Question: How does The Book of Zohar fit into Kabbalah?

Answer: The Book of Zohar is the main book in Kabbalah. We study it every day. I have just finished going over The Zohar in order to simplify its language and replace all of the Aramaic words. We are now translating this book into other languages and soon it will be published.

This book explains the laws by which the spiritual, global world operates. The difference between the spiritual world and the material world is not that spirituality is somewhere up in the sky, beyond all the galaxies. The spiritual world is right here, in the same place, but we do not feel it because it works at a different frequency, so to say.

We are looking at the world through our egoistic senses where each person perceives only what is beneficial to himself. But if we change our senses and attitude to the world and desire to see it as being single, great, and one whole, then we will see the world as an integral system of forces right here and now.

This is the world that The Book of Zohar tells us about. However, this book is written in a way that takes the reader and without him even noticing, leads him into the sensation of the new world. That is why it is such a powerful and unusual book. The Zohar works through our mind and feelings, influencing us from all sides.
From my lecture in Paris on 2/1/11

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Question: What can we do to avoid being satisfied with our external effort?

Answer: If a person knows that only the intention to reach the goal, which he constantly discerns, brings him closer to spirituality, then he doesn’t view action as the key. Intention is the Kli (vessel) where he receives the reward, and therefore, all discernments take place in it. Actions without intention are not taken into account at all.

Perhaps a person pleases the Creator, but with an intention to gratify himself. It is the greatest impure force, a Klipa (shell). The most exalted degree of bestowal is balanced with the biggest Klipa: The action is the same while the intention differs.

On the outside, it doesn’t show, and a person seems to be yearning to bestow. Pharaoh, the desire to feel pleased, obeys the Creator’s orders precisely. A person acts according to his desire and mobilizes all his strength, if only to feel good for one’s own sake. He constantly thinks about the Creator (since it is the source of pleasure) and strives to do his best for this source, but for his own good. This is regarded as Pharaoh, the angel of death.

To avoid this, as in any other case, only a clear vision of the goal and mutual support can help. Without interaction, there is no chance to remain on the path without falling. The current generation is the generation of correction, and its success depends on mutual support: Correction occurs based on mutual guarantee and caring. There is no other source to draw the right energy and direction from.

And it is good because there is always work to do in demanding a closer connection. And if we feel it isn’t authentic but superficial, that is fine too. This course is easier than an individual one despite the fact that everyone depends on all the others. Only the collective yearning toward unity and annulment by each of us in regard to the upper degree (the teacher, the group, and the books) will help guard against complacency.
[35131]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How do we pass an additional view of reality to a person so that he would notice that there is something else out there, beyond his usual perspective?

Answer: Until a person has evolved to a certain degree and tried all types of philosophy and methodology that derive from his innate egoism, there is nothing you can do. To clarify, he must first arrive at a deep disappointment and dissatisfaction with the world he lives in.

1. First, I discover that I feel bad. This is a mandatory stage.
2. Moreover, I must clearly feel that it won’t get better.
3. Most importantly, I should realize that the cause of all evil is my own egoism.
4. Therefore, all my actions only make it worse for me, as it is written: “Sit and do nothing—better.” It’s better if you keep your mouth shut and don’t move since any move you make is rooted in your egoism and leads to more evil in the world.
5. Then, a person starts looking for a solution and how to continue living. Such discernments have to include all of the previously walked paths and experiences such as religion, philosophy, and science. After all, even science was developed egoistically, and it won’t help us step out of physical reality. Thus, we examine this all and conclude that nothing can solve it.
6. At last, we might finally be willing to heed the Kabbalists’ advice.

This is how long the path is, which definitely requires the existence of the Kabbalah circulation system. Otherwise, we will never see humanity undergo this evolutionary path and reach some positive result. One may wonder:

• How many times a person needs to feel pain before he decides not to take it anymore?
• How many times is one supposed to say that he or she doesn’t want to suffer any more until they finally admit that they have to change something?
• How many times does one need to understand that something needs to be done in that direction?

Thus, to achieve some result, we have to go through multiple actions that all bring us problems, pain, and suffering.
[32424]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Question: How do we teach children the language of branches so they will come to understand the roots as quickly as possible?

Answer: I would read the Tanakh (the Pentateuch) with your child and explain the inner meaning to him. Children have good memories and imaginations, and they can easily translate the superficial tale into the internal process that you explain to them.

Then I would suggest to them to do the opposite by writing down the things they see in our world from an internal point of view, using the language of roots instead of branches.
[35136]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 2/10/11, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: Do supernatural powers exist in our world?

