I want to warn you that all Kabbalistic texts should be perceived only in their inner sense. They discuss not the corporeal world, but the correction of man’s desire.

The desire to receive is divided into “Isra-El” (straight to the Creator) and “the nations of the world” (desires not aimed at the Creator). Such desires exist in every one of us: Some (for now, only “the point in the heart”) are aimed at the purpose of creation, while others (called “the nations of the world”) are not directed at reaching this goal.

“Exile” is the exile from the Light, from the spiritual world, meaning from the property of bestowal. “Redemption” is appearance of the force to bestow, to unite with the others, to love, within me. “The Creator” or “the Light” is the property of love and bestowal.

This is the only way to view all Kabbalistic texts: only within oneself and solely for the correction of self. Otherwise, you will drown in corporeal images (idolatry) and start growing new religions based on Kabbalah.
[25720]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/10, “Exile and Redemption”

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Question: In “Introduction to The Study Of Ten Sefirot,” Baal HaSulam writes that a person must strive to understand what he is studying. Does this apply to studying The Zohar?

Asnwer: Of course! After all, in both TES and The Zohar we understand nothing. But to understand means to aspire to know. Know, not understand! Understanding comes later. First, we must know, meaning we must reveal the Upper world and connect with it in the equivalence of form, as it is written: “And Adam knew Hava (Eve).”

In spirituality, mind (the Light of Hochma or Wisdom) comes in the degree of the desire’s corrections, in the Light of Hassadim (Mercy), and not according to the excellent work of the cells of the cerebrum, memory, or electrical impulses passing through the brain. We can attach electrodes or add memory cells to the human brain, but it won’t help to attain knowledge! It is described as: “Not the wise one learns.” It all depends on the correction by the Light of Hassadim since then the Light of Hochma has something to clothe in.

The connection between Hochma and Hassadim is regarded as “And Adam knew Hava, his wife.” Adam is Hassadim, and Hava is Hochma clothed in Hassadim. We can advance only in accordance with this principle.

Hence, no matter what we study, The Zohar or TES, we must think solely about the correction of desire, the place which the Light of Hochma will clothe. Thereby, we will indeed become wise for we will obtain inner wisdom, when the Light of Hochma will clothe in the inner Light of Hassadim.

We see little value in the external wisdom that characterizes “Kabbalists from Jerusalem,” as Baal HaSulam labels them. No matter how well a person has memorized everything written in the books, it will only confuse him.

It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know these texts, but we must aspire to have them revealed as the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim. We shouldn’t strive to fill the mind with information from the book.
[25559]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, The Zohar

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Question: Three or four times a week I get up and go to the lesson, and I don’t really understand why. What’s going on here? Why do I do this?

Answer: You receive an example from Above: the Creator forces you out of sleep, and you come to the lesson. This is meant to show you that you are capable of getting up and coming to the lesson, but only three times a week, when the Creator awakens you. The rest He leaves up to you. Now let’s see what you do when you don’t get this impulse.

If you don’t understand why you are here, you should analyze the situation. It appears that you come here because if you don’t, you’ll feel bad. It follows that you come in order to escape evil.

Question cont.: So what can I do to start coming every day and on my own?

Answer: For that you need another kind of fuel. You need to come here not to escape from evil, but in order to realize the importance of the goal. You need to get up not because otherwise bad things will happen, but because a lofty goal is awaiting you.

Question cont.: How do I exalt the goal in my eyes?

Answer: You are incapable of doing this alone. The goal cannot be achieved individually. Here you need to see your true state: There is a single system of souls, similar to the Creator, within which the Inner Light of life (NRNHY) is revealed. This is the Creator. We are separated from this state by 125 “filters” which weaken the Light. I want to receive the strength to return to that state.

Looking at the system of souls I see that it unites everybody into a single whole, and thanks to this the Light fulfills them and gives them life. Consequently, in order to ascend, I must establish a stronger connection with the friends.

The Creator does not relate to any individual alone. Any step toward correction ought to be regarded as an even greater level of unification in the group.

