Question: It is said a thousand enter a room and only some are honored with the discovery of the Creator. Therefore I am overcome by fear, do I have the potential to discover the Reshimot?

On the one hand, I understand that spiritual work is a great benefit and at the same time I cannot be released from the fear. How must one work with this?

Answer: We know that hundreds of millions of people want to be rich, famous, and in control. How many of them attain that goal?

The spiritual goal is compulsory for all. The expression that a thousand enter a room and only one attains the goal belongs to the Kabbalists from the previous generations. In those times it wasn’t required that everyone attain the spiritual worlds and those individuals who merited this acted according to very complex laws. They had to maintain very rigid and difficult conditions in order to enter the upper world.

In our day, every housewife, every simple guy from South America, from Siberia, from Israel, from the United States, and from other regions can attain this without any preparation; the desire simply ignites within them and this is everything. We are entering a state like this where everyone without exception must advance to the goal.

We even turn to those who don’t have this desire, in order to awaken it in them and prevent forward advancement under the influence of suffering because the world is already in a threatening state; we see where everything is advancing. Therefore the condition in which, “a thousand enter and one goes out” is not relevant for us. Today everyone must go out into the spiritual world even those who have not yet entered, not to mention those who are like us.

Today this condition doesn’t work, forget it. The Kabbalists simply reminded us of that to spur us on a little bit, for in spite of it all, one must relate to this very seriously. This is within our power.

The Kabbalists are apparently telling us, act in those frameworks in which you can and then you will succeed. This is saying that you must dedicate all of your spare time to inner work. At least it’s necessary to try to direct our intention to this all the time.
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From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day One 12/13/13, Lesson 1

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Question: I feel that I am overwhelmed by internal sensations that are incomprehensible to me: great enthusiasm from which I could explode. What must I do with this, set up some kind of a barrier and say to myself that I don’t want this?

Answer: I think that this is only the beginning stage of your familiarity with the wisdom of Kabbalah, with the group, with those forces that act in this society. As a rule, a state like this typifies new students. They are found in some kind of overexcitement, overdrive, in a unique kind of transitional phase.

In general, when we connect a device to an electrical or electronic network a first surge passes through it, so at first sudden transient processes happen and after that everything calms down and enters into a normal state. I think that it could be that you are still in a state like this, and so it’s necessary to wait until this passes. If the study influences you in this way, then as a rule, in this state it’s very important to talk with the friends more, to try to balance emotion with action.

I would advise you to dedicate more time to studying “The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” or The Study of the Ten Sefirot, where dry, scientific Kabbalistic language explains what happens with the desires, with their shattering into five stages, into five worlds; in other words, go into the science more. It really relaxes a person because it has a very deep and positive influence not on the emotions but on the mind. Try to balance the heart and the intellect.

You will find some friends with whom you can learn the wisdom of Kabbalah together, and not be involved in all kinds of psychological activities within the group. They are compulsory, but it’s necessary to balance them. I know this from my great experience and from learning with Rabash.

When I brought 40 students to him and we began to work with them, there were also similar abnormalities among them. Part of them were involved only with “dry” learning, others felt an emotional overload like this` such that they could not do anything with themselves. There was a problem with these and with those. In cases like these, Rabash always gave an order: add one thing, subtract a second thing, and so forth, like a good cook who knows precisely how many grams of spices or other additives are necessary to provide the dish with the final taste. If you will learn in a group with friends and balance your emotions through serious study, you will see what a leap you will make.
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From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day One 12.13.13, Lesson 1

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Baal HaSulam, “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”: This means that the secrets of the Torah are revealed only to those who fear His Name, who keep His Glory with their hearts and souls, and who never commit any blasphemy. This is the third part of the concealment of the wisdom.

This part of the concealment is the strictest, as this kind of disclosure has failed many. From the midst of those stem all the charmers, whisperers, and “practical” Kabbalists, who hunt souls with their cunningness, and the mystics, who use withered wisdom that came from under the hands of unworthy students, to draw bodily benefit for themselves or for others.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is different from all the sciences of the world. Any other science is available to anyone at least to some extent, and if you don’t understand it today, then you will understand tomorrow. It doesn’t matter who you are by nature, you don’t have to change your character. For instance, a physicist may be a Nazi and misanthrope, or conversely, radiate kindness and generosity. In short, in every field of knowledge a person can move forward without changing himself.

