Question: I am a Muslim who has been studying Kabbalah for several months. Is it possible to observe the laws of my religion and correct my soul at the same time?

Answer: Kabbalah was born before Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Torah speaks of Abraham “bestowing gifts” to the sons of his concubines and sending them East, thus laying the foundation for Eastern teachings. Everything stems from one source.

The collective desire is divided into many parts, and each part has its own individual path of correction. Certain parts can commence with correction immediately. They constitute the group that Abraham had taken out of Babylon. The other parts have scattered around the world, with each part developing individually in accordance with its unique set of qualities.

Their means of advancement are the various religions, faiths, and cultures. A person can easily remain in his faith and follow the spiritual path at the same time. Baal HaSulam writes about this in his Writings of The Last Generation:

“The religious formation of all the nations should first and foremost obligate its members to bestow upon their fellow man the concept of another person’s life coming before one’s own, a formation of ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’… But otherwise, each nation may pursue its own religion and traditions, and one must not interfere with the other.”

That is, we must not meddle in the affairs of other nations and cultures. Let them have these things; people need them. This whole “territory” has nothing to do with the spiritual world. As a person advances, it turns into a cultural platform for him, a set of traditions, and does not get in the way.

If I want to rise above my nature so as to unite with everybody, even the relationships between religions appear to me in a new light. As a Muslim, I suddenly understand that I can advance toward the goal alongside a Christian, and, truly, what can stop us?

Everyone is used to their own home cooking, and nobody is taking that away from you. As Baal HaSulam writes, everyone can remain in their religion, and nobody has the right to meddle in your affairs precisely because this has nothing to do with the spiritual path. Ultimately, in our world, religions constitute culture, tradition that corresponds from the beginning to the nature of the various parts of Malchut and conforms to the root of the soul.

Recently, we read the weekly Bible chapter about the Creator bidding Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, but at the very last moment commanding that a baby goat, not Isaac, be sacrificed. In Hebrew, the word “sacrifice” is Kurban, from the word Karov (to draw closer). Here, the right line (Abraham) sacrifices its ego, Kurban, the left line (Isaac), thus drawing closer to the Creator (Karov).

We hear that Muslims celebrate the holiday of Kurban to honor Ibrahim who had sacrificed a goat instead of Ishmael on Allah’s bidding. Allah is derived from the word Alla (Elyon or the Upper One).
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/10, “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride)”

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Question: People often ask me what is Kabbalah and I try to explain its essence and purpose. In response many people admit, “Yeah, I also feel that way. Yeah, I know what you’re talking about.” So does this mean they have a point in the heart? How do the people who have this point differ from other people who are also looking for something?

Answer: The point in the heart is a part of the Creator. When it becomes revealed in you, you hear a “call sign” calling you to Him.

We recognize the point in the heart when it brings a person to the science of Kabbalah, to the place or the net where all our points come from. Kabbalah is not the books, but the wisdom and the program of the common system. Kabbalah books bring you the force of this program and you use it to enact the first spiritual impulse.

In reality you have never left this “system of governance.” You are always inside it, connected to others, and your common body is alive. It is Malchut of the World of Infinity, which really exists, although you do not feel how you belong to it.

Instead of feeling its main window, you feel yourself as being in a completely different “window.” You are in the same place, but you perceive a different world, devoid of the common interconnection. There are two windows: one is the natural, correct, true, and deep one, and the other is virtual. Right now my screen is occupied by our illusory world, but alongside it there is also an inner screen where we are all in the state of Infinity. This is what the Kabbalists talk about.

I aspire to it with my point in the heart, wanting to go from the virtual screen to the real one, to the place where I am connected to everyone. If my point really has awakened, I find myself in the group. I open up books that talk about this inner screen, and while reading them I evoke Light from there that begins to advance me.

