is not yet unified. The light reacts only to the common desire and the request of ten people united together. Then their desire is directed not at themselves, but at mutual bestowal for one another, for everyone together, and from everyone together to the Creator.

Such a desire is immediately followed by a response from the upper light, which is immediately felt in the group that begins to discover for itself the correct prayer.
[187812]
From the 3^rd Lesson of the Moscow Kabbalah Congress, 5/2/16

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Indeed, you should know that the reason for our great distance from the Creator, and that we are so prone to transgress His will, is for but one reason which became the source of all the torment and suffering we suffer, and for all the sins and the mistakes that we fail in. Clearly, by removing that reason, we will instantly be rid of any sorrow or pain. We will immediately be granted adhesion with Him in heart, soul, and might. And I tell you that preliminary reason is none other than “our lack of understanding of His guidance over His creations,” that we do not understand Him properly (Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“).

We have a big problem with correct definitions. The style of Kabbalistic texts sometimes seems so religious that it pulls us far from reality and from the proper perspective from which we should relate to ourselves and the world as a certain order of forces and systems with their characteristic interrelations, vectors, numerical indicators, and measurement data.

We are used to such a specific approach; therefore, centuries-old terms need modern, clear definitions so we do not make mistakes or get confused by our assumptions.

That is why Baal HaSulam writes that the reason for our distance from the Creator is that we do not understand Him. This misunderstanding primarily relates to the definition of terms.

“The Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” is the most important of all introductions by Baal HaSulam. It precedes his main work, showing us what kind of system of interrelation we are in, what happens between us, and how we connect with each other and with the whole of reality. We step out of ourselves into the space between us, where a force pushes people apart. By beginning to overcome this force, we form a different field, not a field of rejection, but a field of convergence – distance.

Now there is negativity, rejection (“–”) between us; it is a field in which we all reject each other. Everyone is ready to feel only themselves, and this state is called “this world.” If we step outside ourselves and begin to feel what is between us, this state is called the “upper world.”

Rejection between us is a “crime”: as Baal HaSulam writes, we transgress the Creator’s will. The desire for unity between us is called a “commandment” (+). The transition from transgression to commandment is a “correction.” The effort that I make to move from crime to commandment, from my egoism, from receiving to giving, is called an “effort.”

I can measure all these forces: how much I wanted to receive, how much I overcame, how much I turned myself from receiving to giving, how much strength I exerted, how much effort I invested, to what extent I previously felt my egoistic desire and in it this world, to what extent I now come out of myself and begin to feel the upper, spiritual world in the outer direction, and with what strength, at what level. All this can be measured.

This is what the science of Kabbalah deals with, the physics of human desires. Of course, you and I cannot yet conduct such measurements in practice, as we have not yet mastered the relevant forces. But in general, you can work with all these parameters in a real way, actually verifying our relationship: how much I give you and how much I receive from you. To do this, we need to rise above our nature and take an objective position outside it (beyond receiving, beyond bestowing, beyond everything), check from the outside, and observe and measure what is happening.

The ability to do so is called “restriction,” which lets us simply disconnect from our nature. We may not be able to fully break out of it, but we can ensure it does not rule over us. This is called “breaking free” from it. After that, we can truly measure all the parameters.
[54851]
From Kabbalah Lesson before the Toronto Congress, 9/16/11

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Humanity is facing serious questions about the meaning of life and the essence of the governance of reality: Who are we, in what kind of world do we live, what is prepared for us, and can we influence our destiny?

Those who ask these questions fall into two categories: those who ask it from suffering and various troubles because they wish to escape them, and that is enough for them; and those in whom the question of the meaning of life remains and gnaws at them even after the suffering has subsided.

This question is called “a point in the heart” of the animate level from which grows what is later called “human.” The longing to attain the meaning of existence begins to be realized in people when they come to study the wisdom of Kabbalah.

But those who ask about the meaning of life only to satisfy their earthly needs, they eventually leave.
And those whose point in the heart, an informational hunger that demands to understand, to feel, to enter this system of governance, to know why, for what purpose, and how the entire reality exists, they remain because this point stems from the upper world, from the higher degree. They can no longer leave it and simply continue to exist in this world; no worldly pleasures can suppress it.

People see that studying Kabbalah elevates a person to the next level and requires one’s personal involvement in the governance of creation. It is not about miracles that allow one to spin the world or rule society, but about how to govern oneself, to bring oneself to a state in which one corresponds to all the categories and conditions of the upper world.

The system of governance, the upper world, is built on the quality of bestowal and love. These are not just words, because the system of all nature, all of creation, is one and completely closed; it exists in absolute integral interconnection of everything with everything. Every particle is strictly bound to all others, both the smallest and the greatest. The structure of this system is astonishing.

