Question: Can you share your experience of how you hold on to the goal?

Answer: Frankly speaking, I do not even know myself. It is unknown.

On the one hand, the ways of the Lord are inscrutable. On the other hand, I remember myself as a little boy, six to seven years old, constantly asking myself: “Why is this world a game? Why must one exist in it? What goal stands behind this whole spectacle?”

I always saw this world as if it were playing out on a screen behind which some kind of mechanism was specifically showing it to me. And what does it want from me? This sense of duality in the picture of the world and the idea that some hidden purpose exists behind it has never left me and has been absolutely clear to me since childhood.

Throughout all the years of my life, I have seen this from the outside. Even as a boy playing with others, and later during my student years, I understood that, out of inevitability, I had to act just like everyone else.

So if I were to say exactly what drives me forward, it is certainly not me.

But on the other hand, I constantly put myself within such constraints that I have no other options. I am afraid! There was a time when I was pulled away from my spiritual search for exactly one year, to the day.

Question: What do you mean by pulled away? Do you mean you stopped studying altogether?

Answer: No, I continued studying, but very little, automatically, and not in the way I should have.

Suddenly I was given an enormous desire to engage in a big business venture in order to later create a large system for spreading Kabbalah. And in this way I was led astray.

I devoted exactly one year to this, and although I never completely stopped studying Kabbalah, it was very little. I felt how completely it tore me away and could even immerse me in this world, something that had almost never happened in my life, except perhaps for a brief period after university when I wanted to pursue a scientific career.

That is, I clearly felt that if not for a force from above, it would be very easy to remove me from the path and turn me into an ordinary mammal.

Question: How do you establish boundaries for your spiritual work? What sustains them?

Answer: Through obligations. My entire schedule is planned by the hour.
[341608]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Purpose as a Way of Life” 6/24/10

Related Material:
Devotion to the Goal
Commitment To The Spiritual Path
This Is Undoubtedly the Right Place!

Filed under: Q&A, Spiritual Work, Structure of the Universe, Thoughts on Twitter - No Comments →

Question: You once said: “Unless you are disconnected from above,” which has happened to many Kabbalists when, at a certain moment, they were disconnected from spirituality against their will.

Answer: The upper force can do absolutely anything! We are, after all, set in motion within this grand machine. We exist within it.

However, we have been given the ability to rise above our existence in this machine and become aware that we are inside it, live in it, operate within it, are set in motion according to a specific plan, and are executing a specific program. In other words, we can develop an understanding that we are governed by the upper force, and through this understanding we can attain the governor, justify Him, learn everything about Him, and become like Him.

At the same time we will always be executing exactly what He triggers within us. We are constantly under His commands.

However, the goal is to reveal His governance over us, to recognize it as good, just, true, infinitely harmonious, and perfect, and to adhere to Him precisely through attaining this governance. In doing so, we rise to the level of the Governor, to the level of the Creator; we attain, understand, and become like Him. It is as if we begin to launch our own program and implement ourselves.

In essence, we never oppose Him in any way. We simply come to realize that His way is absolute perfection and follow it without any coercion. It turns out that at the highest level of attainment, even if there were no commands from Him, we would act in exactly the same way. In a sense, we replace the Creator.
[341614]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. To Exist in Attainment” 6/27/10

Related Material:
Revealing One’s Attitude to the Creator
Face-to-Face With The Creator
Genuine And Imaginary Governance

Filed under: Q&A, Spiritual Work, Structure of the Universe, Thoughts on Twitter - No Comments →

Question: How realistic is the idea of a spiritual system in practice?

Answer: The fact is that there is nothing else beside it. It is the only true creation that exists. It only seems to us that we are separate elements disconnected from one another, like the swan, the crayfish, and the pike that pull in different directions.

This is intentional so that we can reveal unity, integration, perfection, and harmony precisely through this opposition. These “swan, crayfish, and pike” must find mutual understanding despite their differences—one soars in the sky, another lives in the water, and the third moves on land. When we understand that despite our varying natures we must unite toward a single goal, to complement each other, only then will each of us find our own perfection.

