Question: The wisdom of Kabbalah gives an understanding that there is no freedom at all in our egoistic world. Freedom is the quality of bestowal and love that I must acquire. But it seems that by taking this obligation upon myself I become unfree according to our earthy perception. Are you saying that this acquisition is freedom?

Answer: When I am responsible for others and I have an opportunity to bestow, to fulfill, to love, and to help them, then I am free. I am free in this expression of desires.

Freedom is the fulfillment of one’s desire. In our world, there cannot be the fulfillment of our desires because we do not chose them. Both the desires and their realization are imposed on us by the Creator.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Question: What differentiates freedom in the spiritual world and the corporeal one?

Answer: Freedom in the corporeal world is freedom from all our egoistic necessities: food, sex, family, knowledge, power, and wealth. We see that more and more, man wishes to be free from these things.

Question: Is that possible? Can a person be free from the desire for sex, for food?

Answer: Food, sex, and family are three types of animate desires of the physical body. I see that today man is trying to free himself from them. Young people aren’t particularly interested in gourmet dishes, they’re satisfied with a quick hot-dog on the go and that’s all.

Sex is a relative notion for them. According to polls, many people don’t even want to burden themselves with it. Family has long ceased to be a necessity, something that society needs, and society even encourages this attitude.

The animate desires are followed by the human desires: wealth, power, fame, and knowledge. Young people are losing the desire for these things too, relatively speaking. Wealth comes and goes. And not only wealth, everything goes somewhere. Now we are undergoing a period of transition that will soon end, and a completely different value system will be presented to us.

Fame and power always go together, but they have long ceased to be the same thing that they once were with the great rulers. Regarding knowledge, science does not feel by any means that it is the summit of humanity’s ideals, of attainment.

Question: Then what remains?

Answer: Nothing. Values are being reassessed such that nothing from the past remains. The next stage is a search: Is there anything of value in our lives?

Our development unfolds at a rate and in a direction such that all the desires are starting to appear empty to us.

From our new level of development, we see that they are not important, that they do not fulfill us, there are no special qualities in them. Suppose I have a great meal and spend the night with someone. With whom? Anyone at all. All of this is losing meaning very quickly.

Remark: Many people think this way, “I want it, I just can’t get it…”

Answer: A person can get anything. But youth today do not want to waste their time attaining it; whereas, in the past, young people would give up their whole lives for it! Decades of hard work, studies, employment, savings, and everything else, for what?! Now they understand that there isn’t anything that is “worth it.”

Why should I study, work, get married, have kids, and create a family? In order to pass it all onto my children, and they will live the same way? And then what? There is no point to any of these actions. Today people are becoming convinced of that.

Question: Then what is the choice, how do I know that I am on the right path?

Answer: Kabbalah says that a person has to rise above these types of desires, the egoistic animate ones (food, sex, and family), and the human desires, which exist in us in addition to our animate degree (wealth, power, fame, and knowledge). When no desires remain and a person gradually becomes convinced that this is not what matters to him, he is faced with the question: What, then, is the meaning of life? What is it for? I do not want to be forced to be in these desires. Then why should I exist?

That’s when he faces the question about the next form of desire: Is there something higher than this? Is there an ideal that makes living worthwhile?
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Question:  How does Kabbalah make a person free?

Answer: Kabbalah reveals to a person the full extent of his lack of freedom and explains the boundaries in which his freedom exists.

In our world, freedom from our egoism, from our nature, which consists of inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking parts, is possible. And only the method of Kabbalah delivers this outcome. The method of Kabbalah teaches us how to attract the higher power that lifts us above our animalistic egoism.

In actuality, we are very weak and unable to get away from our egoism. A person cannot pull himself out of a swamp. But with the help of the upper Light, which we can attract upon ourselves, we are pulled out of the material plain.

The so-called AHP of the upper descends onto us into Galgalta ve Eynaim of the one below, and we begin to rise; we transition from within the boundaries of our nature into a higher realm.

But, even there, we are still not free, meaning that we still cannot do whatever we want. Therefore, the concept of absolute freedom does not exist. Only the Creator has absolute freedom, but not the creation.

Creation can be in a state of freedom within its primordial, egotistical nature and, at the same time, seek equivalence of form with the Creator; in other words, seek to increase its attraction to altruism, to bestowal, and to love. In this state, a person feels completely satisfied and fulfilled; he does not have any deficiencies and feels unlimited freedom.

