Entries in the 'Kabbalah Study' Category

Reveal the Spiritual System

506.6Question: We say that the Torah is light, the Torah is a description of the system of the upper worlds, the system of the Creator. How do we attain this system?

Answer: By revealing the spiritual system, we attain it through our feelings. A person will not be able to enter the sensation of the system of governance if he does not reveal it within himself.

Then it becomes clear where we are, what shines for us, what we are limited in, and so on.

Question: Can you study the Torah by reading any Kabbalistic source? The question is only about the intention, not the material, right?

Answer: Of course. If you want to correct yourself, it does not matter which Kabbalistic text you study; it will still affect you.
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From the 1st the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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The Path Will Be Revealed Gradually

528.04If you have been practicing the Torah Lo Lishma for more than three years, as Rabbi Yosi says, and five years, as the Tana Kama says, then the Braita warns you that you will not see a good sign in this path you are treading! (Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot)

Question: Is it correct to tie the study of Kabbalah to a specific timeframe?

Answer: The group (the “ten“) is obligated to set certain goals for its development. Therefore, regardless of the timeframes indicated by the Kabbalists—whether it takes three years, ten years, five years, or fifteen years—you must still feel where you are.

Question: How should we formulate this goal for ourselves?

Answer: As it is written, the best is to see a good sign in the work within three or at most five years. If we do everything required of us, within this time we will achieve within our ten the revelation of the Torah, the Creator, and the spiritual path.

Question: How can we tell if our ten has reached this point?

Answer: You will start to feel this as you move forward. Just as when driving a car, the road opens up before you, so too, the path will be revealed to you gradually.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/28/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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How Can We Realize the Point in the Heart?

234Question: People come to Kabbalah with a point in the heart but few realize it. What does it depend on?

Answer: When a person comes to Kabbalah, one is in a state of confusion. On one hand it is said that the whole light is in the Torah, but to the contrary, they get the impression that there is no light in it for them.

Therefore, while studying it, they must be carried in the arms of their friends, who will revive, uplift, and pull them forward, and in this way, they will gradually be able to attain spiritual lights.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/24, Writings of Rabash “From Lo Lishma to Lishma”

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Feel the Flow of the Thought

209Comment: In order to understand The Study of the Ten Sefirot, a person must at least fully know Pticha (“The Introduction to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”). Currently, not many graduates of KabU and MAK have completed all of Pticha. So what we are studying seems like a set of words to them.

My Response: I think the most important thing for us is to go through the texts written by Baal HaSulam and delve as little as possible into various explanations. The main goal is to feel the flow of thought. From there, we will try to grasp the understanding of the actions of the Partzufim. It is not that difficult.

I would suggest making a brief summary after each lesson, with or without a diagram, specifically indicating which forces act on the Partzuf and what it performs under their influence. After that, it will become easier.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/28/24,Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Readiness to Study Kabbalah

627.1Question: How does a person know they are ready to study Kabbalah?

Answer: If a person asks: “What is the purpose of my life” and cannot find an answer, they begin to search for it and often come to Kabbalah.

If they feel that they cannot live without it, it becomes clear to them that the Creator is inviting them to this. And so, they begin to study the science of Kabbalah.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/28/19, “Questions and Answers”

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Questions about Spiritual Work—177

276.04For even a thief in hiding calls on the Creator. For this reason, it does not require Mochin de Gadlut to keep the branch from cutting from its root (Baal HaSulam, Letters, 18).

Question: What does this mean?

Answer: It means that even “a thief in hiding calls on the Creator,” thus, there is no need for the upper light to guard him so that he does not disconnect from the Creator.

Question: Religious people are born with the name of the Creator and live with it. How can I come to a state where there is none else besides Him and I begin to love without knowing who, just as they revere Him?

Answer: The thing is, there is a big difference between your path and theirs. The Creator Himself gradually brings you to Him and pulls you toward Him.

Question: How can I attract the force of overcoming and work only for the sake of the Creator?

Answer: You need to ask to be able to change what descends upon you from above through your desire.

Question: If I ask, while in Lo Lishma, about what will come of my work and I do it with the intention of annulling myself, is there room for a personal request here?

Answer: There is almost never room for a personal request. You can have a personal one only after you rise to the level of a common request.

Question: To reach the first spiritual degree, do we need to awaken a certain number of souls? How will this happen?

Answer: It will happen through the correction of those who have already been awakened.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/24, “Continuing the Congress With an Ascent”

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The Path that Gives the Sense of the Creator

276.02Question: Baal HaSulam writes there is nothing more natural or necessary than connection with the Creator because He is nature. Is it possible to convey this to the world, not through faith below knowledge or religion, but rather in or above knowledge?

