Chapter 7. Beliefs, Mysticism and The Supernatural
Hidden Evolution
Q: Is it true that Kabbalists can change everything in a person’s life?
A: It is true that Kabbalists can do anything, but they don’t. It is not their job to do things instead of us. A person encounters all sorts of difficulties in life: shortage, disease and loss, all in order to develop, and use them to make contact with the spiritual world. If a Kabbalist cancels the difficulty that one is given, he disrupts that person’s evolution toward the Upper World.
It is not a good idea to do good for a person before you understand what is actually good for him. It is like giving a child everything he asks for without committing him to anything: you simply ruin him that way.
That is our nature: the fact that things appear ‘good’ to us is a result of our limited vision, whereas those things are rarely the absolute good.
Q: What is the absolute good?
A: We have only one desire: to feel good, regardless of whether we obtain that good feeling through a better job, a new car, a mate, or successful children. Behind all those changes is the search for satisfaction. We try to attain what appears to bring us that sensation, and regard anything that helps us feel satisfied and good.
When we begin to feel spirituality, it changes our scale of values. We begin to see which are more important and which are less so. We begin to weigh our lives not just according to what we see and know in this life, things that our physical bodies see right now, but also feel ours past and future lives. This way, we begin to see what favors us, and what does not.
Then, we naturally change the evaluation of our environment; we no longer want what we did before: a different job, a different car, or a different mate, but seek something different altogether.
We change in accordance with our ascent in the spiritual world, and begin to understand what is good for us. It is the same as in our world: when a child, we want a toy car. When we grow up, we want a real car.
Our desires change as we grow in spirituality; we want something different from what we wanted when we first came to this world. The earlier objects of our desire seem like toys now compared to the real things that we begin to seek. It is that search that finally leads us to the absolute good.
Increasing Desire
Q: So I cannot ask for whatever I want, or activate a book on Kabbalah to give me what I want? For example, if I want to be healthy, I will not be given health. Instead, if I am ill, my thoughts will tell me this is good.
A: No, not true. One can only ask for that which one really wants. A little boy wants a little toy and his father promises that if he studies well, he will buy him that toy. He studies hoping that he’ll receive that little toy. But when he completes his studies, he now wants a bicycle. So what does his father do, buys him a toy or a bicycle? One changes all the time, and receives the things that one currently desires.
But when one begins to study Kabbalah and interferes with reality, one interferes in it with his current desires. A person needs nothing more than an inner desire, a heart’s desire, to change a reality one feels is intolerable.
A Greater Responsibility
Q: Does this mean that all Kabbalists feel good?
A: No. The higher a person rises in spirit, the more he includes within him the sufferings of all the people. The higher the Kabbalist climbs, the more responsible he feels, the more his mind is occupied. All souls are linked together. Until they are happy in the highest level, the Kabbalist cannot rest.
A Time for Control
Q: What do contemporary Kabbalists influence, if there are any?
A: There are a great many Kabbalists. There are hidden Kabbalists who have no intention of becoming known, or of teaching others. They exist simply in order to balance this world, in order to perform their unique operations in it.
In order for the world to exist, people have to correct it from below upward, precisely from our world. For that reason, there are Kabbalists in each generation who perform such corrections and deal with tuning the system of the Supreme Leadership from within our world. Because the generations never stop evolving in spirituality, there are currently many people who can and should rise to take control over the leadership, instead of the few discrete Kabbalists.
Q: Are there people who have attained the end of correction?
A: Today, as in the past, there are great Kabbalists who are busy correcting the world. Their goal is to perform the instructions of the Creator on our corporeal level, and for that reason they have a body and a soul. They are known to no one, and should remain that way.
All Shall Know Me
Q: What is common to, and what differentiates Kabbalah from, other religions and mystic methods?
A: The wisdom of Kabbalah is related to no other religion or belief. It does not deal with meditations, prophecies, questions of religion, or even one’s mental state. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the science of the system of creation and its management.
