A question I received: If a person asks the Light to bring him closer, isn’t this an egoistic request? After all, he wants it to happen in order to feel better.

My Answer: That doesn’t matter. It’s called Lo Lishma, which means that a person desires spirituality egoistically, for his own sake. He wants to feel the spiritual world, to gain a spiritual life and the sensation of the true reality, and to see that his life is not going to waste. One way or another, life keeps going on, and no one knows how much time they have left. A person doesn’t want his life to end in a meaningless way.

From the start, we cannot think about anything besides our own benefit. Therefore, if we don’t desire spirituality egoistically, by imagining how good it is for us, then it would be impossible for Kabbalah to reach us. The spiritual path starts with egoistic attainment, called Lo Lishma, and then, as a person keeps being influenced by the Upper Light, Ohr Makif, one’s egoistic attitude to spirituality is replaced with an altruistic one, called Lishma.

This is why a person’s egoism is called “help against himself” (Ezer Kenegedo). It’s because it brings him to a state where he suddenly realizes, “My own egoism is standing in my way!” He reaches a point where he has to annihilate the same ego that always used to help him and pushed him forward. However, he shouldn’t annihilate his desires, but only their egoistic intention.

This is how a person is gradually transformed by the Light.

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A question I received: How can I make the most of the Surrounding Light – through the Daily Kabbalah Lessons, the television programs or other types of media?

My Answer: Right now the most powerful means for this is the Daily Kabbalah Lesson. Especially for beginners, the only way to receive the Surrounding Light and to attain the force of unity is through studying. Nothing else comes close.

Baal HaSulam writes in Item 4 of “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” that the Creator puts a person’s hand on the spiritual path and tells him: “Choose this path!” He brings a person to the group, the books and the teacher in order for him to realize the purpose of creation. But this is only possible if a person uses the Daily Kabbalah Lesson as a means.

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We all exist as one unified, giant system of souls. If some of the souls advance out of their own free choice, then so does the whole system.

If some parts of the system have received an opportunity to choose freely, but aren’t using it, then they are cut off from actively participating in the system. The system of souls is a living organism where changes are taking place non-stop, depending on how the souls in it rise and descend, realize their freedom of choice or not. They cause changes in all the souls and determine how the entire system will advance to the final, corrected state.

By neglecting to use one’s freedom of choice, a person rejects the Creator’s personal governance over him and shifts to a path of suffering. He then accumulates suffering until reaching a sufficient realization of evil, which makes him worthy of receiving freedom of choice once again, and this time using it.

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On the spiritual path, we always advance through states that consist of two opposites simultaneously. This really bothers a person, since he exists in just one quality – egoism, or the intention, “only for my sake.” A person just cannot agree with the fact that two opposites can be together.

However, in the spiritual state, opposites coincide. After all, we are opposite to the Creator and we have to attain adhesion with Him. We are able to attain adhesion with Him while keeping our initial nature; this is called spirituality. We do it by adding the spiritual nature to our nature, by combining the two. We thereby exist in both worlds.

However, right now we only have the desire to enjoy, and therefore we don’t understand how it is possible to have a unity of opposites. In fact, this state cannot be described or conveyed using our earthly language. Our language is an expression of our nature, and therefore it is only able to convey what we understand. But in the spiritual state, even the cause and effect change places: what seemed to be the cause turns out to be the result. This is why spirituality is concealed.

But it’s not because someone is concealing the spiritual state from you. Rather, you simply don’t recognize spirituality because you are built according to the material world, which consists of just one component rather than two opposites together. It’s as if you walk right by the spiritual world, in a different dimension, and you never encounter it. You simply don’t have the sense to perceive it.

Spirituality can only be perceived within two opposites. It’s when the Creator and the creation unite together through creation’s equivalence of form with the Creator. When you create this equivalence between yourself and the Creator, between your intention and His desire to bestow, while your desire to receive remains, then you have two opposites within and are able to perceive spirituality.

You begin to understand it, and you can start researching and measuring it. You are then able to understand how it is possible for there to be something above the speed of light: two opposites together, which don’t contradict one another.

