A question I received: If Kabbalists wished to tell us about the Upper World, then why do they describe it using the words of our world and thereby confuse us?

My Answer: Kabbalists communicate with us in the “language of branches.” The science of Kabbalah is written for those who have a point in the heart, meaning for the people who yearn to reveal spirituality, the Upper World. They don’t know what it is, but nevertheless aspire toward it.

You can take a Kabbalistic book and read it as though you are reading about something existing in this world. Yet by doing so, try to constantly imagine that whatever you are reading about exists in the Upper World in the form forces and properties, reception and bestowal, and nothing else. This is why Baal HaSulam defines each word of our world by providing its meaning in the Upper World.

If I aspire to see this picture, then where is it? It’s not somewhere in the heavens; it’s within me. That is, a Kabbalistic book talks about my inner forces, about the world within me. In general, the book talks only about me; everything exists within me: people and animals, the sun, the moon, and the spiritual Partzufim.

However, when I imagine all of this within myself, I also have to wish for the Light to come and correct this picture within me, to let me see and feel these forces of love and bestowal. I desire to reveal not only this bestowal, but also the force that governs it all: the Creator.

To achieve it, I have to imagine that the people surrounding me in this world also exist within me. There is nothing else; everything is merely my inner forces. Start imagining that you now connect with all of these people, that is, with all of these forces within you. When you begin to constantly work with the book in this way, it will direct you toward bestowal. This way you will awaken the real picture and draw it closer to yourself. This is called “attracting the Light that Reforms.”

A Kabbalistic book not only helps us reveal what exists within each of us, it also teaches how to sharpen our vision so as to reveal all the worlds, the entire universe, and all of reality within ourselves. There is nothing outside. That’s why Kabbalah is called an inner science.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/10, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The Creator did not create our material world. It exists only in our imagination because we are within the boundaries of our egoism. The moment we transition to bestowal and begin to acquire bestowing desires, the Upper reality (in which we in fact exist and develop) will reveal itself to us.

The lower layer of this material world will continue to exist for it has to constantly provide us with the freedom of choice in attaining spirituality. In this world we go to work or go to buy groceries, yet we know that we have a permanent place of residence, our home and family. The same thing applies to spirituality: There is a place where we permanently exist. We climb and descend spiritual steps, but the lowest level of existence (our world) is always guaranteed to us.

This world is illusory and doesn’t exist anywhere except in our imagination; it’s a basic point that allows us to act on our own for the sake of bestowal. The Creator shows all of us the same movie, thus allowing us to exist within the same reality. That is the reason why the most advanced Kabbalist and the most feeble-minded, silly person perceive the same material world.

It goes without saying that an intelligent person sees our world a little differently and understands more, but in general all of us see the same picture. It makes no difference whether a person possesses specific properties because it doesn’t have anything in common with spirituality.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 83: … as it is written, “Behold, your king will come unto you,” certainly, and not you to Him. He will come to you to appease you; He will come to you to raise you; He will come to you to complement you in everything; He will come to you to raise you to His palace, to bond with you in everlasting bonding, for all times, as it is written, “And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.”

Should we raise Malchut from the ashes on our own, or does the Merciful Creator raise the fallen tent of David for us? Do we need to wait in exile and then everything will become revealed from Above? Or do we need to recognize that the King has come, done his work, reaches out to us, and we need to grab on to Him and ascend?

There are people who say that everything will come and become revealed from Above, that the Third Temple will “fall down” from the skies, and we don’t need to do anything but just keep waiting. This is the “Galut” (the time of exile) type of thinking.

Kabbalists, on the other hand, explain to us that we had to force ourselves into exile (from the level of spirituality) for a specific period of time, until the end of the 20th century. Then, from Above, the Creator returned us to the Land of Israel and revealed the method of correction which is Kabbalah and The Zohar. He created all the conditions for the freedom of will, and the Giving of the Torah from the Above took place. Now, people need to receive the Torah and realize it in their correction.

This is what we call “the king has come to the queen.” He gives her everything. However, now she must take a step toward the king and express a desire to unite with him, instead of merely continuously lying in the dust without making a single action on her own behalf. After all, the king compels her to act and reaches out to her, revealing his desire.

This is what those who study the external Torah, the religious, and those who study the inner Torah, the Kabbalists, argue about. There’s nothing to add to the external observance of the customs as the entire addition happens on the inside, that is, in the intentions, the discernments of the desire, and revelation of the evil inclination which needs to be corrected.

