Question from my blog in English: When you speak about the language of branches, are you referring to an analogy or some kind of metaphorical thinking? If so, does this imply a unique language that cannot be conveyed in words, making it difficult to grasp what those who have internally attained the Creator intended to express? Will we intuitively understand this language once our own attainment coincides with theirs?

Answer: There is an “I” that perceives itself and a certain space around it, wishing to absorb what is necessary and useful from this space and to throw out what is harmful or unnecessary. I learn how to build connections with this space in order to always be in optimal comfort. All my knowledge comes from this kind of interaction with the space surrounding me that is filled with nature and people. Psychology (in the materialistic sense) is the science of the egoistic perception of “self versus the surroundings.”

If I begin to expand my “I” around me in ever-widening circles, gradually accepting the surrounding as part of myself, as something entering into my “I,” and egoistically subordinating it to myself, that constitutes conquest and acquisition.

But if, while continuing to perceive myself as distinct from the surroundings (an “I” versus what is outside me),  I nonetheless strive to relate to the surroundings as I do to myself, or even more so, that is altruism. This is because a sense of alienation or even hatred remains, but above this feeling, contrary to it, a feeling of love arises. It emerges because I stop identifying solely with my “I”; I step outside of it, and as if from an external vantage point, build a new attitude from this “I” toward the surroundings.

By rising above my egoistic “I,” I create a screen through which I relate to the surrounding with love, treating them as myself and even more; this is called the property of bestowal or reflected light. Kabbalah—a spiritual psychology—deals with the perception of “self in relation to the surroundings.”
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Question: How does fear of the future allow you to add something extra, that is, to look at this fear from the outside?

Answer: I can view my fear from the outside only if I acquire some quality of Creator. We are not talking about animalistic fears, although there is a certain reflection of it even there. I need different Kelim to see and determine my state.

Had the shattering of the Kelim not occurred and had new foreign qualities not entered the soul (the desire to receive), we would never have been able to react, think, or look at ourselves at least somewhat objectively. But now, a person can see himself a little bit, as if from the outside.

This is a consequence of the shattering of the Kelim. Animals do not have this, but humans do. The more developed people are (I am referring to the animal level), the more they can see themselves from the outside and analyze. Psychology and other sciences are based on this. You do not have to study Kabbalah for this.

But where does it come from? As a result of the breakage in us, our animalistic Kelim acquired qualities that make us human rather than animals.

We feel the past and future from the present, and we can look at ourselves, examine ourselves, as if objectively, from the outside, much like psychologists do. For example, Freud wrote about himself, as if observing from the outside, exploring his own behavior from childhood to the moment he became a psychologist.

This approach can be developed for the entire creation and for all humankind from a spiritual perspective, from the perspective of the Creator. When one crosses the Machsom and acquires a spiritual Kli, in which he separates himself from his desires, from caring for himself, from attributing everything to his own “I,” and instead accepts the Creator’s view of himself, this is the most objective form possible.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/26, Rabash, “What Is the Work of Man, in the Work that Is Attributed to the Creator?”

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The difference between the present world and the future world lies in shift of a person’s inner intention regarding reality. Reality is everything that a person perceives. When you begin to see it in reflected light, that reality appears completely different to you.

However, this sensation is subjective. It does not mean that a person sees, for example, a house as something else entirely. Simply, its essence is seen differently in the intention and in the goal of creation. When you look at something, it seems to you that it simply exists. You do not even know why and for what purpose. But here you reveal a purposeful cause within each thing as well as how you can contribute to it. Every object has both a cause and a purpose.

A change in intention alters the sense of perception, ultimately, it is precisely the intention that changes, not what lies outside of the person. You might say, “But we learn that aside from the person there is only the upper light, and all the rest is simply illusion.”

So what does a Kabbalist in this world actually see? Do they see only the upper light, or do they also see houses, cars, women, children, and the group? Or do they still see only the surrounding light filling all of reality and themselves enveloped within that light?

When we say that the upper light fills all of reality, we are not referring to what we see and feel. We are speaking about the upper governance. It is what fills all of reality and is entirely benevolent. But at the same time, nothing disappears: not houses, children, nor the universe. The illusion lies not in whether something exists or not, but precisely in the intention for the sake of which it exists.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord, and the Revealed Things Belong to Us,’ in the Work?”

