Question: I read your materials and was amazed concerning the issue of the development of the ego and its intermediate steps at the level of inanimate – coral, the level of vegetative – the “dog of the field,” and the level of animate – the monkey and the human being.

Many ask themselves what is the “dog of the field?” Is it a squirrel in the Arava desert or another kind of squirrel? After all, you are referring to a vegetative animal. Could you please present an exact scientific name, preferably in Latin if possible?

Otherwise, we will seem naïve and ridiculous, and there isn’t any such scientific subcategory. The children in school are taught that the monkey is also an animal. While the monkey is similar to a human being, it belongs to the animals but can constitute a kind of bridge to people. All of these materials should be presented through scientific editing.

Answer: I will leave the search for scientific confirmation of the words of the Ari to you. He was a great Kabbalist who attained the upper world and from there describes its structure in the language of the branches, which is the result of our world.

What does he mean exactly, I don’t dare argue with, but I am sure that if he wrote it from within his attainment of the upper roots, then a plant-animal, like the “dog of the field,” exists, although it hasn’t yet been discovered by science or known with these attributes.

I also don’t know exactly what kind of monkey from our evolutionary ancestors he means. The scientists try to test which of them is closest to us, but they also can make mistakes.

I only bring the words of the Ari whose opinion is correct beyond any shadow of a doubt. On the other hand, man will gradually discover all the upper roots from within his spiritual attainment and, accordingly, the corresponding branches.

Opinion (E.P. Fridman, Interesting Primatology): A man has twenty-three sets of chromosomes, and superior monkeys have twenty-four sets. However, one mustn’t think that the other monkeys, including the more inferior ones so distant from man in their chromosomal structure, determine a great similarity between types of man and many types of inferior monkeys.

However, it is understood that the greatest similarity of chromosomes is determined in man and the chimpanzee, as much as 98%. There is less similarity between the other types of monkeys as compared to man and the chimpanzee.

According to the basic principle signs of similarity between man and the monkey, according to chromosomes and genetic systems, the closest is the chimpanzee and the gorilla. After them comes the orangutan and, after that, the gibbon.

The resemblance between man and monkeys can’t be compared with the rest of the animals according to the structure and attributes of the many hormones. In the hemoglobin chain of the gorilla, there are a total of two substitutions of amino acids. The biochemist, Zurkerkendal, commented, “The gorilla is considered justifiably as an abnormal man, or man is considered an abnormal gorilla.”
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Question: The Ebola epidemic is threatening the world by putting humanity on the borderline between life and death. Where does the virus come from and what can we do to stop it?

Answer: The Ebola epidemic has attracted the attention of the whole world, but in fact there are many problems we have to deal with which are just as serious.

All the problems stem from the imbalance in human society. It is difficult to distinguish which of the problems that we are causing bring about wars and which bring about diseases, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions.

There are many natural factors that can be more harmful to humanity than the Ebola virus. Experts, for example, predict a great volcanic eruption in California. Volcanic activity is constantly growing there and an eruption is very near.

If that happens, the ash could cover the whole sky to such an extent that we would not be able to see the sun. The temperature would drop to minus 50 degrees Celsius or even minus 70 degrees. It is unclear how we would be able to survive in such conditions.

We are in one system and its imbalance has reached a critical red line, which evokes the negative forces in nature. Everything depends on the level and type of imbalance that we summon. No one is punishing us on purpose in this way, and it is actually the natural response of the system. If the system is out of balance, it hits us.

We may, however, call it punishment, since on earlier levels in the past, we developed by blows that pushed us forward. The Ice Age is such an example. Baal HaSulam says that when the planet Earth was formed, it went through several phases of alternating heating and cooling and each period lasted for about thirty million years until the crust of the earth upon which life could exist was created on top of this giant volcano.

There have always been extreme processes on the surface of the earth, but they have quieted down and brought the earth to a state of balance so that life forms could appear. The temperature difference between winter and summer is about 20 degrees at the most, which is a negligible difference compared to what happened on this planet before it reached a balanced state when the temperature would rise to 2,000 degrees and drop to 50 or 200 degrees below zero.

Balance was achieved in certain conditions in which we can exist. Protein life can exist thanks to a temperature balance on earth, in the oceans, and on land.