On the other hand, the science of Kabbalah is attained only in the corrected vessels, meaning desires in the corrected properties. Therefore, people who just live in this world don’t understand it. How should I change myself? What should I change in myself? Indeed, regular studies do not help in Kabbalah, and lab experiments and practical parts acquire a very different character here. In this science, actions are performed not on a physical level and the analysis is conducted not by our present mind.

As a result, people don’t understand what the science of Kabbalah is. It really is hidden from them. It’s not even clear what it requires to overcome this threshold.

Kabbalists initially hid their books, wanting to save people from confusion. Indeed, many would study Kabbalistic texts in a vain attempt to get to the truth. “Maybe it is necessary to read at a certain time of day? Or perhaps memorize?” To avoid this, Kabbalists hid their science from humanity as if it never existed, and succeeded in doing so until a certain time, although problems still arose when some knowledge leaked out here or there.

So, the wisdom of Kabbalah is not understood by humanity or philosophers, and is incomprehensible to scientists. After all, before revealing the upper world, a person must change himself. But people, alien to this approach, have decided that it’s sufficient just to read Kabbalistic books.

The same thing happened with the Torah, which everyone rearranged in his own way, creating religions and beliefs to his taste and thus turning the “elixir of life” into the “potion of death.” Indeed, with this approach, we just destroy ourselves, sink into a greater egoism. Instead of attracting the Light, people prefer the “traditional” use of the primary sources in the hope that this will satisfy their self-love. Meanwhile, the Torah is given only to correct the heart in which the evil inclination rules.

In addition, there is another problem; Baal HaSulam writes that many, including scientists, still believe that simply by reading a Kabbalistic text, they understand what is written. People do not see the need to get a new mind; to become imbued with a new spirit, new feeling, and new attitude; to change their mentality, outlook; and to change their inner world. Without changing internally, they regard themselves as experts, write theses, and in general, talk “competently” about Kabbalah.

It’s a pity if a person stumbles on this shallow external approach to the issue. After all, only one who can first correct his own properties can understand Kabbalistic books. The science of Kabbalah was opened for everyone’s studies only in our days only for inner correction with the help of the Light that Reforms. Therefore, he who studies not to attract this Light for self-correction still doesn’t know what the Torah and its internal part, the science of Kabbalah, are. If a person doesn’t aim in this direction, the “elixir of life” turns in the “potion of death” for him.

Thus, not only do various “philosophers” reflect on the science of Kabbalah, but they also move away from the truth and confuse others. This is a pity when the thing that Kabbalists wanted to prevent takes place. Obviously the world needs a long path of correction before we are able to get rid of this debilitating flaw.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Do we need the “street” to continue the development of the integral method?

Answer: Sure! The wisdom of Kabbalah and technique of Integral Education as part of it is a practical material realization of the ancient wisdom. Seemingly the entire theory is explained to us, but at the same time, not all of it.

What the Kabbalists of the past left to us from ancient days until our time is described very sparingly. You cannot imagine how many parts are missing! They could not convey all of the nuances of this system that comes from the upper world and descends downward; rather, they gave only a small stream of information that explains in what manner this is connected to us. All the rest of the parts of this immense system are not imperative for us.

We will discover them to the degree of perception of the spiritual world, on every level, in breadth. Therefore, the Kabbalists recorded only what would help us to rise from level to level. Even though these are thick volumes; however, in fact this is only scanty information about the enormous system, about its behavior, about the reactions, about the correction, etc.

Kabbalah is the most practical science. Without practical actions, all of its books are “dead.” And practical action is first and foremost, correction, which is not possible to do without going out to the people. You yourself don’t feel the necessity of your correction, not from above and not from them. By necessity you must be in the middle so that both this and that will press upon you. Everything is realized only in communication, in the use of the method among the people.

But you must more or less recognize the entire system in spite of it all; you must have a strong group that stands behind you. Everything must be gathered together. In going out to the public, you must feel that you are their representative; you must feel that you are found together with them. Without this feeling you cannot give the masses the integral energy that acts to change reality.
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From Kab TV’s “Through Time” 9/18/13

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An idol worshiper is one who works for the benefit of his egoism and turns it into an idol.

