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.
[31904]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/5/11, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Where In The Universe Is This World?
Three Windows On My Computer
Find Life In The Connection Among Us

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Philosophy, Q&A, Science - No Comments →

Question: How does working with the “wicked” differ from working with the “righteous”?

Answer: First of all, please understand that we are talking about the states a person experiences relative to the Creator. As Baal HaSulam explains in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” we need to undergo these states on the path: a complete wicked, an incomplete wicked, one in the middle, an incomplete righteous, and a complete righteous.

How do I measure these states though? Anybody you ask thinks they are at least those in the middle if not complete righteous. In truth, the only criterion of a correct assessment is self-annulment in the group. In our case, the environment is our measuring device. The common Kli (vessel) broke only so that you, by lowering your head before the group, could know where you are and receive strength from the Creator.

After the breaking, your Kli split into multiple parts. The Creator, who was present in it, also split, and is now in all of these parts. They are as the pieces of once whole puzzle that you are assembling according to the program designed Above. Thereby, you are restoring the parts of your soul, along with the parts of the Creator, parcels of Light that are hidden in them.

In this world, in your egoism, you perceive all of this as a physical group. But in truth, it isn’t a group. With time, the group will become a spiritual appellation to you. These are not people who sing songs and wish to unite, but rather in each of them, you discover a part of your Kli and a particle of the Creator planted in it.

Behind the friends’ faces, there is a spiritual environment. Now you clearly realize that the breaking, our current reality, and the friends allow you to engage in spiritual work. When the Creator has no value in your eyes, you feel a sinner, and to gain this value, you appeal to the environment. It contains the Kelim (vessels); the Creator dwells in it; and the Light pours into it and brings this spiritual meaning to you. Thus, everything is in one place: the person and all his parts he sees as alien to him at the moment.

[31840]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/5/11, “What Are the Misfortunes that Come to the Wicked Which Start From the Righteous in Work”

Related Material:
Self – Tst For Spiritual Progress
The Wicked And The Righteous Are Within Me
The Last Variable In The Equation

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

In order to give the Kli freedom of choice, the Creator put two opposite forces in it: reception and bestowal. Creation is in the middle between them as the third line, as the fulcrum of a scale, and it decides which way to incline. That is how we are given the opportunity to be independent.

Question: What does it mean that creation “decides”? After all, when faced with a choice between good and evil, I will always choose good.

Answer: It depends on what you consider good. There are two scales: true versus false, and bitter versus sweet. Creation is being offered two ways of evaluating: good can be the receiving desire or the bestowing desire, and either can be felt as evil as well. The analysis can be made by the fulfillment in the receiving vessel or by the fulfillment in the bestowing vessel, in the left line or the right line.

You have two opportunities, each containing many traits. From these traits you begin to piece together the picture of your attitude. You thereby build yourself, putting together your spiritual Partzuf with all of its organs, tendons, flesh, bones, and so on. That is how many details you have to bring together into one whole.
[32011]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Don’t Worry If You’re A Beginner – Kabbalah Is Simple!
The Last Variable In The Equation
Difficult Work Based On A Simple Principle

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A, Spirituality - No Comments →

Question: What is the Creator’s help?

Answer: If a person tries to reach love and unity above hatred and repulsion, he will see that this is impossible. Good intentions turn to their opposite every time.

At first when making unsuccessful efforts, a person feels that this happens to him because of himself. Later the same efforts show him that the reason for it is a certain external force.

Then, by accumulating more new impressions, a person discovers that it isn’t some foreign force, but the Upper Force that directs him in this way and illuminates his negative attitude to others by means of various situations in life. That is how a person starts to reveal the Creator as the cause of the negatives and positives. He discovers that the Creator is the force that’s necessary for combining opposite extremes. Without His help a person cannot combine these two qualities inside him.

After that, this also turns out to be insufficient. It’s not enough that the Creator helps a person improve his sensation and arrange his life comfortably. Until now my bad attitude to others was unpleasant to me, but now I want the opposite: to use everything for connecting with the Creator. The combination of opposites has to happen inside the Creator and be completed only there.

That is how a person gradually ascends up a slanted ladder. At first he wants to put his Kelim in order, but then with their help, he turns to the Creator and finds the right combination with Him. Stage by stage, the right attitude to creation becomes apparent in a person: He goes from the means to the cause, from efforts to correct his desires to the realization of why he is doing this and what he achieves by it.

