Kabbalists were always against memorizing, against learning by heart and against writing while studying, and so were the first scientists and scholars. After recording, you are limited by it. You put on paper or a computer what you should have put into yourself and used in order to change internally.

If you want to perceive the Kabbalistic, philosophical or even a scientific message, you have to change. You have to change so that the idea will live in you, not in the mind but in your emotions.

The mind should only help the emotions. It needs to clarify all the data, both the internal and the external ones, and to process them and evoke the desire to change so that the data will become our Reshimot (informational genes) in the desire and not in some memory box.

Therefore, we have to make an effort that the material we study will enter our nature and not stay only in the mind. It is possible that we read too much, hear too much, and download too much material from the Internet with all the encyclopedias that are there.

My teacher Rabash was against writing during the lesson, even if it helped us remember the text that we read; then too we had to make an effort so that it would penetrate more deeply so that through the network of memory cells it would drip and penetrate the heart. It does go through my internal filters, but, one way or another, eventually it should make me change. The information I receive and the clarification I make should change me, not intellectually, but internally.

If only the mind could be emptied and I could be new each day, start from a blank page without any additions from the previous day. I could study the same material I studied yesterday as if I see it for the first time. Why? Because I have changed in my desires and with the new desires I see something completely new in the “familiar” text. [Read more →]

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Question: Why does Baal HaSulam write in “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” about the forbidden part in the wisdom of Kabbalah: that Kabbalists can reveal what belongs to “Flavors of the Torah,” but cannot disclose the part that belongs to the first three Sefirot or the “head of the Partzuf?”

Answer: Even if Kabbalists tell about something that is “forbidden,” we won’t understand anything. It is like talking about anything next to a baby without needing to be careful because the infant still will not hear or understand anything anyway. He doesn’t connect the words he hears to any meaning. Just like when we read The Book of Zohar, single words are understandable, but for us they add up to senseless sentences

“The secrets of the Torah” are not information that is carefully hidden from us. It is simply our brain, which at the moment is on an ordinary beastly level, cannot perceive them. So for us it remains a secret, as does all of reality. Please, it is all revealed to you, look! Do you see anything? Who is to blame that you don’t have the means to perceive? Develop them and you will see reality. It is the same when it comes to the “secrets of the Torah.”

We study in “The Study of the Ten Sefirot” about what belongs to the head of the world of Atzilut, the head of Arich Anpin, and we know that there are the parts of RADLA (Reish delo Eiyada), parts of its “brain” (Mocha de Avirah, Kruma de Avirah) that are concealed from us in the upper Light. But we study everything that belongs to the “flavors of the Torah” and not its “secrets” in this system. The difference is that the “flavors” relate to the thoughts of the created being and the “secrets of the Torah” relate to the Creator’s thoughts.

There would be no point mentioning all this, if there weren’t people who claim that it is forbidden to study the wisdom of Kabbalah because it is a secret. There are no secrets in it; on the contrary, the wisdom of Kabbalah reveals reality to us! It doesn’t reveal some “forbidden secrets”: In order to reveal the secrets you have to reach them yourself by preparing your vessels, your desires, your vessels of perception. If you prepare all the desires that belong to the seven lower Sefirot (ZAT) in the full height of the spiritual ladder, then you begin to discover their upper part (GAR). You will be ready for this revelation and will discover this secret yourself. [Read more →]

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Evening Lesson, Topic: “Silence”
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In order to figure anything out, one must either start from the very beginning or the end – from the beginning of creation or from its final goal. After all, what’s in the middle belongs to our work, free choice. By analyzing the beginning and the end, we have to understand what we have to do in the middle.

The difference between the beginning and end of the path lies in acquiring the intention of bestowal. Nothing but this changes in reality. By changing the intention, we attain our difference from the Creator and correct it. Therefore, it is clear that our task lies only in attaining this proper intention.

Every action consists of thought, speech, and action. Thought is the plan preceding everything, which initially includes the result of the action. And in the middle, between the plan and the execution, there is speech, meaning discernment.

