Shamati #1, “There is none else beside Him” Not only does he not progress in his [spiritual] work [and does not see any clearance ahead], but [it seems to him that] he regresses, that is, he lacks the strength to observe [the Creator’s will] even “for his own sake,” [while it is the Creator who pushes him forward].

We don’t create a real egoistic desire that is able to overcome anything. Instead, we start experiencing weakness, indifference, and our operation by automatic pilot. “Let happen whatever will.” We just go with the flow. Sometimes things are a bit better and sometimes a bit worse.

That only by genuinely overcoming all the obstacles, above reason, can he [advance forward]. What does “genuinely overcoming above reason” mean? It’s when in spite of one’s desire and thoughts, without having any predisposition to do so, a person begins to connect to the teacher, the group, and the books. Altogether this is all called “the environment” or the surroundings.

But even in this case, when he begins to connect to them, he is still thrown about, up and down and in relation to the teacher, the group, and the sources or books. Sometimes he wants to and sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he believes it and sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he’s sick and tired of it, and sometimes he strives forward, and so on.

As the difficulties mount, a person starts to feel that there is nothing attractive or special on this path, and nothing motivates him to advance. There is no spark, nothing really worth giving up his life, career, and success for.

As a result, a person falls. His fall is serious, real, deep, and pretty lengthy. Thus, he reaches the final decision that not the group, nor the teacher, nor the books, nor exertion—nothing will help him in the world besides the only governing force, the Creator.

All the times that a person fell and rose, all the states that passed over him were all in order for him to feel total and absolute dependence on no one but the Creator. Imagine how much a person has to be beaten from all sides, shaken up, pushed away and attracted, and shown the existence of a great number of forces and various causes for his states so that in the end he would become convinced that there is nothing besides the one, single Force. If it doesn’t help me, then no one will. Only it will come to my rescue if I demand it.

That is when the following need arises in a person: for the Creator to definitely help him. The formation of this demand is also very not simple. It does not happen in one moment, but it gradually surges up in a person, becoming vividly expressed, fierce, and persistent. Like a child who demands what he wants no matter what—just give him what he wants, and you can’t convince him any other way. That is the kind of state we must reach. And in this state the Creator really does help us.

Only those people who truly want to draw near the Creator, so they will not settle for little, meaning remain as senseless children, they are therefore given help from Above, so they will not be able to say that I have everything and what else do I need?
From the 4th lesson at the Berlin Convention on 1/29/11

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Question: You have said on numerous occasions that the ideas of Kabbalah should be brought into psychology and to scientific minds. I teach psychology in a university and I noticed that like all other scientists, even psychologists have very narrow opinions. So how can we approach psychologists? How can we bring elements of Kabbalah into psychology?

Answer: In principle, I myself came from the scientific world. But I left it. Yet, I respect people who nevertheless try to find something out about nature, themselves, and the surroundings. Of course, they are driven by egoistic qualities, but that’s how man is and you cannot do anything about it.

Psychologists, philosophers, and other people who study what seems like man’s inner world and the theory of knowledge, as well as scientists in the field of various closed systems—all of their research is based on our nature and the previous developments in all of science. Science develops in our five senses and is built out of these sensations.

Naturally, this entire science is absolutely egoistic because it comes from the sensation inside egoism, our main quality. And naturally, psychologists, psychiatrists, and philosophers are unable to understand Kabbalah because it works with opposite qualities. These people are no closer to attaining Kabbalah than all others.

That’s because in order to attain Kabbalah, one must have a point in the heart. If it is present, if a person has a need to know “Why do I exist?” that is not coming from smart philosophic reckoning, but from his personal, inner necessity, then he reaches the sensation and understanding of what Kabbalah talks about. This does not happen immediately, but over the course of a great amount of serious study.

At first he does not understand what it is talking about at all. He sits at the lessons for many months, listening and nodding his head, but he still does not have the inner sensations that emerge under the influence of the Light, which are adequate to the realm that the science of Kabbalah talks about. However, gradually this happens. We have to wait.

