Entries in the 'Spiritual Work' Category

Prepare to Enter the Spiritual Path

749.02Question: You said that until now all your students have not developed as a group. Then how did they develop? What kind of process was it?

Answer: If we take the history of humanity as a basis, then from Adam to Abraham there were twenty generations, so-called “ten plus ten Sefirot,” which constitutes the growth of egoism.

Following, in the state of “Babylon,” in the time of King Nimrod, who is a prototype of Pharaoh, there was an enormous, explosive growth of egoism.

After that, a person “fled” from this egoism with the help of a point within him called “Abraham,” and took along a small portion of desires toward the land of Israel (“Israel” – Yashar El, meaning “straight to the Creator”), with which he supposedly wants and is able to exit his ego.

Then these desires also begin to grow more and more, and within them an entire “Egypt” appears, the foundation of all of egoism.

That is, within desires that had already developed to the egoistic level of “Babylon” and with which a person first approached spirituality, egoism appears again. You purify it to the level of striving toward the Creator, work on it, and then the ego appears again within you. You purify it again and direct it toward the Creator, and then it appears once more, but at a higher “resolution,” and so on.

Thus, from the initial aspiration toward the Creator, called “Adam,” to Abraham, there were twenty generations, that is, twenty degrees, on which you constantly strive toward the Creator and must continuously choose: extract this aspiration and discard everything else as husk.

From Abraham onward begins a new stage of selection, a more refined sorting of the aspiration toward the Creator. A person leaves the entire vast “Babylon” of his desires and escapes with a small portion of desires that he selected from the quality of Adam through those twenty so-called generations, i.e., degrees.

Now, when he is in this state of selection, of subtle sorting, that leads to clarification of what it means to “strive toward the Creator,” he discovers that all of this turns into a huge egoistic desire called “Egypt.” Egypt (Mitzrayim) in Hebrew means “concentration of evil” (Mitz Ra).

A person enters these desires, develops within them, and tries to separate Pharaoh, who represents the foundation of his egoistic desires, from the “Jews” in Egypt: Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and Jacob. He tries to determine which of these desires truly represents a pure aspiration toward the Creator, and realizes that it is not a single desire, but only their combination.

When he selects their correct combination, leaving everything else in Egypt, he sees that he cannot simply separate from them, he must do so through an “escape” (a special inner action), internally detaching and fleeing with these desires. It is with these desires that he strives toward the Creator, toward the quality of bestowal, toward spirituality. This inner state is called the “Egyptian night.”

A person undergoes immense sensations of crossing the Final Sea (Red Sea), symbolizing the final egoism that separates him from the Creator.

Then he comes to the next stage called “Mount Sinai,” where all the qualities with which he fled Egypt undergo numerous processes of purification, like gold that is refined through heating, melting, treatment with acid, and filtering, removing all impurities until pure gold remains and everything else is cast aside.

Each time he approaches the next stage of purification, he sees that everything previous, which had seemed 100% pure, turns out to be almost completely impure and unfit for further use.

That is, each previous degree, although completely pure at its completion, appears entirely impure when viewed from the next higher degree because the resolution of his analysis has increased. This is how he gradually ascends from degree to degree.

Ascending Mount Sinai means that a person reveals within himself absolute hatred toward everything: the Creator, himself, and others. This terrible state leads him to the decision that he must make a radical change: completely nullify himself and accept the upper governance without any calculations, doubts, or personal desires.

In other words, he becomes ready to detach from all his current egoistic desires, thoughts, and abilities, and not use them anymore, and to use only those qualities that he will receive from above, from the Creator.

Why “from above”? Because he considers them higher than himself. In reality, they do not come from anywhere, it is simply how he evaluates them. In his system of values, they are now higher. This readiness is called “standing at Mount Sinai.”

What condition of the next stage does he now feel within himself? It is the condition of unconditional, unquestionable unification between all parts of creation so that they merge within him into one single whole. Indeed, that is how it truly is; the Creator created one unified desire. The moment a person reaches the point where he can first form this unified desire within himself is called his entry into the spiritual path.

Everything before that was only preparation, not to mention the state before Adam when a person existed like an animal. Then comes the preparation for spirituality: from Adam to Abraham (to Babylon), from Abraham to Moses (to Egypt), from Egypt to Mount Sinai, all of this is preparation.

