Question: Do you ever get tired of that pressure of the egoism when people ask you questions? Do you have some kind of limit?

Answer: As soon as the relevance of the questions disappears, I immediately stop answering.

Question: Let’s say an evening lasts five hours. You cannot answer questions for five hours straight, can you? Do you have some kind of resource limit?

Answer: No! Usually the questions end by themselves. There is a certain limit to how much the listeners can be filled, and then there is no point in continuing.

It is the same with lessons. Our lessons run according to time: three parts of 45 minutes each. But sometimes I break this barrier and give, instead of 45 minutes for one part, two consecutive blocks of 45 minutes because I see that there is a serious emptiness there that can be filled.

At our congresses, I first give a lecture for 40 to 50 minutes, and then another 40 to 50 minutes answering questions. After that, the listeners are no longer able to absorb the material. Even that is already too much for them. In other words, if I were to give a lecture lasting an hour and a half, they would not absorb it.

Only if we are trained to study for three hours straight (it is possible to study for five or six hours as I once studied with Rabash for eight or nine hours straight, that is a different matter), then there are no problems.

When you enter your own world, and within it you develop your own qualities and feelings, you live in it and communicate with it from different angles, that is a completely different matter. Kabbalists can remain in it without limit: for days, for a lifetime, for eternity.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call.The Limit of Egoism” 9/12/10

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Question: Do you think a person asks the question himself, or is a person like a mechanism that must ask it?

Answer: Of course he is not asking the question himself. This is a common, great desire created by the Creator.

Just as, let’s say, you look at porridge boiling in a huge pot that is bubbling, boiling, and shifting layers, so too are we, all the souls, digesting and connecting with each other, and questions arise; that is, new unfilled voids that are able to rise, rise to the top.

In other words, by rising up, these voids are trying to get some kind of filling, to come to some kind of balance, and therefore, a certain question is being asked.

That is why I always connect not just with those who ask questions or even with the huge audience that listens to me all over the world, but with the whole soul. After all, we are talking about its balance, its fulfillment, bringing it to full correction, and revealing the perfect state in which it exists that is hidden from itself.

I always feel what tremendous work we are doing in this process and how it affects the whole creation. It is not pride, arrogance, or vanity, but the feeling and realization of the opportunity to participate a little in the certain time, in the minimum share that we have been given in the movement towards perfection.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Answer to Any Question” 9/12/10

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Question: When people ask you questions, do you listen to the words or do you sense the person’s inner impulses?

Answer: The thing is that I do not perceive a question as sound. First, I must draw a picture of the person asking the question within myself; then I must transform this picture into a general picture, a general image (not the specific one they are asking me about), and only then compare it with the true existing picture.

After all, a person does not ask quite correctly. It is possible that he does not understand the state he is asking about, he imagines it incorrectly. Then I must reveal an even deeper picture, the true one that evokes his feelings and phenomena. All these several types of sensations, layered on top of each other, must exist within me simultaneously.

Only then can I connect with the questioner and answer their question and everyone else’s.

Comment: That is a complex system!

My Response: It is not a complex system; I cannot do otherwise, what kind of answer would it be? Flat, single-screen. And there must be four screens, like in Windows, one behind another, from the inner screen where the light, the upper force, depicts states for a person, to the outer one, which he is able to feel, and to an even more external one, which he conveys supposedly in words.

I have to feel all this; otherwise, the answer is not an answer. It will be either at the level of external, earthly psychology or some sort of semi-mysticism, something not discussed.

Question: If you put different people in the same studio, dress them the same way, and they all ask the same question, would you answer each of them differently?

Answer: No. Even if several people ask the same question, I think that it practically does not depend on the person. I try to bring the question to a general level and by no means leave it on the private level.

In principle, what private questions can there be? They are all the same. Everyone goes through the same states that differ only slightly in those internal sensations that we cannot compare with each other. As I feel red, warm, bitter, and sweet, so do you, but we cannot compare how. We only conventionally describe the same impressions with the same words. So, I do not think we need to get into these discussions.

