Question: Can you explain what is Kabbalah in the simplest terms?

Answer: The science of Kabbalah is a science about everything. It answers all the essential questions:

– What is a human being?

– How were we created?

– How do we perceive the reality we live in?

– What is the purpose of our existence?

– How do we evolve, moving from one state of existence to another?

– How can we achieve perfection?

– How can we remove the borders of the visible reality and see what is beyond it?

– What awaits us after the death of the body?

– How do we control our destiny while we live and after we die?

This science talks about all the creatures and the Creator (the Upper Force that created them) and it also reveals how all creation is governed. The method of Kabbalah includes everything that exists, leaving nothing out of its scope.

Kabbalah reveals the Creator to man. It includes everything: time, space, events, and the force that governs them. Since all of this was created by the Creator, it is He whom Kabbalah reveals. Therefore, knowing the Creator and everything that exists is the same as learning the method of Kabbalah.

Thus, if we attain the wisdom of Kabbalah, we will know the entire universe. As a result, we will understand this world with all of its sciences and laws and we will gain control over everything that happens in it.

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As humanity progresses, our material life becomes more comfortable, but the “human” within us feels more and more unfulfilled. As a result, we are regarded as “sinners” because when we suffer we blame the Creator for it. Only if we feel that the Creator gives us pleasure, can we justify Him. The sages said: “Righteous is he who justifies the Creator and says that He gives only goodness to the world.”

In other words, we have to correct ourselves to the point of feeling that the Upper governing Force brings us good rather than the evil which we experience now. Our life consists of two parts: the life of the animate body and that of a human being as a part of the surrounding society. And we can correct ourselves to such an extent that we can experience a perfect life in all its aspects.

A person who has corrected his perception is regarded as righteous since he will justify the Creator, seeing His kind governance. This governance was good and fair from the start. However, we are created as egoists and perceive everything negatively with a “minus” sign (despite the fact that we are surrounded by the positive field of bestowal, the Creator) because we are opposite to Him. Our job is to correct ourselves, thereby making our perception positive. Working in this manner we expand our perception from a tiny “plus” to a great one until it becomes an infinite “plus” just like the Creator Himself.

These degrees of my coming closer to Him in the sensation of good governance of the world (according to their quality, quantity, volume and strength) are the very steps of ascension, the degrees of righteousness. Baal HaSulam writes in his Letter 59: “A righteous one feels unbroken delight, praising the Creator who created for him such a good and joyful world.”

In other words, it is impossible to feel bad and justify the Creator at the same time! Kabbalah does not call for any restrictions. Everything is defined solely by the sensations carried deep within a person’s heart. If he suffers, he will inevitably condemn the Creator; and if he is happy, he will bless Him.

Therefore, we have to correct ourselves so as to feel all His goodness and bestowal; as a result, we will become righteous without a doubt. The righteous is not the one who suffers silently and willingly, but the one who corrected himself in order to feel the truth!
[19126]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/10, Shamati #34

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Question: Are you saying that the fact that I egoistically use my neighbor right now causes a sandstorm in India?

Answer: Yes! We need to understand that all problems occur due to a lack of connection among us. And this does not mean that by drawing away from you I immediately cause some hurricane that brings sand. However, by being in opposition to you, I bring disparity into the balance of forces in nature.

All the forces of nature exist in unity, interconnection, balance, and universal harmony. That is, except for the human being whose growing egoism and unwillingness to consider others turns us into an active negative element which disrupts the balance of all the forces (of still, vegetative, and animate nature). The solution to the problem is to become an integral part of nature, like all its other parts.

We reveal that the world is in unity and complete interconnection; it exists as a locked system where everyone is connected to each other. This means that we are obliged to unite as “one man with one heart.”

You could object to this and say that we are incapable of this. However, there is the science of Kabbalah and by utilizing it we rouse the force of unification. Humanity will inevitably reach this conclusion, and we are already close to it. If we have already entered this period, from now on everything will occur very quickly.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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The ARI is a great soul which descended into our world in order to open the gates of wisdom for us. Therefore, as Baal HaSulam writes, from the time of the ARI and onward, everything depends on a person: He has to correct himself and thereby reveal the Creator, come to adhesion with Him, and achieve the purpose of creation. Before the ARI, this door was closed altogether because the souls were not yet ready. They still needed to undergo a certain path of development and to mix together.

The ARI symbolizes the period of the Messiah which is why he is called Messiah son of Joseph. From his time forward, the science of Kabbalah began to acquire the form of a method of correction. Before then, it was intended only for a chosen few and was presented in a special form.

We ought to respect the Kabbalists who were living in Safed at the same time as the ARI as they recognized his greatness and appreciated him. The Ramak was already old, famous, and esteemed, but he went to the ARI’s lessons. He sat there as a student despite the fact that he was twice the ARI’s age and recognized as a great Kabbalist.