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A question I received: Why is it that when a point in the heart awakens in a person, he still has a long and difficult path to go before reaching spirituality?

My Answer: Why do you think the path is difficult? I look at the world and see so many people struggling to get money, power, fame, and knowledge, all to eventually experience a tiny pleasure. They waste their years on empty worries and false values.

When you engage in spiritual development, however, then even if you don’t move as quickly as you would like, but you still want to advance toward the goal, you will make progress. Isn’t this better than how the entire world is living?

Today, there are more and more people awakening to spirituality. It is impossible to even compare the number of students learning Kabbalah now to a mere few years ago.

When Rabash told me that the general awakening of the world would begin in 1995, I found it difficult to believe him. Who could have thought that the world would change so quickly? But suddenly, we do see that people are feeling empty and are experiencing a global crisis, including crises in nature, education, science, politics and economics.

It doesn’t matter that the media is lying and trying to hush up the crisis by assuring us that everything is alright. I am speaking of what is being revealed to us by nature.

Besides, it is understandable that people want to spruce up the situation. Everyone is instinctively trying to lessen their suffering and pain. This is why they close their eyes to the problems and tell themselves that everything is OK, that there is no crisis.

In the meantime, everything is crumbling and people continue to be laid off. But man is built in such a way that he does not want to see the truth.

The fact is that the Creator (Nature) is revealing to us that we are at a very advanced state. And this is all happening just twenty years after the general awakening has begun. Yet, you want to receive everything now, like a little child. You simply can’t understand what a huge, in fact – infinite desire we are dealing with, and how quickly it is changing.

The development of our desire dragged on gradually for thousands of years, but now it’s changing day by day. All you need is a little patience.
(From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

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Informational genes (Reshimot) are changing in us at infinite speed as we speak. Yet, it seems to us that nothing is changing because there are just so many of them, and they all have to unravel in the form of a chain. However, while these inner changes cause external changes, like numbers changing on a meter, there are a billion actions that have to play out on the inside. So give them time to occur!

It is written, “Those who seek the Creator hasten time.” Our whole participation in creation comes down to hastening our development. After all, you are at the lowest level, in this world, but you have all the data you received while descending from above downward. You are now obliged to reascend by the same path from below upward.

The path remains the same; the only thing we can do is hasten our development. We will thereby make the path quick, desirable, and pleasant.

This constitutes the whole difference between the path of suffering, where we advance against our will, and the path of Light, where we do it by our own desire. The path of suffering is lengthy and happens through the influence of the forces of nature, which is pushing us ahead with beatings. We are pushed along like mules, standing in one spot and refusing to move. This is the natural path of development.

The second path is when you desire to advance on your own and you look for ways to do it. You thus shorten your path, making it quick and pleasant.
(From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on Shamati #13)

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We always want to develop quicker, and if it were possible, we’d prefer to overcome the whole path in one leap. However, when a person understands that what is being revealed to him is perfection, he concentrates on his state and realizes that he has to reveal the perfection particularly in this state, even if it is the worst possible state. It is possible that he’ll reveal a connection with the Creator precisely in that state.

Therefore, we have no reason to dash ahead to other states. This is usually a problem for beginners. They think they need to reach great changes somewhere far ahead. But that’s not the case. We always exist in the state of Infinity, and how we reveal the connection between us and the Creator depends on our current attitude to reality.

Therefore, a person’s journey can either be long or short, depending on what he concentrates on. You can reveal perfection in your current state, and then you’ll see that you are already in it. All you need to do is clear the concealment and reveal the Creator, who is everywhere. Then you and He are in unity.

This is very important since we always think that the spiritual worlds and degrees are somewhere far away, and we don’t know what we are striving for exactly. However, this isn’t so. One advances in the right direction if he is enjoying the adhesion and revelation in his current state.

After all, a person reveals the Creator in this life, within this world, through his connection with other souls. He does it by connecting with a book in front of him, a TV program, or the Internet. Everything is right in front of us. We don’t need to run anywhere – in material or spiritual space. All of this space is only inside the depth of the present state.

