A question I received: Why do Kabbalists write their books in such a way that we don’t understand anything?

My Answer: It’s not necessary for us to understand these books with our minds. They illustrate spiritual pictures, which you certainly don’t understand, like an animal that is left to admire a painting or a symphony orchestra concert, and it’s unhappy that someone is tearing it away from eating grass. Well, it’s the same with us: nothing more is required of you! If you understand your true state in respect to the spiritual state, and you desire the influence of the Light, then new feelings emerge inside you and an opportunity for a new perception arises. This is how you ascend from the “animate” degree to the “human” degree.

If we were studying a corporeal science, which is meant to be understood, then you would be right to resent the incomprehensibility of Kabbalistic texts. However, the science of Kabbalah does not enter a person through the mind. Rather, it develops a new perception inside you. You should simply desire for your studies to result in a sensation of what is described, rather than understanding. This is the meaning of the verse, “I have labored and found.”

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The correct way to study is to always connect your mind with your feelings, like a doctor who gives a sick patient a medicine, knowing its ingredients and how it works, and at the same time, understanding how the patient feels. This is how we have to research the desire to enjoy: on one hand, we can talk about sensations, as The Book of Zohar does, and on the other hand, we can discuss scientific terms and definitions, which Baal HaSulam adds in his “Sulam Commentary” on The Zohar’s original text.

This is why the science of Kabbalah may seem mystical, founded on sensations, faith and morals, but on the other hand, it’s a science that has precise definitions and analysis, explaining how the entire system of Lights and Kelim operates, similar to a well working machine. So, are we dealing with science or sensations? The answer is: both!

A student has to try to connect both of these approaches together in order to unite his heart and mind. He has to be able to feel and see why he feels the way he does, which forces and actions of the Creator are operating inside his desires, and what is happening inside them. But on the other hand, he has to be able to evoke the actions of the Light (the Creator), so they will influence him. He has to know them and be able to measure them correctly, while feeling and marveling at what is happening inside him.

He has to connect the mind and feelings together by staying in the middle line and controlling his research of himself. He should evoke the Creator’s actions and see the results inside him, and in addition, experience the results of the Creator’s work in a very sensitive way. Yet, at the same time, he should stay grounded and not lose self-control. He shouldn’t forget where each action comes from, why, and how to use it next.

This constitutes our entire work, because the Creator wants us to work with the matter He created and to have control over it. We thereby attain His mind, the very Plan of Creation.

Meanwhile, people who aren’t familiar with the science of Kabbalah think that it is mysticism or fantasies. They don’t understand that this is real, actual work with the matter of creation, with all of reality, carried out with full awareness and control. You control yourself and the Creator’s actions, because everything happens by your choice alone.

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How does man dare to declare that he is not part of nature’s system? Then what are you, if you aren’t part of nature? A thousand years ago, or a century ago, you were controlled by nature, but now you’re not? And why is the world not? Is it because you have created a few “toys” – cars and airplanes? All you did was take different substances and mix them together, and you came up with plastic and bubble gum. So what has made you separate from nature?

The fact is that we have not been separated from nature. All the sciences, including Darwin’s theory, say that we are the result of evolution of the still, vegetative and animate levels of nature. So why does man suddenly deem himself above nature, separate from the integral system of the universe? Why does he suddenly step beyond its boundaries and say, “I am free!” What is he free from?

So now, because of our senseless pride, because we impudently think we are free, we are facing a crisis. The fact is that we aren’t free, and we exist inside the integral, global system of Nature (the Creator). Therefore, we have to behave in harmony with the system.

We are inside the Creator. He controls us, and there is no one else besides Him. We don’t have any possibility of acting freely, not in any regard. Even the sensation that we seem to stand opposite Him is given to us by Him, in order to raise us.
(From Part 3 of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, on “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot”)

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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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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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The spiritual world is a real sensation, not just a theory or fantasy. It is a reality that one feels even more strongly than the regular life we are all used to. However, this spiritual reality is currently concealed from us. We have to start revealing it by making personal efforts, and we will then begin to feel all sorts of spiritual forces, events, and occurrences. Moreover, we will feel and understand them even more than the material world. But the only way to do this is through studying Kabbalah in a group of like-minded people.

Then you will see that the group, the studies, this entire world, and the spiritual system all unite into one whole inside your perception. To the degree you make efforts, you will reveal that the spiritual system you are starting to feel is far more powerful and determines more things than the material world that you perceive. This is how one advances, until one comes to see that the spiritual system is completely in charge of the material one. Then, the material world becomes secondary, like an imprint of the spiritual world.

In order to accomplish all of this, you have to study and work in the group. Today you have a regular, mundane perception of reality, and you must now reveal the picture of the general system. It has to be “projected” inside you like a photograph becomes projected from a negative. And then, this picture has to be depicted more and more clearly within you.

The way to do this is by working with the original, authentic Kabbalah sources and by studying in the group. The spiritual sensation is then added to your current perception and sensation of the world. Of course, your sensation of this world will change and expand as well, but it won’t disappear. Spirituality then joins corporeality, so it never takes place “somewhere up there, beyond the clouds.” A person remains inside his current life, inside the same perception of reality, but he supplements it. This new supplement gradually becomes the most important thing to him in life, because it becomes revealed as something that determines and governs everything.

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A question I received: When a person crosses the Machsom, where does he sense this attainment?

My Answer: Everything is sensed internally. It is similar to how you sense yourself and this world today. You always feel either suffering or pleasure within. This is also how you will sense spirituality.

The method is very simple. You will learn what pleasure and suffering are, how you currently sense them, and how you can begin to interact with them, enjoy them and gain control over them.

