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Questions I received about distinguishing Kabbalah from religion and belief

Question: I have heard you say that a secular Jew can remain secular and still reach spirituality through Kabbalah.

My Answer: Do you really believe that the entire world and all the nations must become Orthodox Jews?

Question: How do you reconcile this with the Gemara Baba Kama 50, which says that anyone who says that G-d will overlook his sins, his life will be forfeited.

My Answer: Anyone who says that he can avoid correcting all of his egoism, he will not merit the upper life, and will remain spiritually dead.

Question: For example, it is understood that wicked people undergo punishments such as purgatory.

My Answer: Wicked people are egoists, and purgatory is liberation from egoism by the force of the Light. I don’t even understand how you can study the Talmud without understanding Kabbalah. What do you imagine a purgatory to be - fiery ovens and scorching rods?

Question: Furthermore, it has been said in the on line classes that dying is stepping out of one body into another body in order to continue the process of correction. We know, however, that people can be reincarnated into rocks and such for thousands of years, due to their sins. Again, how can we reconcile these contradictory ideas? Would it not make sense that G-d demands both corporeal observance as well as the study of the spiritual?

My Answer: Your logic is based on egoism, which is opposite to the property of the Creator and the Upper World. Believing that people can reincarnate into rocks is idol worship. A rock is the lowest form of egoism, Lev HaEven.

You have to study; otherwise you will remain a self-assured know-it-all, as it is written, “What should we do with children who have grown old?” (Ma Laasot Im Yeladim She Izkinu?). However, time will take care of whatever the mind doesn’t do. So have patience, and eventually egoism will force you to search instead of blindly believing.

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A question I received: This question has been posted on the forums of arionline.info, 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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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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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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Two questions I received on combining spiritual development with one’s day to day desires and responsibilities

Question: I’m seventeen years old and I have been studying Kabbalah for about three to four months. Sometimes I get disturbed by other desires, and then I forget about Kabbalah and try to latch on to these desires. Sometimes it even seems that they’re more important to me than my correction. What should I do? Is this problem caused only by my age, or are these Reshimot that I have to correct?

My Answer: Don’t pay attention to the disturbances and continue studying, and then the Upper Light will correct you. As you advance along the spiritual path, you will realize just how much your desires control you and that the only thing that can save you from yourself is help from above. Only patience will make you a Kabbalist.

Question: Do you seriously believe that we can attain the highest level in this lifetime, even if we don’t fully devote ourselves to the studies? How can this be possible in this life, considering all the responsibilities we have toward the people around us and society?

My Answer: I have no doubt that everyone is capable of it, and even if a person won’t reach the Machsom in this life cycle, he will have very little left to do to reach it the next time around. And after that, your soul will lead you along the steps of ascension!

Only the efforts we make to reach the Creator remain forever. Everything else disappears because it comes from above and isn’t considered to be something we did. So in any case, the best thing to do is to strive toward the goal, and leave the result up to the Creator!

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Two questions I received on how to integrate Kabbalah into one’s life

Question: For a long time now I’ve been searching for something even without knowing what I was looking for. I felt that I needed something, but didn’t know what it was. And then one day I met a person and told him about myself; he smiled and without saying a word gave me the link to your website. He said, “Watch and listen, and there you will find all the answers.”

And that’s what really happened: I started watching your lesson on January 27, 2008, and suddenly I saw what I saw 20 years ago – the Light descending from above. Does this mean that my point in the heart awakened? A revolution was happening inside me. Since then I’ve listened to 10 lessons, and I understand that it’s not a lot, but there are huge changes happening inside me. My world is losing its value for me yet I still haven’t found another one. Is it normal to feel this way?

My Answer: All your notions are correct. You should only continue to study systematically, and don’t be afraid of the ups and downs - they are necessary. Try to find some kind of dissemination work to do, this will make you obligated and attached, and give you motivation to develop. The participation in the common work will increase your attainment, give you support, and enable you to correctly assess the value of this world.

Question: The Creator is always accompanying us. But He confuses us as we advance, in order for us to cling to Him more and continue strengthening our faith above reason. It looks like this “degree of self-annulment” helps pull one’s perception out from corporeality and into spirituality. Also it seems that at the same time there could be absolutely paradoxical situations and events happening, which require us to behave in a way that’s incompatible with the accepted social norms.

