Question: We live in the physical world where there are many temptations. We are only able to give if we receive. How is it possible to direct the desires of corporeal pleasures to bestowal?

Answer: If there is a correct intention in your mind then do what you want, since you won’t be able to do anything bad. You will do what you need to do in order to raise the body and soul. Let’s suppose that you need to eat two lunches because your body demands it, so eat, but together with this, you need to have the correct intention.

Question: Will my desires interfere with my spiritual work?

Answer: But if you have the correct intention, then how could they interfere? There can’t be an act without the correct intention, since the intention determines the meaning of the act. A person can do anything if he has the correct intention.

In principle, the wisdom of Kabbalah forbids any kinds of restriction. If you cling to the Creator, and you hold Him like a bulldog, then you do all the rest of the things. You do them because it’s needed for your progress.
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From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 6

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Question: When we read The Book of Zohar there are parts that I understand and there are parts that I simply cannot put together; how should we work with that? Should we try to understand or should we totally ignore the mind?

Answer: It’s true that there are parts in The Book of Zohar that we can understand and there are parts that we can’t. We have to look for the feeling; it’s a vessel of perception. If the mind can bring you such an emotional impression, then it works as it should. But if it only works as a cold mind, then it’s the wrong direction. It’s not because we don’t respect science or the rational approach, but because the mind is revealed in the vessels of feeling. The vessels come first; they are the basis. The mind can only control what is in them.

So I first have to make sure that I feel, and then from the feeling I should understand what I feel. This is called “the heart understands.” First comes the heart, the vessel. In the vessel we feel and not understand. Afterward, there is a desire; it discovers the Light. But what does it discover, what does it calculate? It calculates what corrections it has performed in order to discover the current feeling.

The corrections I have performed, my actions in order to reveal the current feeling, are called my mind, what I have attained is my feeling. It turns out that the heart understands. The corrections that I have performed in the heart are in the mind since I went through them, have performed them, and I compare, compile, connect, and subtract them like math. I do all that in the heart, in my vessels of feeling.

But now I delve into these corrections with the mind in order to discover a greater depth of the feeling. Thus I multiply my vessels of feeling by 620 times by the mind, by understanding now what corrections I have been through in order to discover the current state.

This means that the feeling without the mind remains on the level of the still nature, and by incorporating the mind in the feeling, I raise the feeling up the levels from Nefesh, to Ruach, to Neshama, to Haya, and to Yechida. There are no changes in the Light itself; it is only by delving into it with my new vessels of perception that I discover NRNHY in it. The Light itself is Nefesh.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/12, The Zohar

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Question: How do we build a student’s readiness to perceive the wisdom of Kabbalah in the group?

Answer: Through the connection. A person cannot be ready to perceive if he is not connected to the friends. They have to unite by raising the teacher’s greatness in their eyes, thus building the right connection. Someone small can only receive from someone great, from the group, from the teacher, from the Creator, if he lowers his head before them. This is the path up the spiritual ladder.

When the students connect, they create the necessary condition, and become one whole. It is a sign that each one has annulled himself before the others, and considers himself the smallest in the group, ready to bestow upon others. Being connected means to keep all the society’s conditions.

We begin to connect, and after many years go through the hardening of the heart, which is also called “the ten plagues of Egypt.” First we may think, why don’t the plagues begin immediately when they arrive in Egypt? But it isn’t so; first it is nice and pleasant to connect, just like it was nice and pleasant for the children of Israel when they settled in Egypt and received all their nourishment through Joseph who connected everyone to Yesod.

Joseph is Yesod that connects the five phases or the five senses: Hesed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, and Hod. Rabash used to give the example of a salad that is made of five ingredients: tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, onion, and parsley. If you cut them all up and mix them, they will create something new, which is the result of the connection between them. It is the same with Yesod; it has nothing of its own, but it is the outcome of the connection, of their attributes. Through it, the children of Israel acquire thickness in Egypt and an increasingly greater desire, but in the meantime, during the “seven years of satiety,” this thickness operates in favor of the connection between them.

It was at the beginning of the exile in Egypt that the sons of Jacob together with Joseph sang “How good and pleasant it is when brothers sit together.” They felt that it is worthwhile to connect since together they succeed; together they are strong. Thus Egypt enslaves us by an egoistic connection.

This is the process until such a great thickness is revealed that it is impossible to do anything with it. Then Moses escapes from Egypt to the desert. He simply couldn’t be together with his ego. During the “seven years of hunger,” we discover that this enslavement, the adhesion to the corporeal values, is not in our favor, but the opposite, it detaches us from the goal. Suddenly I begin to understand where I am and what is happening to me. I look at my “animal” desire that has grown into a giant heavy body, and I see that this “animal” is no longer mine, that I am under its control, under it.

This is called “a new king rose in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph.” It is a good thing, since he shows us the truth, our true state compared to the Creator, and thus he brings us closer to our Father in Heaven.

Then, at the end, there are the ten plagues: We hold on to our unity and these plagues hit us in order to break us apart; they are all aimed against the connection.