Such preparation takes many years. In the past it took 20 to 30 years. In our time, it is shorter, perhaps 7 to 10 years. But still, these are years. They continue to shorten, because the masses are moving forward, and purification is taking place within the collective soul.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Rise Up the Stairs” 9/27/10

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Cultivate a Constant Desire Within Yourself

938.04Question: You say that only from unity, from connection, can anything of real value come. People ask you: “What is unity? What is connection?” You seem to explain it, but you do not answer the question directly.

Answer: How is that? I answer directly! I perceive unity clearly; I am in it right now! From this state, the closest one to you, I explain what it means.

But there is a difference between the very first, the lowest state of connection, of mutual guarantee, and the one in which you are.

If I cross this barrier toward you, then I will be like you and will not be able to explain anything. I descend from the degree I am on to the very lowest spiritual degree, and from it, I try to explain to you, who are still lower, what this lowest spiritual degree is. I cannot descend any lower.

Question: What must happen for us to hear you?

Answer: You must generate a profound desire to experience unity.

Question: You speak about mutual guarantee, the power of unity, connection, and all this is, in principle, seems to circle around the same thing, perhaps with slightly different nuances. Recently, you said something concrete: “Think in this specific way and act in that particular way.” That resonates more clearly with people. But will this really work in practice? These things like: smile at each other and treat each other with kindness?

Answer: It depends entirely on your implementation and on nothing else, absolutely nothing else!

You must want it! You must want it a little bit more. And this “wanting it a little bit more” can be achieved through mutual assistance. It is precisely within that small added increment, within the mutual help that you can give each other, that you will attain the shared sensation of mutual guarantee in which the Creator will be revealed.

I explain everything in terms that are absolutely accessible! All that is required is to actually do it. At the very least to start, but I do not see any starting taking place.

Question: So how does one go about starting?

Answer: You need to map out all these actions in writing.

How is any business enterprise built? It begins with general plans and discussions, followed by more concrete details. Then come the development phases, various forms of research, an analysis of the dependencies involved, and so on. But the crucial step to is commence the serious work.

Question: Suppose everyone gathers together and, as it often happens at conventions, feels an intense collective desire for this to happen, will it actually happen?

Answer: Yes, it can happen at a convention, but it is a temporary state, a fleeting desire. Consequently what you will experience is a temporary sensation, a momentary illumination or revelation, rather than a permanent one.

To attain something permanent, you must engage in work, you must cultivate a constant desire within yourself, an aspiration that continuously accumulates. It builds up steadily until it becomes palpable, firm, and deeply ingrained within your very being.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Useless and Worthless People in the Group” 9/26/10

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Study the Actions of the Creator

209Question: There is confusion between what is called love and our sensations. You said that you relate to your students with love, but this is not always what we feel.

Answer: When you have children, I am sure you will love them, but I am also sure that sometimes they will receive punishment from you. Tell me, how is that possible?

You always relate to a person with love, but your momentary attitude toward them is determined by what they do compared to what they should do. Then, despite loving them, you may strike them as if you hate them.

Do you really hate them? You hate their external form that does not correspond to the level they should be at. You hate their lack of correction, not them. In order to pull them out of it, you punish them precisely to the extent necessary for them to free themselves from that deficiency.

The punishment lies in revealing suffering in them, which shows them that they must extract this deficiency themselves. The suffering they feel becomes their salvation, their fuel, a precise indication of what they must now uproot from within them.

If you do not do this correctly, they will not understand why you punish them or what you want from them. Then they begin to hate you. But if the punishment is directed precisely against the evil within them and they understand that through this punishment they can free themselves from it, uproot it, cut it off, and discard it, they will be grateful to you. But this is the ideal case.

This is how we come to understand the Creator’s attitude toward us. He causes us harm, creates negative qualities within us, and then punishes us, but in a targeted way, so that we rid ourselves of those negative qualities.

You may ask: what is the benefit of this? The Creator appears harsh, He punishes, points to where the evil is, and this punishment ultimately frees us from it. And who am I in all this? The one who is present, with whom all these events occur? Why do I need this?

It is so that I change my attitude toward this process. In this way, I study the actions of the Creator, who created the evil and now assigns punishment against it. That is, He shows me His attitude toward evil and thereby brings me to the side of good. Thus, I acquire His mind.

