What does every person want at the end of the day? He wants to know exactly what influences him. Is it one force, or maybe there are two? Perhaps there are thousands of them on each side? “It doesn’t matter. The main thing is to remain connected with these forces and make them good to us. Then, we’ll be fine.”

This is what our egoism demands. As our ego evolved, our attitude to destiny also changed. People began to believe that their lives depended upon various outside factors. It’s on this basis that many creeds and religions were created.

Separation into “good and bad” is subjective. We “enter” an outside picture into ourselves and mark things with “pluses” and “minuses.” If we weren’t doing that, we would consider everything that happens to us “for the better.” However, we perceive any natural phenomena only through the prism of ourselves, and that’s why we’re unable to distinguish between them.

Thousands of details of positive and negative natures arise in our imagination. To the degree that our egoistic desires grow, we feel the need to detect the factors that influence each of its new aspects. We assign some upper divine meaning to them since we depend upon them for better or worse.

This is how our attitude is developed, through the change of our mind-set towards destiny and to who or what gives us birth and then sends us to death by taking us nobody knows where. Eventually, in our eyes all of nature splits into multiple detached elements and forces.

If we stop associating desires, feelings, and powers with these forces, we will see that we are simply talking about nature. In such a case, various factors are not dressed in human attire and do not have desires. They are just “blind nature,” nothing more than that. Nature stops being capricious by manifesting itself as “positive or negative,” but rather acts in accordance with rigid laws.

Because we haven’t learned the laws of nature and don’t have control of the general picture that is being drawn by them, we constantly deal with unexpected situations. The point is that we simply have no knowledge of the objective laws of nature, which don’t depend on anything except themselves.

The problem is that we don’t see the causes of events. Let’s say everything descends to us from the higher level that we are unaware of, whereas obvious things stem out of the laws of blind nature. However, a person is unable to exercise such an approach because he depends upon multiple factors that in his eyes are independent. So, he starts to associate them with caprices of nature.

A person doesn’t trace back his roots and doesn’t see the origin of his actions, judgments and sensations; he doesn’t even suspect that he operates according to a special program installed in him. He only views the observable part; that’s why he considers himself and others to be independent and arbitrary. As a result, he assigns the same concept to nature and starts to erroneously believe that it has a certain willpower of its own that can be altered depending on circumstances.

He trusts that he should treat nature positively, cajole it, pay it, and pay those who possibly are close to nature and can protect him. At this stage, a person stops depersonalizing nature, but rather ascribes his own desires, thoughts, and properties to it. This is the root of beliefs and religions.

Nowadays, we see that our egoistic desires, which have been growing for centuries, lead us through these theories and various attitudes to divinity. In the end, they all collapse. Some are inclined to fanatically hold on to a certain theory by artificially separating themselves from the rest of the world for the sake of alleged stability, even though it prevents them from further growth. This attitude can be traced in religious fanaticism and fascism, meaning in narrow-minded egoistic types of unity that at first bring steadiness to society, but in the end break down since they make further advancement impossible.

To the extent that people’s egoism grows, humans remain “naked” since they lose the opportunity to connect with nature. They feel that they are being captivated by absolute power that embraces all spheres of life, that they depend on chances and destiny, and that they simply cannot form any kind of subjective attitude towards these notions. This becomes a turning point that eventually will refer humanity to the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[63334]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/2011, “The Peace”

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A person doesn’t know the world he lives in. In fact, he belongs to nature that throws him from one state to another. During his short life of several decades he doesn’t have enough time to realize what is going on. Interestingly, about 150 years ago, man’s life expectancy was not 70, but 40 years.

Regardless of the near doubling of our life expectancy, we still do not comprehend the essence of life. Humanity still doesn’t know what to look for and where to find it. The meaning of life remains ambiguous. When does life begin, and where does it lead us? Is there a purpose to it? What’s going on with us? The answers are vague.

People are subject to the power of nature. No one gets a book with revelations from Above. We all disclose everything there is within our world. The revelations we make build our understanding and awareness of reality.

Except for the substance from which we are made and our five senses, a human being possesses an inherent ability to discover something bigger. However, it is all in potential, and in reality we build our attitude to life and nature based on what we see. This gave rise to simple theories of creation based on life in this world.

First, man perceived the world as nature. He observed nature as a whole, as a complete picture in which all parts are interconnected. Thus, he felt close to nature. It is an ancient approach that was completely clear since everything was apparent and disclosed.