Thanks to the Ramak and several other Kabbalists who recognized the ARI’s attainment, the ARI was protected from the opponents of Kabbalah. After all, he had several young (26 year old) students, and the attitude toward Kabbalah at the time was far from positive. We may think that everything was allowed as some people tend to write nowadays, but this was not the case.

In this sense, the ARI’s life is similar to that of the Ramchal who was persecuted for studying Kabbalah and exiled from the ghetto of Padua, Italy where he lived. However, the Gaon of Vilna (Agra) testified to his greatness, and the Ramchal was left alone.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/8/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: Kabbalah says that the reason for all the problems in the world is man’s egoistic desire. But what is the connection between me being an egoist who’s opposite to the Creator and the extreme heat in Moscow or the ecological crisis?

Answer: We are all inside a closed system or sphere called “the Creator” where all the parts are connected through mutual bestowal. That is the law of existence of the entire system as well as each of its parts. We can see this on the example of the human body, the ecosystem, and so on. I exist inside this system like an embryo inside a mother’s womb, and I feel good to the degree I am connected and equivalent to the system and bestowing like it. And vice versa: To the degree I am disparate from it and have different qualities, I feel bad.

Proximity and separation are not defined by distance, but by equivalence of form. If I have a small egoistic desire, then even if I am different from the system, I feel small problems. But if my desire increases, then so does my sensation of discomfort.

Since man’s egoistic desire constantly develops, his opposition to Nature’s system, the Creator, also increases, and thus it is inevitable that man will feel worse. This will continue until he begins to understand what the reason for his suffering and problems is.

I will receive blows of fate from all sides until I understand that it is systematic and not accidental. The problems with the ecology are not accidental! I can no longer keep ignoring them. Similar problems will take place all over the world and in all forms. They will shake people up and make them stop and think, “Apparently, there must be a reason for this?”

As the desire grows, it feels suffering and creates a mind by its side in order to avoid the suffering. A person becomes smarter and shrewder. He learns to connect the causes and consequences and inevitably begins asking, “Why is this happening? Where are all of our problems coming from?” Usually people ask, “What did I do to deserve all of this?” And that is already a subconscious question about the Source of what is happening (Nature, the Creator).

People will reveal that what is operating here is the general law of the universe. Call it “Nature” instead of the Creator; either way it requires us to constantly and consciously maintain balance with Nature, which means we have to have the same quality of bestowal as the whole universe since all parts of the universe exist in universal connection and integral unity.

That is why there is no choice about the matter. Humanity is a cancerous tumor inside all of nature, and it is obligated to cure itself. Eventually, under pressure from all the problems, we will reach this realization. It’s already very close.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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It is written, “You will eat what has long been laid in store for you.” We exist in the same place in the same state, and nothing changes. Everything has already been created by the Creator in His initial plan, and plan and action are inseparable for Him. He wished to create creatures that are equal to Him and in adhesion with Him, and His desire itself signifies action.

Then, what are the past, present, and future? All this exists only in relation to us, while in reality there is no time. It is impossible to say what happened earlier or later and what existed before this desire emerged in the Creator.

We are incapable of speaking and thinking beyond the concept of time. As soon as we leave the boundaries of time, all our words fade since our whole life rests on the concepts of “before” and “after,” and all our sensations are connected to time. Therefore, only by coming out of ourselves from egoism to bestowal do we lose our “pulse,” the sensation of time that lives within us, and begin to understand what life above time is.

We exist in an eternal and unchanging reality. All we do is attain it in relation to ourselves. This is much like an unconscious person who gradually regains consciousness. He is in the same reality but does not perceive it. Bit by bit, he reestablishes his perception. This is what happens to us as well.

The entire wisdom of Kabbalah is devoted to helping us come to our senses and to bringing us to complete consciousness. In fact, this is what is meant by complete correction. And Kabbalists don’t tell us what will happen later. The development after our correction will require completely new senses.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/6/10, Article “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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The Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 356: “The law of the Lord is perfect” because it contains everything. Happy are those who engage in the Torah and do not part from it, for anyone who is separated from the Torah for even an hour, it is as though he has parted from life in the world. And it is written, “For it is your life and the length of your days,” and it is written, “For length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.”

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we study the two components of creation: the Light and desire. The Light impacts the desire, whereas the desire merely results from the Light’s impact on it, as it is written, “Light moves desires.”

The universal Light called “the Creator” (Kadosh-Baruch-Hu), the Light of Infinity, leads the entire evolution of the desire through various states, step by step, in a cause and effect order to the equivalence with Self. It is done so that the desire, despite its being created as “existence from absence,” would attain the same condition as the Light, “existence from existence.”

Actions taken by the will to receive pleasure while progressing in stages toward this goal (equivalence with the Creator, the property of bestowal) are called “discernments,” “corrections,” “fillings,” the purpose of which is “adhesions” (Zivugim). “Adhesion” means partial or complete (at the end of all corrections) equivalence to the Light. During these adhesions, the bond between the “will to receive in order to bestow” and the Light, the property of bestowal, manifests.