In addition, a person develops a sense of responsibility—he feels obliged to give, to help, and to fulfill others. A person feels that this state of an absolute lack of freedom is actually absolute freedom, achieved every time only by rising above his egoism, above all sorts of flawed sensations.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Question: To reveal the Creator’s absolute control, is that true freedom?

Answer: Yes. But when it is revealed, the individual receives it as his own corrected state. That is why it is experienced not as the Creator’s control, but as your own voluntary, freewill.

Question: True freedom is my right to determine what I will desire in the next moment?

Answer: Yes. But this is possible only if you rise above your egoism, if you have a connection with the upper light, and if through this connection you are able to clearly ascertain what you will actually be engaged in, what you will desire in the next moment.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 7/2/17

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Question: Why is freedom associated with joy, flight, or something always good?

Answer: Because it comes from the Creator. It is freedom from egoism and compulsion. Man is free because he is not opposed to the upper force, but he is equal and similar to it. This gives one a feeling of being fulfilled with upper Light, higher existence, and a higher understanding of the way of life.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Question: What is freedom according to the Kabbalistic understanding; does freedom exist at all?

Answer: There is no freedom in our world because an upper force governs the entire universe.

We can observe this total lack of freedom within the inanimate, vegetative, and animate parts of nature. They are constantly confined to some sort of framework; otherwise, they will perish. Animals are willing to give up their freedom and serve humans to receive food. This is why people were able to domesticate wild animals. The fact is that for the animal type of egoism, the most important thing is food. Therefore, he who gives them food, can teach them to obey.

But a person’s understanding of freedom is very twisted because on top of his basic animalistic state of dependence, he also has an inner psychological dependence on something or someone. Here, he falls under such a degree of lack of freedom that he himself cannot figure it out.

We imagine that we are free. We have a total illusion of freedom! In fact, people are absolutely not free in their actions and decisions. They do not even know who their master is, who commands them. And there is nothing you can prove to them.

If on the inanimate, vegetative, and animate level it is possible to prove the degree of lack of freedom, then on the human level we cannot control it, because we ourselves are at this level. But when we rise above the human level, it becomes clear to us what the lack of freedom is and how we experience it.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Question: Does a Kabbalist feel free? Free from what and for what?

Answer: A Kabbalist is torn inside into two parts. He feels the part in which he is in equivalence of form with the Creator, meaning that he feels that he is above the corporeal world.

He adapts himself to the Creator, identifies with Him, and feels himself elevated above all that exists. Moreover, submitting to the Creator happens above the annulment of one’s egoism, and therefore is felt as freedom. For there is nothing above the Creator, so to be a slave to the Creator is not an illusion. It is a feeling of freedom because the Creator is the highest level of existence.

And with the other part of a Kabbalist, before he achieves complete adhesion with the Creator in all his egoistic desires, corrected to love and bestowal, it does not feel like freedom. Quite the opposite, it feels even worse than a person in this world because he remains in the illusion, in the feeling that nothing is pressuring him.

However, the Kabbalist knows that he is under the power of his egoism, and therefore, his feeling of bondage is very troublesome, it weighs heavily on him. This, however, is exactly what pushes him forward.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Question: If a person’s entire life is fully programmed from beginning to end, why in every present moment is he given the feeling that he himself chooses his next step: whom to marry, where to live, what to do?

Answer: Otherwise, a person could not survive; he would kill himself if he knew that he is living like an animal that is controlled in every move. What would remain in his life—only to seek how to spend every moment in a more pleasant way and to suffer less? What is the meaning of such a life and who needs it?

Question: So it is deliberately concealed from me that my life is already completely programmed in all its details so that I would be interested in continuing my existence as if I myself choose something, but in fact, nothing depends on me. Do animals have such feelings?

Answer: No. An animal instinctively obeys nature’s orders without questioning, like a biological machine. A person, however, can ask: “What am I living for? Why do I exist in this way? Can I change my destiny or not?”

This already is the beginning of a human being, which separates him from an animal. He begins to rise above his animal existence to a higher level. He no longer wishes to live only to fill his needs like an animal, but he seeks a higher goal.

Question: What does it mean to become a positive element of the program, having the opportunity to influence your destiny?