Later, people began to sort natural phenomena into “good” and “bad.” Man became more egoistic, and stopped sensing himself as an integral part of nature. He figured out that nature had various limitations that seemed positive or negative. He sorted the elements that influenced him into “beneficial” and “harmful” and thus created a notion of good and evil forces.

At first, it was a general opposition of good and evil, which later started to split into numerous independent forces until assemblies and pantheons of deities were created. Thus, our ego distanced us from unified nature even more.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/2011, “The Peace”

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The Ari writes in the book The Tree of Life (16th century) that upon exiting the animal world through the transitional stage of apes, we acquired the human form. This occurred both on the physical, bodily, level, and on the emotional, spiritual one: We develop within the desires of the still, vegetative, and animate nature until we arrive at the egoistic desires of the fourth, human, degree. The human degree is also subdivided into these four levels, but as a whole, humanity is distinct from the rest in its unique pattern of development.

Previous development proceeded at the material level, limited to absorbing and excreting substances. The still nature is almost always restricted to internal processes; the vegetative one exchanges substances with the surrounding environment: It breathes, consumes, and secretes, but only to a tiny extent.

Given all that, the vegetative level of nature wholly depends on the external conditions; it doesn’t move from its place and is subject to the cycling of the seasons. The animate nature has fewer restrictions: Its representatives move from place to place, possess a more developed desire, have specialized ways of producing offspring, and can better consume nourishment and excrete waste. And this, in essence, is the conclusion of the external, material, development.

From this point on a special fourth degree becomes added to it. But first let us ask ourselves: Why couldn’t the process be completed at this level? Why couldn’t the third phase of the Direct Light become the final one?

Keter, also known as the root, zero phase, created the desire to receive, the first phase (Behina Aleph) and filled it. Then this desire longed to become like the upper one, which is already the second phase (Behina Bet), the will to bestow. In order to perform bestowal upon the upper one, the second phase makes a decision: “I must receive.” Then from the center of Bina it forms a new state for itself, the third phase (Behina Gimel), Zeir Anpin, which receives in order to bestow.

What, then, is missing here? Seemingly, the third phase has everything? It has everything except its independence, self-awareness, and perception of the upper one, everything except its own “I.” It lacks the inner development relative to the upper one. In other words, it requires a connection with its root, the one thing that would allow it to continue on its path.

It is here that the fourth phase arises (Behina Dalet) or Malchut. This is a unique phase, characterized by inner, qualitative development.

Up to this point the desire has already developed in its due course. We see this in our world, which has more than enough egoism. And now we have to develop qualitatively in order to attain the upper root. The world has already realized its egoism and understood what can and cannot fulfill it. All forms have been tried, as a result of which we grew up and destroyed everything. The only thing that remains now is the question of connection with the upper one, the Creator: Where do I come from and where am I going?

And this precisely is the fourth phase: the degree of true development of man, accompanied by the desires of the other phases. From here it is necessary to understand what “religion” is in the context of development. It is a special mechanism, a special method that allows us to grasp the distance between me and the Creator. And it pertains only to the human degree.

Who, then, can start doing this work? The one who senses the separation from the Creator, who feels the inclination towards this. In other words, it is only those who have the point in the heart. All the rest are in the previous stages of development: still, vegetative, and animate.

This is why we perceive this difference, the separation, the pressure, the drive towards something. It develops within us the feeling of recognition of evil.

What is this evil? Perhaps I am experiencing negative sensations because I wasn’t able to steal something and escape unnoticed? Or is it because I am aware of the evil relative to the Creator? Thus, “religion” in this sense is a school of internal and external education, which reveals to me how distant I still am from the Creator and how I can overcome this abyss.

This has absolutely no connection with the traditional notions of “religion.” There is man, and there is the upper force. The question is only in recognition of how opposite we are and in overcoming this gap.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Today we come to the question of “what is the meaning of my life?” and suddenly discover the wisdom of Kabbalah. We find it not because we wish to bestow or reach connection, love, and a common concern.

No. We come to it precisely through the question: “What is the meaning of my life? Why do I feel bad?! I want to have power over my life! I want to rise above it, grasp eternity and perfection of nature.” I want, want, want… We come to the wisdom of Kabbalah precisely through egoistic questions, and not by means of a delicate, sensitive soul. On the contrary, we are led by the desire to receive, to take control over our lives.