The Book of Zohar says that this is a very profound study of how we sense, understand, and adapt something within ourselves. After all, each of us is a very complex system, spread across the entire universe, across all the worlds. So to speak of private and general, at least, not now. This belongs to the level of The Book of Zohar, not to other Kabbalistic books.
[352558]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Answer to Any Question” 9/12/10

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Question: How can we feel the greatness of the Creator in our current state?

Answer: In our state we feel the greatness of the Creator in the form of the surrounding lights.

We have a great desire to receive that wants to enjoy and be filled. That is, I want to feel the greatness of the Creator in such a way that He stands above the desire to receive, so that this sensation is like a surrounding light around this desire. Then I will cling to the surrounding light and can do something above reason.

This means I receive the strength to rise above the desire to receive from the surrounding lights with faith above reason.
[352367]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/26, Rabash “What Is, His Guidance Is Concealed and Revealed?”

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Question: Who benefits more in spiritual advancement: someone who is close
to you and can communicate with you or someone far away?

Answer: The biggest benefit can be attained by those who are internally close to me. Baal HaSulam, in an article dedicated to the completion of The Book of Zohar and in several letters, writes that true spiritual attainment comes only from the student’s inner connection to the teacher.

Nowadays, this happens not directly but through a group. And still, this principle remains. In Kabbalah, it is called mouth to mouth (Peh el Peh), that is, according to the common screen between the student and the teacher.

This technique is generally known, when a student annuls before the teacher and devotes himself to connecting with the teacher in such a way that the inner content flows from the teacher to the student.

Although Kabbalah, on one hand, is a science, it talks about how to receive the upper light through the similarity of form. It is precisely the similarity of properties that is called the mouth to mouth contact (Peh el Peh).
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call.” 9/11/10

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In the wisdom of Kabbalah, a student has a problem; in order to understand what the teacher is speaking about, the student must be on a spiritual level. The teacher may be speaking from very high degrees, but since by their nature all degrees are similar to each other and each contains the same details, a student can at least understand what is said according to the spiritual degree he is currently on. But if the student has not yet ascended to any spiritual degree and exists only in this world, he is unable to understand the language of branches.

The language of branches means that I perceive what exists in this world, the “branches,” and I perceive them on the spiritual level, the “roots.” Then the connection between them is clear to me, and I am able to grasp what the teacher is saying. But if I do not attain the roots, I cannot grasp what he is telling me, because the teacher speaks words that I can recognize nothing behind.

By perceiving our world, I do not actually perceive the branches, because I do not know their roots.
Branches are that which descend from the roots. There is no branch without a root, and no root without a branch. There is not even the beginning of the language of branches if we do not attain their spiritual essence, their roots.

Therefore, a student is unable to understand the teacher until he attains the spiritual roots. Only then can he grasp from the teacher all the connections between roots and branches. Unfortunately, this is how it is.

And therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah and its study is only for those who possess spiritual attainment. As long as we have not acquired spiritual attainment, it should be clear to us that we are not studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, but only using its “miraculous property” (Segula) in order to reveal the “roots.” This is the sole reason we study.

Hence, one should not become confused by accumulating knowledge about “something we do not know what,” but should focus only on the fact that we need the light that returns us to the source (reforming light) and as quickly as possible. If I attain the roots through this light, I will begin to comprehend the wisdom; if I do not attain them, I will remain in darkness.

And do not entertain the illusion that you understand what is being discussed, that by studying the definitions written in a book you are studying this wisdom. You are not studying it because you do not know the connection between the branch and the root; you have not yet attained the roots.

Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah begins with spiritual attainment, and not before. Prior to that, it is only an aspiration to draw upon oneself the influence of the light (Segula).
[5426]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/09, Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: It is said that the head of the lower Partzuf clothes into the body of the upper Partzuf. What does it mean to clothe into the higher?

