A question I received: What is prayer (MAN)? Is it our desires that we raise to the Upper Level? How do our desires develop until they become ripe for the Upper Level to hear them?

My Answer: We develop our sensitivity and internal recognition of our desires. The spiritual world is not quantitative, but strictly qualitative. It only seems to us that in order to rise from one level to the next, we have to become stronger, but in reality, what has to become stronger is our scrutiny and sensitivity.

We have to become more perceptive and work on ourselves with “fine tweezers.” Real strength lies in being able to go ever deeper inside yourself in order to distinguish and classify more and more qualities within. This is how you grow: by developing your sensations and your analysis of them.

In our world, a baby grows in size according the number of pounds he gains. However, we do not evaluate his intellect according to the number of pounds he weighs, but according to the skills and qualities he has acquired. We evaluate how smart he is by what he is able to understand and do.

The spiritual world is built inside us by the Light. The Light descends upon us during the study of the Upper World and builds new qualities inside us. In the place where you felt nothing before, you now begin to perceive various new qualities and phenomena. When we read descriptions of the spiritual world, we don’t understand anything, similar to a cat that hears classical music and perceives it as mere noise. At times, we listen to the lesson while hardly being able to keep our eyes open.

But it is precisely in such semi-conscious states that the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) influences us.

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The spiritual world consists of the same parts and connections between them as the material world. However, we can only feel the spiritual world to the degree our sensations enter it.

Forces descend from Above into our world, and they have inanimate, vegetative, animate and human qualities. This is what we observe: the expression of the Upper Forces in our world as objects and actions.

Our encounter with the details of perception gives rise to the forms. For example, say I see an object before me now. It appears to me in a specific form, but if I had different qualities, then I would see a different form. Baal HaSulam gives the example of a table: I see it one way, but an angel sees it through its qualities.

Reality or perception is produced when my qualities unify with the Light’s, due to our having common or similar qualities. Beyond my perception, there is only Infinity, out of which I perceive just the part that I have shared qualities with. So how can I attune myself to having shared qualities with the Upper World? I can do it because inside me, I have the same coordinate system (world–year–soul and a ready-made reality) as it has inside. And when I ask for it, the Upper Light makes my system similar to the Upper Level. This is called the correction of the soul. It’s when I make my inner system similar to Infinity, in a specific measure. I thereby determine my spiritual level and the degree to which I perceive Infinity.

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There is no sense in trying to correct anything in our world, as it is a world of consequences, which descend from the spiritual roots. However, if we can somehow affect the upper roots, we will also  be able to change the material world.

The roots cannot be affected by separate individuals. It is only by uniting together that we can achieve a connection with the root, since we do not exist there as individuals. In the roots, we are all united as one system.

Therefore, if we wish to change our reality, we have to unite. When we have this desire, it will draw the Light upon us, which will correct everything here in this world.

We will then truly “correct the world.” But if we try to correct the externality – the external actions, behavior, or religious commandments – then it is pointless, since there is nothing to correct here. All of these all merely an imprint on the inanimate matter of what happens Above.

This is like trying to hit an image that’s projected onto a wall using light, or kissing it and asking for forgiveness. That is what our actions are like, but we think we can change something this way.

Only a person’s inner corrections can influence the material world. This is why we disseminate Kabbalah instead of encouraging people to correct the ecology, the crisis, and finances.

Nevertheless, a person is always more willing to “correct” the material things, especially if he knows that his efforts will be seen and valued by others, or if he can be proud of his own actions, society will support him. In this case, a person is willing to do anything, and this drives him to carry out such actions.

Inner, spiritual work is difficult precisely for this reason: it isn’t valued by the people around us or even by our own egoism. However, the true work occurs only inside a person, and it does not depend on his body or the physical actions he makes.

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Preparation
I can feel empathy for someone in the material world, but this will only be a measure of my participation in his suffering. It won’t be pain that I myself feel.
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Part 1, on Baal HaSulam’s Letter 23
The spiritual world is not a theory. Actually, it is much more real than the “reality” we are familiar with now.
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Part 2, on Part 12 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Inner Observation”
All the corrections are made by the Light. So if a person acts on his own, he is acting inside his egoistic desire.
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Part 3, on “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” Item 142
Reality is something that you have in common with the Light. You gradually perceive one more part, and then another one, and so on, but you always perceive only the things you are ready for.
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In truth, all development happens by means of the Light, which is concealed from us. And even though everything is done by the Light alone, when this takes place in our egoistic development, we don’t know anything about the Light and are not connected with It in any way. Therefore, when a person develops, he becomes more distant from the Creator, because he understands that he can do without Him. After all, where is the Creator in our world and how is He present in all that I do?

This is why the era of Enlightenment took place, when people left religion. But now, after all our development, we are revealing that we have reached emptiness. After studying and understanding this world, we now see that it is dirty and horrible. But the most important thing that we have come to understand is that the more we develop and the more efforts we make and despite becoming smarter and more skilled in some ways, things just keep deteriorating and the world becomes worse. So by developing the world, we have only made it worse, not better.

