Question: Suppose I want to buy a fancy car that’s twice as expensive as a regular car. How am I doing anything bad to other people by that?

Answer: We are all in a global, integral, limited system of nature which is interconnected into a single “sphere” that you cannot break out of. You are obligated to be in this sphere and to be connected with others very precisely. There’s nothing more or less than this.

Therefore, when you buy a car that’s twice as expensive, you become a cancerous cell because in that case you are not buying it to lead a normal life and to serve others but in order to “snatch another bite.” The more you “consume” beyond the necessity, the more of a malignant tumor you become.

The common organism is built ideally: Every person in it has to receive the vital necessities and in every other regard to think only about others. The Creator made the desire and its fulfillment. So why are you suddenly taking more than your due?

All desires are united into one. The Light fills them and gives them life in the single form. But suddenly you are “pulling the blanket to your side,” wishing for more. As a result, your excess will definitely come at someone else’s expense.

Today we are being shown this clearly: A billion people are at the brink of starvation, and in the meantime the earth’s resources are reaching an end. Soon we will use them up and will be left with nothing.

We are reaching the end with all of our consumerist production. And what will happen next?

Therefore, if you want to reach life within the boundaries of vital necessity against your will, that’s what will happen. Everything is finite, limited, and used up. Everything has an end, and it’s getting closer.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: We say that excessive consumption is consumption at others’ expense. However, in order to see the evil contained in it, do we have to peek at the end of the movie?

Answer: No. The Creator does not have a shortage of minerals, vitamins, oil, gas, water, or anything else. He arranges troubles for you in this world so you would begin becoming aware of your loss. You are losing out.

The Creator does not show you that in reality you are letting the spiritual world pass by because then you would lose the freedom of choice. Instead He puts you under the blows of this world, from which you begin to realize the evil of your nature. You don’t reveal the Creator as being the cause of your troubles, but your own egoism.

Then, unable to correct it, you begin to regret having it. That is how you gradually come to the realization of evil. So what should you do with it? How can you climb out of the trap? Slowly but surely, you come closer to the solution.

Lack of resources, natural disasters, and people stealing from each other are all artificial things at the end of the day. This is “small change” intended to help us eventually reveal the fact that we are stealing the spiritual world from one another.

In reality, why should I share what I have with you and satisfy myself with the bare necessities? It’s only in order to learn from this and acquire the desires that aspire to spirituality. This is the goal, and everything is structured precisely this way from the beginning. Otherwise every person would have gotten his own planet.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: How do we bring ourselves in line with the law that we haven’t followed in a long time, and with which we don’t have equivalence of form?

Answer: It’s not a law, it’s a state. A “law” means that you act and insert yourself in a certain formula which you must adhere to regardless of your desire. In other words, a law is the actualization of a certain formula that lies between cause and effect: Y = function of X.

Today others are starting to discover the law revealed by Kabbalists. Many already understand that we must come to balance with Nature, unite, and practice bestowal. The need for this is already being manifested, but people won’t be able to actualize it without the proper method.

The ancient Babylonians had found themselves in the same state: “If we don’t unite, we will perish right here.” The same was revealed when the Torah was given to Israel: “If you don’t unite, this will be the place of your burial.”

This is already becoming clear, but do we have a method? If we do, we know how to move forward, but if we don’t, this truly will be our grave. We will plunge into a world war simply because we won’t have any other choice.

This is the point we’re approaching: Either humanity accepts the method and embarks on the path of hastening, or it doesn’t accept it and follows the natural path of development. It’s one or the other.

The problem is that we need to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah in the world in advance. After all, people don’t know that there is a goal and a method which allows us to reach it without wars or suffering. Essentially, they will even be able to understand the goal because our eyes are able to recognize the harmony present in the world of which man is the only deviant component. But how do we join in this harmony?

The place between the actual and the desirable must be filled with the method. In other words, here you need the upper Light, the force that acts above our nature. It has created our nature as the desire to receive, and it will also create in us the quality of universal unification. And we will only find this means in the Kabbalistic method for it does not exist in our world.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: If it is so important to know the exact meaning of Kabbalistic terms (so much so that we are supposed to write them down on the index cards and learn them by heart), why did you used to say that we study TES (The Study of the Ten Sefirot) not in order to understand it intellectually, but rather to draw the Surrounding Light that works as a “miraculous,” hidden force?

Answer: We study Kabbalistic terms not in order to grasp them intellectually, but to get closer to the authentic meaning of the text.

When I am reading about what is “higher” or “lower” in the spiritual world and compare it with what is considered “higher and lower” in the corporeal sense, it supplies me with an impression of how far I still am from the truth. It leads me to the recognition of my evil, of my mistake. And this feeling reforms my qualities, awakens my desire to change and to draw the upper force that will reform me.