Kabbalah teaches how anyone can attain the revelation of the system of creation. It is said: “For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31, 33). This means that every soul, every person must ultimately attain the complete sensation of the entire creation, and not just the small part we perceive with our five senses.
Gradual Evolution
Q: How does the Kabbalah relate to other cultures, including ancient ones?
A: The Kabbalah teaches about the Upper World, the origin of everything in our world. The substance of our world is born from the lowest degree of the Upper World. That substance is organized according to the four degrees of the Upper World and is divided to the four levels: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking.
The still substance was also divided to four levels: solid, liquid, gas and plasma, and so were the other levels. I am speaking of these things only to show that in our world, just as in the spiritual world, everything is built by the four degrees of the expansion of the Light.
Mankind is gradually evolving by the positive/constructive force and by the negative/destructive force. Each phase, or degree, comes as a result of the negation of the previous one. Every form of administration lasts only as long as it takes for the disadvantages to show, and for a strong enough degree to overturn it.
The more the negativity of the present situation is recognized, the nearer the new situation – which does not have the disadvantages of the present situation – becomes. Those disadvantages that appear in each degree and ultimately eliminate it are the reasons for the evolution of mankind.
The law of gradual evolution is a law that works on the whole of nature and is applied in every particle of it. Take the earth, for example. First, it was just a ball of gas. Under the influence of gravity, it then grew denser and the atoms heated until they began to burn. Then, by the effects of constructive and destructive forces the heat decreased and caused the creation of a thin and hard encrustation.
But that was not the end of the battle between the forces. The liquid gas ignited, once more erupted, and broke the crust. Everything went back to the preliminary state until, after the battle of the forces, the positive force overpowered the negative force.
This caused the heat to decrease and the crust to be reformed, but a little thicker this time, so that it would endure a greater pressure from within and for a longer period of time. This process repeated itself several times.
Thus, the eras changed every thirty million years, and each time the crust grew stronger and harder as a result of the strengthening of the positive force, which finally brought the system to complete harmony. Liquids filled the inside of the earth and the crust became dense enough to create conditions for the beginning of organic life.
However, contrary to other levels – still, vegetative and animate--which end their development automatically, under the power of the inner material forces man must undergo further development regarding his relationship with society.
Hence, cultures came and went all over the globe. Kabbalah accepts the fact of their existence and many corresponding assumptions, including the assumption that there is life elsewhere in the universe. We might even discuss the forms of such life...
The wisdom of Kabbalah contains more knowledge than all of science. But since that knowledge is not connected to man’s role on earth, Kabbalah simply refrains from dealing with it, and sees no need to elaborate on it.
When man’s soul descends from the Upper World, it dresses in a body of this world for a specific purpose. The soul must go through certain stages of development during its corporeal life. That is why there is no time to waste on idle quests that stray beyond the range of human power, on which Kabbalists do not want to waste their time.
I can only say that by studying the wisdom of Kabbalah you will understand everything. Not only what happens on earth, but in the entire universe. It is because that study teaches you about the spiritual roots, which descend and create everything that happens in our world. But this knowledge will be revealed to you only if you use it for spiritual elevation, and not to satisfy your curiosity.
Kabbalah is Above Our World
Q: Does Kabbalah recognize the existence of Karma?
A: Any system that you might learn, other than the wisdom of Kabbalah, whether superstition or religion, will forever remain at the level of our world, confined by its limitations. These systems have nothing to do with spirituality, but merely with psychological processes that occur around our bodies.
In order to come to the Upper World, we must acquire a screen and break the barrier between the two worlds. That impediment can be crossed only by the system of Kabbalah.
Everything people may feel as karma, auras, etc. is a psychological process, though a very subtle one, which happens around the physical body. There is nothing unusual about it, nothing above our nature. In the future, our science will learn how to work with these systems very well.
The Teachings of the East
Q: In one of your talks, you said that Kabbalah is the only method that allows us to come out to the spiritual worlds and to perform the correction of the world by ourselves. But there are other systems, such as Buddhism, Yoga, and sophism that speak of various means of enlightenment to develop cosmic awareness and states of nirvana, or Samadhi.