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We have five organs of sensation through which we perceive our surroundings. If we had different organs, we would perceive reality differently.

What are “different organs”? What other organs might we have? Perhaps different desires? Do our desires change? We have five primary desires. If these organs of sensation exist, then we experience sensations; if they do not, we do not experience them.

You might ask: when a person dies, parts with their material body, and remains only in spirituality, how do they perceive reality? Can they perceive the material world using a spiritual body? Since their physical senses vanish, they no longer see houses or people. What do they see and feel? What vanishes and what remains?

Therefore, we must say that everything is related to the sensing organs. Now when you look at the world, you see the outer shell, the material garments, because your senses are material. If you were to add spiritual sense organs to this, you would also see the spiritual garments that actually exist, i.e., the spiritual Kelim (vessels), corresponding to your spiritual level and those below it.

Anything above your degree would simply appear to you as light. As you ascend, this light coalesces into Kelim and their fillings. For example, each head (Rosh) of a Partzuf is called infinity, but this is infinity relative to that specific Partzuf.

If, however, I am above its Rosh, then for me, this is no longer infinity but a Rosh that I understand and perceive. What the Partzuf does not attain within its own Rosh, I grasp within mine. Thus, everything is determined by the sense organs.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/26, Rabash, “What Is “The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord, and the Revealed Things Belong to Us,” in the Work?”

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I cannot directly change anything within myself. I cannot “touch” myself at all. I have no access to my will to receive.

For example our vision. Scientists traced the path from the eyeball to the optic nerve, from there to other more complex systems of the organism, and discovered along the way what we see, how we see, and how vision can be corrected.

Eventually they arrived at what is called the pleasure center. If you begin to examine this center, you will quickly discover that it is a specific structure in the brain that operates through biochemical reactions.

But behind it, beyond the reach of a scalpel, lies a part of us known as the “feeling” self; this is the spiritual Kli. There is no way to reach it. It is a desire! Everything else is merely the material garments of the desire, the means through which it operates and expresses itself. But we cannot reach the desire itself.

So what do my eyes perceive? Sparks of light clothed, let us say, in a beautiful painting. I look at a beautiful picture and enjoy it. What does this mean? There is no pleasure in the picture itself. There is a spark of light in it that corresponds precisely to my Kli. Someone else may look at the same picture with indifference, or even disgust. But it fills me with pleasure.

In other words, the spiritual spark that is clothed in the picture is perceived by me through my eyes, passes through all the systems until it is finally released at the end of the material, biological chain, and enters the source of my spiritual pleasure: the spiritual desire.

The entire path that it travels—from the picture, to the eyes, and through all the systems of the organism—is merely a channel of transmission. At the beginning there is a spark of light and at the end the will to receive. That is all! All our sense organs are merely transmission channels.

This is how we live in this world: the same lights and Kelim, only with an intermediary between them. From this we see that we have no power over the light and the Kli. They are completely separate from us and exist outside our bodies, and we can change them only by drawing the surrounding light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called ‘Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

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Question: We say that in reality everything is within us. But wasn’t the world created first, and we were created only afterward?

Answer: Indeed, we say that everything a person feels, he perceives through his five sense organs. These sense organs present him with a picture of the world, although in reality there is no such thing as a picture of the world in itself. We can speak about form only in relation to the one who perceives it.

There are entire articles on this subject. Rabash writes that it is impossible to speak about the attained without the one who attains. Therefore, we cannot speak about the existence of anything outside a person. And we attain the person himself as existing because we base ourselves on our own sensations.

Let us suppose that we accept this as a fact: We do not know what exists around us, and we perceive the picture of the world through the internal reaction of our sense organs. We are so incapable of distinguishing between reality and its perception that what we perceive, what appears to us, seems to us to exist in reality: “If I perceive an object as existing through my sense organs, then it truly exists.”

It is very difficult for me; I cannot step outside my body and see that outside of it this object has no form and no existence. Well, then, let us take the sages at their word.