From the 1st of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/16/10, The Zohar

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All comes out of HaVaYaH (Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey), the universal, singularly existing system, and everything takes its beginning in the root, the tip of the letter “Yod.” This is Keter, the “essence of the essence” (Yesh mi Yesh). There is the, “existence from absence” (Yesh mi Ain), which are expanding together. The Light affects the desire, and it takes various forms; that is, the will to receive constantly changes its properties in similarity with the Light.

The Zohar explains how all properties come from the Light which created the will to receive, “existence from absence,” and how the Light works on it. This is truly a symphony of development: the impact of the Light on the desire, the lack of filling that changes under the influence of the Light and acquires different forms and properties, including the properties of the Light and its own previous forms that influence the next states even several steps ahead.

The Zohar explains to us how from only two forces – the will to bestow and the will to receive – come all the diversity of the creature. And all of it is directly connected with us since in our world there is also nothing, except the two forces: black and white, one and zero, good and bad. It doesn’t matter what levels we are talking about – all of creation, all of our impressions, sensual images and pictures of the perception of reality – all of this consists of two forces.

The Kabbalists were able to describe these two forces beautifully in the form of letters. As a result, when we look at these shapes, they come alive and get filled with the spirit of life. You begin to recognize inside each letter: How these properties, the Creator and the creature, are connected with each other; how they are mutually intertwined and penetrate each other, in which direction, in what way; where they merge together and where they don’t yet, and what restrictions there are.

We don’t have the words to express these relations. But a letter, a symbol, gives you a model. And then, by absorbing this model, you enclose within yourself the entire accumulation of feelings, relations, and everything that exists within the letter. But a letter contains everything. It only seems a simple form, but this simplicity encloses thousands of previous forms that it was acquiring during its descent from above downwards.

In Kabbalah, everything derives from the vital necessity. By observing nature, the content of man and his perception, the Kabbalists saw that there was no other way to express the connection between the Creator and the creature except with the help of such symbols, these letters.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/23/10, The Zohar

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It’s essential for a person who wants to reveal spirituality to try to achieve that “everything would be in your eyes as new,” as if I was just born and I’m starting from scratch. I don’t know what world I‘m in, or who I am. While reading an article, I have no idea what it speaks about, as if I know nothing about these things. I erase all previous views, like I landed here from another planet without understanding a thing about the order of the universe. I want to perceive it anew.

Why? In their teachings, Kabbalists wish to show us that there are spiritual phenomena in our world. However, they are concealed from us, for if there was nothing of spirituality in our world, spirituality would not be called concealed. This is why we have to try to discern spirituality in our reality. But how can we do it? What kind of a special light, what illumination can help me see the spiritual reality? I don’t know; I have to master this.

Kabbalists tell us the following: If you want to recognize spirituality that is concealed here in this world, you can perceive it in a new relationship between you and the environment. Herein lies the entrance into the spiritual world, and you can penetrate it. Through your discovery of this opening, you will begin to see a new world. Its entrance is in your relationship with the environment, but it is a new relationship that you’ll unexpectedly reveal.

Suddenly you’ll see that an entrance into another world is from the world that surrounds you. No one recognizes it. It’s as if you’re walking down the street and right around the corner you are in the spiritual reality. This entrance opens when you look at our world in a different way, as if totally unfamiliar with it, with a fresh approach you perceive the reality of “I and the environment” anew.

From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/30/10, Rabash, Article 17, 1986

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The environment and the teacher are the only factors that define the future of a person. At every given moment, a person should evaluate the state he is in as if he already has everything he needs and his only responsibility is to connect with the right environment. Such an environment is always nearby and available; our task is to make the right choice. This is the only freedom of choice we possess. The rest is consequential and results from the choices we make.

Hence we shouldn’t worry about anything except for where we receive “nourishment” from, who we connect with, and who influences us. In other words, we have to think not about ourselves but, rather, what environment we’re connected to. If a person wants to control his growth, life, and destiny, he has to think only of who he’s in touch with.

However, these thoughts aren’t natural for us. We constantly think of ourselves, "Who am I, why, and what will happen to me? What is the reason for my life?" We direct those questions within and all of them are correct. Yet how are we supposed to answer them? What do we connect their solution with?

Kabbalists explain that the solution depends solely on the environment. That’s why we have to turn our attention to external forces that control us since it’s their influence that defines our future.

In fact, they’re not “external” but, rather, comprise a unified system of souls, an integral part of our spiritual body. This is where the breaking of the vessels occurred and what needs to be corrected. It’s the only place where we can make changes since we are unable to alter our other desires. It’s similar to digging into an archive and reading a record of events that are already predetermined. We can only influence our environment in some way. It’s a pity to waste our attention on anything else except this.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/10, Article “The Freedom”

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A question I received: You say that Kabbalah allows a person to reach eternal life, but Kabbalists die. So how can this be?