After all, if with my external mind I understand that my definitions of what is described in the book are incorrect (for instance, “the Light,” “the Creator,” “the sun,” “a circle”), the bitterness caused by the gap between me and the truth grows. And this pain becomes a prayer. This kind of studying is not meant for the intellect.

We measure not by the mind, but by our properties. The correct learning of the definitions leads to the desire to be present in them, instead of understanding them in abstract terms!

This means that I myself desire to be transformed so that these terms would describe me, so that they would become my model and my language. I want to hear “higher-lower” and understand that it is higher or lower in terms of the importance with regards to bestowal, whereas the “right and left” refers to the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) or the Light of Hassadim (Mercy).
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: You said that in one’s internal analysis one gets an answer from within. How can I be sure that my egoism does not deceive me, and I receive the right answers instead of just imagining something?

Answer: If you are seeking how to move forward—by the books, the method, you receive the correct answer for a given moment. On the next step, you will receive a more correct answer.

Each successive step relative to the previous one is more correct, and the previous one seems to be erroneous. Thus, we advance. In this way, a child begins to understand that he played with toys, not something real.
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From the 2nd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

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Question: On one hand, all our work lies in correcting the connection between a person and a fellow human being. On the other, the correction is done through The Book of Zohar. How can I tie it all together?

Answer: Correction results from the Light concealed in the texts written by Kabbalists. Yet it happens on the condition that we desire to perceive and comprehend the reality they describe so that all that is written in these texts would clothe in us and we would be in the same system of relationships between us.

It implies the connection between all souls to such an extent that we reach unity, become a unified system: Malchut of Infinity. If I strive to achieve unity as in “love your neighbor as yourself,” if I desire this, then The Book of Zohar starts talking about me.

As a result, I receive the force of correction from The Book of Zohar and gradually advance by reading it. In fact, the book itself contains nothing, but by reading it and wishing to be in this system, I draw the power of the force field that does reside in Malchut of Infinity—and thereby I reach this system.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/2011, The Zohar

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Question: Does the women’s desire contain the desire to acquire the intention to bestow?

Answer: This intention is absent from the desires of both men and women. How can it just appear inside us? All we want is to receive. How can we acquire the intention to bestow? The Light does this and not us.

I am an absolute egoist; I only think about myself and cannot leave this state. Neither the desires in my heart nor the thoughts in my mind can work differently. This is nature, this is how I was made. So what to do?

Only if we, together, wish correctly for the Light to descend upon us and correct us, will we acquire, apart from our egoism, an intention to work with it correctly. This will be the desire for the Light, for the will to bestow, to love.

Our egoism will stay. But working on it correctly, we increase and intensify the Light. This is the essence of our historical path.

From the world of Infinity, our first state, where we begin, we pass through our present, second state, and reach the world of Infinity, the third state, once again. This third state is said to be 620 times greater than the first state. 620 is just a name, in reality it is billions of billions of times greater. The key is that in the third state, we know where we are.

In the first state we were a drop of semen, and in the third state we become completely like the Creator, gaining his status. This is what we achieve thanks to this amplification, when our egoism stays, slowly developing in us as a huge ego, while we can use it to intensify the weak Light of Nefesh that filled us in the first state.

Nefesh is a very small Light, in which life barely exists. And in the third state we achieve a degree that’s called NRNHY, a huge Light that fills all the worlds.
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From the 2nd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

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Question: What is closeness to the teacher and what is study “mouth to mouth”?

Answer: Closeness to the teacher does not mean that a person is physically close to him—this does not matter at all. A person is close to the teacher when he feels that the teacher can transfer everything he has to him and desires to do so, but to the extent that the person opens himself to it. This is because when it comes to contact and communication, the one who transfers and the one who receives have to connect.

So first of all, one should believe that the teacher constantly transfers and there are things that can be taken from him. This depends on the student. Second, the student needs to understand that he can receive whatever comes from the teacher only to the extent of his sensitivity to it.

Of course, in general everything depends on the student. Only on the student! Practically nothing depends on the teacher. On the other hand, the student must completely attune himself to receiving. What does it mean to receive? It means to connect. In other words, he needs to have thoughts, feelings, and directions somewhat like his teacher’s, even if it is only in one percent similarity. He must desire to perceive from him, he must be tuned to the same current. And then he will succeed.

The study consists of two levels:

1. “From mouth to ears,” which is verbal communication, when I speak with my mouth, and the student perceives with his ear.
2. “From mouth to mouth,” where the mouth refers to the common screen, which is in the mouth of the spiritual Partzuf.

