Question: Egoism shrewdly and inventively depicts various pictures before me. How can I discriminate the lie in them, which appears like love for others? After all, all kinds of religions and methods also talk about love.

Answer: In our world “love for the neighbor” is a simple, primitive game of small egoists. Can you really find real, exalted love for the neighbor anywhere, which is really practiced on an ongoing basis?

True, people create separate settlements in order to live in love with one another: There is a village like that in Italy, one in India, and an entire city in Asia. But if you look a bit closer, you will see that they are still the same egoists who just decided to introduce more comfortable social customs. This is more comfortable and pleasant for them, and therefore, they have united in order to make their lives nicer.

Once upon a time kibbutzes flourished in Israel—agricultural settlements with collective property similar to a collective farm. People decided that it was worthwhile for them to live together because this brought them more benefit. “Let’s give up some of our egoism and then we will feel good.” Everything’s clear about this, but is this really altruism?

Humanity supposes that conceding to the neighbor makes a person an altruist. However, people who are slightly more informed about human nature or who study the science of Kabbalah know that any concession has to come with a profit. No matter what a person is giving up, you can find what he is gaining by that. Even if the profit is concealed, it is definitely present.

For example, I am willing to live in a kibbutz because this removes my worries about how to arrange my life. Is that not a profit? I have no worries. I simply do what I am told. But development follows its course and with time kibbutzes became outdated. As a whole, these kinds of communities have no future.

We already see that all forms of interconnection between people have to change due to the egoism that grows in them. Changes continue to take place, and this inner dynamic has to be realized in some way as there will be an explosion otherwise.

This happened over the course of history to various religions, faiths, and methods. Today they are undergoing a worldwide outburst because man has set out on a search once again. He is conducting the final revision: Can these methods offer anything real?

After this analysis these practices will fall for the last time. After all, today we are checking them in relation to the integral mechanism that nature places before us. We have never had this criterion yet. People are once again turning over the pages of all sorts of practices, confessions, and mystical teachings, trying to understand: Can they help us in the new, integral world?

This process will take a short time and will quickly come to an end with all the expectations crashing down. Everyone will see that it is pointless to wait for help from them. Any subject that is checked will persist for a few years at most after which it will reveal its inadequacy.

After all, if you don’t change man’s nature so he becomes just as integral inside of him as nature itself, then no recipes will help him. The only method that makes man global, integral, and united with others is the method of attracting the Light that reforms, the science of Kabbalah. Every person just needs to be given the opportunity to realize his evil. Then all the means and their combinations will turn out powerless, and this entire business of “spiritual” tricks will end up non-existent.

Man will not be able to calm himself down because the world has changed and the problem is no longer how to calm down, but a “conflict of interests.” No one will be able to survive in the integral system without becoming fit for it.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/11, Matan Torah

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Philosophy refuses to rely only on scientific experiments, and sometimes it draws conclusions only based on human imagination. Even a totally abstract theory, when one considers his intellectual conclusions to be above actual fact, is also considered to be philosophy.

As long as you work as a machine, as a scientist, based on strict facts, you will not make mistakes. However, as soon as you separate from them and start “philosophizing,” your conclusions become worth nothing. This is what Kabbalah states.

On one hand, Kabbalah seems to lower a person, turning him into a “machine” which operates according to a simple system. But on the other, it is ready to present him with new possibilities, new instruments of perception. However, it warns that we must not rise above our rationality because we will make mistakes. It offers us new research tools in order to reveal the world further.

The human mind reaches “to the skies,” but one cannot rise above this limit; this is its limit. External sciences go to this limit, but do not continue beyond because one will begin to philosophize. Instead of this, one has a possibility to further continue his scientific experiment with the help of Kabbalah.

The reason for the eternal struggle between Kabbalah and philosophy is because philosophy intrudes on the area where Kabbalah operates. External sciences do not go there. They strictly work within their field: research in the egoistic instruments of knowledge.

However, today, we are reaching a special state when science is reaching its “sky,” its limit. Kabbalah wants to continue the scientific experiments with man beyond this limit, using the same strict principle, but relying on obvious facts, on “what your eyes can see.”

This is why it needs to expel philosophy from this area and show that there is no place for it there. After all, philosophy goes there with fantasies, and Kabbalah comes with actual research instruments (the property of bestowal).

Granted, to research this area of reality, one needs to have new organs of perception and a new approach based on the force of bestowal instead of reception. This is why Kabbalah is called a higher science. But it is nevertheless a science!
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/28/201o, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Question: How is it possible to ask the Creator for help and to desire only to bestow, without receiving anything for ourselves?

Answer: This is exactly what we ask for. I ask the Creator to give me the opportunity to bestow, where “to bestow to the Creator” means to bestow to the group because it is written, “I dwell among My people.” This is the same thing.

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

We think about this in the earthly sense and that’s why it seems to us, “What’s so special about the group? What can I give to them? How silly!” But if you really would come out of yourself to bestowal to others, you would reveal the upper reality instead of this world. It’s just that we don’t achieve this.