Answer: We are allowed to tune into the program of life only on the condition that we would add positive forces to it, that is, if we raise this program from an animal level to a human one, making an “upgrade” of it. If I use my life for the sake of positively influencing the general program that operates on us, which is called the upper force, then I receive the opportunity to do it.

Then I have a positive influence on my own destiny, on everyone else, and on the program as a whole. I am able to change the movie of life and become a partner with the higher force, which governs this entire program.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” #886 on 7/25/17

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Baal HaSulam, The Last Generation: We see the concept of freedom as extremely high. No one will taste it, except for the chosen by the miraculous power. And they too can do this only through appropriate training. However, most people are not at all able to taste it.

Most people can also taste freedom, but not directly as the chosen ones, because the masses cannot be the avant-garde. In nature everything is created as a pyramid; that is, a small group makes a breakthrough and the rest follow them. Therefore, the masses can get what this small group will pass to them.

Question: Baal HaSulam writes that from this point the last generation will begin. Does it mean that it is at this point where there will be a sense of the middle line and everyone else will get a sense of freedom automatically?

Answer: Yes. But everyone will help, participate, and support the avant-garde as much as they can.

Question: Will the masses, who do not yet feel their enslavement to egoism and who are content with material life, still have a desire to feel free?

Answer: In different times and at different levels of human development, freedom and enslavement have always been felt in different ways.

The ultimate search for freedom means that a person is ready to disregard all egoistic and material fulfillments in order to achieve a higher goal, even one that will only give independence from the material world. This can already be considered as freedom.

Question: Can this be achieved only in the right society, which operates on the principle of the last generation?

Answer: It should be a group that supports the society and a society that supports the group. There is a mutual guarantee in this group, and all the rules of spiritual communication are realized between its members.

Remark: Baal HaSulam writes that, on the one hand, most people are not able to feel freedom. On the other hand, they do not want to be enslaved. It turns out to be an uncertain state: neither here nor there.

Answer: The masses can deny their state, but they do not feel an aspiration toward something higher. It is not a stimulus, an incentive for them. That is why people need a leader—a more spiritually developed group that would push them forward.

We see how this manifests itself in humanity. There are entire continents that are lagging behind in their development, and they must be led.

For example, Africa; although it was freed from the so-called slavery 70 – 80 years ago, have the inhabitants of this continent done something themselves? They are very good workers and some people break into science and culture, but the whole continent needs a group of forward-thinking leaders. Otherwise, there is always a leader among them who eats them for a snack in the literal sense of the word.

The same thing happens in other countries. We see that there are such nations that need a leading group.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 6/19/17

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Question: If it just seems to us that we ourselves choose our destiny but in fact it has already been written in advance, then how does this program manage my life, how does it guide me through all the events?

Answer: You exist within this program as its passive element. It does not even need to control you because you are included into it as one of the transistors in the processor. Various signals go through this transistor and it seems to it that it lives an independent life. This is how you feel your personal life as a fragment of the general picture.

Question: In this case, how should I relate correctly to the various sad and happy events in my life?

Answer: Animals respond to everything instinctively in accordance with the inherent qualities included in the program. Therefore, they cannot have any independent reaction. People, however, have developed above animals and so they began feeling experiences associated with complex memory systems, and from them they built answers to the things that happen to them in life.

An animal reacts only to the momentary conditions, such as rain, snow, or a dangerous predator. But people have already begun to connect their destiny with different forces of nature, and therefore they started to worship the sun, the moon, and so on. They started bringing offerings to these forces, trying to appease them. This is how religions appeared.

Our forefather Abraham also made idols until it was revealed to him that he could not influence his destiny in this way. Religion provides only psychological help, which of course is also very important. But it does not influence the upper forces of nature in any way.

Question: Through what can you influence the upper forces of nature?

Answer: A person exists inside the forces of nature, under their influence. However, if he finds out to what goal they lead him, he will be able to go ahead of these forces. If he himself performs actions, even before these forces push him, then he will be able to advance voluntarily to the goal assigned to him.

The forces of nature advance him by sufferings, pushing him from behind, and he will advance through his own actions, striving to move forward.

Question: How will I find out to what goal the forces of nature are pushing me?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah deals with this. By studying it, a person learns how to advance toward the goal. He will already have the vision of the state in which he should be.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #887” 7/25/17

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