Answer: The body of the upper is its actions, its work with desires, and the head is the making of decisions.

The lower can do nothing with its own head, on its own level. It is said: “Through Your actions we know You.” That is, the lower must enter into the body of the upper.

And when he practically learns what the upper does by performing it himself, only then does he begin to understand what the upper meant by it. Until you do what the upper told you to do, you will not understand what he is saying.

And this is not some dull, animal action where you just need to do what he tells you, you must do it and learn! Look at children, how they repeat the actions of adults. They copy our actions without understanding their meaning.

When a child is given a plastic hammer and nails, he does not know what to do with them. But he watches how you hammer nails and does the same, and from that, he begins to understand what it is for.

It is impossible to learn any other way. When building educational programs, we must take into account that one can be taught only by example. We see that the reason is hidden in the spiritual roots and is embedded in the spreading of the Partzufim (the descent of the connection of souls) from above downward.

All the intellect given to the lower is needed only to be able to repeat the actions of the upper. The head of the lower must function only in this way.

If the head of the lower looks upward in order to take an example from the upper and perform actions similar to his, then success awaits the lower. But if the lower believes that he can judge, decide, and do something with his own head, failure awaits him.

He will think that he is on a level where he himself can do something. But all actions are performed in the body of the upper. If the lower has enough wit to annul his own mind, his intellect, then he rises and receives the mind and intellect, of the upper.
[31512]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/11, Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Question: What is the logic in faith above reason?

Answer: In faith above reason, there is the logic of the upper. The logic of the lower is when I look at the world through my own mind and feelings, and thus exist. But in this way, I move along a plane only on my own level, and I can never rise above it.

This is called faith below reason or faith within reason, and faith, the quality of bestowal, is not above reason and does not determine my actions.

In faith above reason, it is as if I remove my glasses from my eyes and see nothing but the upper. I am ready to join the upper in everything He wishes.

I want to acquire His feeling and His knowledge through the force of adhesion with Him. In this action, I am ready to completely annul myself, to part with my own “settings.”

When I attain His degree, I already have His faith (His quality of bestowal) and knowledge that are higher than what I had before.

By the force of greater bestowal, I also acquire upper reason. This is called faith above the previous reason. In this way, I attain a higher degree.

Therefore, those who walk by faith above reason actually add reason, because they acquire new vessels of perception, since reason, attainment, the light of Hochma spreads only within the light of Hassadim (bestowal, faith).

And those who cannot rise above their reason within an animalistic mind cling to the same state in which they are, want nothing more, and are unable to annul their opinion before a higher degree, before the teacher; they attain nothing and remain animals.

They may be clever and intelligent within the limits of their own reason, but they will not even understand that the upper wisdom exists. After all, the upper wisdom always seems as though it has no foundation beneath it.
[12710]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/10, Rashbi, Zohar for All, Vol. 4, Shmot, “And a New King Arose – 1,” p.82

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Question: Is it possible to transition to bestowal without any pain or suffering?

Answer: Yes, one can make such a transition without suffering if it occurs under the influence of the environment.

The environment is capable of instilling a longing for any goal in me, even the most unrealistic one. If everyone around thinks about it, I will also begin to aspire to it.

And then, it will not be difficult for me at all to value the quality of bestowal as a great reward instead of today’s egoistic reception, provided that those around me think and act this way.

A person is like a computer, and society can erase the old program in him and install a new, more advanced one, with new data, and as this happens, I advance.

I need intellect only in order to follow those who point me toward the spiritual path. It is not so simple to follow them because in doing so, you do not become a robot, but on the contrary, you grow!

You are constantly given disturbances on all levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human, which all interfere with your ability to follow the spiritual path.

And you must lower yourself from the height of your enormous egoism in order to be able to follow the spiritual guide. Therefore, one must have a great intellect in order to decipher all the schemes and cunning tricks of one’s egoism, and to not follow it, but to go above one’s reason and follow the guide.

