Two questions I received on virtual groups

Question: I’m starting to feel kind of a pull towards “groups,” though I don’t know what groups or why. I’ve always been an outsider and an “independent” loner. I just want information about virtual groups: What do they do? How can I join one?

The understanding of the group’s importance comes from the influence of the Upper Light (Ohr Makif) on you. In the beginning a person doesn’t understand that the only way to enter the common soul is by connecting with others. He doesn’t understand that there is no other path to the spiritual world, to his soul. So without the influence of the Light, you wouldn’t have begun feeling a desire for the group. And the fact that you feel it is an enormous achievement! However, mostly it didn’t come from you, but from above. As Baal HaSulam writes, the Creator brings a person to the group and thus makes the choice for him, and the person’s choice lies in reinforcing himself in the group – in that which the Creator put his hand upon. Now you have to use it and develop it – it won’t happen by itself.

Later the Creator will push you away from the group and you will suddenly start scorning it, yet you will think that this feeling is coming from you rather than being sent to you by the Creator on purpose, and so on. And you will need to fight this feeling by increasing the importance of the group, of unity, of Shechina (the place of the Creator’s revelation).

Question: Recently you mentioned that groups outside of Bnei Baruch lack the presence of a Rav who would represent the Creator, the force of bestowal. In this case, how will a virtual group work, since it also lacks leadership by a Rav?

My Answer: I am fully present in the virtual group. I am their teacher and every person is my student, if he desires to be and learns what I pass to him. Everything depends only on one’s desire.

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Questions I received on accelerating one’s spiritual path and realizing one’s Reshimo

Question: What’s the purpose of us participating in acceleration?

My Answer: By accelerating, we change ourselves, and this is the result we need, rather than the acceleration itself. And we can only attain this result by accelerating our movement through applying our personal, free desire, which we acquired through interacting with others.

Question: How can there be freedom of will in acceleration?

My Answer: It exists due to the freedom of will one has in interacting with others and in receiving additional desires and aspirations toward the goal from them. One’s freedom of will lies in using the environment.

Question: There is no time, but even if time did exist, the Creator and the goal of creation wouldn’t be limited by the parameters of time, right?

My Answer: Yes, and we have to enter this timeless space of sensations precisely by using our freedom of will.

Question: It’s a blessing to go through 1,000 states in two minutes. But what about going through 1,000 states in a day – is this worse? I know that there are Reshimot, which are predetermined, but does the speed of their unraveling depend on the power of the Surrounding Light’s (Ohr Makif‘s) influence?

My Answer: Yes, it only depends on this. Of course, even without it we would still be forced to develop our aspiration for the goal through the group, but by means of suffering and a lengthy path. But we can also go through this development quickly and with pleasure, by realizing that it’s necessary, with the help of the forces that we receive from the environment instead of the compulsory forces, as Baal HaSulam writes in the article “The Freedom.”

Question: Does the way a person realize his Reshimo depend on the environment he’s in?

My Answer: It depends on how he uses his environment. If a person finds out about the opportunity to advance through freedom of will, this means that the proper environment for doing so has been prepared for him as well: a teacher, books, and the group.

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A question I received: I don’t know and don’t remember anything from my previous life or my future existence, and this world exists because I exist now. So what will happen if I die?

My Answer: If you attain the revelation of the soul – the smallest spiritual property, the smallest development of the soul from a point, its real existence – then when your body dies, you will continue perceiving your soul. This is because your soul will then have acquired volume and Light inside it. And then it will once again dress in another body, born by a woman, in order to attain all 125 steps of its development while existing in this body, since this can only be done while being physically present in our world.

However, if you don’t attain the revelation of the soul from the point, then you will once again appear in this world, just like you did this time, and you will have another opportunity (a point in the heart) to reveal and develop it.

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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: If the Creator is good and does good, there is a plan of creation, and everything is predetermined, then how do you explain suicide? What kind of correction should a soul perform in a body, if we don’t have freedom of choice and one’s suicide was predetermined in advance, from the root, since we are controlled by our root?

My Answer: Everything that has already happened was the Creator’s will. But as long as it hasn’t happened yet, it is up to a person. There is freedom of choice, otherwise we would be robots and there would be nothing to discuss – we would just have to exist! You have to understand the connection between the general governance and the private governance, HaVaYaH and Elokim. For more on this, see Baal HaSulam’s Letter from p. 61 – “If I Don’t Do It for Myself, Who Will Help Me?”

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Eleven questions I received on the future of Kabbalah, the birth of the last generation, and spiritual leaders of the future

Question: Based on item 12 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, which describes the process of the soul’s conception, can we say and imagine that the current state of humanity – the approaching global crises, are like labor pains during the birth of the last generation?

My Answer: The forces pressuring us are the labor pains that are forcing us to leave our previous state.

Question: Is there a connection between the process of the fetus turning from the state of “head up” to the state of “head down,” the union of Keter and Malchut, and the efforts of Kabbalists?

My Answer: Absolutely, because humanity must change its approach to the world, its purpose and values, and start preferring bestowal to reception, love for one’s neighbor over love for oneself.

Question: Are Kabbalists responsible for making sure that the last generation will be born normal?

My Answer: Yes, because people won’t change without the dissemination of Kabbalah. [Read more →]

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A question I received: In the last two lessons you gave on the article “The Peace,” you mentioned that people who isolate themselves from society cause harm. So could it be that society is wrong to imprison murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and so on, and should imprison monks and hermits instead?

My Answer: According to the Torah, there should be special asylums and courts for people who cause harm. You can familiarize yourself with these laws – they are harmonious with human nature and the Upper Governance, which forces man to sin in the first place (to murder, steal, and so on), and also controls judges and all kinds of circumstances. However, it wants man to consciously enter this system that governs him through reward and punishment.

We see that forceful imprisonment only increases the number of criminals, and moreover, they perfect their craft while in prison. But as society becomes corrected as a whole, people will start using other methods of punishing and educating. A person who desires correction should not isolate himself from society.

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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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A question I received: Can changing your name help you change your destiny? I heard that certain letters can help improve people’s lives.

My Answer: Besides the Upper Light, there is nothing that can change our destiny. Even when it seems like we change it, later we find out that it only got worse. That’s because in doing so, we avoid becoming corrected by the Upper Light, and hence we start lagging behind in correction, and this evokes negative correcting forces – greater blows of fate.

The problem with amulets, spells, and mysticism is that they distract us, and we start being late with correcting ourselves. This causes an accumulation of evil that’s expressed as suffering. So the suffering doesn’t come from above, but it’s our own uncorrected properties turning against us.

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