We should therefore always distinguish two discernments in His bestowal: The first is the form of the essence of that upper abundance before it is received, when it is still an inclusive, simple light. The second is that after the abundance has been received, for by this it acquired one separate form according to the properties of the receiver (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Chapter 1, Inner Observation, Item 2).

According to the similarity of my qualities and the qualities of the Creator’s bestowal, I feel only a certain influence. That is, the light before clothing into me is called “simple, uniform, single,” and when it is clothed in the receiver, it is as if it takes on my qualities.

Question: If my qualities are opposite to Him, do I feel myself opposite to the Creator?

Answer: There are a great number of possibilities here, depending on the similarity of the qualities of the Creator and the qualities of a person. This is how a person feels. The more his qualities will be similar to the qualities of the Creator, the more correctly he will feel Him.

Question: How clear is this feeling of the Creator?

Answer: It depends on the measure of similarity because practically we feel only the Creator, there is none else besides Him.

Therefore, our entire pursuit is to reveal Him in all His manifestations. Then we will see that everything around is just Him, His single force and a single fulfillment.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/16/22

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Comment: In The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Baal HaSulam explains that the spiritual essence itself is simple, although it consists of many opposite forms relative to the receiver. Therefore, people began to believe that there are two upper forces: good and evil. Then they saw that they were disintegrating into many more different forces.

My Response: In our world, a person sees a great number of different forces around him and does not understand that all this comes from one source, from one force.

Question: Why is this done in such a way? What does this source want to tell us about this?

Answer: He wants to say that we should correct ourselves until we see only Him in everything. The correction of a person consists in discovering one force behind all the forces. There is none else besides Him.

Question: Let’s say I discovered this force. What is next?

Answer: Next you begin to correctly attain everything that exists within you and around you, that only one single Creator fills everything and acts in everything.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/16/22

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That should appease your mind regarding the perplexing expressions we often find in books of Kabbalah……, and some that are even foreign to the human spirit (Baal HaSulam, Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation”).

Question: Baal HaSulam writes of such concepts as, for example, a kiss or copulation, which at first glance are not quite decent things. But in Kabbalah, they imply a certain connection between spiritual objects. Therefore, he says it is necessary to use the exact terms that clearly correspond to the root relating to the branch, which cannot be replaced with other words.

What if the Kabbalist makes a mistake? Could it be that he called the root the wrong branch?

Answer: If a present-day Kabbalist writes it, consistently using this or that term, we accept it as a given. And if, for example, he could have made a mistake, then it is not clear what his mistake comes from. It follows, he does not understand exactly what is happening in the spiritual world and therefore does not see the right consequence in our world. That is, his language of the branches is incorrect.

But a true Kabbalist who attains the upper actions and their consequences in our world cannot choose to use other words no matter how strange they may be.

Comment: For example, Baal HaSulam wrote about why the mountain in Jerusalem is called the Mount of Olives. That is, Kabbalists felt from their attainment that this is exactly what it should be called, or why Adam was called Adam in the Torah.

My Response: Yes, all Kabbalistic terms, and these are practically all the words in the Torah, come from the Kabbalist’s attainment.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 8/14/22

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Know that there is not an essence of a single being in the world, both the ones perceived by our senses and the ones perceived by our mind’s eye, that is not included in the Creator  (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Chapter 1, Inner Observation, Item 1).

The Creator is a general force that includes everything. Not only what we see, but in general everything that happens, is located, or exists anywhere, everything, is included in the Creator.

Question: If the Creator is a quality of bestowal and a quality of unity and our world is egoistic, why is our world still included in Him? How can we understand this?

Answer: It is because we perceive it incorrectly.

Question: Is the evil that we see in the world in the Creator, or do we perceive it this way?

Answer: This is our perception. In fact, there is no evil in the world at all.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/16/22

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “What I Find in the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

A couple of weeks ago, a journalist from the French women’s paper magazine Fémitude wrote me asking if I would be willing to answer a question for an article she was writing about the wisdom of Kabbalah. Her question was, “What Dr. Laitman is trying to discover through Kabbalah?”, adding that she intends to include my answer in her piece.

I was happy to answer her because I am very pleased that there is interest in the wisdom of Kabbalah in France, but even more so because it is a women’s magazine, and the increasingly prominent role that women are playing in society, much to my delight, makes it all the more important that they know what is Kabbalah and what it gives.