My Answer: A Kabbalist dies in your eyes since you do not see his life the same way a Kabbalist sees it. You see only a part of him – his body, which certainly dies, just like any other animal. However, his godly, spiritual part, which he has developed inside, continues to live eternally. The moment that one acquires this part, he gains possession of it and it gives him a sensation of eternal existence; the quality of bestowal that one has acquired is eternal.

We begin to comprehend this only as we approach the Machsom, when the premonition of bestowal emerges in us. The Light that begins to reach a person, gives him a sensation of what it means to rise above matter and to think somewhat differently, to relate to others from the point of view of bestowal. A person does not exist in bestowal yet, but he can already touch it somehow. Then he gets a premonition that it is possible to adapt to this quality, a sensation that belongs to eternity.

Before this occurs, a person does not have the ability to comprehend, as the Light is not close enough to him yet, and the words are meaningless. A person wants to eat and rest, but eternity seems too far away and he doesn’t feel it. Only when one begins to feel the breath of the Light from afar, like fluttering wind, does he begin to understand that Kabbalah contains liberation from the angel of death. When the Light draws closer to a person, it brings him the sensation that eternity exists.

This is the initial condition for the only free action that we can perform. Otherwise, why do you need freedom? What else is there for you to do in life, in your animal body? Everything else is done for you from above; you do not do it yourself. The only thing that you can do on your own is reach eternity. Bestowal is eternal, while reception is temporary. The Light of Hochma does not come to us forever, but only if it is perceived within the Light of Hassadim. Therefore, in order to acquire eternity, first we need to acquire the desire to bestow, and then within this desire we will be able to feel our life as eternal.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, Article “The Freedom”

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A question I received: The more you explain the structure of the spiritual worlds, the more confused I am. Why does this happen?

My Answer: Imagine that I go to a doctor and tell him about some of my external symptoms. He asks me to undergo medical tests, checks the results, and discusses them with another doctor. When they talk among themselves, I understand nothing although they are talking about me, my sensations, and my health. This is because their discussion about me is on a more internal, complex level, about what actually is occurring inside of me.

Then they give me a pill; its content is also unknown to me. I take it, simply trusting that they and the prescribed pill will help me. Of course, they have confused me with their technical medical discussion and I should have never listened to them. Yet, in our world the pill will work regardless of one’s understanding of what the doctor says.

Here during the study, I read what these Kabbalistic “doctors” write about me: one Kabbalist writes to another describing what happens internally to souls in the system where the souls have to correct themselves. Of course, I understand nothing about it! However, because I get involved in this story and want to understand and feel it, I connect to them and get closer to becoming like them.

If I want to become a “doctor” like them, I use my connection with them and learn. If I feel confused but want to grasp the essence, if I feel that the book explains the correction of my soul, I  have no choice. I must learn their language (like Latin used in the medical field) and then I understand what they are talking about.

Kabbalists wrote these books for their fellow Kabbalists. They talk among themselves in the language that they understand because this language explains different worlds and spiritual concepts. At this point, I don’t understand what they mean at all.

However, if I aspire to understand what they teach me, and I strive to live in it and feel it, then I open these books and try to enter them. The level of my understanding does not matter. What matters is my wanting to enter inside with my feelings, rather than to my attempting to understand it with my external mind. I have to ask for revelation.

I have to see what they write about. They describe what they see and feel, and I have to want to feel this as well. This is why my lack of understanding, vision, and feeling will only push me to advance.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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As Baal HaSulam states, the whole world is one family. Hence the on-line system that we want to create must work on each person like a Kabbalistic group that helps him build new connections and new attitudes about himself, his friends, and the world at large.

We would like to lay the foundation of this structure on the Internet so that we all connect in one system regardless of user language, location, or any other factors whatsoever. It should be an independent self-driven structure that helps all of us advance spiritually.

In other words, we need to create an artificial system of spiritual connections among us, which is identical to the union that exists between our souls. Kabbalists advise us to join a group and begin to build relationships with it as if you were already in spirituality.

From A Talk about a New Internet 4/4/10

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A question I received: What is a Kabbalist’s position on sports and a healthy lifestyle?

My Answer: Kabbalists are in favor of healthy lifestyles. Baal HaSulam used to like to swim out to the ships in the harbor. My Teacher Rabash and I would frequently go to the gym, the sauna, and swim at least 400 strokes in the sea. I currently ride a bike for 1.5 hours, swim 400 strokes, power walk for 1 hour, and work out every morning. A person needs to take care of his body, otherwise it can’t serve him.

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