A question I received: In the Book of Dvarim it says: “And there was no other prophet in Israel like Moshe.” And the Midrash responds to this: “There are none in Israel, but he can be found amongst the nations of the world. So who is he? He is Bilam.” Does this mean that Bilam was on the same level as Moshe? If Bilam was a prophet, then he perceived the Creator. But how can this be, if Bilam was the epitome of the will to receive for one’s own sake? He was so absorbed with corporeality that the sages even said that he slept with his female donkey – in other words, he didn’t have any desire to bestow. However, we say that in order to reveal the Creator, one has to acquire a screen (Masach), which is the desire to bestow. Then how was Bilam able to reveal the Creator?

My Answer: We are speaking about the forces of the Creator that descend on us from above – a positive force, the right force, and a negative force, the left force. Klipot are produced by the left force of the Creator, and they are an inverse reflection of Him. This is why the Pharaoh knows the Creator, and even his magi know Him. For example, they say, “This matter is in God’s hands,” and so on. In other words, we are dealing with opposite forces – positive and negative, which descend from one Source, and our objective is to connect them correctly inside us. And by connecting them inside us, we attain the Creator’s Design.

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The Creator’s connection with creation is like playing tennis against the wall. The Upper Governance is unchanging: The Creator is Good and Does Good, and He treats all of us this way all of the time. The changes take place only in us, even though we think that they take place outside us. It says in the “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” item 34:

“We see a great world before us, and all its wondrous filling. But in fact, we do not see all that except in our own interior. In other words, there is a sort of a photographic machine in our hindbrain that portrays everything that appears to us, and nothing outside of us.

In our brain, there is a kind of polished mirror that inverts everything that is seen there, so that we see it outside our brain, in front of our face. Despite the fact that what we see outside us is not a real thing, we should still thank His providence for having made that polished mirror in our brain, enabling us to see and perceive everything outside us. This is because by that, He had given us the power to perceive everything with clear perception and knowledge, and measure everything from within and from without. Without it, we would lose most of our perception.

The same holds true with the Godly will for Godly perceptions. Even though the changes are all made in the interior of the souls, they nevertheless see it all in the Giver Himself, because only in this manner are they awarded all the perceptions and the pleasantness in the thought of creation. Even though we actually see every thing before our face, still, everyone reasonable knows with certainty that all that we see is only inside our own brain.

The same holds true for the souls. Though they see all the changes in the Giver, they still have no doubt that all these are only in their own interior, and not at all in the Giver.”

So essentially, you are playing with yourself and receiving feedback depending on your own obstacles and confusion. All of this is you.

All the changes happen inside man, who stands opposite absolute love and bestowal. He always sees, analyzes and feels only himself. Everything we feel is a realization of Reshimot in the Upper Light. All of man’s reality is essentially a tennis game against the wall. And we are always playing against this wall.

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A question I received: The central, practical question of life that interests every person in the world is: How do you actually improve the quality of life and the productivity of what you actually do in life? But instead of giving a complex, effective and practical answer, all the world’s sages offer only a simple and indirect answer that says more or less the same thing: “Real life is trivial compared to endless study of some theoretical wisdom.” This definitely doesn’t give us anything good here on earth, nor does it really improve the quality of life for any lasting period, and moreover, it sets people against one another, making some people wealthier at the expense of others, and so on.

As a result, people are repulsed by any kind of wisdom. Today there are no exemplary sages, but there many “anti-sages.” Why doesn’t an abundance of “books of wisdom” bring about practical progress and an improvement in the quality of life and its productivity? Why don’t good words go hand in hand with good actions?

My Answer: It’s because we are still unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and hence, the liars around us subconsciously “work for us” in order to make us smarter and expose them. We will then discover the true purpose of existence and the one method to attain it. Kabbalah is no theory. Read about how it’s attained (from the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” item 155):

“Why then, did the Kabbalists obligate each person to study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Indeed there is a great thing in it, worthy of being publicized: There is a wonderful, invaluable remedy to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround their souls.” And to the degree one is influenced by the Light, one starts feeling the Upper World – here and now.

In other words, you are being offered practical means to clearly discover the Upper World, instead of something abstract. In addition to your five senses, you develop a sense called “the soul,” which perceives the Upper World. In this sense, you perceive the part of you that’s eternal, instead of your temporary body. This is what distinguishes Kabbalah (authentic Kabbalah, not the commercial one) from all other methods, theories, and philosophies. This wisdom is strictly practical, just like its purpose: “Reveal your world in this life!” (Olamcha Tire Be Chayecha).

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A question I received: I understand that the period of correction begins when we cross the Machsom, but there is something that leaves me restless and I do not understood well: Once the Machsom is crossed, the things that happen to us in this world continue happening, but the form of seeing them is one of having enough intelligence to understand what happens to us and to use that to enlarge the vessel and to fill it. Now, based on the above-mentioned, my question is: Is faith above reason necessary to cross the Machsom, or will this be given when one has the complete Masach? And can a person tell whether he has the Neshama?

My Answer: Faith above reason is what we attain after the Machsom. Before it we’re just trying to understand what is faith and to attain it. Before the Machsom , we try to attain faith above reason (the revelation of the Creator, a perception of Him, of the quality of bestowal and love inside us – above our entire egoism). We desire to rise above all the obstacles to the oneness of the Creator and His good governance!

But the fulfillment of this desire takes place after the Machsom, when it is filled by the Light of bestowal on the level of Nefesh, then Ruach, and so on, until we fully attain the quality of faith above reason – the quality of Bina.

And after this, there is another degree – not ascent above egoism, but usage of egoism, or the correction of egoism to bestowal – when we receive into our desire for the sake of bestowal.