A question arises: But many philosophic teachings also advocated bestowal to society and considered the voice of the people to be the voice of God? Yet, that is incorrect because they did not use the correcting Light, the inner force that is present in society.

At the end of the day, what does the science of Kabbalah say? You have nothing besides desire. Inside of this desire there is a special force called “the Creator,” which was concealed there from the beginning. You can awaken this force inside of the group if you really want to advance to it, to bestow to the group. There you come face to face with the end results —with yourself, with the group, and with the Creator. Everything is inside of the group, in the bestowal that you acquire outside of yourself.

And it makes no difference whether you bestow to the group or the Creator. Bestowal in the group means bestowal to the Kelim or desires of others, whereas bestowal to the Creator means that you become more included into the common force of bestowal that reigns inside of these desires.

We have to detach from the religious notions, from our inherent faith in some kind of Creator who rules somewhere up in the sky and influences us from there. Look at how much power this stereotype still has over us! But in fact, there is no upper force outside of us! This force is inside of the group, in the connection between us. And there is nothing besides this reality, which you reveal. There is nothing outside of reality.

By delving increasingly deeper into these notions, you start to understand that this is a very materialistic approach.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/11, The Zohar

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Question: If imagination interferes with a scientific approach and leads to religion and philosophy, then how can there be imagination that helps with scientific research?

Answer: The imagination that helps us is not an abstract form separated from matter, but a form of the upper one clothing onto us. Every informational gene, Reshimo, has two parts: information about “today’s” desire (Reshimo de Aviut) and information about “tomorrow’s” Light (Reshimo de Hitlabshut).

For example, there are a couple of Reshimot, Gimel de Aviut/Dalet de Hitlabshut, “3/4.” When I realize Reshimo “3,” I will be able to receive the form of the upper one from the degree “4” within it, and this is referred to as creative fantasy. I do not receive it for realization, but only as an example.

Reshimo de Hitlabshut suggests a new future form to us because it is always a degree higher than our current state. These are “memories” that have stayed with us from the expansion of steps from Above downward, and now we can ascend because of them.

Man operates like a machine. If we have these informational genes, Reshimot, then we are able to work due to them, but if we do not have them, we can’t. If one’s entire memory were erased, he would not consciously know how to move a finger. Have you seen the helpless behavior of newborns? They are not able to make even the smallest conscious move.

Everything only comes from Reshimot, and if I am able to correctly realize my desire (Reshimo de Aviut) on my degree, then I will be able to receive the degree of the upper one which clothes onto me (Reshimo de Hitlabshut) as an example. The fantasy helps us work on this basis.

This is not an empty fantasy that has no grounds to it, but a real form which is meant to manifest.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Question: Physicists keep attempting to catch the “X” particle, thinking that it gave start to all matter in the Universe, meaning mass itself. Through their discoveries do they come closer to Kabbalah? How did the material universe form, and at what point does the Upper Force dress in all of these forms visible to us?

Answer: Physics treats the forming of the universe as a new creation while Kabbalah states that the material universe is a product, an “imprint” of the whole previous process when another, new object of creation, a Partzuf, comes to life.

Our world is another Partzuf born out of the previous one: Bina de-Malchut de-Malchut of the world of Assiya. NHY (Netzah, Hod, Yesod), the lower part of this upper Partzuf, expanded downward and clothed into our egoistic matter thereby adding its opposite forms to the latter. This means that all forms manifesting in this world are spiritual albeit dressed in corporeal images (imprints, vectors), meaning “for self gratification.” This is the form in which our world exists.

You are asking at what point it got formed. But time doesn’t exist! We live in an imagined reality, and only when this deception falls away will we be able to see the true picture. Presently, we resemble a person whose head is wired to a few electrodes which send electrical impulses to his brain, creating various images in it and making him feel them as real.

This is how various pictures arise in us, just like on the computer screen as the software dictates. Therefore, there aren’t such things as past, present, and future, but rather a sequence of images.

The upper Partzuf descends from Chazeh of Malchut de-Malchut of the world of Assiya to Malchut that ascended to the lowest Bina, gathers her forms and transfers them into our matter, into Malchut herself. All forms of our world are spiritual imprints albeit egoistic ones.

Here we find the entire world, as well as stars and galaxies, because even in the spiritual world there are the exact same objects: “stars” and “heavens.” But in this world, we see only the reverse projection of a small part of the spiritual world while its major part is out of sight. The spiritual world is much richer in the quantity of components.

Our world is entirely egoistic since it is Bina which doesn’t share its power with Malchut but only its forms. When the rungs of the worlds expand from Above downward, the force of bestowal in them gets reduced, gradually diminishing until it totally runs out.