That is how children grow. Over the course of 20 years a person is brought up and grows, and only later does he become suitable for living in our world. Even though he was born in this world and his entire environment is also in this world, it still takes him 20 years to become more or less independent. And even then he is next to his mom all the time…. Still, suppose this is so. However, in our case we are talking about the spiritual world, a completely unexplored territory. How can I prepare for it if I am not in it? How can I adapt to it if I don’t feel it? I am told about this in these books and I don’t understand what they are talking about. So everything comes down only to the influence of the Surrounding Light.

We simply have to take these people and place them under the influence of the Surrounding Light if they agree to it. Meaning, we have to place them in the right environment, evoke the Surrounding Light through the study, and over the course of several months or years, we will see the result. This is the only thing we can do. If a person agrees to it, this will happen to him, and if he doesn’t agree to it, it won’t happen.

How much knowledge he has acquired in this world does not have any relation to Kabbalah because the knowledge he has acquired is about our world, this realm, “inside the aquarium.” So how will this help him find out what is outside? After all, everything is structured in a completely different way over there.

Even if he is a great scientist in our world, even if he is Einstein himself, he will suddenly find himself completely imperceptive to what is being said here. It is written that it is not the smart person who will master the spiritual world. That is never a criterion! It can only be done by a person with a point in the heart, who properly places himself under the external influence of the group and the inner influence of the Light. From inside the point in the heart is influenced by the Light, and from outside it is influenced by the group.

Under the influence of these two sides, this point swells up and a person begins to feel the first ten Sefirot inside of it as he rises from one degree to the next. And suddenly—Kabang! This sensation becomes revealed inside of him. Then he begins to understand what he heard about, what he read, and what others talked about. “Oh, now I get it!”
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From the 1st lesson at the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

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Kabbalah, the method of attaining the upper world, includes two parts:

1. The first part tells us about how to unite with each other, or how to try to connect and unite;
2. The second part tells us about how to evoke the influence or effect of the upper Light upon us.

Before we begin to study we have to be perforated by the aspiration to unite our desires. Then every person will have a much greater desire than his own. He will begin to be permeated by thoughts, qualities, and desires of other people who also aspire to the same result and the same goal as he. This should be our main intention before the study.

A person who hasn’t prepared for the study in this way misses practically everything because the influence of the upper Light does not come upon the desire of each person, but upon the aspiration that each of us has toward others, meaning on our mutual aspirations to unite with one another, with everyone all together into one common desire.

If I imagine this one common desire and wish to be included in it “as one man,”as before the breaking of Adam into separate souls, then my aspiration receives the influence of the upper Light. Then I really gain spiritual attainment as a result of these efforts.

However, if I come there and listen without these efforts, without making attempts to be included in the common desire, then the upper Light does not have anything it can influence inside of me. I did not provide a surface or basis that it can influence and therefore all of my actions will only elicit purely formal knowledge. That is, I will hear and memorize what is written in the book, but no more.

Therefore, it must be crystal clear to us that the upper Light comes only to our mutual efforts. They have to be mutual! Therefore, the condition for attracting the Light to us is the same condition as was required during the reception of the Torah: “To be as one man with one heart.” Only in this case does the Light come.

So let us try to think this way.
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From the 3rd lesson of the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

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Question: What role does asceticism play in human development?

Answer: Kabbalah has a very negative opinion of various restrictions. It does not demand anything from a person with regard to his earthly life. In principle, you can do anything you want.

It’s a different matter when you become engrossed in all sorts of fetishes in this earthly life by introducing some kind of special customs, habits, and exercises to it. Live normally. If you like doing yoga, then do it. If you like running in the morning, then run. If there’s a certain diet that is healthier for you and another that’s less healthy, then eat accordingly. None of this matters. The most important thing is not to turn anything into a cult.

Kabbalah treats every person absolutely normally. It doesn’t care about how a person lives, what habits he has, and what his customs, religious convictions, and inclinations are. Who he is in the earthly life doesn’t matter one bit.

We are once again returning to the essence: Egoism rises in us in order for us to compensate for it above ourselves. That is why it doesn’t matter one bit what I am like. Limiting yourself in food or applying any kind of methods—none of this will help. Nothing will help.