The goal is not to enjoy fulfilling your vessel, but to attain the upper root by virtue of your work. Then your attitude changes: By uniting Bina with Malchut, you discover Keter, the point of the letter Yod (י), which is the beginning of the letter Aleph (א), symbolizing our work and ascent up a diagonal.
[31954]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
A Problem To Help You
Pay Heed To The Creator
Bestowal By Deferred Payment

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A, Spirituality - No Comments →

Question: How can I check whether my intention is really aimed at the Creator? What practical test does the science of Kabbalah have to offer?

Answer: Kabbalah offers something very simple: work in the group, which accelerates your personal development and provides you with a practice ground. Inside the group a person can find the place for the Creator’s revelation, the place to bestow to the Creator. Overall we attain the goal by way of mutual study and unification with friends.

At the same time, no matter what we do, it is important to ascertain that we do not suppress our egoism by trying to run away from bad sensations. After all, a person spends most of his time covering up his ego.

Inside us there is hatred, envy, lust, ambitions, and other attributes of interaction with others. Sometimes these desires are so small that a person does not even discern their evil. Yet, whenever I look at someone, I unconsciously or consciously make a calculation: how much better I am than him, how much I don’t accept him, how much power I have over him, how much I can use him, and so on.

I always have to feel higher than the neighbor in some way. Even if I don’t have anything to criticize, I am still higher.

Thus, if I don’t blur over my egoistic attitude, then at every second I reveal an opportunity to work. Overall my sensations are called "unfounded hatred." My nature dictates that I feel it toward every person. But can I immediately build a good attitude, love above it?

I hate every person for some reason and if I don’t conceal this from myself, then I can work ceaselessly until every situation turns into a means for coming closer to the Creator.
[31951]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
From The Means To The Cause
Approaching Mount Sinai
Love Over Hate

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work, Inner Work, Love, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Without the environment, it is impossible to advance. How do we build the environment when we read The Book of Zohar?

Answer: We build the environment when all of us, together, wish to attain everything we read about in The Zohar in our mutual connection. The Zohar draws various forms for us. What are they? If we become unified, we will obtain a certain form of connection between us. Let’s name it “a rabbit,” for instance. The next form of connection will be labeled as “a cow,” and the next after that will be “a donkey.”

Later, we may come to such a connection that will be called “human” at various stages of development: Ibur, Yenika, Mochin (fetus, breastfeeding, and adulthood), until we reach the level of human. Then the form of connection between us will have a human shape. In other words, it isn’t I, you, or he, but rather a form of our mutual connection, some unifying formula, that will make our image human.

“Human” in spirituality is bestowal. But what is bestowal? What is its form? It is a certain field between us that we will title as human. This field undergoes various states that The Zohar describes as individuals with different hair and eye color, and so forth. All of it speaks about the forms of connection between us. The wisdom of Kabbalah doesn’t discuss anything else; there is nothing else to talk about.

There is nothing to say about the will to receive pleasure (desire) since it simply strives to enjoy. But as individual desires rise above themselves and mutually connect in bestowal in this place of unification, they create the common form that The Zohar is describing. It is that very form of the Creator which you are getting to know.

Therefore, The Zohar explains what specific form of the Creator you are discovering. It is what is named “human” within you, your inner equivalent to the Creator. Do you find him a bit unattractive in his uncorrected state? True, but that is what you are for now. Hence, The Zohar explains what steps you take as you advance.

It always speaks of the connection between the souls: to what degree it is equivalent to bestowal which awakens hatred, caring, and other feelings between them. However, all of it still lies in their mutual connection.
[31737]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011,  “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

Related Material:
The “Litmus Paper” Of Spirituality
The Most Effective Means Of Advancement
The Power Of The Book Of Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: How important is it to participate in the upcoming European Kabbalah convention in Berlin?

Answer: I really hope that everyone who studies with us understands how vital it is for us and all humanity, especially in our present state, that Europe becomes unified in spiritual terms. We are standing at the threshold of very trying events in Europe. I think that everyone is beginning to feel it.

All these sweet hopes to find solutions through the commonwealth market are starting to melt away. Behind it all, we see the manifestations of great hatred and mutual separation and growing protectionism.

Therefore, now is the time to accelerate the circulation of the wisdom of Kabbalah in Europe with our best effort. All our friends who live there must view their own future and the future of the entire humanity in this light.

Otherwise, Europe will start a new fire yet again. It is there that the first two world wars began. It could be the same with the third one. I think that Germany, more than any other country, feels how real and close this threat may be.

Yet, as the wisdom of Kabbalah informs us, everything depends on the unity between people and on achieving balance with nature. All of this can be actualized with the help of the Upper Force if a person desires it so and strives to draw this force. This is what the wisdom of Kabbalah helps to accomplish.