Can I learn this without punishment? Only if I try to look at this entire process happening within me in the same way that He does.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/26, Rabash, “What It Means that the Generations of the Righteous are Good Deeds, in the Work”

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Transformation Within a Person

533.01Question: You always say that we must turn our descents into constant ascents. Is this merely a mental attitude or is it something more? What is the difference between a descent and an ascent?

Answer: It lies in your attitude toward them.

Comment: Suppose a person feels bad, but he understands that, thanks to this, he will connect with spirituality on a psychological level.

My Response: No, that is religion: “I will suffer, and then I will receive a reward.” There is no such thing in Kabbalah. The Creator does not want you to suffer. Since He is in an absolutely perfect state, He wants you to attain this state as well.

Comment: But people say that if you feel bad now, it means you are in a state of ascent.

My Response: Absolutely not! This is simply foolish and incorrect!

An ascent is when I evaluate my state, whatever it may be, solely according to whether or not it brings me closer to the Creator. A descent is when I am unable to evaluate my state on terms of its proximity to the Creator, but instead I evaluate it by how I feel.

Comment: So in any case, regardless of the sensation…

My Response: What importance does the sensation have! If a sensation dictates my attitude toward my current state, this is called a descent. But if my connection with the Creator dictates my attitude toward my state, this is called an ascent.

Question: How do I transform what my “flesh,” my physical sensation, dictates?

Answer: Here lies the little problem: how to rise above yourself.

Comment: But surely I can do this psychologically.

My Response: You cannot do anything on your own. You can say whatever you want, go through all sorts of training exercises, but in doing so, you do not actually change yourself; you are merely training yourself. You can accustom yourself to pain, do whatever you like, it will give you nothing.

There is a vast array of techniques, but none of them alter human nature. A person cannot reach a demand to the Creator that would actually transform him.

Question: How can one use a descent as a means of ascent?

Answer: You must undergo a transformation that you receive the force of bestowal from above, the quality of Bina; this alone can effect this change within you.

Comment: All this seems conceptually clear: the light acts on you and everything falls in place.

My Response: You will understand nothing until it takes place within you, within you!

Such is this wisdom, because it speaks of transformations that must occur inside of you. If you have not experienced them, you will not understand what it is. You may construe a purely intellectual image in your mind, but it will bear any resemblance to what actual reality will be.

It is like trying to explain the concept of a human being to a dog. It may gaze at you with utter devotion as if it is with you with all its soul and heart, but with its dog’s soul, it will not understand you.

Therefore, all sorts of psychological changes are nonsense. You can find a multitude of techniques, throughout the world, but you will not find one that alters human nature. This is a truth that cannot be explained to yogis or to anyone else.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Use the Descent” 9/26/10

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Learn from Every State

938.03Question: How can one learn to feel the point of contact with the Creator and use it for good while being in a group?

Answer: To use the point of contact with the Creator for evil means that I begin to enjoy it for myself. The moment I start taking pleasure in it, I am immediately allowed to feel: “How wonderful this is; it is worth engaging in spirituality. Now I am better than everyone else in the world. I feel good and comfortable with everyone, the sensations are amazing!” And then, I become empty.

What should I do instead when I discover this point? I need to build all kinds of systems around me in advance that will help me rise in the future. But right now, I should channel all my excitement and inspiration into progress.

Question: When I’m inspired, I pass that energy on to the group, but when I have nothing to give, can that harm it?

Answer: When you have something to give, you give it to the group. Also, when you are full of inspiration, it is a good time to study more. Then you will better understand what you are learning, connect more deeply with the books, notice things you did not see before, and develop a kind of connection with spirituality.

But when you fall again, failing to hold onto the connection at the point of contact with the Creator, right at the peak of your choice, and unable to use it for the sake of giving, you will see that the group is indeed capable of supporting you in a state of emptiness caused by misusing the excitement and inspiration that came to you. It can happen both ways. However, from every state we must draw a lesson.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/17/26, Rabash, “What Is the Difference between Law and Judgment in the Work?”

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The Spiritual Path Is a Path of Feelings

938.01The group should always provide me with the strength on the path toward the goals I have chosen to achieve.