However, if a person does not care about Kabbalistic books and unity in the group, if he does not feel the inner need for this, then he does not have a point in the heart. He imagines all sorts of things and looks for spirituality in India, or in different religions and faiths, in meditation, in New Age, and so on. In contrast to this, a person with a point in the heart is unable to leave the path any longer. He can “take a break” due to various problems, but he will never exchange his point for anything else.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/10, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Mankind as a whole and each person individually can be divided into the following three types of desires:

1. Those who are indifferent to spirituality and remain at the animate level of existence. They relate to others only in order the find the most comfortable and pleasant way of interaction. These people don’t step beyond the “I versus environment” calculation.

2. The second type are the religious and those who believe in being rewarded for “good” deeds according to their standards. Faith and philosophy don’t matter to them: Some fear the police and others fear the Creator. They both seek reward from their environment, but the religious expect to be rewarded in the future world as well. They are receivers of payment one way or the other, and each one defines for himself the optimal reward expected at a given moment.

These people do not have the slightest intention to correct themselves, and therefore they have no relationship with the Creator. They simply practice psychological self-help, expecting to receive in the future world in exchange for certain actions they perform in this world.

They are willing to pay and suffer many hardships in this world in order to collect a handsome reward which they were told awaits the righteous when they die. They believe the elation and paradise that they will feel in the future is even worth dying for.

3. The Kabbalists are the ones who understand that everything mentioned above is a lie and it doesn’t work, that the principle of “do something and be rewarded” doesn’t work in a relationship with the Creator. It doesn’t hold up when it is tested in the reality of life or human history.

At this stage, a person arrives at a more exalted goal: to know the purpose of life. He doesn’t care that much about reward or punishment (“sweet” or “bitter”); he wishes to dig deeper and reach the truth (“truth” or “false”). He may suffer and receive nothing for it, but the truth is the reward he seeks. Then a person does not measure himself according to how satisfied he feels or how bitter or sweet something seems, but by what is true or false.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, “The Creator and Israel Went Into Exile”

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In his articles Baal HaSulam usually uses the words “religious” and “secular” in a different sense than what is commonplace in our world. In the terminology of Kabbalah, “religious” is not the traditional word signifying one of the world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, or all other beliefs.

Rather, a religious person is someone who lives in this world and desires to correct himself, to ascend into the spiritual world until the World of Infinity, until equivalence with the Creator. This is the purpose of every person in this world, and Baal HaSulam explains it in the article, “The Essence of Religion and It’s Purpose.” However, sometimes he really does refer to traditional religion, wishing to explain some aspects of it. Therefore, we should always look at the context to find the right way to interpret his words.

“Secular” people are those who do not work on their correction, but do everything only for the sake of a reward in this world or the world to come. A religious person is someone who corrects himself until reaching the level of the Creator. To do this he uses the “true Torah,” meaning the science of Kabbalah. It is written, “I created the evil inclination and the Torah as a means for its correction.”

First one must reveal the egoistic inclination inside him, and only then he will need the “Torah” for correcting it because this is his only purpose. Then the Light you reveal during the right study will return you to its Source, meaning that your evil inclination will turn into a good one.

Meanwhile, the desire itself does not change. Only the intention changes from “for my own sake” to “for the benefit of the neighbor.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, “Exile and Redemption”

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Question: What does it mean to “speak with the Creator?”

Answer: To “speak with the Creator” primarily means to do everything you can to try to reveal His image within you. Try to imagine: He is the reason for everything I feel. My thoughts, desires, and sensations are all Him, the One who has laid my foundation and forms me.

When I decide that my current reality is established by Him, then how do I treat everything that happens to me? There are two possibilities:

1. Directly structure my attitude towards my inner reality as my attitude towards Him. But this approach is inaccurate, incorrect, and unstable. There is no ability to test or verify it because I will surely be guided by my ego and err.

2. At first, I strengthen myself through my connection with others like me, and then I structure my attitude towards the inner reality by passing its image through this connection. In this case, I am definitely already in some quality of bestowal, and my qualities are adapted to the Creator’s image. Thus, instead of changing the image, I change my attitude towards it. This is what it means to “speak with the Creator.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

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Question: Why do people consider Yom Kippur a sad and mournful day?