This is why people are reaching a point of despair. But this is not enough, and the Upper Force will not allow humanity to run away from it all through drugs. Together with all that is happening, the point in the heart is surfacing in people, and it is pulling them to further development. This is where we come up against a problem: on one hand, this point is egoistic, because it’s the reverse side of holiness. But even though this egoistic point is a result of the breaking, it can be turned into an altruistic point. We can turn it into a “drop of semen,” which will become a spiritual embryo.

As for the rest of the ego – this entire world – I cannot make it spiritual since all of it is inanimate matter. So, in order to develop spiritually, I then come to the group and the Kabbalah books, but still remain in the same place like a donkey, until I finally “get it”: I need an Upper Force, the Light that returns one to the Source and then I begin to demand It and plead with the Creator to become revealed to me and to correct me.

Therefore, our earthly development is over. All the cultural and scientific development has reached an end. People will now feel that it’s impossible to do anything new in these areas – it has exhausted itself.

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Why can’t I attain the sensation of spirituality directly? Well, say I am not very knowledgeable in some profession, for example, I don’t know anything about economics. If I start working at a bank, then I will understand the importance of economics. Then, when someone tells me that some stock rose 0.1 percent, this will be a really big deal to me. But right now, I don’t feel anything since I just don’t understand it, even though it may be something really important!

How do we grow? We teach our “will to enjoy” to be more sensitive and to discern the finest of details. We teach ourselves, just like people train dogs or raise a small child. In our world, in the material, egoistic system, this happens directly. The Light acts inside this system as well, but in a concealed manner, and we don’t have to ask the Light to create any special sensations inside us. If, however, besides the material system we want to reveal one more system – the spiritual one, then we cannot develop our sensitivity to it directly, because we don’t feel it at all. We simply cannot increase our own sensitivities in order to start feeling it. We need the Light to build the new sensations inside.

No matter how much I desire spirituality, I cannot attain it directly; I cannot make it “come out of the fog.” In the material system, I already have a desire, even if it is very coarse and undeveloped. All I have to do is develop it by influencing it with a “painful rod” or a “sweet candy.” That is how I develop and refine my sensation. But when it comes to spirituality, I don’t feel it in any way at all. Even my point in the heart is opposite to this system, since this point is the reverse side of holiness. This is why I need the Light so much, because it will carry out my correction from Above and reveal this system to me! This action requires an additional force.

In the material world, however, we don’t need the Creator. In fact, the more people develop and the more they perfect their culture (their feelings) and science (their mind), the less they believe in God and religion. It’s because people reveal that they don’t need an Upper Force. They can accomplish things, understand and feel everything on their own. This is why people delve deeper into the arts and sciences, leaving religion behind. This is natural, because people don’t need the Upper Force for egoistic development.

If, however, we want to develop spiritually, with the help of the science of Kabbalah, then everything happens in the opposite way: we need the Upper Force to create a new desire in us. Initially we don’t have this desire, so we can’t develop it and feel the spiritual system inside it. The point in the heart gives us the only the opportunity of a place to start. But it will have to go through an inverse transformation in order to turn into “a drop of semen.” In the meantime, it is not a drop of semen, but just a black point.

This is why you need the Upper Force through every step of your development, and the way to connect with It is by building yourself. This Force is what sustains your existence in the spiritual world, so if It doesn’t give you the quality you need to reveal this system, you won’t feel it. The Creator is all the spiritual qualities that you have within. He is the spiritual system, the Force that fulfills you. All of this is Him alone.

The more you develop, the more you develop the Creator within you. In Hebrew, the Creator is called “Bo-reh,” which means, “Come and see!” This is what distinguishes one’s development using the science of Kabbalah. You reveal the Upper Force clearly, inside you. You then see that it is a system that governs everything and that you are inside this system and thereby establish a mutual connection with the Master of this system.

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A question I received from my student: How does the Surrounding Light affect us? Can it be felt or is it an exclusively spiritual phenomenon that is not expressed in the corporeal senses in any way?

My Answer: We don’t sense the Surrounding Light itself, just as we don’t sense radio waves, for instance. That is why it is called “Surrounding,” because it shines on us in a concealed way, and its action is invisible to us. We only feel the outcome of its activity.

If I feel that some force is openly helping me and I can clearly sense where it comes from, it is called the “Direct Light.” If, however, I cannot envision the source from which it stems, it is called the “Surrounding Light.”

But we shouldn’t think that because the Light is called “Surrounding,” it means that it exists somewhere outside of us. It is inside of us! It’s just that when a phenomenon is felt together with its root, it is called the Inner Light, and we are able to construct an image of its source. But if, inside one’s qualities, one cannot yet construct an image and its likeness to its source, then this Light is called “Surrounding.” One already senses it in nine out of one’s ten qualities, but cannot yet identify it for what it is and where it originates in the Creator.

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Spirituality takes the form you build for it out of your own desires. The only thing we receive from Above is an informational record, a Reshimo, but then we have to build the form ourselves. In addition, if we request it, we also receive from Above the strength and the intelligence to implement this.