After all, our material is the desire to enjoy, and the Creator is the pleasure that’s revealed inside this desire, along with the Source of the desire. This is why there is nothing besides the Kelim, and why you will sense the spiritual world in the same way that you sense the physical world. Don’t think that spirituality is far away or out in space somewhere. In Kabbalah, you are learning precisely about what is currently taking place inside of you, as well as what will take place in the future.

However, there is one big difference in spirituality. Today, I sense my life and my existence inside my small Kli. In fact, it is so small and limited that our lives can’t really be considered real life. Once we expand our Kli, however, we will feel life and existence based upon a new condition: that we want to use our lives as a means to help us pass pleasure on to others, to bestow, to love, and to come out of ourselves. Otherwise, if the Kli remains egoistic, the pleasure is negated within it.

In other words, even now you are filled with Infinite Light. But you neutralize this Light with your egoism, because when the Light of Infinity reaches a desire, it immediately turns off, as though it short-circuits between two opposite ends that have no resistance between them. You have to use your own egoism as that resistance, and then you will feel the pleasure. Otherwise, the pleasure is not sensed and leaves. What we are left with is this minuscule corporeal life, where all we sense is just a spark of Light in order to have something to cling to.

But the pleasure that is ahead of you is billions of times greater. There is no obstacle to getting this pleasure; you only have to expand your Kli. Everything depends on you. All you need is the Kli, but the infinite pleasure is sitting right in front of you.

What does “infinite” mean, and how can the Kli be infinite? When your Kli reaches the size initially intended by the Creator, it will feel unlimited pleasure. This is what an infinite Kli is.

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A question I received: Sometimes in life there are those rare moments when you feel that everything around you is permeated by a special force, enveloping you with kindness and filling the whole world with love. This sensation is the most intense pleasure you have ever felt. And you know there’s a line of people extending across the whole world waiting to feel this pleasurable sensation.

And if all this is just a microscopic part of what one feels when ascending to the very first spiritual level, then is it even possible to bear that kind of pleasure? I myself have had an experience like this, and I can’t imagine how you can possibly have room for anything more inside your feelings.

My Answer: Of course you won’t be able to bear it! Say you are about to win the lotto with a prize of a million dollars: your heart would just burst, because we are equally impressed by the bad things and the good. You feel good up until a certain point, but once you pass that limit, you have “too much of a good thing” and the experience becomes too intense for you.

This happens because our abilities to feel are very limited and we have to expand them. We have to feel eternity, perfection, boundlessness, and infinity – in every sense and from every perspective. Every person in the world will have to feel the Creator fully and entirely. Every one of us will have to feel all of the Creator’s might and scope, to experience His entire program and inner abilities.

Therefore, all of our work and the sole purpose of our studies and of our life, is to expand our sensitivity to the reception of pleasure. This is why the science of Kabbalah is called Kabbalah, which means “reception.”

One needs only to learn how to do this correctly. Right now we all receive egoistically, and therefore we constantly keep destroying our desire, and it always disappears. Say I enjoyed something for a moment, but then the pleasure disappeared. It may have lasted for several minutes, hours, or even weeks (if the thing I received was really big – such as a new home or an exciting trip). But eventually, everything ends and disappears.

We have to build a Kli or desire that will be eternal and not disappear. The Creator wants just one thing from you: to learn to enjoy, so you will feel pleasure from everything, even from this earthly life. You don’t have to restrict yourself in any way or be a hermit.

The pleasure you will feel will continuously grow and get bigger. To do this, you must only study all of nature (including this world) and discern how you can feel that pleasure.

But this is something we don’t know! It’s a fact that we have lived in this world for many thousands of years, and we still haven’t learned to derive pleasure from it. We only feel more and more miserable with time.

At the end of the day, what does an intelligent person want from life? To enjoy it! And he cannot do so even in this small, earthly life. And he isn’t learning how to, either! He is only making his life worse and worse. But at the end of all our attempts, when we grow completely disillusioned with everything, the science of Kabbalah comes to us and teaches us how to enjoy.

Just think: how much pleasure can you actually take in? You’re like a child who dreams about a carton of ice cream, but in reality he isn’t able to eat more than three servings. So it is with you: you received a small spiritual glow, and you can’t fathom how anything more than that is possible. But the smallest spiritual level is billions of times (or even a billion to the billionth power) greater than what you felt at that unusual moment, when spirituality became slightly revealed to you.

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Everything in the world is just one material – the will to receive, to be filled with the Light of the Creator. This holds true for the Upper Worlds and our world. The difference between any object or phenomenon is only the degree of this desire. A small desire forms an object on the still level of matter, a greater desire – the vegetative level, a greater yet – the animate level, and the greatest desire forms a human being. All the desires are interconnected in one system. Through our senses, we don’t perceive the actual desires, but only their material shell. Kabbalah enables us to shift from the external level to the inner one, and thereby attain the forces that govern the entire universe.

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Two questions I received on consciousness:

Question: Once we acquire the sixth sense, come out into the spiritual worlds, and cross the Machsom, will our physical brain start taking part in the attainment? If our five senses’ reaction to the Light is reflected in the brain, how will this happen with the sixth sense?

My Answer: You will engage a new sense and a new mind, which will supplement and expand your corporeal senses and mind. It’s impossible to convey this, but every person is able to feel this.

Question: Albert Einstein – possibly the greatest genius of all time, said that matter is energy, that energy is fluctuating atoms, and atoms are composed of quarks (quantum physics), and then there’s consciousness. Does this mean that consciousness is also energy?

My Answer: Matter is an external manifestation of the desire, or its shell. Consciousness is the desire’s perception of itself, of its own existence. In Kabbalah matter designates the desire – the only thing created by the Light, by pleasure.

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