Answer: The natural and the supernatural are measured in relation to man, according to his nature and the level of his development. For example, if a person living 500 years ago was shown a plane, he would be very scared at seeing this metal bird flying through the air without even moving its wings!

However, supernatural does not stand for anything more powerful than me. Right now there is something that controls me, but tomorrow I will control it. Supernatural stands for something “above my nature,” something that I will never attain naturally.

The nature of our world is completely egoistic. It is the desire to receive pleasure from everything possible, to come closer to beneficial things and farther from harmful things. The opposite nature, bestowal and love, is above this level.

The forces of bestowal and love are greater than our nature since they do not have the limitations that come from perceiving things only for the sake of one’s individual pleasure. These forces can only be activated on the condition that you acquire them by rising above your nature into the opposite nature. Then you will have a different perception of reality, as it is written: “I saw a reverse world.” This reality is not limited by time, space, and movement. It is infinite and harmonious, without collisions or boundaries. Once you attain it, you exist in it.

We do not feel that reality now because we possess opposite qualities. But those who have acquired qualities above their nature do perceive it. You could say that this kind of person, who is called a Kabbalist, has supernatural powers.
[35112]
From the program “Ask the Kabbalist” on 6/23/10

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Question: There are situations in life when someone insults me, making me feel very wounded and degraded. What is the exact order of analyzing this kind of situation?

Answer: In our current state, we are unable to tell what the right attitude to reality is. We are confused, being halfway between the sky and the earth. I haven’t revealed the Creator yet, but I am no longer in full concealment either. I perceive all sorts of wise sayings like quotes, expressions, and pieces of knowledge, as revelation, but that is not so. Everything has gotten mixed up inside of me.

That is why Baal HaSulam writes in “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” that during these years, a person has to maximally focus his development. This is a period of great confusion when I cannot understand the truth, but I no longer agree with the lie. I am simply thrown about from side to side.

On one hand, there is no one besides the Creator. I am standing in front of Him. So how should I treat reality if the only thing around me is Him? And where am I? If He has screamed at me, should I scream back at Him? But it’s the Creator, so does that mean I have to hold myself back all the time? Should I remain totally humble, even in the face of a death threat? At times one looks at things this way.

In reality, there is not a great deal of advice we can give people in these cases because a person is subject to change at every second. That is why Kabbalists prescribe a specific order of actions for us, which is determined by concealment.

Why do they give us this advice? Because we are subject to the influence of two forces. The Creator did not create a very simple state were I stand before Him and reveal Him without being distracted by anything. Who am “I”? I am the forces of disunity and separation from the Creator. Moreover, these forces appear to me as myself as well as what is around me, but not as the Creator. To me the Creator is an invisible and imperceptible ideal.

The forces of disunity conceal Him from me and I have to unite them into one whole. These forces separate and distance me from the Creator, covering Him up. They divide into two worlds: inner and outer. In essence they belong to one nature of disunity, the egoistic desire, but appear to me dually, as opposites.

I have to unite them with each other and discern precisely the disunity in them. Looking at actions, thoughts, desires, and anything there is around me, I connect the inner and the outer, doing so only in order to attain unity. In that case, if I am able to do this, then I do not err.

We have to apply just one principle here: “A person judges things according to what he sees.” I do not try to reach the One who is concealed from me. But as soon as I unite all of the forces—my own and those of others—into one whole, I discover the single Creator inside.
[34958]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Why would a person possibly wish for correction for the sake of bestowal?

Answer: There’s no question about this because no one knows this about himself. King Solomon also asked himself the question about love between a man and a woman: Who could possibly understand it? It is a heartfelt passion, a desire, and desire is created by the Creator. We must only use all of the inclinations that can aim this desire toward the goal.

The Creator gave me all of the means, and I have to arrange them correctly in order to advance forward. If I don’t do this, then He helps me by “pressuring” here and there. In the end I will still have to correctly use everything at my disposal.

The desire and environment were given to me by the Creator. I must only organize them correctly with each other, bind them together into “Israel, Torah, and the Creator,” and use them as they are intended in order to advance toward the goal.

I do not do anything myself besides this “proper placement.” And even when I put everything into its place, I first and foremost use the Upper Force. If the Creator does not build my spiritual home, then who will?
[34961]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 2/10/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What stages does a person go through when attaining the science of Kabbalah?

Answer: When a person begins to study, he first learns to perceive this world correctly, even though he studies a higher level, the following dimension where we are all united together, meaning an integral world. Yet, by studying it, we actually begin to understand how separated we are from one another here in this world, and how each one of us eats up the entire system instead of working to complement it together with everyone.

Every person exists like a cancerous cell inside the common body. This sensation and understanding comes precisely by studying the global state of the system. Then the difference between these two levels: the upper one that’s united in harmony, and our level, which is completely divided into individualists and egoists, begins to be felt very acutely.