So when we communicate in such a way that the student does not want or is not yet able to be on the same level as his teacher, then he listens. He can listen without a desire, without much effort; he can even be against his teacher and still hear him in a way.

This is not yet one screen, one aspiration, some kind of a mutual connection, when they are connected at least by one percent. When they are connected, the student will be able to receive information from mouth to mouth to the extent of this connection, that is, to the extent of this shared screen, shared aspiration. This is something to strive for. This is difficult work with one’s egoism, but it is possible, and then everything the teacher has flows into the student.

Question: Do you have the opportunity to choose who will be close to you?

Answer: Whoever will be close to the teacher does not depend on him. Whoever puts himself in the place of a student, will be a student. Sometimes the teacher really wants for certain people to be his students because these people have certain special attributes, and it might be easier to convey the ideas to humanity in a faster and more vivid way through them, but these people might be incapable of it, neglect the opportunity, and miss the chance.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson from Moscow 6/16/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Why aren’t modern scientists discovering the essence of what is happening?

Answer: On the contrary, they are gradually digging out the essence. Many people are already discovering and writing that human society has to strive to unite. It is written, “Believe in the wisdom of the nations.” They have knowledge and they see that unity really is necessary. We simply don’t have any other choice. People can see this with their own eyes even without being on the spiritual path, without acquiring the method of correction.

Moreover, they will widely voice the need for unity themselves. We should only encourage this process with all our might.

But the most important thing that will be required of us is to let all the people know through all the possible means, using all the channels, that there is a method, a means. This is where the problem lies: How can we present this method to the world so it would take the medicine? How can we rewrite the entire science of Kabbalah in a way so people won’t turn away from it?

We have to act gradually: Now we aren’t talking about the Creator, the Torah, the commandments, and so on. We are only picking up the thought about unity and continuing it. We continue to explain more and more, until people’s understanding will undergo specific changes and most importantly, they will undergo inner development by means of the Light. Then new points in the heart will be revealed, and besides, the world will be able to realize that “Israel” is a function, a predestination. And suddenly, everyone will begin to interpret us differently.

For that we must gradually bring our part, the method of correction, to the people. They will talk about the crisis and the need to unite on their own. We must only explain how exactly that unity can be accomplished.

We feel pained by the inability to unite, as if the Creator, nature, is leading us to a dead-end just so we would kill each other. Just like in Ancient Babylon, we are standing before an invariable law. We hate one another and at the same time we totally, boundlessly depend on one another. So what should we do? My enemies are standing behind my back ready to kill me, but I am falling asleep in their arms like a baby. Is that possible?

Nature is leading us to a dead-end, a catastrophe. This is what we have to talk about with the world, clearly showing it that this is the best possible state in order to receive the method of correction.

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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: My body consists of multiple cells that are programmed to constantly “think” about the entire organism instead of themselves. Each cell works as if it is certain that the latter will provide it with all that it needs, as in the mutual guarantee.

How does this mass of cells ultimately produce my “self” that is completely opposite to them and desires to receive for its own gratification? When does this switch occur?

Answer: In other words, there is a system that includes the still, vegetative, and animate degrees governed by nature from Above, and it remains in harmony and mutual guarantee. What happens with the speaking degree? It seems as if you can do whatever you please and get away with it, answering to no one, that it’s all up to you.

Nowadays, in our world, we begin to understand and become aware of the fact that the speaking level requires correction just like all the other levels preceding it, which are operated by nature in the correct way. The still, vegetative, and animate degrees within us and nature that surrounds us indeed exist in the mutual guarantee. You don’t need to correct anything else but the intention at the speaking degree.

Question: So, does it mean that my body is spiritual while only my “self” is corporeal?

Answer: Your body is spiritual, and you must not correct it. At its level, it acts as a spiritual one. In phases one, two, and three of the expansion of the Direct Light, there isn’t a vessel yet. There is no desire; therefore, there is no separation from spirituality.

It could be compared to the degrees of our bodies for which correction is not necessary. They have flaws that we project onto them from the fourth, speaking level and thereby impair them. However, that doesn’t mean that they are uncorrected.

We damaged nature, and we view it as damaged afterward. However, it is we who did it! As to nature itself, it always stays in balance, in equilibrium. We observe how one beast consumes another, and in our mind, it is an evil act. However, it is not. If we would take the time to thoroughly examine it all, we would see that this is their way of taking care of each other, cleaning nature, and ultimately living in peace since everything derives from the balance of forces.

Thus, only the fourth phase, human within human, needs to be corrected. The first three degrees are corrected in Him, and if the fourth phase becomes reformed, we will see the world as perfect, including man’s body and all that exists.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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