It follows that if you were to unify with the friends ahead of time, you would receive from them the inspiration and fuel to come to the daily lesson. Whereas now you are isolated from them, and even on the corporeal level the flame burning within them does not rub off on you.
[24913]
From 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/10,  “All of Israel Have A Part in the Next World”

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In “Within My Flesh Shall I See God,” section “The Realization of Attainment – Only through the Method of Kabbalah,” Baal HaSulam writes that the denial of Providence is like asking a person: “Who wrote this incredibly wise book?” and him answering that there is no such sage in the world, that everything only happened because his small son spilled ink on blank sheets of paper, and the ink spread to form letters which combined into the words of this incredible science.

By denying the presence of the Upper Governance, people act according to the principle of “whatever I do not feel does not exist.” That’s so even if they see that there is a reason for everything, which is the essence of a materialistic approach.

All of our scientific experiments are based on studying the preliminary causes; otherwise our natural sciences would have no value. But at the same time there are those who deny the existence of the source of the entire creation. Even though man understands that his knowledge is limited and there are many things that he does not grasp or understand, he tries to prove that the universe is exactly what he perceives.

But in order to study the universe, it is necessary to rise above nature because I can study a certain state only when I am above it. In order to study animals I need to be a human for animals cannot study themselves. I can study the stages below me, but I cannot study myself.

Psychology, a science of human behavior, is an example of this. In psychology we base our knowledge on real facts that we have experienced, but we are unable to rise above ourselves to begin to understand the actual methodology of human relationships, the system of connections, or human mentality even though it seems to us like we are capable of doing this objectively.

This is why Baal HaSulam writes that he respects materialistic psychology; its data is based on the study of matter and its form. But until man is able to examine the matter of the spiritual world and the form clothed into this matter, he is unable to say anything about himself, just like a cat is unable to study human behavior or explain its actions.

Thus, Baal HaSulam says that attainment is only possible through the method of Kabbalah because it lifts a person to the next level of consciousness.
[23807]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/10, “From My Flesh Shall I Know God”

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Question: Despite the fact that you so meticulously keep trying to explain to us the mechanics of the spiritual worlds described in Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of Ten Sefirot), I still don’t understand anything.

Answer: I cannot be meticulous because there are too many details in it, which you are unable to remember. A person can remember what he feels and not some mechanical data. Even the latter he has to translate into impressions and only then he may remember them. Although memory seems to be part of the mind, it is the sensory experiences that are preserved in the memory cells.

Suppose I am entering some information into the computer now;  this data is the outcome of my sensory experiences since my substance is based on feelings. It perceives good and bad in multitude of forms. When I enter this information into the memory, I give my impression a definition; otherwise, it won’t be recorded.

I have to assign a specific place for this in my memory, give it a title and definition, similar to how we specify the complete passage through many “slashes” when we are dealing with a link on an Internet page. In the same manner, the “address” in our memory is formed. And even though this memory is “mechanical,” it still records impressions. If I begin to remember an event from the distant past, I suddenly experience my forgotten feelings and remember a scent, a sound, and so forth.

Therefore, if we have never felt the spiritual world, we cannot remember information about it. That is why Baal HaSulam was so angry when he met “Kabbalists from Jerusalem” who were practicing mechanical memorization of  Kabbalah theory and thought that it was enough to succeed. This is not our way. We try to study Talmud Eser Sefirot, but do not evaluate our spiritual advancement by how much knowledge we obtain. We measure it by how much we can feel!

What can you possibly know if you don’t feel the words, as it is written: “Taste how wonderful the Creator is”? Does a person know what these words mean? Has he ever felt what they signify? If not, then his knowledge is worthless. We are studying in order to draw the Light that Reforms! Our desire, as described in The Book of Zohar and Talmud Eser Sefirot, gives us an opportunity to connect with the material.

But we don’t understand what it means that Zeir Anpin is falling asleep or is ascending with MAN to Bina; for us, they are merely words for now. Hence, for now, the entire Kabbalah is an empty science, but it gives us the foundation for a desire, preparation, and the cause for revelation. I wish to know it since everything in the text is talking about me and what is happening within my soul!