Answer: No, imagine we are in a state where the Creator sends us some signals from His level, from His height. We cannot recognize them correctly. The only thing we can do is ask Him to draw us to Him. Only then will we begin to feel and understand Him more and come into contact with Him.

The feeling of the Creator can only be obtained through the path Kabbalah offers. All other paths are built on accustoming oneself to believing there is some kind of power.

Question: So without uniting people into tens, without a practical methodology, it is not possible to give it to the world?

Answer: No, nature is designed so that only through tens can we draw closer to the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/24, “Continuing the Congress With an Ascent”

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Kabbalah And IQ

281.02Question: Not all of us have a high IQ to absorb the huge amount of information from you. How should we properly prepare ourselves? What would you recommend?

Answer: In relation to Kabbalah, everyone has the same kind of mind because none of us can be better or worse at attaining the spiritual world. We all start from zero. So, no matter what natural talents you have, you are neither better nor worse than others, both men and women.

It is said from the beginning that a clever person doesn’t necessarily learn or succeed more. So there is no need to envy someone who seems to show great intellect. In Kabbalah, there is no such thing as a genius with a special memory coming in and everything is revealed to them. There is nothing like that. As the Shechina says: “I dwell in the lowliest of my people.”

Therefore, there is no need to invent any special methods of attainment or revelation. Everything will come to a person in due time when it is necessary for them.

Question: Can you give a general piece of advice of how a person can properly prepare themselves before a lesson or an event?

Answer: A person should not have anything clouding their mind, let them come empty. But if they are in the mood, they can read Psalms just to make sure it doesn’t overwhelm them. Nothing more.

The main thing is to remain calm. The Torah enters in a state of soft influence on a person. So there is no need to rush or be overly eager; nothing will slip away from you.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/11/24, “Growing Stronger in the Ten”

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How Can We Better Absorb the Lesson?

530Question: Sometimes my thoughts wander during lessons and I only perceive about 10% of the lesson. Is there any way for everyone to get more out of the lesson?

Answer: Listen to each lesson several times, discuss the lesson topic with your friends, and in this way you will absorb more. Preparing for the lesson through discussion will allow you to absorb more because your thoughts, desires, and aspirations interact with each other, and through this, you become more ready to receive what the Kabbalists are talking about.
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From the World Kabbalah Convention “Strengthening the Ten” 9/13/24, “Walking in the Footsteps of the Kabbalists”, Lesson 3

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The Specifics of Kabbalistic Writings

541Baal HaSulam was a very private man, a man of his narrow circle. European culture was clearly manifested in it. This is even evident in his music, which had a prevalence of the Eastern European, Polish melodies, with some Italian accent.

He is very specific in his presentation. Even when he talks about science, Kabbalah, and everything in general, his expression and style are based on knowledge of the deep layer of the Talmud, the Mishna, the Prophets, holy writings, and the Torah.

For example, sometimes he mentions a few words and at the same time casually refers to some source. If a person catches this, he understands the subject right away and perceives the text in a different way.

For example, sometimes even in our conversations we say that “Love covers all transgressions.”

However, in Kabbalah we mean that this phrase is from the Psalms of David, and at the same time we understand what kind of sins they are, what kind of transgressions they are, what kind of attitude a person has toward a person when he hates the other and is ready to destroy him. In the end when he moves to the state of love for the other, then all those so-called previous transgressions and the previous hatred on the contrary support the love he has achieved.

It means that this phrase includes such a huge layer, the order of states that one has to go through in order to say “Love covers all transgressions.” Without that it is just a nice phrase.

Another example is: “I have washed my feet, how can I rise from my bed?” Who knows what it is talking about?

This is a passage from Song of Songs. From the Kabbalistic point of view, Malchut says my “Reglaim” (legs), meaning the end of the Partzuf, the Kelim, the desires that receive the entire Light of Hochma are already up above. I am in the horizontal position, meaning I have already washed and cleaned my limbs, my final states. I cannot use them anymore.

How can I rise now also from this state “to embrace you, my Darling?” meaning to connect with Zeir Anpin in the receiving desires when I already annulled them. This is how the soul of a person, i.e., his desires, speaks with regard to the connection with the Creator.

It means that a multitude of various states, conditions, and interpretations of what is happening are implied here. This is a very serious system of relations. This is how it is said “How can I rise to you, Darling, open the door, since I already washed my feet and lied on my bed?”

Phrases like this can also talk about anything: a rider and his horse, a donkey and his driver, etc. Therefore, we need to adapt all of this to today’s generation that does not understand or know anything, and after all, has not heard about the existence of the Song of Songs, or even of the Psalms of David, or other sources.

We have to show them a short path. We do not have time to study all these sources even though they talk about pure Kabbalah. However, they speak in an allegorical way, while we have to bring a person directly to the revelation of the upper world. This is the reason we create our own media sources.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Expiration Date of Kabbalah” 1/31/10

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