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A question I received: This question has been posted on the forums of Kabbalah Education Center, yet the answer I received was somewhat not satisfying. I felt that the matter had been just passed over as any general situation, and not read with Love.

(What follows is a long, detailed description of drug induced “trips” experienced by a 21 year old psychology student from Mexico, who has been taking LSD for a long period of time. He describes how this gives him the opportunity to perceive the Upper Force, the higher reality, and his connection with Kabbalah. At one point he reaches the feeling that his mission in life is to comprehend the connection between spirituality and LSD.)

My Answer: There is no connection between drug induced experiences and the attainment of the Upper World, the Creator. You are completely disconnected from spiritual sensations and are controlled by your perceptions of chemical reactions. I recommend that you stop searching for ways to justify your behavior, leave drugs behind and begin correcting your soul. Good luck!

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A question I received: I have been watching your lessons over the Internet for about six months now. My brother, who is in the process of becoming religious, has also been studying your books a little, but in addition he studies the Mishnah by Rabbi Nachman, and a Jewish interpretation of yoga taught at Ohr Aganuz once a week. We have interesting and deep conversations, but it’s difficult for me to accept some things he says which aren’t related to what you teach. Would you advise me to be more open to the teachings of Likutei Mocharan, Breslov pamphlets, and the materials studied at Ohr Aganuz? And what advice can I give to my brother?

My Answer: My advice to you is: Don’t study at Ohr Aganuz, don’t teach your brother, and don’t talk to him about your studies, as if you don’t study Kabbalah at all. The two of you are on absolutely opposite paths – he’s on the path of Chassidut, and you’re on the path of Kabbalah. Don’t get in each other’s way.

You should let him mature on his own. Soon he will feel that yoga doesn’t supplement the attainment of the Creator, and that the only thing worth studying are the works of Baal HaSulam (provided they are interpreted correctly, according to my lessons).

What’s important isn’t the books you study, but how you study them. All the great sages wrote from their spiritual attainment. They all lived in the attainment of the Upper World, the Creator, and wrote only about this. So you’re both reading holy books. But they are holy because they speak of holiness – the property of bestowal and love that’s beyond one’s self. The purpose of studying these books is to reveal these properties within you, or in other words, to reveal the Creator.

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Questions I received on whether being married is necessary for spiritual advancement

Question: Can an unmarried man study Kabbalah? Someone told me that he can’t.

My Answer: He can, but it’s harder for him to advance.

Question: Is it necessary to get married in order to cross the Machsom and to advance spiritually?

My Answer: It’s not necessary, but it’s preferable. A person must advance into spirituality from this world, that is to say, he has to be present in the world by having a family, a job, and so on, rather than be a hermit.

Question: If a man with a point in the heart wants to get married but can’t find a wife, will the Creator respond to this kind of prayer?

My Answer: There is nothing but the Light and the desire It created. And there is only one prayer (or one desire that’s perceived by the Light and impels It to act) – to become similar to the Creator.

Question: Is the requirement to get married obligatory?

My Answer: No, but it is extremely recommended for spiritual advancement. The Torah says that a woman was created to be “help against you” (against your egoism).

Question: If a 21 year old man desires spirituality in life, will this be denied to him if he’s not married?

My Answer: No, a bachelor can attain spirituality as well – everything depends on his efforts. He will have to try harder, and then he will understand that it’s more natural to do this in a family. This is how nature has arranged things, and a Kabbalist involuntarily follows its conditions. After all, Nature is the Creator.

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A question I received: If I create a Kabbalah related blog on LiveJournal and other virtual communities, is this considered dissemination?

My Answer: Kabbalah dissemination on the Internet, in all languages, is the most important kind of dissemination. Anyone can learn to do it, it’s free and accessible. However, you have to know which materials to disseminate and how, depending on the website (whether a forum, a social network, a scientific site, a site for families, and so on). You should first get in touch with our center of dissemination, in order to receive an explanation and an assignment. When fulfilling your part in the general dissemination, you have to do it systematically, together with others and in contact with them. And by doing so, you will become part of the common Kli.

The purpose of dissemination is:

1. To give every member of the worldwide Bnei Baruch group an opportunity to participate in the common work and thereby to become part of the common soul (Adam), or in other words, to receive the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) from the common soul. Without receiving from the common soul, a person studying Kabbalah will not have the sufficient desire and forces to attain the goal, the revelation of the Creator.

2. To give every person in the world the opportunity to find out “What is Kabbalah?” in his native language, in order to answer his question about the purpose of life and how to attain it.

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I had a video conference with two Toronto TV stations – one in Hebrew and one in Russian. I found that Israeli television outside of Israel is exactly that – “Israelis outside of Israel,” or in other words, the greatest and most primitive egoism in the world. There are many primitive egoists, but only theirs is both great and primitive at the same time.

Nevertheless, it appeared as if they too are starting to ask questions, have doubts, and feel desires “above the stomach.” Canada, Australia, and similar countries squeeze everything that’s human out of people, and all that remains is an animalistic aspiration for a full stomach and a peace of mind. You can see this with every person who enters that environment.

One’s environment determines one’s destiny – whether he will go through life worrying only about the comfort of his animate body, until it finally dies, or he will actually think about something besides this. By no means does Kabbalah encourage people to deprive themselves of anything or to suffer. It only explains that a society which eliminates a person’s questions about the meaning of life, turns him into an animal.

But to be frank, lately even the “bourgeois” are beginning to ask questions about the meaning of life. In the past they couldn’t even comprehend the possibility of someone asking such questions, and would look at anyone who spoke about it with a blank, dumbfounded gaze…

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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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