The nations of the world that create images and builds statues are not considered as idol worshippers because they are not aware that their original nature is the desire to receive. In other words, there are those who create corporeal images and there are other people who create imaginary images.

Ask any Jew why he closes his eyes when he says “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God the Lord is one.” He doesn’t know. He doesn’t even understand that he does it because it is forbidden for a person to imagine any image!

The Creator is the attribute of bestowal and love and He exists only within our correct inner desire, and we can discover this attribute only according to our desire. Otherwise He doesn’t exist! He doesn’t exist in any place, not even as the Surrounding Light. Simply, we speak this way in order to express in some way the spiritual attribute in our corporeal language.

The Creator, (Bo-re) means “come and see,” and if you reach your vessel, you can discover Him. And He doesn’t exist outside the vessel. It is impossible to explain this to a simple person. He thinks that if he believes, this means that there is a Creator.

Actually, there is no basis for this. We ourselves create the Creator, which arises within us in from some kind of transcendental dimension according to our properties.
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From the Talk about Group and Dissemination 10/23/13

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Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”: “I am glad that I have been born in such a generation when it is permitted to disclose the wisdom of truth. And should you ask, “How do I know that it is permitted?” I will reply that I have been given permission to disclose. Until now, the ways by which it is possible to publicly engage and to fully explain each word have not been revealed to any sage…

And this is what the Creator has given me to the fullest extent. We deem it as dependent not on the greatness of the sage, but on the state of the generation, as our sages said, “Little Samuel was worthy, etc., but his generation was unworthy.” This is why I said that my being rewarded with the manner of disclosing the wisdom is because of my generation.”

Thus we can understand the historical events in which we were sometimes allowed to reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah as in the case of Moses, the prophets, the Great Assembly, Rabbi Shimon, and a chain of individual Kabbalists during the time of the exile until the days of the Ari, who was given permission to reveal it and accordingly reached the spiritual height he did. Besides, there were many Kabbalists who were not given such permission since the time they lived in was not right for the revelation. They performed corrections by themselves because they were in the upper system of bestowal, but they couldn’t publicize what they did.

In the meantime, the process advanced until the time of the Baal Shem Tov who publicized Kabbalistic messages by his actions and not by writing books. The point isn’t whether he wanted to or not, it has nothing to do with the desires of the Kabbalist. Each one performs the mission he was given.

Finally in the last century, Baal HaSulam also received permission to reveal the wisdom. We already live in a generation in which everyone is allowed to study the wisdom of Kabbalah; it is allowed to publicize it and to teach it to others. All the limitations have been removed, as Baal HaSulam tells us in the beginning of The Study of the Ten Sefirot. It is said that thanks to this wisdom the “children of Israel” will come out of exile.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”: The names, appellations, and Gematrias belong entirely to the wisdom of Kabbalah. The reason they are found in the other languages, too, is that all the languages are included in the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is so because these are all particular cases that the other languages must be assisted with.

The language of Kabbalah is the main language of revealing the Creator. In principle, all four languages of attainment are intended for this. However, the other three languages (Tanakh , Halachah and Haggadah) are “accompanying,” they are included in the language of Kabbalah but exist by themselves to add different touches by their presentation.

Thus there is one language for the revelation of the Creator, containing four facets; the most important one is the language of Kabbalah. It includes everything, it is higher than the rest, and it is included in everything. All the symbols, all the forms of presentation, everything we read in the books of Kabbalists are written by the language that they had created to explain the revelation of the Creator to the human being. Everything is intended only for this.

Therefore, as Baal HaSulam writes in “The Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” the one who opens books written by Kabbalists of different generations, i.e., by people who are in spiritual attainment, and use it not for this purpose, he brings adverse consequences upon himself. Instead of praising the approaching dawn like a rooster, he becomes like a bat, living only in the darkness and strongly resisting the light of day, which is already approaching for us.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”: Clearly, when one ponders and contemplates words of the Torah that pertain to the revelation of the Creator to our fathers, they bring the examiner more Light than when examining practical matters.