On the contrary, a person who does some kind of physical exercises or keeps some kind of strict boundaries thinks that he has already advanced forward, has achieved some kind of level, that he is righteous and so on.

This can only confuse people. Therefore, live normally, calmly, eat well, and think about your health and profession. Take part in all the things that your surrounding society does.

And together with this, study Kabbalah. This balance or normal state is the most preferable one. Fate has placed you in this environment so go with its flow. Then you will see that in reality, everything around you is in the ideal state, besides yourself.

A minus is compensated by the right plus.
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From the 2nd lesson at the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

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Question: As long as we don’t actually attain every word that the science of Kabbalah talks about according to that word’s degree in spirituality, we won’t be able to understand it. Before that happens, we are simply playing around with the words, with abstract forms not clothed in matter. But if Kabbalah is being revealed as the method for correcting the world, then why does it come in a form that’s so abstract and unclear to a regular person?

Answer: Kabbalah is not an artificial or abstract method of correction, but the most natural one. If it is being revealed in this form, that means that this is precisely the form in which we have to receive it and it is the most suitable medicine for us.

That means I have to “take it” without resisting it or complaining that it is bitter, unclear, or that I don’t like the rules regarding how to take it. I must treat this means as absolutely perfect. This “garment” was tailored especially for me.

However, I am perplexed as to how it was intended for me since I can’t see where to insert my arm or head, and how to put on this garment! But I am told: Don’t worry, it’s tailored exactly to your size, no bigger and no smaller!

Therefore, I must only advance toward it, research and look for how I can dress into this garment. After all, it was tailored especially for me and has been laid out before me.

It is possible to slightly adapt the explanation, bringing it closer to people in order to make it easier for them to perceive this science. But in essence, it has already been presented to us in the most perfect form. We can complain that we don’t understand it since it contains many unsuccessful examples (as they appear to us), abstract names (as they seem to us), and The Book of Zohar is full of allegories that confuse us.

But despite this, if a person accepts all of this as salvational medicine sent to him from Above, then he has to take it as the perfect, most effective means that was selected especially for him.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/11, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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On January 27, 2011, I will hold a public lecture in Berlin. The lecture starts at 7 P.M. local time and takes place in Logenhaus, Emser Str. 12-13, 10719 Berlin-Wilmersdorf. During the lecture, you will be able to ask your innermost questions and take a fresh look at our life and the world around you.
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Question: Can we build the collective intention before the lesson begins? If so, how?

Answer: The collective intention has to be founded on the common goal. Our ultimate purpose is to delight the Creator, whereby we equalize ourselves with Him. In order to accomplish this, we must get to know Him since He wishes that we see His love and kindness. It isn’t our personal need; the Creator wishes for us to know Him.

Getting to know something means to become equivalent in form. Hence, we do our best to aim all our efforts at bestowal. I exert effort not to gratify my egoism, but yearn to step out of myself and desire to find the Creator namely to delight Him therewith.

To accomplish this, I need to possess the Kelim (properties, vessels) of bestowal, and I turn to the aid of the Light concealed in the Kabbalistic texts, especially in The Book of Zohar. The Light can reform me, walk me across the abyss that lies between my properties of reception (receiving Kelim) and bestowal (bestowing Kelim).

However, if I think about it alone, there isn’t sufficient force. It doesn’t even sustain my ability to hold the intention to bestow. On the other hand, if I work with the others as a link in the chain, in one desire where everyone nullifies himself before all the others, then our common spirit gains great power. Kabbalists, who had already passed these stages, promise us that this is the way to success.

Hence, I am happy to be among the friends and to be able to build the intention with them by withdrawing from myself as far as possible in order to finally bring pleasure to the Creator. In this way, we become similar to the Creator in qualities and get to know Him in the same degree; moreover, we achieve adhesion with Him.

Therefore, we must start preparing before the lesson and arrive to it with a fully formed desire. By thinking about it, a person “heats” himself up more and more until he finally succeeds. It is written: “Mitzva (commandment) without intention is like a body without a soul.” You are given a commandment to study the Torah, a Kabbalistic method that is designated to reform the evil inclination. With its help, you will attain bestowal, feel love for all others and, ultimately, for the Creator. The Torah derives from the Hebrew word “Ohr” (light) and from the word “Oraa” (instruction).