Thus, when we come to the wisdom of Kabbalah and begin listening to what it talks about, many don’t understand: “Why do we talk about love and unity? Where are we? Is this a kindergarten where we are taught to be good? Is this a society of idealists? What do they want? What are they talking about?!”

Or a person comes to Kabbalah through religion and also doesn’t understand what’s going on: “Who talks about love in religion? It’s true that there are a few similar nice phrases there, but in reality, it’s all about doing actions known to us from childhood.” Today, where is the basis of religions, which once spoke of love, connection among people, mutual help, and equality among everyone? For a long time, each of them talks about what is good for people who use religion for fulfilling their own egoistic needs.

It turns out that through thousands of years we completely forgot about and moved away from the opinion of people who felt the presence of the force of bestowal. We moved away from the basis of religions set thousands years ago, which also talked about the force of bestowal.

In addition to that, our ego got so developed that we don’t even think about that, and all our systems are directed toward earning more to be independent from others and moving away from them like they don’t exist. Everyone is ready to fill the house with servants and household appliances and stay independent from everyone instead of being with his family and close, loving, and supportive people.

Thus, when we come to the wisdom of Kabbalah, it’s extremely difficult to start listening to the words of love and connection. After all, we’re used to the fact that that’s how little kids are taught. We egoistically want them to be better protected and unharmed, and hence teach them not to harm others. We tell them: “You have to love the other, be his friend.” We see that while a person is still young and dependent on others, it’s worthwhile for him to be good and loving, and then everyone loves him as well.

But as children grow, we tell them: “You have to win, be higher than everyone else! Show your strength and your power and you’ll be big!” We begin encouraging the ego inside of him instead of love. Our education is opposite to love.

So it turns out that we are led to Kabbalah by over-satiated and hence suffering egoism.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can I exactly recognize the point of my free choice?

Answer: First of all, we discover that we are absolutely, one-hundred percent not free. This is the realization of evil.

However, on the other hand, what is so bad about that? If I am entirely under the power of the Creator, or Nature, then there is nothing to ask of me. I am neither good nor bad. What is there to demand of me? No matter what I do, it is not me doing it, as it is written: “Go to the craftsman who made me.”

Religion is based on this. I am a small person. I do everything that He wants. If He says do, I do. In this way, all my charges are removed, any questions are canceled, and I rid myself of problems.

However, on this path, you lose independence and freedom. Just by following the Creator’s decrees, even if unwillingly, you will always find a reward for yourself and ease your task—at the cost of your real “I.” This is why religion is good for the masses. When everything comes from Above, it adds a feeling of comfort to life and provides psychological support to flow together with everyone.

On the other hand, in Kabbalah, I demand independence, instead of self-cancellation. I want to find the beginning of my “I.” In this search, in this rational and logical evaluation, I discover that in reality, I do not exist. I did not make the decision about being born in this world, I did not chose my qualities, my genetics, my parents, my country, or my environment. I was reared and educated by already formed systems and institutions such as kindergarten, school, mass media, and so forth. Who am I after all this? I am a piece of dough baked in a common oven into a regular loaf of bread.

When I see this, a question arises in me: Is this what life is? What does it give me besides never-ending concerns, a constant flight from suffering, and brief moments of pleasure? This is the realization of evil: I begin to think about the essence of what is happening, about my journey and its end, and I understand that I do not exist. There is only a machine that I neither launch nor control. When there is an algorithm conflict in the computer, it gives an error message. I too respond to problems, albeit in a sensory way. The pressure jumps somewhere, and I feel pain. That’s all it is to it.

In this case, I simply have no reason to live. Many people come to this conclusion. The only thing that holds them back is an instinctive fear of death, and even that does not always work.

This is where I begin the search for true freedom, my true essence. The path to it lies through becoming like the Creator, not in worshiping and canceling yourself before Him, but actually becoming like Him. I must grow and become more like Him. Absolute independence and freedom is inherent of the Creator. There is none else besides Him in all of nature. I can grow according to the same principle when there is no one else besides me in all of nature.

This is the Kabbalistic method. We search for freedom and independence. The most painful thing is the fact that I do not exist. Where can I find my “I?”  This pursuit of my own “I” is my entire life. I want greater self-expression. I want to rule over everyone and receive. What is all this for? It is for my “I” to form and grow. Here, Kabbalah explains that to acquire your “I” means to acquire the qualities of the Creator, in other words, to acquire freedom.