I’ve read many of your books, and I think most of the Eastern teachings speak about the same thing, only in a different language, which stems from the differences in culture and psychological differences. But many sages from India and China, such as Buddha, Osho and others climbed very high in their spiritual development. How do you relate to those facts? Can you analyze in depth the common elements between the teaching of the East and Kabbalah and the differences between them?
A: I don’t know any teachings but those of the Kabbalah. The difference between all the teachings and the Kabbalah, as I understand it from the perspective of the Kabbalah, is that they are built on the nullification of desires, or at least on their complete suppression, whereas Kabbalah states that the Creator can be sensed precisely by expressing the desire for Him (and certainly not by nullifying it), only by inverting the aim of its use.
Perhaps they are very similar on the outside, but there simply is no other method to attain the spiritual world. The sensations of all other methods are built on the suppression of one’s desire to enjoy. A person who suppresses his ego feels in that passive state something that seems spiritual.
That is why there appears to be some resemblance in the description of the approach, but in truth, there is an enormous difference in the expression of the ego and its treatment. To a Kabbalist, who is in the spiritual world, the roots and differences between the various beliefs and faiths are very clear. Therefore, I recommend that you make an effort to enter the spiritual world and see for yourself. Until then all methods will seem alike.
Which way should a person choose to advance? That is an individual choice. Kabbalah shows you nothing beforehand, while other teachings may present some magical hints and enticements.
The ultimate choice will depend on the degree of the development of the soul of each person. If it has developed to the point of needing actual correction, that person will choose Kabbalah.
Q: I recommend that you read the book, “Dao and the Tree of Life” by Eric Yudlev. In it, the author analyzes all the eastern teachings and how they relate to Kabbalah.
A: In order to compare two things you need to know both. Perhaps the author knows the system of the Dao, and, like researchers of other teachings, has come to far-fetched assumptions. However, those are not the result of the revelation of the Light of the Creator, because attainment means the revelation of the Upper Light in the “middle line.” That can be developed only through Kabbalah.
Q: Are other teachings harmful?
A: Kabbalists forbid nothing. They are certainly not in favor of burning or banning books. They think that the faster people go through the other paths, the faster they will understand that Kabbalah is the only true path. Therefore, the more people are exposed to various beliefs, and compare them to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the better.
Kabbalah is Not Mysticism
Q: How does the Kabbalah relate to spiritual quests such as mysticism, Eastern methods, and other spiritual systems?
A: It has nothing to do with them. Those are searches that a person makes, but they have nothing to do with Kabbalah.
Q: What is the connection between Kabbalah, fortune telling and magical forces?
A: There is no connection between the wisdom of Kabbalah and magic, fortune telling, charms, or anything people give to one another to provide them with some sort of pseudo protection from Fate. The wisdom of Kabbalah does not deal with those. The wisdom of Kabbalah is a science that develops in man the ability to monitor his own destiny and not be dependent on a special piece of paper, or a magic charm. The Kabbalist, the holy Ari, prohibited the use of charms in his writings because they provide nothing more than psychological support.
If I see that a certain object will save a person who comes to me for help, I tell him to believe in it, because there is magical power in it. But truly, the magic lies in the psychological strength that the object provides for that person. Physicians and psychologists use the power of psychological protection, but it would be a lie to say that that force has anything to do with upper-spiritual forces.
If that psychological protection works for you, use it, but know that it will not correct you. That is why Kabbalah does not use any “magical” psychological forces. That is also the reason why charms are prohibited in the Torah.
Fortune Tellers – Social Assistance
Q: Among the 613 Commandments of the Torah, there is commandment No. 301, which states: “There shall not be found among you... …a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer” (Deuteronomy 18, 10). What if a parent, despite all requests to stop using the services of fortune tellers, continues to do so? Does it mean that the Creator will punish this person? Will the person suffer for daring to doubt the omnipotence of the King of Kings, turning instead to dark powers created by Him? And will this person’s children be punished for failing to convince their parent?