If we don’t forget this, our path will become short and simple.
(From Part 3 of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

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A question I received: Kabbalah’s method clearly defines all the stages of one’s advancement. But there’s a gap in one place – the transition from the corporeal to the spiritual. Why is this area left empty?

My Answer: I understand your desire to take the “wide road” to spirituality, to see the whole path from beginning to end, and to have road signs and names on every corner. And then to come to the place where a fully set table is waiting for you. But this would be similar to a dog that hounds the streets trying to smell out a bone.

We, however, have to ascend above the dog’s bone. We have to actually change our senses to opposite ones, which we can’t even imagine now. This is why the transition from corporeality to spirituality is so unclear to us, like a white blur on our path.

But this is precisely where you have to bring the Light – into the place where you find the white blur. And you have the instrument to do this in your hands.

You carry out work in all the areas of reality that are clear to you, but when you come across that tiny blur where you know you can’t do anything, that is where the Light helps you and builds a new sense in you, opening up the entrance to the new world.

(From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson)

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The first stage on the spiritual path is recognition of evil and its purpose, which is to lead me to the understanding of my entire nature. The program which draws the picture of reality for me by giving me the sensation of this world and my part in it, is called ego, or the desire to receive pleasure only for myself.

It locks me inside, engulfs me and draws all of my attention, making me think only of myself. I act according to that program, unable to even imagine that there is another option, another reality. What can possibly be done to change this perception and behavior?

Our nature itself leads us to recognition of its evil, leaving us no chance to escape it. It has power over us, locks us inside and constantly coerces.

This is the worst kind of slavery, when a person reveals that he is a prisoner of his own nature and can only obey its orders. He knows in advance that he has no choice but to obey, even though each order he follows, will further harm him.

Kabbalists have a parable, where the angel of death comes to a person and extends a sword with a drop of poison on its tip. A man obediently opens his mouth, knowing that by taking it he will die, yet he licks it. He has no other choice.

It is a great inner drama. All of man’s work is in realization of his exile and bondage. When a man is completely in despair, the point in the heart awakens inside him and begins to shine for him, showing him that there’s another world and a blessed shore on which to land.

He can’t continue to sit inside a shell forever! He has the ability to hatch  and climb out as a worm that comes out of bitter radish and suddenly sees the sun and breathes the clean air.

A person can then hear that there is a method that allows escape from the servitude and terrible life where the pointless cycle repeats itself: birth is succeeded by death. He discovers that there’s a means to break that vicious cycle and rise.

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A question I received: When a person is on the path of spiritual development and is going through the period of concealment, he feels lost and confused. He understands that egoism is evil, but he is unable to part with it. Where can he find the strength to do this?

My Answer: We go through many different states throughout our life, and the states are different for every age group. At every moment in time, all kinds of inner changes take place in us with the speed of atoms spinning inside us, faster and faster. These changes take place inside our desires, on an unconscious level.

For several billion of these inner actions, there’s one instant when a “number shifts” inside us, like in a meter with many cogwheels spinning inside it, when suddenly the meter shifts from “0” to “1.” After that everything spins around inside for a long time again, and then the number jumps from “1” to “2.” This is what happens inside us as well.

This is why we have to allot some time for these actions to transpire. The same thing usually takes place in our regular lives: we often find ourselves in a situation that drags on and on, until it’s suddenly over “by itself.” And when you’re in that situation, you know that you have to change, but you just can’t.

It takes time for things to change. Meanwhile, we have to act as an “ox in a yoke,” since we can’t tell exactly what is happening to us, we don’t understand the actions taking place.

Later on, when a person enters the spiritual world, he begins to understand everything. He acquires new desires of bestowal, and through them, he is able to discern billions of actions in a single instant. This becomes simple, like his body.

However, today the same actions are also taking place inside us, infinitely fast. We have to be patient and wait, meaning that we have to continue along our path. At one point, the present state will reach an end, the “number will shift,” and we will agree to bestow.
(From part 1 of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, on Shamati #18)

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