Question: So how can I find my “I” without free will?

Answer: The initial point of my “I” manifests itself through questions about the meaning and essence of life. A person who comes to Kabbalah already has this point of choice, a point in the heart, a spark, the other side of the middle line, the reverse side of freedom, the feeling of emptiness and lack.

I have no freedom, and this is why I ask questions about the meaning of life. This is exactly what I lack. I do not care about life itself; I need to find my “I.”
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/2011, “The Freedom”

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In articles like “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose,” Baal HaSulam refers to more sublime things than a certain religion. “Religion” in this case is one’s attitude to life, the perception and the feeling of reality. How is reality depicted to me: externally or internally? Can I see the difference between the two?

Can I be certain about what I feel? Can I rely on my mind and emotions? Do I perceive the situation correctly, or am I trapped in blurred feelings? Could it be that everything isn’t really as I see and feel it? How can I check the credibility of my image of reality? How can I understand the phenomena I perceive in this picture? How can I use them correctly? Where do I find these criteria? How can I look at myself from the side, objectively? All these questions and many more are part of the concept called “religion.”

In our ordinary life, religion is our attitude towards a certain concept that we have created for ourselves by ourselves. Almost every person in the world wants to believe in something that he doesn’t know or feel, something that he cannot test logically.

It’s convenient from the egoistic point of view to make up theories that will help one sweeten his life a bit. The answers cannot be tested, no one knows whether they are true, and each one has a theory of his own. At the same time, a person feels good with it, he suffers less and feels that what will be will be. After all, we cannot ascend above our realty and actually check and analyze it.

We need another science, another concept that comes from Above, from outside our nature. I don’t know what it means to be really objective because no matter how you look at it, I am always in my own desire, in my mind and my emotions. How objective can you be? If we take all the options into account, all the desires and the thoughts, all the sciences in the world, we will still not reach objectivity.

So in our present situation we will never be able to determine the right approach, the right outlook of life. This is why we cannot answer questions about the meaning and purpose of our lives. We shouldn’t be ashamed of these questions, but we cannot answer them because we are in a very limited position.

We don’t know how the universe was created and what preceded it. We don’t know how it develops and what drives the natural evolution of the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking nature on earth. We don’t know anything about the process we are going through and how it will end. So, no matter how much we discuss it and the assumptions we make, it’s all worthless. No one can prove that it’s the truth. People can say that, but no one actually has any facts.

This means that we don’t need another system, but a true revelation of the upper force that operates reality. Until we discover it, we should not rely on anything.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/27/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: They found it difficult to accept the assumption of Nature’s supervision…. In consequence, they came to a second assumption that there are two supervisors here: One creates and sustains the good, and the other creates and sustains the bad. And they have greatly elaborated that method with evidence and proof along their way.

The theory of duality is a natural stage of development. Nature affects us in different ways, and we feel positive and negative things in it. We feel good and bad, and we naturally divide reality into two parts. After all, we do not have another sensor but the desire to receive.

The five senses are types of mechanical sensors whose readings do not mean anything on their own. The desire to enjoy stands behind vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. It displays the positive (+) and negative (-) features of the data that I perceive. This is the only thing that is important to me, and the only thing my desire recognizes is what is good and bad for me.

Consequently, I divide reality into the two parts: positive and negative. This is strongly manifested in little children who avoid certain places and things but like others. Man also has this stage of development where he distributes everything between two forces. Nature itself brings us to this because we live through sensations.

This theory is very simple, but it is important to understand here that it is not limited by individual good and bad sensations, but transfers them to nature. It attributes corresponding intentions to it on our account. In this way, we attribute to nature a certain power, attitude, and intention to either help or harm us. Without this, no one could believe that nature had an intention, a design, or a plan, but it is seen as something inanimate, no more than that.

However, when nature has power, it is no longer without personality. It no longer is a set of firm, impersonal laws determined by the interaction of elementary particles. No, the power of nature is something else. It can be single or dual.

In general, duality is a very logical theory because everything in the world is based on two opposites, a plus and a minus, beginning with electrons and protons in the atomic structure. At first glance, the two powers really oppose one another, and everything depends on the balance of forces between them.