Answer: It’s because people do not understand that what is perceived as “bad” could be a springboard to good because it is regarded as good or evil depending on one’s attitude. For example, if during a routine visit to a doctor one discovers that he has a disease, then the evil was revealed so that it could be treated. So revealing the evil was good.

However, it is written, “The opinion of common people is opposite to the opinion of the Torah,” and a person pushes himself away from the correction. He does not understand why he needs this. He cries about feeling bad and asks the Creator to make him feel good. That is, he cries about his egoism and whines that the Creator does not fill him. It is as if he asks the Creator “Why are You so bad and cruel? Would it hurt You to let me enjoy?” He does not understand that the revelation of evil is for his benefit, so that he can grow.

Based on a thousand years of our history, we should finally understand that the Creator responds only to a desire that is directed to correction and the goal of creation. Any other appeal is not answered. It is now time to explain to everyone what it actually means to come to the Day of Atonement: to reveal “I created the evil inclination,” then “I created the Torah for its correction,” and finally “because the Light in the Torah reforms.”

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Selected excerpts on Yom Kippur

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In a few days we will observe a special day called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). However, no one knows what inner state a Kabbalist will feel on that day and when the state called “Day of Atonement” will happen for him. One’s inner states do not occur according to the calendar.

The states that any person goes through can be personal or general. On the general level, people follow the common traditions of each holiday. When a group of Kabbalists reaches unity and through it achieves a certain internal state called a “holiday,” that state will not be related to the general holiday observed by all people. The inner holiday happens in accordance with one’s personal, internal state, whereas a general holiday takes place according to the calendar. Traditions and customs, as well as every single “specific” day, have a higher spiritual root. Therefore, a Kabbalist also wishes to follow the tradition together with others, as it is written: “The Creator stays with His people.” However, at the same time, a Kabbalist also remains in his own personal internal state.

Religious people follow customs and traditions, whereas Kabbalists perform inner actions in their souls by connecting to other souls into one common soul of Adam. By doing so, they please the Creator and correct themselves. Correction is possible only by way of uniting with others, as it is written: “Love thy neighbor as thyself, this is the great law of the Torah.”

People all over the world pray to the Creator (each of them addressing their Lord) and request “forgiveness.” But maybe it is worth explaining to them that repentance works only in respect to “love thy neighbor” and depends on whether you are “for it” or “against it.” We can figure out whether we sinned or not only by comparing ourselves to this rule. This is the only law we have to follow, as it is written: “Love thy neighbor as thyself is the main rule of the Torah.”

If the whole of humankind would virtually get together in order to clarify what is “love thy neighbor,” how powerfully the Creator demands it from us, and how far we still are from this state, that would be a real Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and it would lead us to Purim (in Hebrew “Kippur” means “as Purim”), the complete correction.

When people pray for forgiveness, it is very important for them to know what to ask for. We weep and beg for so many years, but it doesn’t help. The Creator cannot hear our prayers in this form. That’s because this kind of appeal is opposite to the correct cry: We are not begging to feel love for our neighbors, and the Creator doesn’t listen to any other requests. Thus, we turn our back to the One who can redeem us and scream in the opposite direction. This is what most people’s Day of Atonement is like.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, “Preparation for Slichot“

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Man’s egoism hates the wisdom of Kabbalah since it talks about love of others. Yet, in order to nevertheless bring man closer to the state opposite to his ego, religions were invented. This provided an opportunity to use the “wisdom of Kabbalah” (as it were) in various false forms, which allowed people to develop egoistically.

Religion elevates a person above his animalistic existence by espousing that there is a Creator, punishment and reward in this world and the next one, and eternity of his soul. It gives a person a glimpse into something higher, no matter how false it may be. However, people begin to build around it various theories, philosophies, and methodologies, and thereby develop art and culture, striving to become greater. Thus, through religions, humanity develops in its ego, in order to finally realize, during our time, that it is in exile from true spirituality.

When 2000 years ago we lost our spiritual ways, having fallen from love of others to unfounded hatred to all, we didn’t feel the fall because people were used to the presence of the Creator in their existence. But humanity needs to feel the bottomless depth of our downfall and the total disconnection from spirituality! To achieve this, it needs the Light to shine on it and reveal its state as darkness.