All our actions are called spiritual work, during which our desire with the help of the intention to bestow attains at least some equivalence with the Light, partial adhesion with it, until such actions reach the highest adhesion called complete correction.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, The Zohar

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Question: It often happens that I understand a lot during the lesson, but later I forget everything I thought about and understood. Is this the right way to advance?

Answer: Forgetfulness is actually the best quality a person has. Otherwise he would not be able to change his states. If one’s desire changes, then the mind serving the desire changes as well.

Memory acts mechanically and belongs only to the desire corresponding to it. Since our task is to change our desire from reception to bestowal, our memory must be cleansed in order to start serving the new qualities and desires.

Therefore, don’t worry about remembering the material you study! You should only worry about feeling it and increasing your desire to bestow. Is your desire becoming more sensitive and uniting with others? Do you understand that you do not want to unite with others? You should care only about the sensations!

Don’t worry, the mind will always develop alongside the sensation. The mind forms in order to serve the feelings. That is how we are built by nature. That is why it is written that “people do not study with the mind.” Kabbalah is not attained through the mind or by having more knowledge. There are no exams that will test who remembered or understood the most. It is the heart that understands.

If a person forgets what he heard at the lesson, does not understand it, and feels that the material disappears to the extent he advances (“I studied so much and heard about it a thousand times, and I still don’t understand it!”), then this is a sign that he is advancing correctly. It means he is demanding a change and correction of his desire, rather than trying to fulfill himself with knowledge in a purely mechanical fashion.

That is why a person must be very careful about what he demands from the study and which changes he wants to see happening within him. Perhaps he wants to become smarter and understand more, which is called “reasoning more than doing”? In that case he acquires more knowledge than correction (because action is correction), and that would be a grave mistake.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/3/10, The Zohar

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Question: What comprises the parts of our spiritual path?

Answer: The spiritual ascent consists of several parts: the development of the Universe, the evolution of Earth, and spiritual correction which began with the breaking of a part of humanity (the nation of Israel from the time of Babylon until the destruction of the Second Temple), the continuing development of humanity to our times, up to the beginning of the crisis between humanity and nature (the Creator).

Starting with this latter stage, the crisis, gradually all people will start feeling a need to rise above the level of our world and attain the purpose for the world’s existence and for everything that happens in it. This will bring them to the science of Kabbalah which was revealed back in Ancient Babylon.

Everything comes down to replacing our nature with an Upper one, to replacing egoism (the desire to receive for one’s own benefit) with altruism (the desire to bestow). This process occurs in stages, by attaining 125 degrees. However, a person goes through an initial period of preparation within the group, through the theoretical study of spiritual qualities, and by examining one’s egoistic nature. When, under the influence of that environment, a sufficiently powerful desire emerges in him to replace egoism with bestowal to others, the common force of nature, the Upper Light, will change him. Then one begins to experience worry (fear) about others, much like a mother does in relation to her child.

But this is still only an ascent above egoism. Subsequently, follows the stage of acquiring the quality of love where a person is willing to give everything to others as they become more dear to him than he is to himself. During this stage a person begins to feel and merge with the Creator because he becomes equal to Him through his actions.

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Question: During the Mega Congress 2010, many new participants will face the force, the desire called the “World Group” (the World Kli) for the first time. Why should someone who studies Kabbalah in the Ukraine or New Zealand matter to me?

Answer: This wisdom has to spread to all of humankind for it is written, “And they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them.” The Torah was given in order to correct all souls. The “nation of Israel” is only a connecting link, as Baal HaSulam writes in his article “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee).” Correction has to take place in the entire world, but Israel is the first in line. This correction starts with Israel, manifests here first, and then “spills” over its borders filling the rest of the world.

Meetings such as this congress demonstrate how adoptable the method of Kabbalah is for all nations since it is the only wisdom that can bring all people to unity regardless of their corporeal, earthly differences of nationality, race, gender, and mentality. Within the spiritual system, we are initially connected through our “points in the heart.” Now, we only add to them our desire to strengthen this connection. I don’t pick with whom to unite. My “point in the heart,” my soul, is already tied with whom I belong. In fact, our relationship broke solely in our perceptions. We don’t wish to be related, but we already are. All we need to do is to see it and become its voluntary participants.

Therefore, we must awaken everyone in the whole world. And congresses such as ours demonstrate how close we are to the truth. Actually, if we disseminate the method of correction, a person who has this “point in the heart” will understand and feel our truth. He will join us as an equal part in all our actions. In this way, all nations will join together in collective correction. This is what is called the complete correction or “complete redemption” (Geula Shlema) from spiritual exile. “Complete” means not only for the nation of Israel, but for all nations.

The wisdom of Kabbalah was written down for our generation, and the history of human evolution is coming to its final chapter. The nation of Israel must complete this correction first and pass the Light on to the other nations. If we don’t strive to carry out our mission and correct ourselves and the world, we will become the object of hatred.

The dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the world is called the voice of the Messiah’s Horn. As soon as we come out into the world with this method of correction, we will immediately receive a sympathetic and kind response of love instead of hatred.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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