Lecture from New York – 09.12.11
Posted on September 12th, 2011
The rudiments of Kabbalistic teaching originate from Abraham’s book Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation), where he explained the main principles of the structure of the upper system that governs our world. This system is called the “upper world.” In relation to it, our world is called the “lower world.” We need to know the structure of the upper system because we are under its constant governance.
The upper governance divides into the private and general. Private governance affects each one of us, and general governance influences all of us simultaneously.
We are under the influence of forces that constantly change according to their specific program. Our destiny depends on them. However, we have the ability to influence these forces and, accordingly, affect our destiny.
Kabbalah says that we practically have no affect on anything in our world. Our world is the result of the forces that descend from the upper world. However, our interaction with these forces, our reaction to them, changes their effect on us—we and these forces mutually interact with each other.
If we understand the essence of this interaction, we will be able to consciously control the influence of the upper world upon our world. Basically, this is the purpose of Kabbalah: It is the reason we need it so much in our time when the upper world keeps descending closer and closer to us.
We feel it getting closer quite clearly because we can no longer continue acting egoistically, as we did over the course of thousands of years of our evolution. Today we are no longer able to control our world since the upper world keeps getting closer, and we do not know how to influence it.
Let us hope that ultimately, our studies will give us this ability. Besides improving our life and making it safe, we will be able to add a new and very special parameter: not simply a comfortable existence in our world, but the perception of the upper system, entry into it, and existence on its level.
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From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 9/4/2011
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Question: Do you or your teacher or any Kabbalist think perhaps it is wiser and easier to wipe out this creation and somehow construct a new and better one that is closer to and can humbly live in nature? One way or the other, this world, as it is, is going to an end through bloodshed and destruction.
Perhaps, Hitler was on the right path of a new human creation, but the benchmark and means to that end were obviously inhumane. Yet when was the breaking of human civilization through the next level ever humane?
Is there really hope for this species to survive, facing uncontrollable natural disasters, famine, financial crisis, mental and physical disease, broken relationships, and the lots of ego maniac manifestations dressing up as “democracy”? It is hell on Earth and no one is giving an inch to love another as himself. Wipe out for new creation—is it not a realistic hope for the next level?
Answer: When you reveal the entire map of creation, you will discover that everything was created perfect and for our good. And meanwhile, aspire to this revelation constantly!
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Question: I know and tried many times: It is impossible for me to change my egoistic being. I want to change, but do not have the power. I know this and Kabbalah says that it is impossible.
What is the next step? Go to Google maps and look up where the Creator is living and travel to Him? Knock on His door and when He opens ask and demand from Him to change my evil inclination for the good?
This drives me “crazy.” Every day I wake up and know it is not in my power to overcome this evil inclination.
Answer: If you are convinced that you are unable to change yourself, it’s a big discovery by itself. But this is not required of you: You specifically have to become convinced that you are incapable of it. By recognizing your inability to change your egoism, you will see that you are governed by the Creator so as to evoke your demand for Him to change you.
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Our work is to imagine precisely what the upper force is. And we will have to do many discernments on this path. At first, a person imagines the upper force as a multitude of different forces, godly images, and deifies different natural phenomena that he discovers around himself. A person attributes human qualities to them because that’s the only example he has, and endows different images with the divine power, which is called idol worshiping.
That is an important stage of our development because we exist in our egoistic desire with an inverted perception of reality, sensation and analysis. This way, we scrutinize upper qualities to the point of reaching the correct perception.
An example of that is our forefather Abraham who was initially selling idols. In fact, his story tells us about ourselves. All of us begin our path from worshiping different forces of nature and considering them either good or evil, or partially good or evil. We attribute them to certain people, our surroundings, blind fate, or various incidents.
All our life cycles are filled with these discernments until the point in the heart awakens in us. But even already having it, we still have to discern numerous definitions that draw us closer to the first perception of spirituality.
We still don’t know what the spiritual reality or who the Creator are. But on our path to this discernment, we are prone to the influence of the environment that can turn us the other way, mislead, or confuse because we don’t feel the Creator yet and can’t hold onto Him.
In the end, we reach a state, when all our multiple ascents, descents, and confusions somehow get resolved, accumulate, and combine, and we divide reality into two parts: I, one who feels, and that which I feel. There is nothing else besides it!
But I sense myself as being either in egoism, reception, or in bestowal—there is no third option. Existing in egoism, I relate everything only to myself and my world, and this defines my state. But if I exist in the quality of bestowal, it fills me with something called the Creator (Bo-reh)—”come and see.”
I constantly perform clarifications between these two qualities. Finally, I come to a conclusion that everything comes from the Creator who plays with me either by concealing Himself or by giving me exercises so that I build in myself more fine and precise definitions of who He is.
Essentially, this constitutes our entire work.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/22/2011, Shamati #62
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Question: In our world it is customary to lower yourself before a person you deem important. Why is it so difficult to lower yourself in the spiritual world?
Answer: In our world we lower ourselves before an important person because by doing so, we profit. Our egoism always carries out actions that are profitable for it. If a person is influential, powerful, and wealthy, then it’s worthwhile for me to lower myself before him and to be next to him, to serve him, because I know that usually a small person receives from a big one, and I expect to receive something as well.
That is how we usually act in this world. And if we don’t act that way, then we receive blows that make us learn this principle. Suppose I don’t want to listen to what a policeman says to me. Then I receive a fine or get called to court where I receive a punishment. So next time I will listen. That is, in our world it is egoistically profitable to listen to a powerful person, and if I don’t understand this, then life will teach me with blows.
However, this does not work in relation to the Creator because He is concealed! After all, if His quality of bestowal became revealed to you, then you would run after Him like a thief who runs ahead of the crowd, yelling, “Catch the thief!” It would seem that you love the Creator from the bottom of your heart because you can receive so much from Him. Who wouldn’t want to cleave to this force, which controls the whole world? It’s clear that this is what every person does.
That is why the Creator cannot become revealed to us as great, mighty, and generous. He can only become revealed as an example of the quality of bestowal, which we have to acquire on our own. But then you won’t want Him and will run away from Him. That is why He cannot become revealed to you—not from the good side nor from the bad, not from the side of fulfillment, nor from the side of intention.
The only thing that remains for us is to work with the environment. The Creator gives us a small desire for bestowal, but everything else has to be revealed by us in the environment that inspires us to bestow, to build our desire for the upper force. We receive help and awakening from above only to the extent of our exertion in the studies, the environment, and dissemination.
It’s impossible to advance in any other way. Otherwise we would chase Him, wishing to swallow Him up, or would run away from His quality of bestowal, being scared of the possibility of becoming that way ourselves.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/11, Shamati
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