Since we do not have a desire for love of others, instead of being given the Torah (the Light that Reforms), we are given the Torah in the form of religion of this world, which is when we use the Torah with egoistic intentions and not in order to attain love for the others.

Studying the Torah with egoistic intentions, a person only more deeply immerses into the darkness of his egoism, until he reaches a state in which he becomes aware of the darkness and the fact that instead of loving the others, he is conceited and hateful towards them. We have to undergo this process in order to realize the evil nature of our egoism. The Creator says: “I created the evil inclination,” and we have to find it within ourselves.

Then I will be in need of the Torah, as a remedy for the correction of my ego, and I will lament. This won’t be a mere religion but the Light that Reforms and brings us to bestowal and love.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/10, Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Religion was given to the nation of Israel during the exile so that the nation would realize the evil nature of egoism and develop the need for the Light that Reforms. All other nations had to evolve by means of their own religions and beliefs. Back in ancient Babylon, Abraham “gave presents (belief systems) to the children of his concubines and sent them to the East.” The nations nearby received these “presents” in the form of the world religions Christianity and Islam. They are considered presents because they stem from the Creator and their mission is to bring people closer to Him. Their followers, too, are called to help man realize the evil nature of his egoism.

All religions are a “reverse” connection with spirituality. This link ultimately shows us that we are opposite to spirituality. Gradually, we reveal that our egoism has developed to the point of no return; it is like a cancerous tumor that consumes us. This is revealed with the Light’s help. All of our historical development occurred by the influence of the Upper Light. The Light does everything by acting toward us directly or in its reverse form.

The Light develops our egoism and gradually elucidates its own nature to us. It lets us see that we exist in the evil, egoistic nature and that we distinguish only darkness which is only what is beneficial to us. We slowly realize egoism to be evil, as the reason for all evil in the world. By seeing all of it, we then strive for goodness.

These are all necessary stages of our development.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/10, “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”

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Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 368: When Rabbi Elazar was sitting while fasting, he was praying and said, “It is revealed and known to You, the Lord my God and the God of my fathers, that I have sacrificed my fat and my blood to You, and I boiled them with the warmth of the weakness of my body.”

There is a tremendous difference in whether I read these words from a prayer book, or something happens inside of me that causes an explosion from within, an outburst toward the Creator.

The feelings form inside of me, and they build into the words and phrases. I may not even know this language. I don’t know how it happens, but it is the consequence of my effort to equalize my desires with the Light and unite with It. The reaction of the Light and the desires occurs in the soul. These words are realized in my brain, the brain transmits the orders to the organs of speech, and I utter the words without knowing where they came from.

This is what true prayer should be like, when everything comes from within. From the union of the Lights and the Kelim inside the depth of creation, gradually with the fulfillment of the desire by the Light, the whole TANTA (a full Kli – Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiot) is built, until it reaches an expression through the organs of speech.

It is clear that Rabbi Elazar did not read this prayer from a prayer book, but he uttered it while existing in this state about which he spoke to the Creator. Before the destruction of the Second Temple, the nation of Israel was connected with the Creator, in the qualities of bestowal and love, thus the feeling in Rabbi Elazar’s heart, in his desire, constituted a prayer. It is written: “What is a prayer? It is work in the heart.”

However, the sages of the Great Assembly (Anshei Kneset Agdola) were aware of the imminent descent into egoism and concealment of the Creator. Thus they gathered a collection of prayers – states that a person needs to reach. They called it “Siddur,” the order of spiritual states that we need to go through inside, in our hearts, in our desires.

But since we are incapable of doing this during the exile, without a connection to the Light or the Creator, while the Upper Force is concealed, we read the words from a prayer book mechanically. Some people try to imagine what it could mean spiritually. Yet only while studying Kabbalah will the Light provoke the feelings, thoughts, sensations, words, and phrases of our prayer inside us, as work in the heart, rather than work in the organs of speech.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/10, The Zohar

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