Question: But what if everyone tries to create their own system?

Answer: It is a natural human tendency to establish oneself, and this drive exists in everyone. However, as we progress the upper light will influence us more and more. It will correct us and place the greatness of the Creator and the revelation of His system above our personal ambitions.

Moreover, it will elevate the importance of all other people in the world above ourselves by developing love for them within us. When you love, the one you love becomes more important to you than yourself, just as a child is to their mother. This is what defines the nature of love.

That is why we cannot demand that beginners be completely selfless and altruistic. Gradually, the light will correct them and give them that capability.
[341585]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Implementation of the System” 6/21/10

Related Material:
Just Love Each Other
Connect All Opposite Parts Of Creation
The Whole World Under One Umbrella

Filed under: Crisis, Group Work, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Often when we prepare material for dissemination, we try to include either your text or that of Baal HaSulam or Rabash in it. Does this actually work?

Answer: I do not think this is always justified because anyone who studies Kabbalah may be beyond all the original texts. After all, they are complex, intricate, and intended for a certain level. I would not do it.

Perhaps by including quotes, people are trying to shield themselves by saying, “Well, that is how it is written,” or they assume that what moves them will also move the consumer who is not familiar with Kabbalah. I doubt it.

I would not say I find it necessary. On the contrary, in all my early books, I rewrote everything into modern, somewhat scientific language to steer the reader away from thinking about Kabbalah and instead to allow them to feel or understand the information directly on the platform they are used to perceiving it.

I do not think it is necessary to introduce them to archaisms or other Kabbalistic “isms.” Why? The text should be presented in a way that makes it easier for a person to understand. As it is said: “Teach a child according to his way.”

Comment: But you did slightly modify Shamati, for example. That is, you wrote a book based on it.

My Response: In Hebrew, I did not modify Shamati at all. I only added punctuation marks, as they were quite chaotic. But in Russian, I made it a bit more fluid because otherwise the reader would not be able to absorb it; it would be a hindrance for them.

Comment: But in Russian, you wrote Attaining the Worlds Beyond, in which you included some elements from Shamati and presented them in a very pleasant, not dry form.

My Response: That is how it turned out because I processed it through myself. First, it is a translation, and second, a retelling. So I allowed myself that freedom. Moreover, Attaining the Worlds Beyond is not just from Shamati, it is from everything. It wrote this book in just ten days. It just poured out of me.
[340848]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Kabbalistic Texts” 6/18/10

Related Material:
An Accessible Explanation Is a Profession
Adapting The Writings For The People
Passing On The Materials Of Our Teachers To The Masses

Filed under: Dissemination, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: What is the teacher’s place in the virtual community? Can the system you want to create exist without a teacher?

Answer: I think it can. It is like how there used to be czars and kings and then they were replaced by parliamentary republics.

Therefore such a system can work because if a connection is established between each individual and his virtual environment, which simply more clearly shows the individual the correct attitude of society toward him, then he only has to implement it.

Rabash says in his articles that the Creator is called the teacher. Therefore the earthly teacher fades into the background.

I believe that it is quite possible to create such a system of interconnection, to launch it into implementation, and to enable my students to move forward with its help. This will be the final act of my life. And then they can move on their own.

Question: Is there a chance that without a teacher, students will get confused and will not progress? Anyway, the teacher is in spiritual attainment, and here people do not know where they are going.

Answer: It depends on the system we create. At first a person is required to gradually enter into his spiritual environment Lo Lishma.

I see this as a very serious realization of a spiritual construct. We can see from the examples of the Tamagotchi toy that a person begins to work with a computer as with a living organism, and treats the virtual environment as if it were alive. It kind of animates him, humanizes him.

We want to create an image of the right group for ourselves on the computer, which wants to position, show, manifest, and expose itself relative to each of us.