In our world, we cannot build such systems. Even in biology, living organisms resemble it in some aspects, but overall, they are very far from the perfection revealed in the governing system of the upper world at its highest degree.

Therefore, with our qualities called heart and mind, we must rise to this degree; that is, we must transform ourselves and absorb the integral qualities of the upper degree: the qualities of universal unity that are built precisely above our egoism, above that which separates, repels, and opposes us to one another. And first of all, we must study our egoistic nature, because we do not understand it at all.

It is revealed to us only slightly, on the small earthly level, while before us lies the revelation of what is called “49 impure gates,” 49 degrees of egoism.

In other words, now we reveal only the weakest, most superficial layer of egoism that we exist in. All the rest, the deeper, heavier egoistic qualities, lie beneath and will gradually be revealed over the course of study, but only to the extent that we advance toward integral unity.

If we try to resemble the upper degree, we will see how different we are from it. And then we will attempt to rise above this discrepancy, above the newly revealed layer of egoism toward similarity to the upper degree, toward mutual connection, unity, and mutual help. This is done in a group, so that the connection can be realized in practice and not merely declared verbally.

Using the method of connection within a group, we begin to feel how impossible it is to realize it not only in society at large, or within a nation, or all the more within the world, but even within a group. I increasingly feel how many calculations I have toward my friends, how I am annoyed by them, how I see various flaws in them, and how I try to keep my distance.

The closer we draw to each other, the more we reveal our true nature, and each time we feel ourselves as small, flawed beings unable to rise above ourselves and come closer together.

Even for such a reward as revealing the upper governance system, the upper world, understanding everything that happens to us, and sensing reality beyond earthly limitations beyond time, space, and movement, we still cannot do anything. No matter how much we persuade ourselves, we feel how our egoism does its dirty work and constantly throws us into petty calculations.

Nevertheless, being in a group gives us what a single person does not have: mutual help, which we must provide each other. We are obligated to do this even against our own desire.

Being in a state called “this world,” we are able to perform actions absolutely opposite to our inner desire. A person may be unpleasant to me, yet I smile at him. I may have no feelings toward a friend, yet I still make efforts to draw closer, to perform if not an inner emotional action, then at least some shared mechanical action, and so on.

That is, our world is wonderful because in it we can perform mechanical actions without feelings or intentions, and these actions will influence the upper system. This is our salvation!

Therefore, our world is separated from the system of the upper worlds and allows us to govern the upper world through physical actions. I may serve someone and thereby earn spiritual merits even if I have no particular inner feeling toward that person, toward a friend, for example.

But I want to attain such a feeling, and so I perform various gestures of attention, work in the group, prepare meals, participate in different activities without applying any internal effort.

I may not have strength or desire for inner work, but I can force myself to perform physical actions even though that too is difficult, and in this way, I advance.

The group is the only tool in our world that allows one, while working within it, to perform purely mechanical actions that are considered spiritual. Therefore, our ascent begins with joining the work of the group.

Kabbalists who attained the upper system discovered that it is structured as tens that further subdivide into tens, and so on to infinity. These tens are included in one another. Thus, the upper system is broken down into ten fundamental Sefirot (Sefira, from the word “Sapir”—radiating), ten sources of radiance of the upper light, the emanation of goodness in its various forms.

The first ten Sefirot are called “the Names of the Creator,” because this is how we reveal the general upper force that fills all of creation in Its first, highest revelation to us.

We do not feel the force itself; we can detect it only through the ten Sefirot, just as we detect electricity or a magnetic field or any physical force only by its effect on some physical object. Without such manifestation, we do not know whether it exists or not. We need an indicator that can perceive it.

All the Sefirot are so interconnected that we cannot imagine this perfectly complete integral picture. We cannot grasp it in our current state. Only if we change our inner qualities will we be able to enter the sensation of the integral idea, the integral influence, the integral phenomenon. This is the system of the upper degree—the spiritual world.
[183437]
From the World Kabbalah Convention in Moscow 5/2/16, Lesson 1

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The condition for connection in the upper world is the condition of “not for one’s own sake,” but “for others.” This is a principle that we are simply unable to understand.

In our world, we build systems of healthcare, education, fire safety, and so on, but all of it is done for ourselves. Otherwise, we would not take part in it. That is our world. That is our nature. We should not delude ourselves into thinking we are different.

But spiritual unity is built on the exact opposite principle: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If I wish to attain that, I connect with others, not because I feel good with them, not because together we will achieve something better like confidence, safety, and successful development, but because I accept their desires and realize them with my own strength. That is all!

In other words, it is as if I myself do not exist. There exists only a mechanism that works to fulfill the desires of others. This is the fulfillment of the principle: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
[183443]
From the International Kabbalah Congress in Moscow 5/2/16, Lesson 1

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