But if you haven’t equipped yourself with the necessary intention, you are sitting at the lesson dead and performing mechanical actions deprived of spirit and the Light of life. So it is up to you to decide what you are getting up for at night and what you are doing.

Even if a person is unable to keep the intention, let him at least feel how strongly he lacks it. The heartache caused by the empty, bitter heart is just as important.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/2010, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Buds”

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Question: In the beginning of the lesson, you usually set a common direction for all of us; you help us focus on a common intention. How important is this directive?

Answer: We need to come to the lesson already prepared, with a particular desire (intention): What do I wish to receive from the lesson? I need to think a lot about this prior to the lesson.

Sometimes I organize an intention for everyone without relying on your preparation, but rather setting an example myself. However, in general, each of us should prepare for the lesson on his own, in his own intention. One’s success in revealing the Creator depends precisely on the intention.

A mother gives to her little child what she thinks is necessary. However, as he gets older, a person chooses things according to his taste, using his own experience and comprehension.

We have come in contact with The Book of Zohar many times already; we have tried many exercises with the intention. Over the course of the day, a person needs to prepare for the lesson and for attuning himself to the studies. We need to give people an opportunity to build an intention on their own rather than gathering them like a nursery school teacher: “Take each other’s hands, and everyone follow me!”

One has to prepare for the lesson on his own based on his present sensations and understanding, based on his current state. After all, the lesson is a time for the realization of desires. Here, being on a date with the Light, a person can receive what his point in the heart aspires for.

Maybe we should sit in silence for 15 minutes before the lesson so that every person could search within. However, I depend on you in this regard: Between waking up and coming to the lesson, you have time to think, attune yourself, and build your intention.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/2010, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Buds”

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Rabash’s articles start gradually becoming clear to a person to the degree he actualizes them. At first it seems like they are written gracelessly and incorrectly, that their separate parts are unconnected, and they lack order. In these articles we do not see the precise movement of the forces of the soul which develops precisely this way, and that’s because we do not know our soul.

If a person carries out his actions on his own and at the same time studies these articles, then he sees that they are written absolutely precisely and could not be written otherwise. That is because Kabbalists wrote their texts based on what they felt, and all of the souls go through the same path and the same states. Therefore, these articles become closer and clearer to a person with time; they are the “manuscript” of his soul.

At first a person who studies tries to memorize the material. He remembers separate phrases, understands some of them, while some of them still remain unclear. He repeats them like a child repeating the words of adults without understanding their meaning. Gradually, to the degree he realizes these articles, he begins to see that these lines express his states with absolute accuracy and it is impossible to write them differently. That is exactly why Kabbalists use quotes from the Psalms, Talmud, Prophets, and other sources.

These articles are absolutely special. I grew up with them; they were written by my side. Later on, as I read them over the course of many years, I saw that they become closer and more real for a person so that eventually you no longer read them in a book, but from inside, from your soul, which becomes revealed to you together with these words. This will happen to everyone precisely for the reason that these articles were written based on the full attainment of the soul.

Rabash was great no matter how much he concealed himself. Yet he did succeed in concealing himself from everyone! However, a person who attains Rabash’s articles sees that this was a great person. In the entire lineage of Kabbalists preceding him, starting from Adam, there was no one who laid out the system of spiritual work so sequentially and in such detail while keeping the connection with the root, using the language of branches, and with the entire Pentateuch (Tanach). Moreover, he explained the system of spiritual work openly, making it accessible to all.

Rabash takes you by the hand and leads you through all the phases of the articles in such a way that you cannot make a mistake. He underlines every detail that you should pay attention to. In fact, we don’t have a teacher who’s closer for developing the soul. Baal HaSulam is very high, academic, and universal. He comes down to us from a high mountain, while Rabash is a close and tender mentor who gently gives us the method of correction with love and care.
From the lesson on 1/7/11, Writings of Rabash

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