Over the years, there have been many myths about what is Kabbalah, and all kinds of myths and stories about magic and esoteric ideas have been attached to it. True, authentic Kabbalah has nothing to do with mysticism, magic, amulets, or anything of the kind.

The wisdom of Kabbalah studies natural, physical forces, just as Newton’s physics studies physical forces. The difference between the forces Newton studied and the forces that Kabbalah studies is that instruments cannot detect the forces that Kabbalah talks about. In order to study the forces that the wisdom of Kabbalah discusses, we need to change our very selves, our nature.

Our inherent nature focuses on self-interest. As a result, we see the world as separate elements locked in a struggle for survival. Kabbalah proves that in truth, there is no struggle; there is complementarity and mutual support. However, in order to discover this, we need to change our perception of the world from egocentric to holistic and inclusive. Otherwise, we will misinterpret everything we see, according to our egoistic minds.

Once we change ourselves, we find that the world consists not of elements that fight against each other for survival, as in the motto, “the survival of the fittest.” Rather, the forces of the universe balance and support one another. The battle exists only in our minds, but we cannot see this until we acquire a new perspective, as if shifting from a two-dimensional vision into a three-dimensional vision.

The wisdom of Kabbalah espouses caring for others, solidarity, and unity. It does so not only because it is nicer to live this way, although it certainly is. If this were the only motivation, we would be in a constant struggle against our nature, which constantly strives to return to narcissism. The wisdom of Kabbalah advocates pro-social, pro-humanity values because when we expand our vision and can see others, we see the actual reality and begin to perceive the forces that a self-centered mind cannot grasp. Once we discover how the world really works, we will never return to selfishness.

This is why I study Kabbalah: to change myself and to see the world as it really is. As part of my efforts, I also teach Kabbalah because once you realize the gift it gives those who study it, you cannot keep it to yourself, as nothing would be more selfish than keeping such a gemstone hidden from the world.

*To find out more about Kabbalah, please visit my website, my personal webpage, or our Kabbalah courses.
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Question: The Torah is written in the language of branches. For example, in the Torah the word “Egypt” (Mitzraim) means “concentration of evil” (Mitz Ra). That is, a Kabbalist feels the evil of his egoistic nature, but calls it Egypt. In our world there is such a country or, say, a place. This is clear.

But when a Kabbalist says such terms as “Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin,” there is no manifestation of such words in our world. Where are their branches?

Answer: Partly, they are manifested. In our world there are words like “Keter, Hochma, Bina,” although we use them in a completely different context. But there are also terms that are not used in our world. Kabbalists derived them from their spiritual attainment.

In other words, there are spiritual objects that do not manifest in the material world. And there are those that do manifest so we by seeing the branches can name them.

Comment: But if we can’t name them, then Kabbalists came up with all sorts of names, for example, “Ten Sefirot,” which actually do not mean anything?

Answer: This is not made up but derived out of their attainment. For example, why did they call the mountain in Jerusalem the Mount of Olives? Because they saw that it was suitable for planting olive trees on it. And so with the other words.

That is, if a person does not have spiritual attainment, he cannot research anything in Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/16/22

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First, we must know that when dealing with spiritual matters, which have no concern with time, space, or motion, and moreover when dealing with Godliness, we do not have the words by which to contemplate and express. Our entire vocabulary is taken from sensations of imaginary senses.

For this reason, the sages of the Kabbalah have chosen a special language that we can call “the language of the branches” (Baal HaSulam, Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Restriction and Line,” Inner Observation).

The language of the branches is a special language used by Kabbalists. On one hand, it is taken from our world, and on the other hand from the sensation that they take from the upper world. It turns out that while speaking in the language of our world, Kabbalists propose to describe some phenomena in the upper world.

In principle, this is impossible, but when a person gradually studies the text, devotes a lot of time to this, and wants to attain the real spiritual laws and actions, then he invites the upper light to come closer to him because it is how it is embedded in the text itself by its author.

Therefore, a person begins to come closer to understanding the inner meaning of the text. In this way, he slowly overcomes this basically insurmountable barrier between our world and the spiritual world and begins to understand spiritual actions through the words of our world.