A person will see in this the appearance of the group to him; that is what the group wants to show him. Everything is absolutely clear here according to the rules outlined by Rabash.
[340813]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 6” 5/18/10

Related Material:
The Role of the Teacher in Kabbalah
The Multifaceted Work Of A Kabbalist Teacher
Following The Teacher Who Sees The Way

Filed under: Group Work, Internet, Q&A, Spiritual Teacher, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: How do we increase the importance of the group?

Answer: It depends on the greatness of the goal. To the extent of its greatness, you attain the greatness of the means to achieve the goal.

The group is the only means by which we can reach the goal.

That is, I can reach eternity and perfection only if I join the group as an absolutely homogeneous integral element, find my place, take it, precisely connect everyone else around me, like a Lego, and precisely replenish what I must replenish. Then I will begin to feel the common life of the entire group, of the entire system, including the Creator.

Imagine that the Creator is revealed within this system in the connections between its elements; in other words, the system in general is more important than the Creator. Although this system is a means for His revelation, and His revelation is the goal, since He is in it, it is as if it includes Him within it. From this point of view, it is greater than the Creator.

Although the Creator has created and fills it, but since it is as if it includes Him, when you attain the full perception, you do not see the difference between them because in their properties they are absolutely similar and equal.
[340919]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. First Impression of Kabbalah” 6/22/10

Related Material:
Praise The Group
The Group Is the Embodiment of the Connection between Souls
Direct Degree To The Creator

Filed under: Group Work, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: You say that the Internet and mobile phones can provide a person with a simulation of continuous spiritual connection with us. Isn’t there a danger of getting drawn into this game to the point where it consumes us like a drug?

Answer: That is exactly what we need. I don’t think such a game will become a strong addiction because a person will constantly face challenges and have to solve them.

It will be a conscious game, a real state of being. He will see all his problems, all his internal misalignments, between himself and the group, between himself and the Creator. Because of this, it will not have the same gripping power over our egoism as other addictive things do.

On the other hand, the spirit of competition, the desire to achieve the goal, the envy that others are moving forward while I am not, self-respect, vanity, the desire for power—all these seemingly negative qualities must actually help us. We will see why they were created.

Egoism itself is an aid against us: “I have created help against you,” was said to Adam about Eve. This is precisely our egoism. In other words, all the negative qualities in a person are necessary to pull him out of egoism.

The worst egoistic traits—power, fame, various negative impulses toward others, the desire to dominate and control—are actually what bind me to my environment. And here, I truly become its slave.

If I did not have envy, the desire to be above others, or the need for their respect, I would pass by them as indifferently as a cat passing by a symphony orchestra. But because I want to make full use of my surrounding environment, I become dependent on it.

At this point, we begin to realize how wonderfully egoism is designed, because from our current state, the only way to connect with our environment is through egoism. And so this opportunity is given to you, your dependence on the environment.

Now the environment will dictate its terms: “Ah! So we are important to you? You want our respect? You envy us?” And they will impose conditions on you by which you can in some way fulfill and satisfy your egoistic needs.

And their conditions are strict: bestow, love, and sacrifice yourself for us. And you begin to understand that these conditions are necessary for you to fulfill yourself and move forward. This truly is the help that exists within you.
[340723]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 3” 5/16/10

Related Material:
A Simulation of Spiritual Connection
Life in Virtual Space
Virtual World Of Communication

Filed under: Group Work, Internet, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Do texts written by your students contain light? Is there any point in them writing?

Answer: Yes, because a person inevitably connects others to the  upper world through himself. I believe this is justified and beneficial both for them and for others. It is better for such books to exist than others. Look at how many books are published in the world. It’s not a big deal.

You might say: “Yes, but there are other books in the world, and these might confuse people.” I don’t think so. A true seeker will quickly sort everything out. So much nonsense is written about Kabbalah! It is better that my students write.

Question: Suppose one of your students makes a video clip, writes an article, or a song. Does this material contain light?

Answer: Yes, any material contains light if a person studying with us tries in some way to pass on his impressions through himself even if he does not fully understand or know much yet.

But he is making an effort, and the light acts because he is included in the overall system. He may not even realize what he is doing, but in reality, it is all happening through him. I believe this is necessary, and I welcome my students’ efforts.