Finally, at the last degree, when there is nothing left of the force of bestowal except one spark, a “thin candle” (Ner Dakik), this spark is clothed in our world and gives it its form. Our world’s degree is characterized by the fact that here, the force of reception is more powerful than the force of bestowal while at all upper degrees, the force of bestowal is greater than the force of reception.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/5/11, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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A question I received: I’m studying the videos and texts on the site and I’ve been learning a lot! I’m a teacher of philosophy in Brazil and my focus of study is the thinker Baruch Spinoza, a cherem Jew of the seventeenth century. Spinoza spoke about a God like Nature, a God not external, but internal and equal to Nature (where Nature is not seen only as trees, clouds, and so on, but the superior Nature that includes all of thing and energies). How does Kabbalah see God? And what does Kabbalah think about Spinoza’s philosophy?

My Answer: There is a huge difference between the definition of “God as Nature” in Kabbalah and in Spinoza’s philosophy. For example, there are differences in how they see the Upper Force as having a mind and a will, to make decisions, its goal and program, its separate, superior position over Nature, its causality and primacy, and so on. It would be best for you to sort all of this out for yourself.

To do so, it will suffice to browse through several articles by Baal HaSulam: “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy,” “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Part 1 of “Talmud Eser Sefirot” – Histaklut Pnimit (Inner Reflection).” Once you read them, I will be happy to speak with you on the subject. I will be in Argentina from August 26 until September 2.

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A question I received: During the lessons you often remind us that religious ethics is completely different from Kabbalah. But when Baal HaSulam wrote this, didn’t he mean the secular, Greek, or corporeal ethics? Aren’t the ethics of the sages passed on through the Light, in order to direct us toward the realization of evil, so we will know what to ask the Light for, and It will then bring us back to the source?

My Answer: Baal HaSulam uses the term Musar (ethics) to describe the opposite of one’s development using Kabbalah.

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Three questions I received about psychology and philosophy as professions:

Question: Today many people work in the fields of psychology, including various techniques for training the mind and soul and for self-improvement. Will these professions be less in demand when the science of Kabbalah becomes revealed? Will all these people be left without work?

My Answer: The profession that will remain is materialistic psychology: the psychology that is founded on real scientific, experimental results.

Question: What is materialistic psychology? I study psychology, but we have not studied anything in this area. Where can I practice and study materialistic psychology?

My Answer: It is the same psychology as what you study, but it is based only on experimental results, without any philosophy and assumptions.

Question: At the Congress you said that you advise people to get a practical profession and you are against all kinds of philosophy. So what should I do if I’m already a student of philosophy and only have to pass the final exams? I live in Israel.

My Answer: You have to find the junction between Kabbalah and philosophy and explain Kabbalah through philosophy. I have some students, including my younger daughter, who have completed studies in philosophy departments. We will find a use for your skills, so go ahead and complete your studies.

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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955, a French theologist and philosopher, one of the developers of the Noosphere theory): His theory is founded on the ideas of Plotinus (205-270) about the emanation of the One (an incognizable Primary Essence, characterized as Goodness) into the Mind and the universal Soul, with the consequent transformation again into the One. According to Plotinus, first the One exudes the universal Mind, which consists of a world of ideas, then the Mind produces a universal Soul, which splits into separate souls and creates a sensitive world. Matter emerges as the lowest degree of the emanation. When the creatures of the sensitive world reach a certain degree of development, they recognize their own incompleteness and strive for a union. Subsequently, they attain adhesion with the One.

According to de Chardin, man strives to enter the sphere of the Mind and to dissolve in God. Evolution did not end with the human being as an individual, but rather proceeds as humanity unites into societies with a growing differentiation of individual functions and as a result, a growing degree of interconnection.

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Two questions I received on Kabbalah’s relation to other sciences:

Question: When you say Kabbalah is a science, do you mean in the ancient sense of the word? That is, Kabbalah is a body of knowledge (either practical or theoretical wisdom)? Or are you using it in a more modern way: Kabbalah is like chemistry, biology, and geology?

My Answer: Kabbalah reveals the nature of the Upper Light to us. A spark of this Light caused an explosion that created our entire Universe and everything that fills it: the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, including the animate part of humans.

By studying the foundations of everything that exists – matter (desire) and the Light (pleasure), we learn the basis of all the objects and phenomena in our world. For more on this, see the article, “Kabbalah as a Root of All Sciences,” and Part 1 of Talmud Eser Sefirot – Inner Observation.

Question: Kabbalah is not philosophy, but is one philosophy more compatible with it than another? Are there any truths found in philosophy even if they only speak of this world?

My Answer: There is no truth in philosophy because it engages in questions that it has invented for itself, or it tries to answer questions based on suppositions that are unrelated to practical experience (it tries to speak about the “abstract form”).

Even when philosophy speaks about our world, it doesn’t reason about it practically. That is to say, it speaks about something as a form or essence that’s separate from matter. Kabbalah, on the other hand, speaks of the form or essence inside matter and about the form of the matter (see the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”). Therefore, all the philosophical conclusions made throughout all of human history were erroneous at worst, or imprecise at best. See Baal HaSulam’s articles on this topic.

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