A: The prohibition against soothsaying and fortune telling mainly refers to spiritual idolatry, which is non-existent in our world today, since fortune-telling nowadays is purely psychological. In fact, everyone turns to so-called “Kabbalists” and “wizards” to predict the future.
This ban, like many others in the Torah, shows us that what is described here is one’s inner state. It is also observed that the religious masses once more fail to observe it in our world.
Q: Do charms and magic work instantly?
A: They work instantly, but in the long run they worsen a person’s situation. When we begin to study Kabbalah, we immediately find ourselves under the private guidance of the Creator, and then no fortune teller or magician can do anything to us, since we are on a completely different path. We move to a different level of progress.
None of them can predict anything for us because we are out of the control of the collective law of nature. The Spiritual Force and nature work differently on us. Therefore, I recommend the study of Kabbalah as the only genuine remedy. That is why it is called a “potion of life.”
Q: If I feel that something bad is going to happen to me, how should I react?
A: When you are afraid and do not know your future, that makes you search for a contact with the Upper Force, your root. Only through that contact can you be free from torment; no future teller will help you here. Take one of the genuine sources of Kabbalah, the Zohar, the writing of the Ari, start reading and you will see how the point in the heart begins to emerge in you. Through that point you will begin to understand and feel how you should move on afterwards.
If you do not study Kabbalah, I advise you to take any Kabbalistic book nearby, such as Psalms, and begin to search for that contact. As soon as you feel that you have become dependent on an unfamiliar Upper Force, you will feel the need to make contact with It.
It is precisely for that reason that we are given those situations from Above. If we try to find that contact by ourselves, we will see how it can change our situation. Therefore, the best decision is to use your mortal fear to cry to that Force - the Creator - and He will appear before you.
False Links to the Upper Worlds
Q: Is there a connection between dreams and Kabbalah?
A: There is no connection. Dreams are a result of physiological impressions that a person experienced during the day.
Q: How do you relate to mediation?
A: There are no mediations in Kabbalah. There are intents and precise forces of thought that lead the world (actual leading and affecting of the world is possible only through thought).
Q: Does the Kabbalah prohibit the use of charms?
A: Yes. The Torah forbids the use charms. The
Ari also prohibited the use of charms because they misled people, although they do help psychologically.
People who believe in them ascribe great forces and consequently affect themselves. But we must differentiate between influence that is purely psychological and a true influence on life.
Q: What do you think about methods such as Reiki?
A: I am not connected with any other methods, and I do not see any of them in Kabbalah. However, I do not deny the fact that they do help people improve their lives physically and psychologically. I do not object to yoga or Reiki – if they help, why not? But I do not see any spirituality in them.
Spirituality is only a collection of psychological phenomena. There is no harm in one person seeing more than others. The Bedouin tribesmen, who live in the desert, can see much farther than ordinary people can. They can look at a cloud and know of something that is going on many miles away from them, just as an animal can feel the death of their mate a few days ahead of time.
Those phenomena are not spiritual, but are natural physiological phenomena of which people remote from nature are simply unaware. Kabbalah, however, speaks of a spiritual body, about what happens with the soul.
Q: What do you think about Tibetan studies?
A: I know that as soon as one climbs a little higher than this world, the whole Tibetan philosophy vanishes without a trace. That is why I was never interested in those studies. If I had encountered them in the course of my studies, I would certainly have studied them.
These studies are built entirely on the destruction of the ego. But egoism (our desire for pleasure) must not be destroyed because it is our very nature.
Tibetan studies lower a person to a vegetative, or even a still level. From this we can understand how destructive such studies are to one’s egoism. Those who study these methods feel comfortable because the most comfortable situation is that of a stone, which is still. After all, what else could man want but to rest?
But this way, man will never attain the purpose of creation. If we are to live like a plant or a rock, we might as well not be born at all. Kabbalah maintains that we should take all our egoism, all our nature, and begin to deal with it correctly. Then we will reach the highest situation, not the lowest.