And in order to make the proper discernment, there must be concentration. This is why Kabbalists have a custom of being silent, which is also done in this world. When a person is about to undergo an important event and he wants to understand how to do it, he focuses on it, requiring silence, and trying to close himself off so he won’t be bothered by external conversations. He intensely prepares to carry out the action correctly.

That is why we want to spend the weekend in silence, in quiet, and think about how we can attain the right action. Instead of talking, we will make discernments in silence.
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From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/12

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It is common knowledge that before one begins to study the wisdom of Kabblah, he must first study all the books of the Torah, Talmud, and Mishna as if to enter the “Pardess” gradually: to start from the simple explanation—Pshat, then to go on to the hint—Remez, then to allegory—Drush, and finally to the secret—Sod.

Actually, however, the order is the opposite: It means that a person goes from Sod, from the first level in which he still doesn’t understand anything, to Pshat in which everything is revealed to him clearly and simply in the world of Atzilut.

We need to go through the worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, and Atzilut to change from secret (Sod)—the world of Assiya, to allegory (Drush)—the world of Yetzira, to hint (Remez)—the world of Beria, and to simple interpretation (Pshat)—the world of Atzilut. It turns out that the Kabbalistic books are a simple interpretation (Pshat) because they reveal to us what is really going on and are closer to the truth, to the source, because they speak directly about the Light and the desires.

In all the other forms such as the Bible, the Mishna, and the Talmud, this revelation was concealed. Therefore in our days it is possible to start studying Kabbalah directly.

Furthermore, in the past there were additional levels on the way to spiritual revelation because it was impossible to start studying the wisdom of Kabbalah without acquiring all the corporeal sciences, the “seven wisdoms of the world.” The wisdoms weren’t just physics or chemistry, but also music, dancing, art, etc., the ways of man expressing himself in our world.

It was impossible to start studying the relationships between the desire and the Light, the internal mechanism, without knowing how the desire receives and is impressed by the Light and expresses itself in our world. It is only from such a distant external form that a person would gradually approach the internal revelation.

So until today we see many customs and external rituals in all the religions and beliefs. They are the external expressions of the internal experiences of man.

After all, how can a person in this world blindly approach spirituality? First he needs to make an acquaintance with what is going on here, and with the help of the external forms, to try to penetrate the material more deeply, like water seeping through sand. This is how people reached spiritual attainment in the past.

We don’t understand how a person perceived reality in the past and in what a time we are privileged to live. After all the previous generations and the development of the Reshimot (the informational genes), we are at such an advanced phase today in which anyone can come straight from the street and start studying books like “The Study of the Ten Sefirot” or “Shamati“!
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/3/12, “Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: To avoid having to use both tongues from now on—nature and a supervisor—between which, as I have shown, there is no difference regarding the following of the laws, it is best for us to meet halfway and accept the words of the Kabbalists that HaTeva (Nature) has the same numerical value (in Hebrew) as Elokim (God)—eighty-six. Then, I will be able to call the laws of God “nature’s Mitzvot (commandments)” or vice-versa, for they are one and the same.”

This is very important and leads to numerous consequences. In the past Baal HaSulam was accused of being close to Spinoza in his views and that he didn’t consider the upper force as “God” in the conventional religious sense, but rather compared the Creator to nature, which is mindless and lacks any feeling and develops according to “mechanical” laws.

Actually it is very interesting to see how Baal HaSulam describes his attitude to the Creator and to nature. This should also be our attitude. If we combine these two concepts, we will achieve the greatest thing in life, revealing the Creator as “nature” and in all things. Indeed, we are part of nature, which is the Creator.

“In general examination, we find that there are only two Mitzvot to follow in society. These can be called

1. reception
2. and bestowal.

This means that each member must, by nature, receive his needs from society and must benefit society.”

Science confirms the fact that on every level in nature there are two opposing active forces: In the inanimate it is in mutual physical chemicals and mechanical actions, in the vegetative world it is photosynthesis, and in the animate level it is in the cells and the organs… these forces are revealed especially on the level of man, that belongs to the spiritual world. The higher we rise, the more they diverge from each other as a result of the differences in creating the wealth of attributes that separate the human race from the inanimate, vegetative, and animate.