This drove man to create mythology. We have endowed nature with a desire, a program, and a purpose, and this has become an important milestone on the way.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/2011, “The Peace”

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Many Baal HaSulam articles are dedicated to one topic: man’s attitude towards the world, how we reveal the true reality. This also raises the question of who we are. We are a certain type of energy that assumes a form in our sensations that we are accustomed to, and this form is comprised of hard, live, and warm bodies that assume a place and this is known as space. This is how we perceive ourselves.

Is this the proper sensation? And is there an objective criterion? Maybe everything is relative, and everyone sees his own picture, depending on his senses? Rabash gives the following example: Whatever we see as a table is something else in an angel’s eyes. Everyone discovers the world according to his or her instruments of perception.

In general, thanks to Baal HaSulam’s articles, we are approaching a certain objective perception. With this purpose we rise over our desire to receive and acquire the desire to bestow. In other words, we form the desire to bestow out of the desire to receive in us, and then we reveal the reality that created us.

A special force created me in the form of the desire to enjoy. When in return I turn it into the desire to please another, then it’s as if I assumed the form of the One who created me. It’s in this way that a person assumes the form of “Man,” meaning similar to the Creator.

I reveal a greater desire to enjoy in me and can turn myself into my opposite, until I work out everything that exists in me. In this way I will fully reveal my Maker according to the principle of “we will now You by Your actions.” This is because I am His action. And when I turn myself into my opposite, I reveal Him. Moreover, as it is written, I reveal everything within me, as it is said, “come and see” (Bo and Reh). This is the Creator (Boreh).

This is our course, this is how we come to His revelation and the revelation of reality in general. In other words, in reality the entire enormous multitude of its parts is the creature, or I myself. And I must turn myself into the intention for the sake of bestowal.

Some of my parts I perceive as my own body, and other parts I perceive as the others. However, they also are my desires. I perceive that other desires are further from me, and in the end, they form my image of the world. All of this I must turn into bestowal. The final fruit of this work will become my Creator. He created me, and I create, formulate Him, reconstructing the seal by the imprint.

At first it seems to us that a multitude of unconnected forces operate in the world. Then we discover that this is not really the way it is—there nevertheless is a connection. Rain and wind, heat and cold, myself and my family, friends and enemies… There are many forces, and I am indifferent to some of them, while others have a greater or a lesser meaning to me.

Then I divide them into generally good and bad, and then all the good ones I relate to one good force, and all the bad ones, to one bad force. In this way mythology and a host of gods appeared, which with time have been cut down to three, two, or one….

And today the entire world is uniting into one whole before our eyes. An integrated nature, undivided into fragments, similar to sciences, is being revealed to me. Human society, ecology, everything is becoming one. We are changing our perception of reality.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/2011, “The Peace”

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Question: Out of all the material published by you and Anthony Kosinec, it was  easy for me to synchronize all your teachings with the Holy Quran. This made it clear for me that both the Torah and the Quran came from the same source. However, I don’t see you talking at all about the devil or how he can affect our desires. Could you please explain from your teachings where you can position him or his effects? (Saudi Arabia)

Answer: All positive (giving) and negative (egoistic) forces exist only in a person himself. There is nothing outside a person but the concealed correcting force (the Light, the Creator), which manifests to the extent of our aspiration to become similar to it in our relations.

That is why “love thy neighbor as yourself” is the general rule of the Torah (the method of correction). There is no doubt that the Holy Quran is also a consequence of the same laws of nature (the Creator) that the Torah (Kabbalah) speaks of.
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Question (from the Hebrew blog): Last year, while studying Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, I was granted the revelation of the Creator in my heart. His teachings continue to illuminate my path and fill my heart. I turned to faith, began to put on tefillin (phylacteries), and try to fulfill the commandments, as I understand them.

Once, I came to your class in Haifa before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and was very surprised by the fact that before such an important day as the Day of Atonement, you completed the lesson without saying a single word about keeping the commandments.

I was hoping that at least at the end of the lesson they would read a prayer. But even this did not happen. Don’t your lessons and the method of transmitting our holy Torah include prayers and performing the commandments? It is important to note that I really enjoyed the lesson. I would like to know whether it is possible to talk about such exalted matters without including the direct interpretation of the Torah and the fulfillment of commandments.

Answer: I address all the citizens of the country and the world, and that is why I do not present my explanations in the framework of customs so as not to scare people away, but to attract them towards the main commandment: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
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