Therefore, when we ascend in spirituality, we see how quickly those methods collapse, as they were created to diminish desires and decrease suffering. Even the experts in those methods, who understand them in depth, recognize Kabbalah as a unique system, a method of study that is second to none.
Becoming a Great Egoist
Q: Why do we need to increase the desire in the method of Kabbalah?
A: The wisdom of Kabbalah is a science about the universe and the system that controls it; it explains the way everything around us happens. No other system gives us the ability to lead, monitor and control the world, because they are all based on diminishing the ego, the desire to receive.
It takes a great will to receive to lead, because one can lead only if one has enormous desires, corrected, right desires, because our desires are the forces by which we influence the collective system of creation.
All other systems are based on the reduction of man to a lower degree, even as low as a plant. We are told to eat less, breathe less, move less, restrict ourselves, and live in monasteries.
The wisdom of Kabbalah, however, speaks about being a great egoist, about wanting to swallow the entire world, and after that, working with that desire and correcting it. Because of that, the wisdom of Kabbalah develops in you the ability to rule, guide, and lead. Other methods are built on the suppression of desires, and thus depress your ability to lead creation.
Witchcraft and Kabbalah
Q: I met a woman who calls herself a fan of Kabbalah, but practices witchcraft. She reads Tarot cards, communicates with spirits, treats with oils and herbs and sells charms. How does this sit with Kabbalah? Do her forces come from the Creator?
A: Kabbalah deals solely with the attainment of the purpose of creation. The purpose of creation is adhesion with the Creator. The adhesion is attained by way of equalizing the attributes, called “equivalence of form.”
The Kabbalah studies the attribute of the Creator called “benevolence.” It is revealed above the barrier, which is the border between our world and the Upper World. It is a psychological barrier, which limits a certain spiritual development of a person. When one reaches that level of development, one begins to feel the Upper World. Attaining such a level is possible only through the study of Kabbalah.
There are no ceremonies in the study of Kabbalah. It deals solely with bringing a person above the barrier. Kabbalah has no dealings below the barrier, in the level of our world. Here there are corporeal forces, animate, and there are good forces and bad forces among them, such as the evil eye, the ability to predict the future, etc…However, all that relates only to the destiny of our world. The soul begins only above the barrier.
Kabbalah forbids fortune-telling or any attempt to find out about the destiny of the physical body. The body is temporary, negligible and thus insignificant. It is not worthy of attention beyond the question of how it serves the soul.
It is quite possible that the fortune-teller is telling the truth, but the prohibition stems from the fact that a person should rise above all that and rely on the Creator, without searching for other forces with which to change the order of situations that are planned by the Creator.
After all, every Force that stems from the Creator is there to bring us closer to Him. The principle law of Kabbalah is called, “There is none else beside Him.” It contradicts the existence of witchcraft and any other kind of idolatry because ultimately “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord” (Isaiah 11, 9), “for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31, 33).
Meditation
Q: Is prayer also meditation?
A: Acts such as prayer are independent of thoughts, except for the correction of the inner self. A Kabbalistic prayer is a calculated and precise contact between a person and Sperior Spiritual Degrees (the Creator). The prayer is a series of corrections that is conducted by a spiritual coupling between the screen of a person and the Light that stems from Superior Degrees.
Tarot Cards
Q: How does Kabbalah relate to Tarot cards?
A: It is a common mistake for people to think that Kabbalah seemingly deals with fortune-telling, revelations of the past, and the study of the present. Kabbalah, by definition, is the revelation of the Creator to people in this world, today, not after death!!!
Naturally, as a result of the revelation of the Creator, a person understands the entire creation and its management; the reasons for everything that happens and their consequences. But it is only the direct result that stems from the attainment of the Creator. Kabbalah has never dealt with fortune-telling of any kind, and what Kabbalists know of the future, they do not tell, because there is a strict prohibition on that.