This is how Baal HaSulam recommends we read books that tell us about the relationship between a human being and the revelation. The articles, letters, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, and the Sulam commentary to The Book of Zohar, in fact everything we received from Baal HaSulam and Rabash are books that are especially for us about the revelation of the Creator to the created being. They are written in different styles but they are all about this.

Some of them explain things directly and describe the spiritual work psychologically, so to speak, like the letters and the articles. In other articles we read about the connection between the wisdom of Kabbalah and other sciences, but they are also about the revelation of the Creator to a person. We see this especially in works talking about The Book of Zohar and in The Study of the Ten Sefirot.

All these books and texts were written during the drawing of the Light. Kabbalists discovered the Light in different states and levels and wrote accordingly. There isn’t one word or one letter that was written before the writer had attained the specific state that he described in the text.

So when we read these texts, we can receive the power in them. It is by these texts that we connect to the writers, and then we can draw and enjoy the Light that Reforms, but this is only if we yearn to resemble them in their simple faith and receive everything that they have. While reading his writings, I want to be like the Kabbalist, to annul myself, to belong to him, and by that I turn on the Light that he has prepared for me.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence“

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There are two paths: the path of the Torah and the path of suffering. However, these are actually not two options because along the path of suffering, we receive blows that put us back on the path of the Torah.

So, we must realize as quickly as possible that there is actually only one path and that we need to advance by the Light that Reforms since the sufferings don’t correct us. Only a prayer, a request for correction, draws the Light, and then after going through several corrections, we reach the goal of creation.

The Creator is the absolute goodness that illuminates on us, and we have no choice but to advance toward the goal that has been prepared for us in advance. The goal is to do good to His created beings, so adhering to Him is the real benefit. This is what we should reach.

The good and benevolent Creator is revealed according to the law of equivalence of form to the extent that we are equal to Him. He is in absolute bestowal and love, and we must reach the same attributes, too. However, we approach this state gradually, discovering, time after time, the evil in us, trying to draw the Light that Reforms that is called the Torah. It corrects us and these portions of correction that are called “keeping the Mitzvot (commandments)” push us forward, one by one, until we become like ripe fruit that is ready for the “complete coupling” (Zivug).

This is how the Creator’s attitude toward us is revealed according to the purposeful providence. It operates that way in order to spur in us its different forms time after time. Thus, we know Him according to the principle of the advantage of the Light from the darkness.

So, he who is greater than his friend, his desire is also greater. When we ascend toward the Creator in the attributes of bestowal and love, we can better clarify how opposite we are from Him, and can clarify things more deeply as the picture becomes clearer and finer. Thus, we get closer to the Creator all the way to the last level of the clarification of the connection between us.

Baal HaSulam asserts that religion is a means, a tool for attaining the Creator, the goal of life. The means are given to those who work on themselves, and all the others are confused by their own ideas about religion. Instead of establishing the right order and the correct system, they are building an “idol and an image,” false images, as long as they have something to engage in without correcting themselves for the sake of love and bestowal, without yearning to reach the level of “from the love of the creatures to the love of the  Creator.”

According to this sign, we can differentiate between the wisdom of Kabbalah and all the other methods because none of them enables a person to change his nature from hatred to love. Therefore, they are all unacceptable.

This is why we study, disseminate, and work on the connection in the group, and by that we reach the recognition of evil. It turns out that the evil is our nature and we must get rid of it and change it to a different nature.

It doesn’t mean that I must destroy myself or hate my nature, although it is evil. No, I see what the Creator has given me in it, and I only must correct it gently and with great care. I have no other engagement in life, except for the correction of my nature. I mustn’t disrespect it, but I must study it deeply, accurately, and in great detail and then, from these corruptions, I understand what the correct form should be.

Therefore, the Creator is called “Boreh” (come and see). I turn my ego to “in order to bestow” and establish a restriction above it, a Masach (screen) and the Returning Light, and gradually form the Creator’s image from the corrected parts. I build Him in me.

Otherwise, He remains an invisible force that cannot be revealed in our senses. It is because He is revealed only according to our adaptability to Him, according to the law of equivalence of form.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/8/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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