As man developed, he rose above this whole system. All parts of nature are connected to one system: the atmosphere, the oceans, and the continents. The earth doesn’t exist according to the laws of states and nations that are divided by borders but as one planet with one ecology and general, collective, natural processes. People living on this planet today upset the balance.

This system has no intention of punishing us, but it reacts according to our actions, so we receive what we deserve from it. Of course it beats us for upsetting the balance on our human level. As a negative factor causing disequilibrium, humanity receives a counterstrike.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/19/14

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Baal HaSulam speaks about the wisdom of Kabbalah as being about “scientific research on an experimental basis” (in the article, “The Peace”), for this is correct, this is truly so. The wisdom of Kabbalah has the same approach as every science in this world. What is different is the subject that I investigate and the tools that I use. But, the general rules and principles are identical, and the main one being: “A judge only has what his eyes see.” (Baba Batra 131a)

Someone could come and persuade me that red is black. But I see that this is red, and so I write in my research that it is red. This means that I believe only what I see. One researcher says one thing, a second says something else, and eventually this is compiled into some kind of knowledge that everyone accepts. In principle, all of science is based upon statistical data. This approach testifies to conclusions on an experimental basis making it possible to gather all of the data and come up with some kind of general rule.
But in the wisdom of Kabbalah, there are no statistical methods where one scientist does many experiments and eventually decides that this seems to be the result. If some data is discovered by a Kabbalist, this is already an absolute fact, according to his Kelim and his level.

This is even though the next Kelim and level will reveal this as having been a mistake and the truth will be revealed. And then in the next Kli and level, this will be revealed as a mistake and the next as truth. This is always what happens during the transition from level to level.

So there is no absolute truth, except for what you are investigating at present. You investigate the Creator as an absolute, until He is revealed.

Question: You say that the wisdom of Kabbalah is based upon personal experience. So what does “faith in the sages” mean in their attainment?

Answer: This is what is accepted in any regular science. If you are the student of a great scientist, then they respect you too. You already belong to his school. This means that it is clear who you are, meaning who formatted you, who made you a scientist. This is called a teacher.

And in the wisdom of Kabbalah this is even more important, for the student receives all of the Light, all of the power from above to below through the teacher, and that is always how this continues.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Comment: As a result of the global spiral of history we returned to a “Babylonian deadlock.” It so happened that the Jews brought the entire world to this condition because they played a major role in scientific and technological progress. Thus, they enhanced the process.

Answer: Abraham’s group maintained direct contact with the upper force, the positive power of nature, and equilibrium with nature comprised of basic binary forces (plus-minus, absorption-separation, etc.). Without this contact, philosophy, various sciences, and numerous developmental tendencies that were brought into this world by the Jews would have never appeared.

If not for the group that was connected with spirituality at that time, humanity have would expanded in quantity, but not in quality. Their advancement would not be based on their spiritual attainment. Subjects such as geography, history, biology, zoology, or any other scientific branches that explore this material world, would not have emerged.

It’s not about the Jews, but rather about their connection with the positive force that allows them to link “pluses and minuses” and regard nature as a system.

Science is a systematic study of nature at an inanimate level through such disciplines as physics, chemistry, cosmology, and astronomy. The vegetative and animate levels  are studied through biology, zoology, botany and others. Science studies inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, whereas psychology explores human behavior.

So, if we dig deep enough, we’ll find the Jews who launched all sciences. By the way, medieval religious philosophers who studied these issues have written that the ancient Greeks learned the basics of their philosophy from Kabbalah and as we well know, all other disciplines stem from philosophy.

Question: So, the entire scientific and technological potential is about connection of two major forces, the positive and negative. It was transmitted to humanity through Abraham’s group, is that right?

Answer: Yes. It is so because human knowledge derives from a state of balance with nature. The condition for equilibrium with nature is the notion of “loving our neighbors as ourselves.” It occurs on the condition that both negative and positive forces are in equilibrium, thus letting the third, the upper force of nature called the Creator emerge between them.

However, only Kabbalists are able to perceive this force. Equilibrium can be understood through the methodology that the Jews, the people of Israel, revealed to the rest of the world.