The most important thing is that they work because in doing so, they develop themselves and through their creations help others.
[340855]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Kabbalistic Texts” 6/18/10

Related Material:
Try and Attempt
Spreading Spiritual Energy
Teacher And Students: Writing Articles

Filed under: Dissemination, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

In ancient times, there were special cities where criminals were sent. They could escape to these cities and live there for, say, seven years. After those seven years, they were free to move around, and no one had the right to make any claims against them.

That is, on one hand a person is guilty of committing some crime. On the other hand we understand that this is the collective guilt of everyone. What happened to him was meant to happen from above as part of the global system, and we gave him the opportunity to correct himself. We were responsible for him!

A person is corrected through education. Criminals did not just sit idly in these refuge cities; they engaged in study and learning. They were specifically trained for correction through various discussions, lessons, and exercises. In the end, society took care of this because it bore responsibility for the fact that such individuals emerged within it.

Question: Why exactly seven years?

Answer: Because the seventh stage marks the completion of the period of Zeir Anpin and Malchut. Zeir Anpin consists of VAK (six Sefirot), and Malchut is the seventh. When everything from Zeir Anpin flows into Malchut, the cycle is complete.

Additionally, there are transformations that occur only once every 50 years (7×7=49) leading to what is called the Jubilee Year. The system functions this way by itself. Many elements are tied to this structure—how it develops, pushes us forward, and so on. By propelling us forward over seven years, it effectively renews itself.
[340576]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Negative Properties” 6/14/10

Related Material:
Reeducation In Ancient Times
Crime And Punishment
Not Punishment, But Correction

Filed under: Q&A, Structure of the Universe, Thoughts on Twitter - No Comments →

Question: You say that on a physical level, it is impossible to achieve what can be accomplished in virtual space. Do you think that only such a lifeless system can help us?

Answer: It does not work for us in that way. We cannot just sit down, come to an agreement, and then begin to systematically influence a friend. We cannot.

Comment: But this system is auxiliary; it in no way replaces the group.

My Response: I don’t know to what extent this system can replace a physical group, but I think to a great extent.

You see, what does a physical group mean? When I see others? When I express myself in relation to others as a bestower, bring them coffee, give them something, take care of them?

A physical group is the same as our internal spiritual relationships. And physical contact, does that mean I see your face, smell your scent like animals, or touch you with my shoulder? Yes, physical contact can take place, but is it fundamentally necessary? We do not know. We do not yet know these states, so we will test them on ourselves. I do not know them either. I have not gone through this in a group.

Everything I have experienced, I went through in the old system: teacher – student. So, I have no experience of how students who organize their own Kabbalistic spiritual space should interact with each other, where they shape themselves each within the group like a seed in the ground. And in this way, everyone in relation to each other creates such an environment for spiritual advancement.

As Rabash writes, it is only then that the group becomes your spiritual environment, and despite the fact that they are small, everything depends on your attitude toward them. If you believe you can receive nourishment from them, then receive it. Just start treating them that way, and you will discover that through them, all the upper forces come to you.

I do not have this experience. And no one has the practice. People can say whatever they want. But as of today, we do not see this in our world.

We hope that through our efforts, we will finally create the possibility of such interconnection. This will serve as a stimulus for each of us in the spiritual movement, one that is controlled by us. Rabash writes about this in his articles, and Baal HaSulam in his works on the realization of freewill. Nothing more is needed.

In the end, we will see that the environment we have created virtually can include concentric spheres like layers of an onion, with people who are more distant from the bright spiritual goal with less fervor for attaining spirituality.

It can be structured in such a way that it encompasses the entire world with all its possibilities, with all its supporting services necessary for our lives including children’s and family education, and in general all our relationships with anyone and in any way: social, socio-political, and others.

But the beginning of this must grow from the central point.
[340809]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 5” 5/17/10

Related Material:
Life in Virtual Space
Replacement For Physical Contact
A Real Virtual Environment

Filed under: Group Work, Internet, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →