To Not Harm Yourself or Your Friend

Question: In Kabbalah it is written that one cannot discuss the spiritual states of the friends in the group, only their external actions. Why?

Answer: We never “fit” into each other and do not try to discuss the intentions or heights of revealing the upper world of each of the friends. We do not deal with this, and we do not even have the right to get into it.

Question: That is, I cannot say to my friend: “You are in some descent today?”

Answer: No, you can only somehow support your friend.

Question: If I see some external actions of a friend, can I discuss or criticize them?

Answer: We can discuss the external actions of our friends with the aim of generally acting correctly on them and on the group. But we should do it very carefully, based on love of friends.

Remark: One of the Kabbalistic principles is to disallow frivolity in the group in relation to the importance of the goal.

Answer: This is very important. There should be no arbitrary existence in the group that allows frivolity. We must exist only in order to engage in the attainment of the Creator as prescribed by the science of Kabbalah. No other goals or actions should be acceptable within the group.

Our goal is to reveal the Creator, or more precisely His quality of bestowal, which is so contrary to the whole of society that if we somehow cultivate its importance and suddenly someone brings doubts into the group, it can be very damaging.

Therefore, it is forbidden to talk about individual states a person reveals on the spiritual path so as not to interfere with other people. I do not talk about these states with a friend, but remind the friend about our lofty goal in general phrases.

Question: But how could this harm him?

Answer: By this we introduce errors into one another.

Question: If I talk about some exalted spiritual states?

Answer: You can talk about them. It is best to take examples from a book. But you should not talk about your states, ever. A friend is not yet corrected; he or she would become jealous, and it will harm you.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 3/6/19

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Question: How is the feeling of happiness connected with “there is none else besides Him”?

Answer: When we begin to feel that there is no one but the Creator, then we experience real happiness. After all, we feel that we are in His source and that is why all problems disappear.
We become the owners of our existence for all centuries and conditions. Thus, there is none else besides Him leads a person to the attainment of the absolute.
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FromKabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12//15/19

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How are Kabbalistic principles different from psychology?

Question: How are the principles of work in a Kabbalistic group different from psychology? After all, they are very similar.

Suppose, I consider you as an intelligent person, and in order to get something from you, naturally, I must exalt you. And if I consider myself smarter than you, I will not get anything. Isn’t that psychology?

Answer: This is not psychology, because in our movement to a group, to unity, and to connection, we strive to attract the upper force, called “the Creator” according to the methodology prescribed by Kabbalists. In this way, we rise above psychology.

We do not deal with a person’s psychological properties, but rather want the upper force, the upper light to begin to act on these properties and on the person himself.

Question: For example, there is a principle of exalting a friend. And I try to belittle myself. Isn’t that psychology?

Answer: These are all psychological actions, but by trying to lower myself, I plug into my friends, and in this way we form a system that is in equivalence of form with the upper light. It all depends on our intention: what we strive for, why we do it.

Question: It turns out that in psychology, lowering oneself and exalting someone is carried out in order, for example, to feel better, and here, in order to reveal the Creator. That is, the difference is only in the goal, although the external means are similar?

Answer: Naturally. The goal determines everything.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/6/19

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Question: During the workshop, a desire to reveal the Creator was felt. This desire appeared more than once for a second and disappeared. Then there was a demand that this desire would stay. Can I demand it or should I somehow hold on to it?

Answer: Only if it is within the group. If it is not within the group, this is egoism.

Question: This actually happened in the ten.

Answer: Then you should try to bring this desire back to you but through the ten.
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From the World Kabbalah Convention in Moldova 9/8/19, “Collecting All the States Toward the Creator,” Lesson 7

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 34, “The Profit of a Land”: However, we must know that in that state, when they cannot say that the Creator imparts only good, they are considered wicked because suffering makes them condemn their Maker.

The Creator never sends us suffering. We perceive these sensations as such only because we are not properly prepared for them.

In principle, as it is said, a person should bless the Creator both for the good and for the bad because everything bad that we feel is necessary only to develop in us a sensation of the upcoming good fulfillment.

There are no transgressions and no sufferings. They are all later filled with pleasure. Therefore, we need to prepare correctly and in advance for suffering and for pleasure. We will then have one continuous revelation of the Creator in enjoyment and pleasure.

Only when they see that the Creator imparts them pleasure do they justify the Creator. It is as our sages said, “Who is righteous? He who justifies his Maker,” meaning one who says that the Creator leads the world in a righteous way.

Righteous is a person who can justify the actions of the Creator in any state. He corrected his desires to such an extent that he can not feel anything bad in them, even though the Creator might seemingly send him negative feelings.

But he is so connected with the Creator that he perceives all feelings that come from this source as positive. He covers his feelings with the understanding from whom he receives them, and therefore, everything is a joy for him. He can get pleasure from any signal from the Creator.

Question: Does he feel suffering?

Answer: No, he does not feel it because his suffering is covered with the sensation of the Creator as a giver.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/22/19

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Prefer Life in Bestowal

Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”: 3) “See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil…therefore, choose life…”

This means choose the quality of bestowal and love for others. It is not easy because the choice happens above our egoism. This is why we live.

We need to go through a lot of things in order to really understand this: to prefer to live in bestowal, meaning, to serve other people in order to bring them to connection and by so doing, letting the Creator reveal Himself between them. This is the person’s sole goal in life. All the rest simply disappears, nothing else exists.

We cannot imagine how the universe is arranged outside of our present inherently false state. It is absolutely wrong, distorted by our egoism. If we had the opportunity, like in a camera, to focus on what is happening, we would see how with a qualitative decrease or increase in egoism, that is, by getting closer to others or by moving away from others, the world becomes different.

Let’s hope that this will become revealed more and more between us. However, to do so, one needs to be in a group, in the ten. Only there, in the group of those who yearn to attain the purpose of life, can we assemble a model that will be called “life after death” or the “upper world.” This can be simulated while still in our world, in our life.

Therefore, if someone has such a desire, they should come to our group and participate in practical “laboratory” classes. Then he will see that all this is very effective and attainable. We await you.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/14/19

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Zohar For All, “Aharei Mot,” 65: How good and how pleasant. These are the friends, as they sit together inseparably. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill each other. Then they revert back to a state of brotherly love.

By studying Kabbalah and striving to unite in the ten, we begin to feel how separated we are from each other, how opposite we are.

At that, when trying to connect in the ten, we receive something for a while. But as soon as we reach some good state of connection, there is an immediate breaking, cooling, distance, and fog between us, to the point we do not want to look at each other or talk to each other.

And again, we need to work to connect together. After all, if we want to receive the Creator’s help—and without this help we will not advance—we must be together in one system.

So, we need to work on ourselves again. The importance of the goal, the importance of attaining the Creator, the importance of achieving the opening of the soul determines our aspiration for each other. In the name of this, we begin to draw closer, and we again move forward until the next breaking.

So, we are constantly moving toward the goal: rise-fall, break; gentle rise-sharp fall, and so many times.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/29/19

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Do Kabbalist fear death?

Question: What is the correct attitude to death?

Answer: I think that the best attitude is to not think about death but, rather, believe that we exist infinitely, eternally. We must make sure that we attain this eternity and infinity, at least partially, in this life, in our corporeal state.

After all, during our life we exist in order to reveal bestowal and love as a means for attaining eternity, perfection, and the Creator, the upper force that controls all of it. Our advancement should consist of this.

In thinking about animalistic life and death, check yourself, do you really care about this? If you do, then you are not yet seriously aspiring for spiritual qualities. When you are engaged in spirituality you absolutely do not care about anything that happens to your body, whether it is alive or not. You exist and want to exist in the quality of bestowal and love.

Question: Does a Kabbalist care about his protein body? Through it, one contacts other people who are not yet in spirituality. If he did not have this body, he would not be able to communicate with his students.

Answer: Yes, he takes care of the body but in a minimal sense, which is called “the necessary and sufficient” condition.

Question: Does a Kabbalist think about what will happen to his students and to his family after his death?

Answer: Family is a usual corporeal concern. Students, however, are a completely different thing. He has to prepare them so that they will remain with a good reserve of knowledge and methodology. It is necessary to organize a lab-like environment so they can test themselves and advance.

Question: Does it mean that a Kabbalist has a fear of death but not in an egoistic sense?

Answer: It is not the fear of death but a desire to leave behind a world that is maximally directed at the goal of creation, and in no other way.

What else can you leave? There is nothing else. We are approaching the state where a person begins to understand that the only way to leave something behind is in the form of good deeds. These good deeds are recorded on his or her account and are one’s major gain in life.

Question: As far as I understand the good deeds are to bring other people to the revelation of the Creator. Are there any other good deeds you can do with respect to another person?

Answer: There is nothing else: only to bring others closer to the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/14/19

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The principle of a Kabbalistic group is a special attitude toward the friends.

Comment: One of the principles of working in a group is valuing each of the friend’s individuality.

My Response: It is necessary to give everyone the opportunity to show their abilities, to help them in this, so that when identifying all the abilities of the friends, we come to the maximum development of a common desire, intention, effort.

Comment: The principle is as follows: Constantly exalt your friends and feel the lowliness of your egoism.

My Response: That is, as an egoist, I must always lower myself in relation to the group, to relate to my friend with an increased desire to help and support them in everything. There are two forces within me, positive and negative. Maximize the positive and minimize the negative.

Comment: Another principle: Try to see the friends in a more corrected state than what my egoism is showing me.

My Response: I should try to see my friends as more corrected than I am. Then I will have a desire to get closer to them, to lower myself before them. My admiration for them will give me the strength to advance.

Question: The next principle: annul yourself before the friends. What exactly needs to be done here?

Answer: This arises naturally in a person. When one works in a group, whether one wants to or not, a person begins to feel lower and lower than the rest. He or she sees strength and goodness in the friends, but not in oneself.

Moreover, we are not saying that this happens on its own, but that a person can annul themself before the friends by one’s own effort. That is, to artificially lower oneself before the friends and to see oneself as worse than them, lower, less advanced. This will give a person the opportunity to raise them, raise the Creator through them, and thus, advance.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/6/20

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The Principle of a Kabbalistic Group: Equality.

Question: There are certain principles we must observe to achieve unity in a group. One of these principles is equality. What is equality between friends? How are we equal?

Answer: We are equal in everyone helping each other as much as possible. Just like in the family: the youngest are actually the most important in the family.

In a group, we always strive to mutually complement each other and not feel each other as separate individuals, but as a community, as a ten.

Question: So everyone makes maximal efforts, but these efforts are different, and this is where we are equal?

Answer: Of course, and then we are not different but equal.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/6/19

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