So, it is quite natural that in the end, we are the ones who should be blamed for everything that happens in the world. However, we still need sciences because they do their job. By no means do they lead us to the upper world, the source and means of governance of this material realm. They only explore this physical reality. Still, sciences accelerate our growth and make us feel disappointment in our ability to achieve spirituality by staying at the material level.

Today, science has hit a dead end and there is now no room for further scientific progress. Scientific penetration into matter is purely mechanical. Moreover, there is no sense in any further development of the sciences. Our advancement is egoistic, is the basis of everything we do, and it’s our desire to feel the best we can. We see that as a means for improving life, upgrading the world, and enhancing society, science doesn’t cope with this direct task. On the contrary, it makes us feel even worse. So, why do we need it? The less we know, the better we sleep.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/27/14

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Question: Is the wisdom of Kabbalah a science or not?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah is a divine science, a science of the upper world, and not a regular science. It works with other tools, not like biology, physics, or anatomy. This is a science that is different from all the sciences of this world for it uses different tools and methods.

Although essentially, its goal is not that different. This is because in regular science the person is also subconsciously looking for the Creator, the origin of life. From this yearning he gets a drive for scientific investigation. He feels fulfillment from reaching some kind of truth.

Perhaps this truth is the opposite of the truth, but this is not important. Science has some divine spark in it, and this is what attracts the scientist. The problem is that this spark captivates the person and clothes into his ego so much that it is difficult to extract it.

Nevertheless, by virtue of this spark the scientists are great fanatics of their science. They are ready to sacrifice themselves for its sake, to conduct clinical trials on themselves, and to engage in it day and night. Basically, they are running after the spark that is submerged in the ego, in “Klipa.”
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From the book: The Essential Secret of the Jews, M. Brushtein:

Cells – Communists

Living matter, although materially insignificant in the biosphere, energetically acts in it in the first place. (Vladimir Vernadsky, Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon)

The insignificant film of the living basically enslaved the entire Earth. How could this happen? Could it be that separate elements of living matter are not just united, but also actively interact with each other?

Each individual member has its own personal interest. The essence of evolution is that individual elements that have personal interests become united in a single body, and begin to act in the public interest. (Elisabet Sahtouris, “The Biology of Globalization”)

Thus, evolution is heading towards unification. The question is, when this “social” process began.

The ability of cells to actively move and interact with each other in accordance with certain rules allows scientists today to talk about cells’ “social behavior.” Probably, something like the described cooperation of similar cells happened on our planet about 4 billion years ago, on the threshold of emergence of life. (Eugene N. Panov, Escape From Loneliness)

It seems that this ability to interact or more precisely to cooperate, which appeared from somewhere, expresses the essence of the difference between the living and the still.

Finally, in our view, the most important thing is that cells do not simply interact. Together, they take care of the whole body and work for the common good, leaving for themselves only what is needed for life. In fact, their work illustrates a known communist principle – “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” (Karl Marx, The Critique of the Gotha Program)

Even self-sacrifice is not foreign to them.

Researchers from the University of California in San Francisco (USA) found self-sacrifice at the cellular level.

It turns out that yeast mother cells give their mitochondria to offspring and do this so selflessly that eventually they themselves die.

We can sum it up. Cells tend not just to unite – they seek cooperation. As a result of this activity, cells rise to the next level of the social ladder – the level of organisms.
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Question: What is so bad about science if searching for the secret of life is a natural inclination that evolves in a person naturally?

Answer: We have an inclination to discover the secret of life because our higher source illuminates us. The question is only where, how, and by what means do I search for it? In regular science I search for it through my beastly mind and senses.

Do I mean to find the higher source by physical means? Don’t I understand that He is so high, influential, and detached from the desire to receive, from its loathsome lowness, from its limitations?

The desire to receive, the ego, that wants to receive for itself all the time, cannot be complete because it always feels a deficiency. So it cannot be adapted to the higher source. The more that it wants for itself and discovers its limitations, the lower it falls.

For this reason the ancient people thought that the sun was divine, since for them it was the origin of life.

Question: How did Abraham search for the secret of life?

Answer: Abraham went to look at the stars, the moon, and the sun, searching for the force that could be said to be universal and supreme. But this was an inner search.

Question: Didn’t he search for this with his physical mind and senses, as in every science?