But, on the other hand, the sages say that in spirituality, the world was created first, and only afterward man was created. It is the same in this world: first the universe was created, then the Earth began to form and cool, and only afterward did man appear upon it. So how can we speak about the existence and gradual development of external nature even before the emergence of man, who perceives this nature through his sense organs?

So when we speak about nature that existed before the emergence of man, we mean precisely how we imagine it through our sense organs. Otherwise, we would not be able to speak about it.

Everything in the world is an expression of desires, but the one who can later tell us about it according to his attainment tells us about it using our words.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/26, Rabash, “What Is the Prohibition to Teach Torah to Idol-Worshippers in the Work?”

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Quality is far more important than quantity. There is an infinite number of plants in the world, yet one flower is equivalent to all the still matter in the universe.

One animal is equivalent to all the plants in the world. One person is equivalent to the rest of nature. This is how the difference between the degrees that are separated by an abyss is manifested.

If all the stones in the universe were gathered together, it would be impossible to grow even a single flower from them. For a flower contains life, that is, development, which does not exist in still matter.

The development of a human being, however, is completely unique and incomprehensible to the ordinary view. It would seem that each person possesses only a very small force, yet it is of an extremely high quality.

Therefore, an event such as a congress, our connection, gives tremendous strength. What are all the stars in the universe compared to a single human thought?

Today, scientists are discovering that our thoughts influence physical processes, the behavior of elementary particles in the collider. In fact, our thoughts govern all the stars, the entire vegetative and animate nature. All of this is the consequence of a person’s attitude, thoughts, and desires.

Therefore, it is said that all the parts of nature are included within the human being, and that there is nothing in nature that we need to correct except our thoughts. By doing this, we correct the entire world.

The light enters this world through the system called “Adam” (Man), for it is above everything else, and the light spreads from above downward. To the extent that this system is connected or, conversely, divided, that is, corrected or corrupted, to that extent the light passes to all the other parts: the still, vegetative, and animate, and it determines how we perceive the world.

Therefore, it is said that all of nature is included within the human being and rises and falls together with him. If I ascend and attain a greater connection with others, thereby correcting the common soul, then through me a stronger light passes to all of nature, and it too becomes connected in greater harmony.

I am the center of all this nature, and around me are the still, vegetative, and animate levels, and I determine their correction. When I complete my correction, they disappear and join me, for they are all my own parts—my reflection.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/10, Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Question: How can a person ask the Creator for help and wish only to bestow without receiving anything for oneself?

Answer: That is exactly what we ask for. I ask the Creator to give me the ability to bestow. To bestow upon the Creator means to bestow upon the group, as it is written: “I dwell among My people.” It is one and the same.

There is no other Creator. “I dwell among My people” means that He is revealed within the group. The collective force of the group is called “The Creator.” To bestow upon the group as a whole is to bestow upon the Creator.

We tend to think about this in ordinary, earthly terms, and so it seems to us. “What is so special about the group? What can I possibly give them? This is nonsense!” But if you were truly able to come out of yourself and bestow upon others, you would reveal the higher reality rather than this world. We simply have not yet attained it.

One might ask: “Haven’t many philosophical movements also promoted devotion to society? Have they not claimed that the voice of the people is the voice of God?” But that is not the same because they did not use the reforming light, the inner force contained within the collective.

So what does the wisdom of Kabbalah ultimately say? You have nothing but desire. Within that desire lies a unique force called “the Creator” concealed there from the outset. You can awaken this force within the group if you genuinely wish to advance toward it by bestowing upon the group. There, within the group, you resolve all your relationships—with yourself, with the group, and with the Creator. Everything takes place within the group, in the bestowal that you acquire outside yourself.

There is no difference between bestowing upon the group, and bestowing upon the Creator. Bestowing upon the group refers more to bestowing upon the vessels (Kelim), the desires of others. Bestowing upon the Creator means becoming more integrated into the general force of bestowal that reigns within those desires.

We must free ourselves from religious concepts, from the lingering belief that there is some Creator ruling somewhere in the heavens and influencing us from there. Notice how deeply rooted this stereotype still is within us! But there is no higher force outside of us! That force exists within the group, in the connection between us. There is nothing beyond that reality that you reveal. Outside of reality, there is nothing.