My Answer: When you interact with the people around you in this world, you should act the same as everyone else. No one should see anything unusual about you. You have to be in contact with the external world in order to stay balanced inside - and the best contact is through dissemination. However, you shouldn’t disseminate among the people you know, since by doing so you’ll greatly limit yourself in regular life. But dissemination is necessary, and you should do it among strangers. When you do something for others, you balance your knowledge and your states with the common system of souls - and this moves and accelerates your spiritual growth.

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Two questions I received on loving others

Question: We have to love everyone who was created by the Creator. But what about the people who hurt us, leaving us with severe scars? Maybe it’s possible to learn to forgive and to yield, but it is very difficult to love them the way you love others or yourself. My question is: Is it enough to love such people less or just to forgive them? Is it necessary to love everyone equally? And is it even possible to attain this level? I’d like to attain it.

My Answer: It’s written: A hero is someone who loves everyone. A hero amongst heroes is someone who has turned his enemies into his beloved. And in spirituality, it’s someone who has transformed his egoism to the service of others.

Question: There are seven billion cogwheels spinning around in the world, who are all interconnected and interdependent. I have this picture in my mind day and night. Sometimes I experience flashes of epiphany, when for a moment everything becomes crystal clear, but then it disappears and I could do nothing to bring it back. Everything becomes confusing again, and I start to feel so helpless - after all, I’m a cogwheel, and I’m being spun in a completely different direction by billions of other cogwheels - and in addition, they laugh at Kabbalah. And then I watch your broadcasts and hear the wonderful news from Sochi and Moscow… How can I disengage myself from the people who are very close to me (even my relatives and children), and be close to those who are physically far, but are very dear to me?

Answer: You should look at this world through the Upper World, love people with their involuntary lack of correction, patiently strive to help them with our knowledge about the world, and understand that your intolerance of them is a result of your lack of correction!

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A question I received: Islam also offers a method of attaining adhesion with the Creator - Sufism. And it’s also based on the same principle as Kabbalah – love thy neighbor. So if the main thing is to correct one’s egoism, to build a screen, then isn’t it possible for a person who’s following Islam to become corrected just like someone following Kabbalah?

My Answer: It’s your right to check and verify which method suits you best. However, you should know that everything comes from Kabbalah - for more on this, see the part of the Torah that talks about how Abraham taught “partial Kabbalah” to the children of his mistresses - meaning Kabbalah without the attainment of the Upper World, and then he sent them to the east. If you checked it for yourself, without believing anyone else and regardless of your ethnic background, and you found that Sufism suits you best, then stay in it - there is no coercion in spirituality.

All faiths and religions came from Kabbalah, from the search for the Creator, in order for man to go through a preliminary development, to prepare him to attain the Creator through studying Kabbalah. It’s written, “The peel (Klipa) protects the fruit” – it protects it from being destroyed until it ripens, and then the peel is removed and the fruit eaten. And this is what’s happening in our time!

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Two questions I received on the role of knowledge in spiritual advancement

Question: In order to advance, do I have to know what state I’m in and what spiritual level I’m on? And in general, how important is it for my spiritual development to have knowledge about the spiritual worlds?

My Answer: Knowledge doesn’t matter at all. However, it does help you connect to the topic (the correction of your soul). Nevertheless, the most important thing is to attract the Light of correction, and this happens during the study of authentic Kabbalistic texts. Item 155 of the Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot explains that the Light descends to the degree one desires to understand what is being said in the text, even though one doesn’t understand anything. This means that a person is trying to understand what the book says about him and his state. It’s because a Kabbalistic text includes all the states of all the souls, and every soul is able to find “its own frequency,” the frequency at which the common soul, the Creator, is speaking to it.

Question: You said that a person who advances in Kabbalah does not have to turn to books when it comes to realizing his freedom of choice, and that this is something he has to do inside. My question is: How do you keep an inner account with yourself if you don’t have the forces for it inside you? You said that a person should turn to the society when he wants to realize his freedom of choice.

My Answer: Baal HaSulam speaks about this in one of his letters. He writes that if you desire to figure something out inside you, then just be alone with yourself, without books. This way you will feel yourself and the result of what has happened to you by studying Kabbalah. You will be able to find yourself, your path, something that’s yours, instead of what others have said.

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