Some people think that a ready-made world will suddenly come tumbling down on them from Above. But it’s pointless to wait for this to happen. We have to build the spiritual world through our own efforts. We have to draw this world ourselves on the background of the Light.

To the extent I make efforts, I draw the image of the Upper Level and it gradually becomes truer. I do everything in my power, such as imagining various forms. Sometimes I am better at it and sometimes worse, and sometimes I am mistaken. I create them and erase them over and over again until I achieve success.

In the process of this work, I suddenly see that the Upper Level begins to help me! It clothes into me like a hand in a glove, and works there. It helps me like a mother playing with her child, helping him to build a house out of Lego pieces. When I try to do something, and succeed, I suddenly feel that it is the Upper Level that helped me understand the proper way to do something, and that it was not the way that I thought was right.

However, all of this happens by virtue of my efforts, because I try to build something. The Upper Level elicits the beginning of my inner effort, but I am the one who has to continue it. I have to find the “sprout” and begin to work with it. This is the meaning of the verse, “I, the Creator, am the first and the last.”

The way to build the place where the Creator will be revealed is by building a connection with our friends. We thus build the “picture of the Creator” by using our own matter. Without this, He has no image. I project Him onto myself, onto my own desires, onto the part of me that I can make similar to Him.

Then, using this desire as the basis or as a screen, I begin to see a “picture” of Him. It begins to be projected onto this screen, like a photograph dipped into a developing solvent. This picture, which is shown on my screen, is called “Reflected Light.” This is how I receive two spiritual forces: the “screen” and the “Reflected Light.”

But all of this has to come from me. That is why time and a preparation period of about three to five years are required to enter the spiritual world. The time of concealment is when I make attempts to build this picture. And then, the spiritual world becomes revealed…

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Two questions I received about how to deal with the erroneous ideas and imprints we receive in life:

Question: When people begin to study Kabbalah, they often bring their baggage of erroneous ideas, and they can get lost in the authentic concepts. What is the quickest and best way to sort out this inner mess?

My Answer: We must accept the student the way he is. The only thing that affects spiritual progress is the inspiration received from one’s environment, which is then aimed at the Creator. Besides, we don’t understand the value contained in false methods, as per the law “the rind protects the fruit.” This will be revealed to us at a later time.

We come to Kabbalah burdened with a myriad of misconceptions and stereotypes received in childhood and over the course of our lives. Everything we heard in childhood forms the foundation of “facts” within us. Then, the person is guided by these “facts” and unable to rise above them.

Until he acquires new qualities, which act within him with the same force as those “slogans and facts” that he naively heard and believed in as a child, he will not be able to feel the Upper world. But he is unable to rid himself of the old conceptions on his own, because they need to be replaced by the new – and this can only be done by the Light, which descends from the next degree of attainment.

Question: To what degree does everything we took in as children limit us?

My Answer: When a person receives the spiritual power of bestowal and rises above the corporeal, and begins to see his corporeal self from the side, he is astonished by the incredible amount of utterly baseless stereotypes that he is filled with. These are just things he had once taken on faith. It had entered his childish mind and left a non-erasable imprint, which he couldn’t do anything about.

That is why anyone can come and start studying. And only as time goes by, gradually, i.e. under the influence of the studied material, will he rid himself of false stereotypes and beliefs. The conceptions one had acquired later in his life are easier to part with; it’s the things that he had absorbed in his childhood that are the most difficult. Nevertheless, step by step, man peels himself of all this “rind,” until he begins to use the spiritual fruit when it truly becomes ripe.

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In the News (from Japan Today): “Jewish human rights group protests ‘anti-Semitic’ ad in Nihon Keizai Shimbun” In a press release also posted on its website, the Wiesenthal Center’s associate dean Abraham Cooper blasted the Nihon Keizai Shimbun for having “broken a longstanding commitment to desist from running advertisements that promote anti-Jewish stereotypes, by running an advertisement for two books that promote the canard of Jewish control over the global economy.”

The advertisement for “Why did the Jewish financial system collapse?” (author: Kotaro Nada) asks rhetorically, “Is it true that the Rothschild family controls the global economy?” and purports to explain what was behind the failures of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Citibank and Bear Stearns. The ad also touts a second work by Nada titled “Jewish Money: Why are they able to continue to move the global economy?” The Nihon Keizai Shimbun boasts a claimed daily circulation of over 3 million copies. It is often compared to The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

My Answer: Of course the Jews are to blame for it all, because they don’t disseminate the method of the world’s correction to the world. This is how they cause all the miseries in the world, and not only the global financial crisis. See Items 70-71 of Baal HaSulam’s “Preface to the Book of Zohar.”

Even though the nations of the world don’t know this, they subconsciously feel that “it’s all the Jews’ fault.” After all, the “light” in their lives depends on the nation of Israel, which holds the wisdom of Kabbalah. Moreover, from now on, if the nations of the world won’t receive the method of correction in time, they will “join together against Jerusalem,” as stated in The Book of Zohar and in the books of the prophets.

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