If I am ready to rise above the ego, to beat the king of Egypt, I rise above these plagues in order to remain connected and united. It is more important for me than Pharaoh’s afflictions. On the background of the plagues, I ask the Creator to keep us connected since without this connection, we will not be able to leave Egypt; this is all our work.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/12, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Question: It says that the Light of The Zohar is the strongest Light. But we keep saying that we have to draw the Light that Reforms. So what do we do during The Zohar lesson, add the Light that Reforms to the Light of The Zohar?

Answer: They are one and the same. The Light is one. There is no multiplicity of Lights; there is a simple Light, which means that it includes everything in it. It is simple because it has one attribute, one inclination, one goal, only to do good.

Because the created being exists in many different forms, it seems that there are many different actions on the part of the Light and that the Light has many sources, thousands of Lights.

I go through many states, and so it seems to me that there are many Lights that influence me and that every Light comes from its own source: This one is good and that one isn’t so good; one is more merciful, and the other is more severe, and so in thousands of shades. Therefore, the world seems so varied to me, as if I am influenced by endless external factors. I simply don’t discover that there is one source behind them, as if there is a multiplicity of Gods, or at least two, a good one and a bad one. Only when we reach the highest level do we see that it is all one unique force.

This is the difference between the wisdom of Kabbalah and all other beliefs, religions, and different doctrines that bow to different false sources. They too see one source that is split into several sources, as Baal HaSulam explains in the article “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy” and “The Peace.” But all this stems from the fact that people don’t discover the real, ultimate, uppermost cause, but rather discover different intermediate forms on the way that are intentionally aimed at stabilizing us. This is why different Lights come to us in different states and we are confused, as if there are many reasons, but behind them we can identify one source. If you advance correctly by the wisdom of Kabbalah, then the moment you start, you begin to identify that there is none else besides Him, and you just discover Him more and more.

This is why Kabbalists say from the start that “the Lord is our God, the Lord is one,” and this should be our way.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/12, The Zohar

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Question: During the process of spiritual work, I reach a state where I am not able to rise above my ego, and that causes tension in me, anger. Is it within a person’s power to rise above the ego, or can he only request it?

Answer: A person can never rise above his ego by himself. He can only request this from the Creator.

You can fight against all kinds of corporeal habits, for example, to stop smoking, to go on a diet, etc., thereby replacing one ego with another which is more beneficial for you.

But it is not in your power to rise above it, since the ego itself has no such means. For this, one needs to bring forth the upper Light, which is the ego’s opposite attribute, the attribute of bestowal, which will implement this action.

After rising to the new level, you will level off, establish yourself, see, learn what is done on this level by the new force, and then fall again, but this time even lower, to a darker space, to terrible confusion, in both feelings and in consciousness.

Sometimes you feel yourself as drunk, and sometimes as lost, without will power, completely helpless, and sometimes all of these together. It will seem to you that the problems pile up on you from all sides, that life is dark, and that there is no brightness in front of you.

All of this happens so that you will organize the correct connection with the group, the correct surroundings that will support you, and with each moment it says to you that you must turn to the Creator

You need to see it according to your friends who must show this to you. If any of the friends don’t show that he is turning to the Creator, yearning for Him, and that the most important thing for him is the importance of the goal, you must show him, since we are influenced by the group, from the group’s yearnings. You need to play, act for the friends, showing that you have a real yearning for going forward. Within you, you may be “dead”; that doesn’t matter, but on the outside, you need to play for the sake of saving the friends. If you do this, then you won’t have descents.
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From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 6

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Question: What must the world groups do in order to constantly strengthen?

Answer: Personally, I feel that we must work together so that not only I, as a teacher, will nurture you with “drops of wisdom,” but also you, as students, will participate actively in our general learning process. Since without your exact and correct desire, forcing me to speak, I cannot say anything, I cannot do anything. We have now arrived at such a mutual, integral act.

For me, it is really a surprise. I didn’t think it would be revealed so suddenly and in such a sharp manner. I am very happy about this. But this mutual cooperation puts additional responsibilities on us, confirming once again the need for the relevant condition that I actually be at a level equal with you. There is the concept of a teacher-friend. Rabash also spoke about this. Thus, we need to participate together more frequently in all the events.

The friends must be equal. That is our mutual work, and here I constitute your senior friend and not your Rav. This is where the general integrality leads us.

Question: Does that mean that we need to be more self-reliant?

Answer: Of course! I constantly talk about that. After all, I am not eternal. And you will be left alone. But so that you won’t be left alone, you need to learn to act and advance forward independently. For this you have a method, a working system, tens of thousands of recorded hours in the archive, and books. There is everything! And I need now to slowly descend from the level of Rav to the level of friend, and then all of us together will discover the upper world.
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From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 6

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Question: Will a person feel his integral inclusion into everyone constantly?

Answer: Certainly! A person will constantly exist in such a social environment that will support him since he fully depends on the surrounding environment.