If further knowledge beyond that, which man already has, would benefit man, the Creator would have revealed it to us. But knowing beyond what we should know harms us, because it denies us free choice and the possibility for correction. That is why it says unequivocally, “Neither shall ye practice divination nor soothsaying” (Leviticus, 19, 26), and “Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live” (Exodus 22, 17).
You can see for yourself how much unnecessary commotion there was at the dawn of the new millennium, as a result of the fortune telling of Nostradamus. In fact, nothing happened and the year went by peacefully, as did all the years before it.
Man yearns to believe in what he knows. He wants to know the future for his own personal benefit. But the Creator reveals everything -- past, present and future -- only to the extent that man will stop needing that knowledge and go with “faith above reason.” This means that man rejects his personal reasoning and chooses to cleave to the Reason of the Superior, the Creator.
Pleasure Hunt
Q: The Japanese have the Tea Ceremony, which is meticulously studied in various religious schools, and is very similar to Baal HaSulam’s story, “The Dining Table.” How do you relate to it?
A: I personally do not know the Tea Ceremony. The Creator created the desire to enjoy. A spark of Light falls into that desire and revives it. The spark also awakens in it the yearning to be filled with the entire Light, not just a small portion of it.
Therefore, all movements that the creation makes, at all its levels, starting from the still, through the vegetative, animate and speaking, beginning in atoms and the combinations of organic molecules, and ending with the movements of the body and mind, are no more than a pleasure hunt.
When we study the connections that form between the host and the guest, we can discover enormous layers of the “desire to receive” in our inner structure. Apart from this relationship, in which the creature attains the giving Creator at all levels, there is no other relationship in the universe. It is revealed in the reciprocal relation between the poles, in electric and magnetic fields, and forms the basis of every connection between components of both the corporeal and the spiritual worlds. It is also the basis for the existence of corporeal and spiritual substance.
Cults and Ceremonies
Q: There are many spiritual groups in the world that practice various ceremonies that are seemingly related to Kabbalah. Do these customs have any bearing on the world?
A: They are not related to Kabbalah whatsoever. There is no point in searching for a link between Kabbalah and various teachings that use Kabbalistic symbols. That link does not exist!
It is hard to imagine how many superstitions, religions, cults, etc., there are in the world. It is amazing how many directions man—or more precisely, man’s will to receive, which is constantly searching for the reason for his condition--can invent, and in what versatile ways!
One may believe that one is closer to the truth, to the Source, and to eternity, but it is all an illusion. You see for yourself how many people go to India in order to seek enlightenment, all in order to attain some immediate psychological feeling of internal freedom.
When we truly climb to the spiritual world, we will see that only Kabbalah was given from Above, and all other customs and ceremonies are the fruits of the human mind, which serve our imagination and desire for pleasure. But it is impossible to convince anyone of that, because what Kabbalah teaches you cannot see with your eyes.
Esoteric Teachings
Q: Is there anything in esoteric teachings that helps us understand the Kabbalah?
A: On the contrary, when a student with no background in foreign teachings comes to me, it is easier for him to enter the study of Kabbalah.
Evil Eye
Q: I am in contact with a lot of people, and from the questions that they ask me, I sometimes feel that they are giving me an “evil eye.” What can you advise me?
A: In the Zohar, it is said that many physical ailments come from the evil eye. In our world, the evil eye is a bad bio-energetic influence of one person on another.
But in spirituality, the term “evil eye” speaks of man’s feelings toward the Creator, because there are only two forces: the Creator and the creature. Man sees that everything is bad, meaning we look at everything that comes to us from the Creator with an “evil eye”– because we disregard the law of creation, and His Leadership, and we get a response that we consider “bad.”
But the fact of the matter is, everything that happens to us is a correction. Its true aim is positive, although its external appearance may seem negative to us. We wish for the corrections to appear before us in a positive manner, as something good. But if we pray to feel the Providence of the Creator only as good, then it is an egoistic approach “for me.”
Instead, we should pray and ask for the correction of our attributes, so that we can feel the deeds of the Creator positively, as they were sent to us, as “good mercy.” This way, we will be corrected before there is a need for the Creator to send us an unpleasant form of correction.