Who is ascending from Malchut to Zeir Anpin and Bina? My soul ascends, receives fulfillment there, and returns back down! All these actions are occurring in me right this instant, but I don’t feel it. I wish to finally feel what are they like? Why do I suddenly have such eagerness? This is because your spiritual gene, your  Reshimo, has woken up.
[22845]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: I have an opportunity to study with my group in New Jersey, but this group is new. Wouldn’t it be better for me to go to the Brooklyn group? They have many years of experience and a well equipped classroom?

Answer: I recommend staying where you are and building your own group. This advice does not only apply to you, but to all the new groups. Connect among yourselves and with us, my lessons, and the Learning Center. This is enough. Old groups often have their problems, and you need to advance. Be independent!
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Spirituality exists not in some distance space but is concealed among our egoistic relationships. As soon as we manage to connect, at the point of contact between us, we will uncover spirituality; the entire system will start working; the Light will be revealed, and it will create a spiritual image in you.

This is exactly what we should be thinking while reading The Book of Zohar.
[22823]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, The Zohar

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We have difficulty understanding the language of Kabbalists. The very subject matter of the discussion is concealed from us, and we don’t know what the Light and Kli (vessel), the Creator and the creature, the spiritual worlds, or the correct and incorrect relationships are. We are unable to compare what is written in the text with reality because spiritual reality is aimed at bestowal and doesn’t exist in our perceptions that are still egoistic.

In memorizing the words of Kabbalists, we don’t get to know their essence, but use the clichés that we had previously agreed on. Even if we bring some understanding into them, how do we know that it is correct? After all, the spiritual states that the wisdom of Kabbalah is talking about haven’t left sensations and impressions in us yet.

All that we feel in our egoistic desire is not related to spirituality. In order to understand Kabbalistic texts, we need to internally jump over our egoism, freeze in this inner flight, and start absorbing the meaning of their words. This is why we need to shift the words of Kabbalists into the realm of sensory perception. In the World of Infinity, everything is simple: The Light fills the vessel (Kli).

However, at the stages of development from below upward, while studying the text without feeling it, it is impossible to visualize what is being discussed, understand, or even mechanically memorize it since we are not undergoing any of what the Kabbalists are describing. As an effect of studying, some ideas are kept in the memory, but since there is a lack thereof in the feelings, we get tangled and lost in them.

This continues until we are able to feel the spiritual states being described to the degree of our equivalence with them in our properties of bestowal. This can be achieved solely by way of working with the friends since love of the others leads to love for the Creator.

While remaining in egoism, we must first discover our hate in the yearning to be connected with the friends; then, we have to correct it until we have come to love as to a bridge that lies over an abyss of hate. Thanks to this correction, the abyss will be filled with the Light.
[22722]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/6/10, “In Everything We Must Discern Between Light and Kli”

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Question: Is there an advantage to studying together in a physical place over virtual study via the Internet?

Answer: Without a doubt, if a person has an opportunity to be present physically at the lesson at one of our centers, to take upon himself the obligation to attend the lessons regularly, this is more effective than a virtual connection. However, if he has no opportunity to be physically present at the lesson together with his friends, this means that the Upper governance has not arranged these conditions for him, and he does not lose anything by connecting to the lesson via Kabbalah TV or the Internet.

But this is only true if the Creator has arranged it so, meaning the person lives somewhere far from all our study centers. If a person lives in Israel, for example, I cannot imagine a situation where he is unable to attend a lesson at least once a week at one of our many centers throughout the country.
[22353]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/10, Kabbalah Learning Approach

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Question: I live in Ecuador. How, during the lesson, can I connect with the prayer for the correction of the group?

Answer: A person has to try feeling as if he were here with us. There is no distance on the spiritual path. If one of us is sitting at the computer screen a few miles away from our center, another is somewhere in Ecuador, and still another is in our auditorium, it makes no difference.

It all depends on where a person’s heart is. All you have to do is try to remain connected with us. A person is where his desire is. That’s because there is nothing else except the desire; the outer “clothing” doesn’t count.
[22526]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/4/10, The Zohar

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