As you delve more deeply into these concepts, you begin to understand that this is, in fact, a very materialistic approach.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/11, on The Book of Zohar, Yitro (Jethro)

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Question: Why is our goal called adhesion with the Creator, rather than the correction of the soul?

Answer: Because the goal must be the attainment of a specific state, whereas the correction of the vessels is not the state, it is the means. You must certainly concern yourself with correcting this, but why you are correcting the Kli (vessel) is the essential question.

If you do not know why you should correct your Kli, then you become like those who observe the commandments simply because they have been told to do so. And if you were told something else, you would behave differently.

If you perform corrections without understanding their purpose, then they are merely pseudo-corrections. If, simply because you have nothing better to do, you want to become a good person, that is your personal choice. The Torah does not demand that. The Torah requires a person to attain adhesion, equivalence of form, to become Adam, similar to the upper one (Edameh leElyon). If you simply want to be good, that is fine; there are many people who say they are good.

So why should you correct yourself? What is the reason for correction? What will it give you? Some kind of personal satisfaction? You reason as follows: “I am told that my goal is to attain similarity to the Creator, to adhere to Him. As He is merciful, so I should be merciful; as He is compassionate, so I should be compassionate. But I do not know who He is, so how can I know what I am supposed to become?”

So you return to the same question: if I do not know who He is, how can I know what I am supposed to correct? You say you are willing to engage only in correction, but how can you correct yourself if you do not know the standard by which you are to measure yourself? On the one hand, it is said: “From Your actions we shall know You.” On the other hand, which actions? How am I to know what I am supposed to be?

“Why do I need the revelation of the Creator?” This is the question you are really asking. I need His revelation in order to become like Him, in order to know what I am supposed to be. If you demand His revelation for this purpose, then He will reveal Himself to you. This is what it means that one comes from Lo Lishma (not for His sake) to Lishma (for His sake).

Of course, you desire His revelation because you want to feel good. Yet at the same time there is already a certain attitude toward Him. You value Him, you want Him. Then the Creator reveals Himself to you, but only to the extent that this revelation will correct you, rather than merely fill you. What does it mean to correct you? It means that you receive His qualities, not the pleasure that comes from Him.

The light of correction means that the Creator imparts His greatness to you: “See how merciful I am, and how good this quality is.” As you perceive this, you begin to recognize that this quality is good, that it is higher than your own.

Thus, His revelation comes in two forms: either as the one who corrects you, or as the one who fills you.

Accordingly, this is what you should ask of Him. Prayer is correct when you first ask Him for correction, and only afterward for fulfillment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given out of the Darkness in the Work? ”

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We need to change our attitude to what is happening to us and redefine it according to true spiritual concepts rather than our own perception. Our world is not a world of action, but a world of consequences.

This means that everything you see in yourself and around you are the results, the consequences, of what is happening above. The roots are above; the branches are below. And if that is how you look at it, then at least you see the true picture. How to react to it is another question.

But if what we see is a consequence, then your attitude toward yourself and what is happening changes. The situation has been determined from above, and nothing can be done about it. The question is, what do I need to do to bring about correction so that something different will descend from above?

What becomes important is proper planning. What must I do for a different picture to descend from above? This is a completely different approach to life! Then the entire connection is directed upward, so to speak. You look at this world as a laboratory in which various experiments are being conducted.

So here we see only the consequences, and it is necessary to ask questions about what needs to be done to get a different result. Then in everything: in action, in intention, and in the heart there is an upward orientation toward the Creator, for that is the only place where we can truly exert influence.

But if we simply bustle about in this world without connecting what is happening with the upper world, then it is a waste of time. After all, our world is called: an illusory world.

You see consequences, like images on a television screen, and nothing more. You might think that if you shout at the television, something in it will change. In order for something to change on television, you need to reach out to real people, and then maybe something might change. So, it is with us; it is just a picture on a television screen.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/26, Rabash, “What Does, ‘Everything that Comes to Be a Burnt Offering Is Male,’ Mean in the Work?”

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