The data of the wisdom of Kabbalah aren’t different in any way from scientific data. Thus the “Creator” and “nature” is actually the same thing.

But there is another question here: Is there a preliminary goal in nature which determines the process of evolution and the final state? According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, “the end of the act is in the initial thought.” Let’s call it not a plan, but by the scientific term: “law.” So is there a general universal law? In this case Einstein also spoke the same language as Baal HaSulam and Spinoza. He also spoke about the unity of nature. Thus the views of people separated by three centuries come together.

Let’s come back to our times. Today we speak about mutual guarantee, adhesion, love, unity, common fate, mutual incorporation of desires, and the influence of the environment on the individual and the influence of the individual on the environment…. If we could explain all these concepts on the level of nature’s laws, it would be easier for us to disseminate. We will also feel more strongly to what extent it obliges us. After all, we are talking about a law and there is nothing one can do against a law. Everyone understands that there is no point resisting nature.

We have to adapt our language. Terms that seem religious, spiritual, and mystical should be changed to scientific terms and definitions. Thanks to this, our message will flow in the right channel and we will be regarded as researchers of nature. Humanity’s general situation today requires us to do that.

We must shift from the terms Kabbalists used to parallel scientific terms. We won’t be able to tell people about Reshimot (informational genes), the direct Light, the returning Light, or HaVaYaH…. We have to try and express all that in modern scientific terms, and then we will be able to approach humanity.

The second system for this approach is to translate the language of Kabbalah to psychological terms.

Thus, through the mind and feeling, we will convey our message to people. The technical terms, the “mechanism” of the forces, and the laws will pass through the brain and the emotional part will be expressed in psychological terms. Thus we will free the wisdom of Kabbalah from this complexity that stems from being “lost in translation.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/12, “The Peace”

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Before starting to read or hear text that carries spiritual information, one must first attune himself to the place spirituality is revealed. It is written, “From love for the creatures (meaning from love for friends) one comes to love for the Creator.” Therefore, from the beginning we must imagine the group, the right connection between us, within which we await revelation.

All of the science of Kabbalah is devoted to the revelation of the Creator to the creatures. And success depends on how correctly I imagine the place of this revelation, meaning its conditions: the aspiration to it, a high evaluation, gratitude, and at the same time—suffering. Good impressions and bad, meaning great inspiration and great despair. All of it together.

But in the end, I focus on a reality in which I await the Creator’s revelation—the quality of bestowal, which rules over the whole universe from concealment. “There is none else besides Him”—the force of love and bestowal.

Once I attune myself this way in order to cling to this quality as much as I can imagine it with my entire heart and soul, in my heart and mind, aiming all of my thoughts, desires, and forces at it, I can then read the text. It might be talking in technical terms, such as Talmud Eser Sefirot, or be a legendary tale—that doesn’t matter. Behind all of that, I try to see how it describes the relationships between me and the upper force of bestowal, meaning how much I correspond to it.

This is what the book or the reader’s voice tells me about. No matter what the form in which I receive information about the Creator’s revelation, I will be ready to perceive it.

When we look at our life, in it we must also try to see how to reveal the attitude of the Creator, who “clothes” into the world. And first of all, obviously—in a group. He awakens all of us together, “day and night” (meaning in different states—ascents and descents) so we would finally reveal Him in the connection among us.

All of us together are like a musical instrument that must be tuned well and correctly by establishing the appropriate qualities, mutual connections, and harmony between us so the instrument would play correctly. When that wind blows, which played on David’s violin, then like that violin, we will play together.

In general, a person should try to see the expression of the upper force in all events of his life, even though he does not understand why and how things happen. On one hand, in regular life we must try to act normally and be the same as everyone. But at the same time, internally, we should relate to everything as if it is the revelation of the Creator to us.