By studying together with other friends from the whole world, he begins to attract the force of development to himself, which gradually influences him. This force is present inside nature and it begins changing him and making him more connected to others. As a result, he begins to perceive this world as a single, common system.

This happens naturally, from within, but not artificially, the way we forcefully connect one thing with another today. Then a person’s attitude to the world, to life, and to himself changes, as well as his plans for life. And because he begins feeling the world better, more correctly, and more globally, the world becomes transparent for him.

He sees the connections operating behind the external picture of the world, among all the parts of reality. It is like embroidery: on the front side you see flowers, while on the reverse you see the connecting threads that tie all the parts together.

A person sees all of this and is no longer in the dark. He feels how everything is connected together. Thus, he becomes wise and no longer acts foolishly. This is the first phase of attaining the science of Kabbalah.

Next, when a person penetrates deeper, he begins to reveal the levels of connection between all parts of reality. He begins working with all of these connecting forces. Then it becomes clear to him that everyone in this world acts like puppets on strings.
He sees how everything is controlled by these strings, which extend from the reverse side of the “embroidery.” We, who live in this world, have no freedom of choice. Our behavior is determined by genes, hormones, and the forces governing us. But this person attains the level where decisions are made and can determine on his own how to behave and what kind of future he wants to see.

That’s because he sees the general system correctly and becomes included in it, becoming of one opinion with it. His desire begins acting together with the desire of this system. This is the second phase of attainment. After that there are more phases—all together there are five.
[35043]
From my lecture in Paris on 2/1/11

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Question: If everything in our world originates in the upper roots, where do all kinds of artificially invented objects come from, those that do not exist in the nature, such as a vehicle on wheels for example?

Answer: All of nature is a picture that appears in me, and all of it descends to me from Above. In the spiritual world, there are no automobiles, but the notion itself has to exist; otherwise, how would we make it up?

In their obvious form, the roots of the upper world manifest to us as four levels of nature: the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking ones. And the rest come down to us in the form of thought. All our artificial inventions (such as missiles and cars) root in the upper thought and are not a result of our observation of nature. It doesn’t expand in a direct, mandatory manner from Above downward, but rather are invented by man who completes himself with all that he lacks in this world.

The four stages of the Direct Light expand from Above downward, from the world of Infinity to this corporeal world, bringing forth the worlds, Partzufim, Sefirot, and their numerous combinations. And at each degree, everything that is present in the lower one, all its forms, come to it from the upper one, although we think that at the lowest level there may be more developed forms because its lack of perfection requires finding greater diversity and combinations of matter.

Above, in the world of Infinity, everything merges into one whole, in integral oneness. That is how simple it is compared to our complex world. But in essence, this world of ours isn’t the richer one; it simply must divide into such a great number of constituents.

Below, there are billions of elements of nature: minerals, plants, animals, and man, and in each of them, there are countless multitude of details. But as we climb the rungs of the worlds, we see fewer and fewer of them.

After all, to decode the notion of oneness that exists Above, in Infinity, we need numberless elements that, when put together correctly, can re-create this wholeness in our world. And it is only natural that there is an enormous difference between the upper and lower degrees, in the extent that the lower one is more material and, consequently, requires more detail.

Besides, there is nothing in the lower one which wouldn’t exist in the upper one. Simply, the individual details that get revealed in the lower one are linked as one in the upper one and, hence, are perceived by you as one whole. But in reality, it isn’t just whole. As in the world of Infinity, everything merges into one in its aim to bestowal, and we don’t see any division. However, it doesn’t mean that all these definitions do not exist.

In the world of Infinity, there are countless elements, but all of them are linked into one whole, and therefore, it is called a simple, infinite Light that fills the entire creation. But in truth, it isn’t a “simple” Light of Nefesh, but rather NRNHY de NRNHY (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida), which is “620 times” greater than what is only perceived as simple.

The lowest degree just gets to know itself in such a “complex” form. We create so many different things in it only due to our weakness since we are unable to attain the upper one otherwise. And when we reach the highest degree, we don’t need all these supplements any longer.

All the abundance of details that I have at my lower degree roots in what I added in order to complete myself relative to the higher degree. But from Above downward, it is the very same elements that keep descending to me.

The same world of Infinity is present in our world. And the entire variety of details that are added by me or revealed to me in nature derives from the fact that I am unable to perceive this “simple” world of Infinity. Everything around me is regarded as the imaginary world. All worlds are merely “disappearing concealments” of the world of Infinity, where there is nothing but desire (the will to receive) filled with the simple Light.
[34741]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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