In the Study of the Ten Sefirot, Baal HaSulam provides a dictionary of Kabbalistic terms and gives an explanation of them that is close to understanding in our world. But still, this is not our world.

Light, darkness, becoming closer, distancing, restriction—in general he tries to explain all actions of the spiritual world with the help of various terms, and by studying them we attract the surrounding light upon ourselves.

In fact, we do not understand what it is about, but we at the same time awaken the upper light, which influences us and brings us closer to feeling the actions of the upper light
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From KabTV’s The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES) 10/16/22

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Question: If I understand correctly, the reduction of desire occurred due to the fact that the creation felt itself opposite to the Creator precisely in its intention and not in the fact that it has a desire to receive (Aviut).

Is the shame of creation not that it is opposite to the Creator (He is the desire to give and it is the desire to receive), but rather in how it uses this desire?

Answer: Naturally because creation cannot command what it can be, but it can choose a reaction to what it is. Therefore its reaction was: “I want to be similar to and as close as possible to the Creator.”

Question: Can this be applied to our lives? Should I not be ashamed that the Creator created me like this? It is clear that I have a desire to receive and I want to use everyone. But is the problem not that, but rather in how I use my desire?

Answer: Yes. It’s what is in your will, what your choice is.

Comment: That is, the fact that I will always want to enjoy is understandable.

My Response: This is not a vice.

Question: And the fact that I want to enjoy at the expense of others, can this in principle be considered a vice?

Answer: It is your choice.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/2/22

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Since in Ein Sof it is He is One and His Name One, and since there is no place and vessel (meaning our desire) apparent there at all, no mind of a created being can attain Him, for there is no attainment without a vessel (Baal HaSulam, Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, Chapter 2, Item 30).

Question: What does it mean “there is no attainment without a vessel”?

Answer: We must change our desire so that it is similar to the Creator, but how can we do this if we are created beings?

Therefore the influence of the light on our desire gives it an intention. If our intention matches the intention of the Creator, then we come closer to Him, and to this extent we can feel Him, contact Him, and be filled with Him.

It means that the most important thing is not the desire itself. The desire to enjoy is the primordial desire of creation itself, and it remains. But we can change our intentions for whose sake we enjoy, for ourselves or for the Creator (there are only two of these possibilities).

If we can change our intention from receiving pleasure for our own sake to receiving pleasure for the sake of the Creator, then we will become like the Creator in this; as the Creator wants to bring contentment to us, so we want to bring contentment to Him. To this extent, we will begin to feel Him.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/2/22

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Question: Baal HaSulam wrote The Study of the Ten Sefirot as a textbook for beginners. In addition to the original text and comments on the book The Tree of Life, he made explanations called “Inner Light” and “Inner Observation,” and also compiled “Questions and Answers” to clarify the meaning of words, terms, and spiritual actions. This is a complete textbook.

Are there any other books similar to The Study of the Ten Sefirot? As far as I know, all the other books are written quite differently.

Answer: The Study of the Ten Sefirot is a special compilation based on the book of the Ari’s The Tree of Life and is its complete commentary. There is nothing to add or take away. This is a complete statement of what the Ari wanted to say in his book The Tree of Life. Baal HaSulam really showed how deeply he understands the Ari and continues him. It is not for nothing that we believe that the soul of the Ari was incarnated in Baal HaSulam.

Question: Was it in the character of Baal HaSulam to write a Kabbalistic work in such a form as a textbook at a university with questions and answers? Or did he just want it to look like a textbook?

Answer: Firstly, he wanted it to be closer to a textbook since he was already writing for our generation.

Secondly, he would not have otherwise been able to explain thoroughly in detail what the Ari wanted to say: how a desire is born that is controlled by light, how it can react correctly to it, and through successive actions come to a complete similarity to light.

Thus, the textbook The Study of the Ten Sefirot contains an absolutely complete collection of the actions of desire regarding light.

Comment: Baal HaSulam wrote this book in two columns per page so that the eye immediately covers all the information. That is how it looked originally.

My Response: He did not like long lines in general, even when he was writing for himself.

That is, the page was divided into two columns, which can be read in narrow text. This is done so that you can cover the entire line from beginning to end with one glance, without moving your eyes or turning your head.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/16/22

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