We are sent such states, we are so confused that we begin to neglect them and even hate them. But if you are able to rise above this and make yourself into “nothing,” “dust beneath the feet of the righteous,” then you are following the righteous one along the spiritual path.

It turns out that you are great, that you are just like him. After all, you receive everything that is in his mind through him; you receive it from the Creator.

When it is said that the people followed Moses like a flock follows a shepherd, it does not mean they followed like animals. It is a special form of advancement where you annul yourself before the teacher, before Moses, and through him, you annul yourself before the Creator.

Just as through love for people we come to love for the Creator, so here as well, we cannot change ourselves in any other way. You transform your previous form and acquire a new one, similar to the Creator.

There is no disparagement in these words. If you annul yourself in the spiritual world against the Klipot at the height of the worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and follow the teacher, you rise to the height of these worlds. It speaks only of the magnitude of your resistance to the disturbances that are sent (that arise).

This is called going by faith above reason because I do not possess the knowledge of the spiritual teacher, and I annul myself with respect to him, annul my reason, and receive from him new knowledge, knowledge of a higher degree—faith.

The lower part of his spiritual Partzuf, the AHP, descends into me, and I accept the darkness as the light for myself even though it appears as darkness in my egoistic desire. In this way, I can progress along the spiritual path.
[18392]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/1/10, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot“

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Comment: Any system, any hierarchy, is built on a leader.

My Response: No. In Kabbalah, the leaders are different. Our leader will be the one who completely annuls himself in relation to me. People still do not understand how strict the hierarchy is in the spiritual world.

In any corporeal sciences or in any corporeal achievements, you can surpass your teacher, move forward and further, as, for example, in the development of sciences. The same applies to children: We want them to develop even more and deeper.

But in Kabbalah a very interesting process takes place. There are two paths in it—from top to bottom and from bottom to top, from the world of infinity to us and from our world to the world of infinity.

Receiving information and spiritual instruction occurs from the top down, and therefore it goes through Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David, and so on, that is, through all Kabbalists, and ultimately through my teacher and me to those who are my students and even those who are not.

Suppose people listened to us for a bit, picked up this contact, and they disappeared to who knows where; it does not matter. Even if they live somewhere else and study with someone else, it is not important. As a result, they will come to the same result and then, as if, return back.

What do I want to say? In receiving information from above, a student must annul himself before me. This is called the condition of learning from me “mouth to mouth” (“peh el peh“) on the common level of the screen. This is very important! Baal HaSulam writes about this in many of his works.

I cannot say this to the students, because, first of all, there are those who will think that I need their worship, or that they should completely “erase themselves.” The student must gradually understand what it means to cling to the upper, and on the other hand, he must try to be independent all the time.

Any spiritual state consists of two opposites, and the problem lies in our adapting us to it. Therefore, I am very sorry that sometimes such rejections of students from me occur. But nothing can be done.

Either they do such stupid things themselves that can only be compensated later by many years of searching and by other alternative actions of correction instead of those that they should have done earlier.

It was the same for me with my teacher. There is no such thing as going through it absolutely smoothly. There were many small, stupid distances from him: disobedience, even neglect, depending on the level at which all this is evaluated, measured, weighed.

I am absolutely certain that there has never been a student in history who could completely, from the first moment to the last, annul himself before the teacher, so that information would flow into him from top to bottom in the same way with as a fetus in the mother’s womb, when it completely annuls and therefore becomes an integral part of her body and thus develops.

I see that what happened to me happens very often to my students. I was not the most compliant student; on the contrary, there was something in me…

Question: Is it better for a student’s advancement when he is compliant or rebellious?

Answer: It depends on the root of the soul.

Comment: You know that there are students who do everything without question. On the other hand, there are those who resist.

My Response: This is not the kind of resistance and this is not the kind of submission. Submission can stem from pride, while resistance, on the contrary, from the desire to feel as quickly as possible at the junction of contact, in contradictions, where a person must change himself.
[350375]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Pyramid” 9/18/10

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