Answer: Abraham didn’t rely on his mind. He was searching for something higher, detached from it, and universal. He attained everything, thanks to his soul, like the first Adam (man). So essentially he succeeded in attaining everything without a teacher.

With us that cannot be because nobody in our generation is able to discover the Creator by himself. There are many people who are sure that they feel the higher power, but in fact, none of them are even close. That is how our generation is, and this is a result of the growth of egoism that causes the decline of the generations.

Our ancestors were in a unique situation called the “merit of the forefathers” because their Shevirah (shattering) was from above in their source and was derived from the system itself. But after our fall, we corrected our own partition, and we have no merit.The ancestral merit existed only until the discovery of the evil inclination, which was called Pharaoh.

After Jacob died in Egypt, no ancestral merit remained. Indeed, we could use it, but only through adhesion to the same level, and actually not by ourselves.

Question: Wasn’t Abraham a scientist like every Kabbalist? So why is science harmful?

Answer: Science is like snake venom that can be used as a poison or a remedy depending on how it is used. It is necessary to use it to discover the higher power, where we understand that our ego is lower, and that it is impossible to attain anything of the truth with it. We are limited by our physical senses and the egoistic desire that stands behind these Kelim (desires).

We cannot depart from this desire that obligates us to think, see,  understand, and feel only what is for its own good or what can harm it. This means that all perception is directed only towards the desire to receive and we don’t see anything more. Around us there could be whole worlds and forces, but we don’t have the senses to perceive them.

If this is how we are organized, we have no means for searching within us and not with the science which we developed. In this way we will never reach the truth, divinity, or universality.

So in science, there is only what the person discovers in his egoistic Kelim, and so science is also egoistic. That is the way we discovered it and that is how we use it. We cannot use it with any other intent or inclination because all of its development is derived for our egoistic benefit.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”, section 41: The Zohar writes about the text “and those that seek Me shall find Me,” and asks, “Where does one find the Creator? They said that the Creator is found only in the Torah.”

We must thoroughly understand their words. It seems that the Creator is hidden only in corporeal things and conducts all the futilities of this world, which are outside the Torah. Thus, how can you say the opposite, that He hides Himself only in the Torah?

This means that we can never discover the right system, the true forces in nature that manage us, the higher management and oversight, nor the higher power that is at work in an action if we are not engaged in the inner Torah, which is the wisdom of Kabbalah, the correct  way. Even the science of the physical world cannot bring us closer to this.

By being involved with scientific development, a person inserts himself into the way of suffering; since he hopes and wants to reach a good life through scientific achievements, the opposite situation is created, and he only harms himself. And this is clear, for in this manner he doesn’t develop his Kelim (vessels) for discovery of the higher power which is good and beneficent.

It follows that science brings us to failure and diverts us from the right way. As much as we value and respect modern science, ultimately it must be understood and acknowledged that it leads us to the way of suffering. Certainly everything was planned from the start, for without discovering the evil it is impossible to reach the good. This is because the human intellect must discover its empty powerlessness.

But if from the days of the first Adam (man), from the first discovery of the wisdom of Kabbalah, humanity had accepted it as the solitary means for discovering the good and beneficent power, then it would have gone by the ideal way directly towards the goal of creation.

Then there would have been no need for scientific progress and the evolution of human society. A person would have been involved in his spiritual development, whereas the compulsory physical work would have been only for meeting the requirements of bestial existence, to feed his “beast.” And all the remaining developments would have been only for the need of developing the Adam within us.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: I really don’t understand how scientific progress can hurt humanity?

Answer: Science is a search for the Creator through our material minds. Scientists conduct numerous studies and experiments with the help of our five corporeal senses in order to find the upper force. All kinds of scientific research are aimed at discovering the Creator and solving the mystery of life.

We intend to attain the upper force, understand the structure of creation, find out its goal, and unveil the secret of our existence using our physical brain and bodily senses. It is not possible. This road leads to a dead end. After thousands of years of scientific development we have ended up in a crisis that no science is able to fix. Science is not capable of ensuring even our material well being.

Science is a method of disclosing human weaknesses and a means of discovering mistakes in our quest for solving the mystery of life and finding out the goal and essence of our existence through our earthly sensors and brainpower. Science chooses roundabout routes; however, it still leads us to the right conclusions. Our task is to realize the incongruity of our efforts and learn to completely rely on the Reforming Light.