For the time being this is like a game—it is not real because you still don’t know exactly how to decipher the picture that appears to you, but still, you have to search.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/3/12, Writings of Rabash

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A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah
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The Creator created desire with the help of the Light. Light impacts the desire and delivers His qualities to it in a way that everything that is good in the Light becomes negative in desire. Good portrays itself as lack, need, demand, and emptiness; whereas inside the Light, the same things manifest themselves as a desire to bestow.

In other words, things that in the Light are as abundance and salience turn into the opposite, a concavity, in the  desire.

Both parts are similar to each other and at the same time they have a contrary nature: Everything there is in the Creator’s desire to bestow exists in the creation in the shape of the desire to receive.

The goal of the creation is to transform the sensation of emptiness (the desire to receive) into similarity with the Creator.

How can this be achieved? If we simply fill desire it won’t become similar to the Creator (the Light); rather, fulfillment will downgrade desire since it becomes even more opposite to the Light because it actively receives. The Light is perfect; it constantly bestows, therefore, a plain fulfillment of the creation won’t solve the problem.

How can we make the desire to receive similar to the desire to bestow if we don’t employ the Creator’s mode of action, bestowal? All the Creator does is bestow and fulfill the creation; the creation is incapable of interacting with the Light in any other way except receiving from It.

The problem is to establish the right connection between them—not between the two actions but rather between the essence of the Creator and the essence of the creation.

This means that we have to compare them with each other, not from the point of view of their actions, but rather, from the angle of their attitude towards each other; it doesn’t matter that one is constantly receiving from the other, whereas the other is permanently bestowing. They complete each other, and as a result of this fulfillment, they sense internal connection between themselves; it is irrelevant who is the giving party and who is on the receiving end. This is similar to a mother and child: she gives him everything she can, but in return she gets back even more since she is connected with the child through love.

This is where a sensation of love happens and comes from. If we choose to consider these two compelling actions that happen between the Creator and the creation as indispensable, we have to build a superstructure above them.

How do we make them connect through these two actions and become similar with each other? How can we unite the goal, the essence of the Creator, with the essence of the creation?

Originally, the Creator desires to fulfill his creation and provide it with everything. He is filled with the property of love. That’s the reason why changes do not apply to the Creator whatsoever.

The Creator originated the creation, the universe, the worlds, and all conditions for our existence and activities. On His behalf there is only one thing—constant emanation of Light, positive energy, love, and absolute kindness.

The creation needs to change its attitude towards the world, towards itself, and at the end—towards the Creator because everything there is in this world, in me and around me—comes from the Creator. I have to change myself in a way that I start loving everything that is done by Him in this world and in all of nature. If I switch my attitude from hatred, greediness, and taking advantage of others, to bestowal and love, then through my new attitude towards the Creator’s actions, I will come to love Him.

At this point, I will be able to get for His sake everything that He emanates. So, it turns out to work this way: He fulfills me and gives me a chance to get pleased, whereas I receive from Him and give Him an opportunity to get delighted because I am “using” His love.

When we are close with our loved ones we receive from them, at the same time we do them a favor by allowing them to love us. The same pattern repeats: By receiving from the Creator, we express our love to Him because we are so close. At this point, it doesn’t matter who is the giver and who is a recipient as in the example with the mother and her child.

The main thing is that with the help of these actions they complete each other and bring each other delight.
From the Fundamentals of Kabbalah Lesson 11/6/11

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Question: Every time the same study materials at the lesson are arranged into new pictures for me. My mind fights them and tries to bring in the old stamps, and I  unsuccessfully try to tame it. What can I do about this?

Answer: We should love revolutions. Don’t be afraid to lose what you have. There’s something new? Good! Nothing is left of the old? Excellent. I don’t care.

Wise is he who is able to lose his wisdom and start anew. You are like an infant: The mind is empty, and you have no approach to what happens; even your old approach is gone.

We should want no trace of yesterday to remain. Otherwise, you cannot take in today. This principle is very vividly expressed in spirituality. The less I have left of yesterday, the better. This pertains to everything: the group, me, the Creator, and the world. All the pictures that pertain to spirituality should fade away, freeing the space for something new.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/22/2011, “The Freedom”

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