I have to be constantly told: “Listen, we are going to tell you something now! There are people among us who have already achieved this, and you know, it is so wonderful, so marvelous!” And then, believe me, everyone will run there, and we will all achieve this together.

I have the opportunity to measure the extent to which my goal corresponds to the Creator. At every level, there are states where you feel that you are more connected with Him. In addition, if I cannot become aware of myself in relation to the goal, then I can become aware of my growing egoism within me or some other negative states. This is also a preparation, part of our path.

If I do not pay attention to my feelings, whether I feel good or bad, but I examine them as some kind of outside observer, then I can say whether I am actually advancing or not, no matter whether these things are negative or positive.

The problem is that the spiritual path is a path of feelings, and feelings shut off the mind. A person can only say that he feels bad, and that is all. But this is not a test, not a measurement, not research. No matter how smart he is, if you take away two hundred grams of pleasure from him now, he, despite all his wisdom, will not be able to do anything. So the problem is not in measuring how much our goal corresponds to the Creator, but in being able to accomplish it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

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Can One Make a Contract with the Upper Light?

962.3Comment: You say that if a person does not cross into the spiritual world in this life, then they will in the next one. But surely this is a waste of time.

My Response: And what can you do about it? A waste of time. So what? When I look at my children, my parents or other loved ones, of course, they will have to return to this world once again. But am I myself in complete correction? No I am not. We will meet again as well. I have not yet finished all my corrections.

Question: Do you think that you will not be a Kabbalist in your next incarnation but simply as an ordinary person?

Answer: I do not know. And maybe I will be born as my own grandson.

Question: Are you afraid that you might have to change your current ?

Answer: If I were afraid of what the Creator does, I would not be who I am.

Question: Aren’t you even afraid that you will lose your present spiritual sensation?

Answer: Well, let it vanish! This is entirely in His power. He could take all this away from me even now.

Do you imagine that my strength, my position, or some personal means hold me in the state in I am currently in? It is only that the upper light has raised me a little and sustains me.

Question: How can one make a contract with the upper light?

Answer: “You do this for me, I’ll do that for you”? “Save me a spot”? In spirituality, this cannot be.

On the contrary, I completely give myself over to the power of this force, and only in this way do I receive the possibility of being in contact with it. I want it to rule within me for me to become a part of it and for it to become a part of me.

And what else do I possess other than the capacity to nullify myself and thereby acquire all the qualities of the Creator?

Comment: I do not know. You have a different perception; therefore, you make different calculations.

My Response: A person indeed must make a calculation. What is there in us besides foolishness, arrogance, and the desire to dominate? Why should I cherish what is in me? What is there in me that would be worth keeping?

After I begin to examine myself, I see that there is absolutely nothing, except for one thing—that spark that tells me that everything else must be changed. It is this spark that I cherish deeply. Everything else in me is flawed.

And I am feel no shame. Therefore, I do not hide anything, I do not try to be good, kind, corrected, or beautiful in the eyes of others. In reality, who am I? I am even worse than others, because I see more in myself due to the influence of the upper light. And it is not that this is pleasant to me. What is pleasant to me is that this is being revealed, and that I can replace my qualities with the opposite ones.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Cycles of life…” 10/8/10

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How Does a Kabbalist Correct the World?

525Question: If a Kabbalist absorbs the illnesses of all people into himself and corrects them within himself, then where is the joy of his life?

Answer: You cannot imagine how much joy that is for him, because by this, he corrects a great deal. He does not simply suffer like a little man in our world who does not know the cause, reason, or purpose of his suffering, through whom suffering simply passes as he moves forward mechanically. A Kabbalist does this consciously; he senses these sufferings, understands their source, and corrects them. Internally, he is happy.

Question: So all the Kabbalists who died tragically were happy?

Answer: Yes, undoubtedly. My teacher passed away in my arms. The point is that all these sufferings come at the level of our world in the form of all kinds of illnesses. The illness runs its course by itself as in any animate body, and he corrects the world by his attitude to the source, to the Creator, to the light, by rising above this.

He does not become healthy, nor does it make him immortal. He still falls ill and dies. But during the course of this illness and death, he carries out enormous corrections and perceives himself as existing within the upper world; that is what it means to be a Kabbalist.

Question: So he must go through sufferings?