The person we see now is unreasonable, limited, and almost negligible. Therefore, when a person starts revealing the properties, feelings, attainment, and width in the integral system, they will be billions times greater than the ones he reveals inside his small, low, and enclosed egoism. This is why he in no way wants to break away from integrality to withdraw into himself to “take a break.”

After all, existence in the integral system will become like rest, a flight, or relaxation for him rather than stressful with the burden of taking care of himself. At the spiritual level he will feel his perfection, eternity, and freedom from the body.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World,” 11/26/12

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Question: Why can studying the Torah incorrectly be harmful, and even “the potion of death?”

Answer: The incorrect study of the Torah is the wrong use of the system that was designed to perform a gradual correction of the desire to receive. Instead, it draws the part that is meant to be corrected away from correction. Thus, it prolongs the way and fills it with sufferings, which brings the Creator, who loves us, a great deal of sorrow. Thus, this path is undesirable.

From the point of view of a person’s ego, this path is also undesirable since it brings about sufferings. But if we speak about the form of bestowal and value it with regard to the Creator, we have to see how much He suffers.

If we didn’t participate in the system of correction, but were corrected by it unconsciously, instinctively, like the still, vegetative, and animate nature, then there would not be reward and punishment for us. The system wouldn’t change with regard to us, but would push us in one direction by its rigid, absolute laws, like a train moving on a track.

But because a person is on a level that he himself participates in this process, he has to become more sensitive to the influence of the system on him. So he learns to understand this system and grows feelings towards it, which means towards the Creator who is on the other side of the system. “From Your actions we shall know You” and we connect to Him.

It is impossible to attain any discernment this way, not even the smallest one, if you don’t go incorrectly at first. The point is only that a person should constantly try incorrectly only in potential but not in practice.

It is said: “There isn’t a righteous in the land who did good and didn’t sin.” So the mistakes have already been prepared for me every step of the way, and I must sin. But I prepare myself, try, and am careful and afraid to sin, which means that I am afraid to break away from the feeling of “there is none else besides Him” who is “the good and the benevolent.” I am afraid that I will stop yearning for love and bestowal, that I won’t be able to rise above my desires, above my instinctive thoughts, which means above my animate level.

I need self-clarification, self-recognition; I constantly ride my donkey (hamor), my egoistic desire (homer) (which has the same root in Hebrew), and I compare what I feel and what the donkey thinks to what I would like to feel and how I would like to think. Thus I discover my donkey together with the human in me.

“God shall save man and beast,” and thus I advance. My mistakes bring me to my successes and help me advance. My mistakes and successes are revealed in me as the left and right lines. In this case, they are both legitimate and they complement one another correctly, since without mistakes, I wouldn’t discover new discernments and wouldn’t understand where I am.

I have to sin and to do Mitzvot (commandments), since there cannot be one without the other; everything begins from the recognition of evil. But it could be better if I discovered this evil in the Light. The Light comes and helps me see the dark, and not the darkness revealed first when I don’t understand that it is darkness and by a long path of suffering advance towards the Light.

This is why Kabbalists and the Torah give us advice as to how we should prepare ourselves for the right revelation of the sins, for the revelation of evil.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: In each group, there are friends who are more motivated and some that are less motivated. Should the stronger friends initially organize by themselves so that others become attracted to them and do not fall under the influence of those who skip workshops, etc.?

Answer: Everyone in the group must be equal. Everyone has times when he is moving forward more purposefully and times when he is moving less so. Being in a permanent system, a person is equal to all others, even if it takes several years before he begins to understand where he is and begins to participate in the events, to understand the studied material a little. This happens in different people in different ways, but in any case, it should not affect the general movement forward.

On the contrary, you should spare a person. Does he come, participate, study? He could be rough, may not understand the need to participate in all the events because this feeling has not been yet been revealed in him. He is told, but he does not hear, he turns a deaf ear. You need to wait. The most important thing is that he does not cause harm, then everything is fine. If he is harmful, then you may think about dismissing him.
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From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 6

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Question: In India there are these teachings that purposely create a state of chaos in a person’s soul in order to later exit this state to a new level of spirituality.

Answer: We do not create chaos. It comes to us on its own to the same extent that we wish to create a correct example of connection between us. The chaos is within a person because the transition from one level to another is like an overload on a computer.

Thus, this transition is felt as chaos, as it were, like an erasing of everything that came before and the appearance of something new. However, this is not deletion but simply a renewed organization to a new level, introducing a new frequency; suppose, from one cycle of frequency, I go to another the next one, which is more powerful, more broad.

If a person is inclined to connection, to resemble unified nature, then all kinds of new feelings, opinions, and knowledge arise in one, including the necessity to attain greater integration. There is no destruction here. On the contrary, there is the revelation of greater forces, but they are revealed in such a way to give a person a new mission, like a small child, who by resolving it, grows. Therefore, they seem to us as the opposite, scattered, chaotic.

But it is not chaos. All of this appears only so that we will rise to a new level and will see that everything is exactly in an orderly movement. Thus our perception constantly becomes refined.
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From KabTV’s “An Integral World,” 11/26/12

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