The key lies in the circulation of Kabbalah in all possible forms so that it may reach every person in Europe. We will keep adapting the articles and publishing them on the Internet in all European languages in the most intensive form. There cannot be any more delays since the next year or two will be the turning point for all of humanity.

The world is yet to face great trials. In order to go through them in the right way so that they don’t throw us into an abyss, but rather bounce us upward toward the goal, we need to be armed with the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is all up to you!

Let’s hope that all our students from all over Europe will take part in the convention, even from the most remote places. We are expecting to see everybody. I have a hope that our voice will finally be heard.
[31745]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Pay Heed To The Creator
Where Will Europe Go Next?
Man’s Heart Between Two Flames

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Kabbalah Dissemination, Q&A, Society - No Comments →

Question: I think that in all his articles, Rabash is trying to describe spiritual work in sensory terms for us.

Answer: Everything takes place in our sensations. Kabbalists do not discuss anything else. Even mathematics and all other phenomena that may seem irrational to us are still sensory even though we don’t realize that we use our mind to evaluate the connection between our feelings.

We measure, weigh, and attach some numeric value to them, but all of this work still occurs in our senses. Even when I determine the shades of the colors, “This is more yellow, and that is whiter,” I evaluate the sensations that they trigger in me. This goes for everything, including the most rational meanings seemingly stripped of any emotions. Either way, we always work only in our sensations.

When I came to the wisdom of Kabbalah, I was shocked, “What feelings? What is this, a romance novel? What kind of science is this?” until I started to really comprehend that man is made solely of desire, and all the others around us are desires as well. Still objects, plants, and animals are all desires that look this way in our collective will to enjoy.

I see animals, still objects, people, and the sky. This is how I experience these phenomena in my desire to enjoy. I explore still matter: what force to apply to affect it so it would get hot, split into components, or merge. I study animals, plants, myself, and human relations within a society. In any case, I analyze, weigh, evaluate, and study only relationships between desires.

Hence, all Kabbalistic books speak solely about the correction of desire so that you can elevate yours to such an exalted degree where you will unveil the Creator, the integral force of Nature, the outermost, broadest, and all-inclusive circle. This is what you must achieve in your desires.
[31602]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/3/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

Related Material:
Spiritual Particle Accelerator
The World At A Different Frequency
The Universal Energy Of Light

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: How should a person measure his spiritual progress: by the growth of egoism or the magnitude of bestowal?

Answer: Bestowal can never be measured. It’s boundless, formless, and shapeless until it clothes into the receiving desire.

We are always submerged into our egoistic thoughts and impulses. But if we overcome them and begin to aim ourselves at the Creator above them, we impart height and form to our bestowing desire.

Its height equals that of the receiving desire, above which we want to live in bestowal. We turn to the Creator in exact correspondence with our egoistic impulse, above it.
After all, it is He who formed this egoistic desire, this foreign thought within me.

Hence, by rising above it and turning back to Him, I as though make a mask of the face, a copy, and acquire His form. The Creator copied His form onto my will to enjoy, while I make a reverse copy from this desire and return to the Creator’s initial form and begin to bestow.

In this way, I come to know, understand, and perceive the Creator: from a stamp to its imprint and back to a stamp.
[31711]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011, “What Does It Mean That if the Good Grows Also the Evil Grows at Work”

Related Material:
A Trampoline For Ascending Into Spirituality
Evil Shows Us The Form Of Good
An Imprint Of The Upper System

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A - 1 Comment →

Question: If I don’t have any study questions, do I nevertheless advance?

Answer: A person himself has to check whether he is advancing or not. How can he do it? By examining if during the study he experiences ascents and descents in his connection with the others and rejection thereof. Now I only need to know whether I am connected with the others and try to reveal the images that we study in The Zohar, the images of the Creator, within this connection.

Do I aspire for it? Yes, I do. How strong is my aspiration? How many times during the lesson did I leave and come back to these thoughts? How many times during this work did I feel concerned about the others so that they, too, hold this intention? Then, their collective thought will also act upon me so that even if I leave these thoughts, I will immediately return to them. It is actually good to have as many of these quick exits and entries as possible.

For this reason I need the support of the group, and I have to constantly hold the thought about the connection. This is my entire work. These signs help me evaluate my progress. If I stop thinking about the connection and never return to these thoughts again, I don’t advance.

Hence, don’t ask, but rather examine yourself.
[31861]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/5/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

Related Material:
Having The Upper One’s Head On Your Shoulders
The Birth Of Joseph
The Last Unknown In The Equation

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Kabbalah Study, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →