Two questions I received about the mysterious fate of holy books

Question: All the holy books, which have nothing to do with the physical world, were for ages used as a design for living and culture, and sadly caused more suffering than enlightenment. Was this an error?

My Answer: This was necessary in order to mix the properties of egoism with the properties of the Creator that were corrupted in us, so that later, once these two opposite properties are intermixed, we would be able to correct ourselves by evoking the Light of Correction (Ohr Makif). Errors only happen in our understanding of what’s happening, but not in what’s actually happening!

Question: Why was The Book of Zohar written and then concealed for many years? Why did it come into this world so early, if people didn’t need it then?

My Answer: It was written at a time when “light” souls appeared in our world, at the beginning of the exile from the spiritual level, on the 125th level of attainment. But it is being used now, at the end of the exile from the spiritual world, starting with the lowest level (level zero), by people who already understand that there is no other way to go. And The Book of Zohar itself speaks about this.

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A question I received: I understand that the period of correction begins when we cross the Machsom, but there is something that leaves me restless and I do not understood well: Once the Machsom is crossed, the things that happen to us in this world continue happening, but the form of seeing them is one of having enough intelligence to understand what happens to us and to use that to enlarge the vessel and to fill it. Now, based on the above-mentioned, my question is: Is faith above reason necessary to cross the Machsom, or will this be given when one has the complete Masach? And can a person tell whether he has the Neshama?

My Answer: Faith above reason is what we attain after the Machsom. Before it we’re just trying to understand what is faith and to attain it. Before the Machsom , we try to attain faith above reason (the revelation of the Creator, a perception of Him, of the quality of bestowal and love inside us – above our entire egoism). We desire to rise above all the obstacles to the oneness of the Creator and His good governance!

But the fulfillment of this desire takes place after the Machsom, when it is filled by the Light of bestowal on the level of Nefesh, then Ruach, and so on, until we fully attain the quality of faith above reason – the quality of Bina.

And after this, there is another degree – not ascent above egoism, but usage of egoism, or the correction of egoism to bestowal – when we receive into our desire for the sake of bestowal.

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Questions I received on feeling weak, doubtful and unsure along the spiritual path

Question: I just don’t understand: Why does a person have to fight himself in order to enter this fictional “other” state? And why does he even need this?

My Answer: You’re right: If you don’t have a point in the heart, then go on living without any worries. After all, a person only realizes the desires that awaken in him. If a person’s point in the heart has awakened, then he is driven by the desire to reveal, understand, and feel the Creator; and he has to attain this.

Question: I have been trying to understand how is it even possible to change one’s nature, because more and more, I keep discovering just how egoistic all my thoughts and desires are, and they are only becoming more egoistic. So why should I be destroying myself with this useless work instead of living a normal life?

My Answer: You’re absolutely right: A person cannot change his own nature! Nevertheless, if he persistently strives towards the goal, then his perseverance will help him, and the Creator will give him the strength to reveal Him (see the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” item 133, where it talks about people climbing the mountain). Only the force of the Creator’s revelation can pull a person out of this world – out of the perception “inside oneself.” And then one reveals an eternal and perfect world. But again, only the Light, which created the creation, is able to change it and lift it to Its level.

Question: As a person gets older, he grows weaker and needs more strength. But where will he get it if he never gets a response from the Creator?

My Answer: The entire path up until the revelation of the Creator, the Machsom, consists of ever increasing disappointments. It’s written that coming out of Egypt happens by sending plagues to Pharaoh, our egoism. These plagues become more and more painful, making us feel more disillusioned about our ability to attain the goal, to come out of egoism and enter the perception of the Upper Force, the Creator. These plagues reveal our nature – egoism, the Pharaoh, and just how much he is ruling us inside. Read the section in the Torah where the Creator keeps repeating to man (Moses): “Go to the Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart.” This means that the Creator keeps increasing our egoism on purpose, so we’d reveal how absolutely evil it is for us and desire to run away from it!

Question: Sometimes it seems like I don’t have enough time left in this life to attain the goal, the revelation of the Creator.

My Answer: In this case, just like on the entire path, there is only one “Kabbalistic” principle to use : “Knock that tempter’s teeth out” (the tempter that throws you off the path), and keep being stubborn, advancing by “faith above reason,” in spite of your common (regular, animalistic) sense. And look for the Creator’s help inside all this, in order to be able to follow these two principles.

Question: Maybe it’s better to live a “pleasant lie,” like the people who buy what Berg sells – psychological support and imagined but sweet confidence that tomorrow will be OK, that everything will be fine, and that everything can be changed for the better. This has a psychological affect on you, gives you strength, and helps you survive. And you get the positive results up front!

My Answer: Who can object to these centuries proven methods! If I could, I’d buy red strings and holy water myself. But no one is even inviting to Kabbalah those people who can comfort themselves with these methods, and who can convince themselves that they work. But while they shut their eyes to the illness and take painkillers, the illness keeps spreading.

And there are others who can no longer be helped by these painkillers; they understand that this is a lie. These people keep searching, because a person cannot remain unfulfilled, and this state of futility and emptiness is worse than death, because their spiritual desire already demands to be fulfilled. And so they keep searching. And it’s for these people, who can no longer find anything that can fulfill them in this world, that Kabbalah provides the answer: Fulfillment comes from the Upper Light, to the degree you are similar to it!

Question: It still seems absolutely impossible and unfeasible that every person and all the people together will be able to desire to come out of egoism voluntarily, instead of being pushed by plagues that are worse than death itself, when even death seems like a salvation from the suffering.

My Answer: The Creator says that it is simple and easy to come out of the corporeal nature and enter the Upper Nature, provided that one diligently carries out the Creator’s conditions, or the precise, strict laws of nature. No one has the strength and the desire to ascend above this world, above one’s nature. But you can receive these desires from the correct environment (the worldwide Bnei Baruch group), by studying Kabbalah according to the authentic sources – the books of Baal HaSulam. And then the Light will lift you, and there are thousands of examples to prove this. The choice is yours!

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Questions I received about distinguishing Kabbalah from religion and belief

Question: I have heard you say that a secular Jew can remain secular and still reach spirituality through Kabbalah.

My Answer: Do you really believe that the entire world and all the nations must become Orthodox Jews?

Question: How do you reconcile this with the Gemara Baba Kama 50, which says that anyone who says that G-d will overlook his sins, his life will be forfeited.

My Answer: Anyone who says that he can avoid correcting all of his egoism, he will not merit the upper life, and will remain spiritually dead.

Question: For example, it is understood that wicked people undergo punishments such as purgatory.

My Answer: Wicked people are egoists, and purgatory is liberation from egoism by the force of the Light. I don’t even understand how you can study the Talmud without understanding Kabbalah. What do you imagine a purgatory to be – fiery ovens and scorching rods?

Question: Furthermore, it has been said in the on line classes that dying is stepping out of one body into another body in order to continue the process of correction. We know, however, that people can be reincarnated into rocks and such for thousands of years, due to their sins. Again, how can we reconcile these contradictory ideas? Would it not make sense that G-d demands both corporeal observance as well as the study of the spiritual?

My Answer: Your logic is based on egoism, which is opposite to the property of the Creator and the Upper World. Believing that people can reincarnate into rocks is idol worship. A rock is the lowest form of egoism, Lev HaEven.

You have to study; otherwise you will remain a self-assured know-it-all, as it is written, “What should we do with children who have grown old?” (Ma Laasot Im Yeladim She Izkinu?). However, time will take care of whatever the mind doesn’t do. So have patience, and eventually egoism will force you to search instead of blindly believing.

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I had a video conference with two Toronto TV stations – one in Hebrew and one in Russian. I found that Israeli television outside of Israel is exactly that – “Israelis outside of Israel,” or in other words, the greatest and most primitive egoism in the world. There are many primitive egoists, but only theirs is both great and primitive at the same time.

Nevertheless, it appeared as if they too are starting to ask questions, have doubts, and feel desires “above the stomach.” Canada, Australia, and similar countries squeeze everything that’s human out of people, and all that remains is an animalistic aspiration for a full stomach and a peace of mind. You can see this with every person who enters that environment.

One’s environment determines one’s destiny – whether he will go through life worrying only about the comfort of his animate body, until it finally dies, or he will actually think about something besides this. By no means does Kabbalah encourage people to deprive themselves of anything or to suffer. It only explains that a society which eliminates a person’s questions about the meaning of life, turns him into an animal.

But to be frank, lately even the “bourgeois” are beginning to ask questions about the meaning of life. In the past they couldn’t even comprehend the possibility of someone asking such questions, and would look at anyone who spoke about it with a blank, dumbfounded gaze…

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Four questions I received on supernatural phenomena

Question: Why do we always see the same side of the moon?

My Answer: Because this is how Malchut is positioned relative Zeir Anpin in the World of Atzilut. Forces descend to us from the World of Atzilut and this is how they manifest in the matter of our world. After all, everything taking place in our world is determined by the Upper Force, which originates from ZO”N of the World of Atzilut. A micro-dose of this force begot our entire universe, by breaking through to our material level from the Upper Level. It gradually became coarser and decreased its speed of operation, and hence produced energy and then matter. So matter exists only because of the Upper Energy present in it, or in other words – “by the word of G-d.” And it exists only in order to realize the “word of G-d” in matter – this is what man must do, since he combines both types of energy, the spiritual and the material. And after this will happen, the universe will cease its current existence, which is an egoistic co-existence (or opposition) of these energies. Incidentally, science now confirms that the universe isn’t infinite or eternal (although when I was in school, we learned that it is infinite and eternal).

Question: Does the notion of Satan exist in Kabbalah?

My Answer: Satan is one of the egoistic forces residing within a person. All forces exist only within the person, and they are all egoistic.

Question: As a Kabbalist, can you tell whether time travel is possible?

My Answer: It’s not possible in the physical sense. However, it is a normal phenomenon in the spiritual space, which is entirely above time, space and motion – as Einstein said, because it is higher than our light, and exists in the spiritual Light.

Question: Does Kabbalah agree that man has an aura?

My Answer: Yes. An aura is a field of energy that surrounds every creature, whether still, vegetative or animate. But it bears no relation to spirituality. Moreover, it’s impossible for a person who hasn’t attained the quality of bestowal by studying Kabbalah, to see spirituality, the quality of bestowal, but any person or camera can see and photograph the aura.

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A question I received: I understand that corporeal acts have nothing to do with spirituality, but until a screen is acquired our acts are of the ego and take place in the corporeal world. If I desire a milkshake although I just ate and have no nutritional need for one, then do I resist this desire altogether and deny myself this treat? Do I have the milkshake because it is just a corporeal act and does not matter anyway? Or do I drink the milkshake and pretend that I am receiving for the sake of the Creator? I am seeking guidance on how to deal with the desires of the ego that come up in the corporeal world. Do we pretend? Do we fake it until we make it?

My Answer: Religion and upbringing teach you to pretend, but Kabbalah only tells you to do one thing: attract the Upper Light by studying authentic Kabbalistic sources. After all, the Light created you, along with your desires and thoughts (your mind and heart), and hence only It can correct you. In order for your life to have results, the most important thing is to constantly be concerned with just one thing – the importance of the goal, and don’t bother trying to figure out how to handle thoughts that are remote from the goal. Then everything else will turn into temporary means that help you. So drink your milkshake and study Kabbalah!

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A question I received: Why did Rabash and Baal HaSulam insist on physically observing the Mitzvot, and moreover, they did so scrupulously, not omitting even the point of the letter Yod?

My Answer: It’s because they lived exclusively in a religious environment, and back then it wasn’t yet realistic or necessary to disseminate Kabbalah among the secular public and around the world in general. They had absolutely no contact or connections with secular people. Nevertheless, in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” “Messiah’s Horn” and other texts, Baal HaSulam writes that it’s necessary to disseminate Kabbalah among all the nations of the world. Moreover, Baal HaSulam writes that a person can only begin studying Kabbalah after he becomes secular (even if he does it secretly, on the inside). As long as he is religious inside, religion binds him and he won’t be able to understand Kabbalah. It’s because these two worldviews are opposite to one another.

In the religious worldview, you believe something that you were told about God, and you blindly follow the instructions you learned from others. You fanatically limit yourself with your mind’s attempts to understand who you are, what you are living for, and where you are. The less you ask and the more you do – the holier you consider yourself to be. And forget about “love for thy neighbor” – you are above all those vile atheists, you are chosen by the Creator. You overflow with pride, and feel that everyone is indebted to you for your holy lifestyle.

On the path of Kabbalah, however, you don’t believe anyone else, and using your own efforts, heart and mind, you reveal Nature or the Creator for yourself. You pull yourself up towards Him, penetrate into His governance, and start to understand Him. And you do all this by correcting your egoism, according to the Torah’s appeal, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” You step out of yourself toward your neighbor, and thereby attain the Creator.

Moreover, Baal HaSulam writes that according to the instructions in The Book of Zohar, you have to disseminate Kabbalah to all the nations of the world! (See his articles “The Revelation of Godliness,” “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” and “The Peace.“)

On this path, the most important thing is you and your decision. So let the critics who favor religion attend to their own business – they need to, since it’s slipping out of their greedy and envious hands. It’s not that I’m against religion, but I am against the egoistic use of it!

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Two questions I received about using Kabbalah incorrectly and the possible outcomes of doing so

Question: Is there a chance that someone will start studying Kabbalah “too early,” and then not have the time to develop his ego, in order to then defeat it and transform it to the will to bestow? After all “The Light is only born out of darkness.” While one’s will to receive develops, one can use this time to build his career, create a family and provide for it, so that later he would really be able to concentrate on studying Kabbalah and growing spiritually (for example, after he’s forty years old).

My Answer: A person should test Kabbalah as soon as he hears about it, because one must develop everything harmoniously from the early years: family, children, work, etc., as well as spiritual development. Otherwise he will grow up to be an animal and his entire life will have gone to waste. Kabbalists do not put any age restrictions on revealing Kabbalah. Moreover, they write that if it were up to them, they would teach Kabbalah to children from an early age. My students and I teach our children Kabbalah while they are still babies – after all, this is the most necessary knowledge a person can have, and without it he’s just a miserable animal. With this education we protect our kids from drugs and other problems; they stay with us and do the same thing their parents do – it’s been tested!

Question: I’m scared, I think that I won’t be able to resurrect, I’m afraid that I’m not doing enough, that I lack strength and desire.

My Answer: The worst thing that can happen is that you won’t attain your full correction in this life, and then you’ll return into this world again to “finish correcting yourself.” You will definitely return if you don’t finish the correction, because in the final and perfect state, we already exist in “state 3,” and it must be really attained by everyone!

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Two questions I received on loving others

Question: We have to love everyone who was created by the Creator. But what about the people who hurt us, leaving us with severe scars? Maybe it’s possible to learn to forgive and to yield, but it is very difficult to love them the way you love others or yourself. My question is: Is it enough to love such people less or just to forgive them? Is it necessary to love everyone equally? And is it even possible to attain this level? I’d like to attain it.

My Answer: It’s written: A hero is someone who loves everyone. A hero amongst heroes is someone who has turned his enemies into his beloved. And in spirituality, it’s someone who has transformed his egoism to the service of others.

Question: There are seven billion cogwheels spinning around in the world, who are all interconnected and interdependent. I have this picture in my mind day and night. Sometimes I experience flashes of epiphany, when for a moment everything becomes crystal clear, but then it disappears and I could do nothing to bring it back. Everything becomes confusing again, and I start to feel so helpless – after all, I’m a cogwheel, and I’m being spun in a completely different direction by billions of other cogwheels – and in addition, they laugh at Kabbalah. And then I watch your broadcasts and hear the wonderful news from Sochi and Moscow… How can I disengage myself from the people who are very close to me (even my relatives and children), and be close to those who are physically far, but are very dear to me?

Answer: You should look at this world through the Upper World, love people with their involuntary lack of correction, patiently strive to help them with our knowledge about the world, and understand that your intolerance of them is a result of your lack of correction!

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