Answer: No, in our time, that is absolutely not necessary. All this was in past centuries, when Kabbalists simply performed corrections and thus prepared all humanity for its present state.

Today we look at ourselves and at the world in a completely different way, and we together take part in the general correction. Therefore, a Kabbalist does not need to correct billions of people but only to disseminate Kabbalah and help them so that they will correct themselves. In this way, we will carry out corrections together with them in one group.

Question: How did the method change? If earlier a person had to suffer…

Answer: This was still before the start of our era when the general egoism developing in humanity was at such a level that sufferings themselves pushed a person toward spirituality. And now this can be done by attracting the light through the study of the primary sources and working in a group. The path of light is not the path of suffering.

Question: On the other hand, a person engaged in Kabbalah goes through difficult states, does he not?

Answer: Naturally, these are unpleasant states. But the point is that they are not so much physical as ethical, moral in nature. Serious work and strong nerves are needed here, although in a group, all this happens relatively smoothly.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Sufferings of the Kabbalists.” 10/8/10

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Suffer for Society

533.02Question: Why is it that all Kabbalists who were attained high spiritual degrees suffered from severe illnesses at the end of their lives?

Answer: Because they suffer for the sake of society and not for themselves.

After all, in our world, we are used to viewing a person as a solitary, separate individual, and therefore we pass such judgments on them: this one is bad, that one is good, this one is such‑and‑such, that one is so‑and‑so, and so on. We fail to take into account the system surrounding the individual that undergoes transformations alongside them that he exists within.

With ordinary people, this perspective is understandable. But a Kabbalist goes through everything not for his own sake. He operates outside of himself, within the surrounding society, and he exists “inside” it. Therefore, the calculation he carries out is a calculation of how to advance society forward.

All his sufferings are also for the sake of society. That is to say, his illnesses and his problems, all of this, does not stem from his own personal nature, but because he gathers all the desires of society within himself; He acts like Bina who gathers all the aspirations from below, from Malchut through Zeir Anpin, and begins to correct and give birth all this. Like a mother who suffers when her children are ill even more than they do and bears the burden of all of them collectively.

Therefore, we cannot interpret a Kabbalist’s sufferings as an indication of his personal problems. These are not his problems at all. Look at what happened with Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon, and at how young the ARI was when he died! However, in our time, everything is changing; we are advancing forward en masse; so everything can change.

But in past centuries, Kabbalists took a great deal of suffering upon themselves. These were sufferings not for faith, not for God, but for humanity. A Kabbalist absorbs into himself the illnesses of all the other people and corrects them within himself, and therefore, for the time being, they go through him. This must be understood. There is nothing religious here!
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Sufferings of the Kabbalists.” 10/8/10

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What Is Creation Capable of Feeling?

115.05The only thing that exists in creation is the upper force, called “One, Unique, Eternal.” It created something that would be able to feel it.

This “something” is called a vessel, Kli, a soul, or a creation; it senses only what surrounds and fills it, namely, the very upper force that created it.

This sensation begins to appear in the Kli as the most simple, very faint feeling, the slightest impression of the upper force. It is a natural reaction inherent to the nature of the Kli and requires no effort on the part of the Kli to arise. This faint natural impression is termed this world.

The upper force has a specific program regarding the Kli it created; the Kli is destined to perceive the upper force up to a certain degree called infinity. The Kli was created with an inherent readiness for precisely this measure of perception, and the upper one guides its development it so that it may ultimately perceive Him in His full, infinite measure.

The Kli gradually develops an increasing degree of sensitivity to the upper force. Its development takes place in stages; these stages are called worlds. In total, there are five stages of development.

Initially, the Kli is in a completely unconscious state relative to the upper force, much like an embryo in its mother’s womb. We designate this specific sensation as this world, which in the broader scheme is the lowest degree of the world of Assiya.

Subsequently, the Kli can develop heightened sensitivity and thereby perceive the upper force as the worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, the world of Adam Kadmon, and finally, as Infinity. We refer to the impressions experienced by the Kli by the names of the lights NRNHY (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida). The Kli can feel only its own properties and how, through those properties, it attains the upper force. This is all that it is capable of feeling.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/27/26, Rabash, “Peace After a Dispute Is More Important than Having No Disputes At All”

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