The goal of world development is to make us disappointed in ourselves. It is said: “There is no happier moment in one’s life than when one becomes completely disillusioned in one’s abilities.” In fact, it is really a huge discovery! Imagine that all of humanity undergoes this process.

When it happens, we’ll realize that nothing but a prayer can help us; in other words, nothing but raising MAN and acquiring the upper force’s help will let us act correctly and attain our goal. There is nothing we can do except realize that out of the darkness it is the Light that determines everything. Light is faith.

Today, we can talk about these issues openly. About fifty years ago, nobody would agree with these ideas, including me. I was the most zealous advocate of scientific progress. I thought that science was everything!

Years passed. Humanity became disappointed in science. Nobody expects scientists to make discoveries that humanity can really benefit from. All discoveries are doomed to bring us harm because they contradict the goal of creation and the means of its attainment since they urge us to rely on our brainpower.

This explains why we cannot expect science to help us achieve positive results. Unless we stop relying on scientific progress and discontinue our “enchantment” with the magnitude of our intellect, nothing can really move us forward. We’ll simply continue along the road of scientific advancement.

On the other hand, we cannot neglect science since it is a path that nevertheless leads us to the goal, even though it does so indirectly. Any road to the Creator is sacred. At the end of our path, the angel of death will turn into the holy angel. “The angel of death” will absorb all our mistakes including scientific evolution.

The problem lies not in science per se, but in the fact that we rely on ourselves and count on our pride, on our belief that we can reach a good life without connecting with the Creator. This mistake is common for those who study the wisdom of Kabbalah but turn it into a theory. It is the most serious error that is called Klipa (shell, the evil force).

Our task is to accurately follow all instructions and study the Torah instead of playing tricks with our minds. There is a very thin line between these two processes. Studying the wisdom (Hochma) of the Torah means revealing the Light of Hochma with the help of the Light of correction that is embodied in the Torah. The wisdom of the Torah is the Light of Hochma dressed in the Light of Hassadim.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

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From the book: The Essential Secret of the Jews, M. Brushtein

Why Four?

It is very likely that unification is not just an action but something more.

To illustrate this, let’s consider a concept such as “states of aggregation.” Something that is just next to us! One and the same substance may vary in appearance beyond recognition. Behind the formula H₂O there may be hidden ordinary water, a piece of ice, clouds, and even flames.

The aggregate state of matter is the state of the same substance in different ranges of temperatures and pressures. Traditionally, the aggregate states are considered gaseous, liquid and solid.

“As temperature increases, gas becomes ionized – turns into plasma, which is sometimes called the fourth aggregate state.” (Academic Dictionary)

This suggests an interesting conclusion. Things that are absolutely different in appearance may ultimately turn out to be the same thing. This topic is very promising, and we may return to it. And now let’s talk about a strange coincidence.

The fact is that the four aggregate states quantitatively match the other four, the four levels of nature: still, vegetative, animate and human.

Why do we pay attention to this similarity? Why did you decide to compare these four and not others? Because both of these groups are actually classified on the scale of the universe and this is serious.

There is a clear similarity between the fours.

Every single element in them appears in a strict sequence, one after another. For example, when steam is cooled, it turns into water first, then into ice. This order does not change.

In the second group, the principle of sequence appears in the following way.

The still nature appeared first, then the vegetative, and only after that, the animate, followed by the human.

In addition to similarities, there is a fundamental difference between the fours. In the first four, the processes of transition are reversible. For example, water may become ice, and ice can turn into water again.

In the second one (at least in its “live” part), this is not observed. A rabbit cannot turn into a cabbage, and a human being cannot become a rabbit, though a rabbit appeared after the cabbage, and a human being after the rabbit.

By the way, this process is called evolution.

“Evolution is an irreversible and to some extent, directed historical development of living nature that is accompanied by changes in the genetic structure of populations, and the formation of adaptations, the formations and extinction of species, transformation of ecosystems, major ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole.” (Academic Dictionary)

Plenty of questions arise with respect to evolution. For example, if it continues, then is it not over? If it is not over, do we expect something new? Maybe the four levels of nature: still, vegetative, animate and human, in the long run will become as one, what academician Vladimir Vernadsky called the noosphere?
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