A Curse
Q: What is a curse?
A: Kabbalah is man’s personal way to attain the Creator. Therefore, there is no worse situation than the sensation of detachment from the Creator. Thus, a state of lack of thoughts of the Creator is regarded as a curse.
But evil thoughts (thoughts that oppose the Creator) are not considered a curse, because they still maintain contact with the Creator, a situation that is better than not having any contact with Him.
The purpose of Kabbalah (Heb. Reception), which is only giving, is opposite to those who think only of themselves. As a result of that, all the terms of Kabbalah bear an opposite meaning to the ones we have in this world. We tend to materialize spiritual concepts and relate them to ourselves. Thus, we interpret the curse as something that goes against us and not against the Creator.
Q: Is there a curse in the corporeal world?
A: Perhaps you are asking about the evil eye, and the answer is: yes, it exists. In the physical world there is a possibility to harm a person, and not only in a visible way. It is possible to influence a person in every degree of this world: one’s body, his consciousness and subconsciousness, the inner structures of one’s body by a magnetic and bioelectric field, and heat.
A person’s fields can also be influenced by fields around another person, for example by rays that are reflected back from the eyes. It is possible to transfer anything from one person to another. It is simply a matter of technique, as is the case in the spiritual world.
A Kabbalist can convey spiritual information and his influence to another person. But unlike that which is possible in this world, there is no way to harm anyone, or even think about it.
Satan is Within
Q: Does Satan exist?
A: There is only one Force, and it is called the Creator. It aspires to bring man to the best possible situation. But that power works on man as two opposite forces, because the attributes of the Creator and those of the creature are opposite to one another.
To the extent that we become corrupted, we feel the positive force acting on us as negative. But after we correct ourselves, we feel it as positive. We ourselves determine if the force is negative or positive, depending on our correction, our spirituality.
We call the negative force, “Satan,” but whatever we name the forces, they are inside us, not outside.
The Truth Behind the Supernatural
Q: We know people who claim they can see into the future, heal by touch and leave their astral bodies. How do you relate to that? What can Kabbalah offer me instead?
A: The things you mention are psychological emotions and sensations that belong to this world. There is nothing you have mentioned that is above our world. My advice to you is to read and try to internalize the books of Kabbalah, because as of now, you are showing some resistance to that information.
Do not fear that you might lose your ability to look at things from a critical perspective. On the contrary, only after you understand will you be able to relate critically to the subject matter.
Healing by touch and other such “wonders” have nothing to do with the spiritual world and Kabbalah. These manifestations exist in reality as an influence of one object on another, which is partly in the subconscious. But that is still below the barrier, within our world, which is affected by our corporeal-egoistic nature.
Kabbalah offers you a way to live in the spiritual world while living in ours, where you feel, see and understand the direction of your personal growth and that of the whole of mankind. Then you will see your life -- past, present and future -- in a more correct fashion and live more wisely.
Shambalah
Q: I read in a book that in 1924, Mrs. Elena Blavatsky entered the spiritual world in a body of a Romanian youth.
A: The meaning of “entrance to spirituality” is compatibility between inner attributes and desires, when the outside dressing can be anything, or nothing at all. In Kabbalah, a “body” means desires. The only way to enter the spiritual world is to acquire a screen, which endows one with compatibility with the Upper Forces. Only through that screen is it possible to be in a spiritual place, with spiritual forces, to be in equivalence of form with them, in contact with them, and to lead and bestow.
The physical body is meaningless here.
Q: I read that Mrs. Blavatsky, who dressed in the body of that Romanian youth, attained “Shambalah.” Shambalah, from the point of view of science (Ernest Moldshaft), is the gene pool of humanity. In it, there are explicit representatives of the spiritual world, including our biblical fathers.
A: Kabbalah is a science of an entirely different world, completely detached from our own. It is not tangential with our world; there are no common traits, whereas you are trying to find that contact to discover a correlation between those two worlds.
I know through my own attainment of the Upper World that there is only one-way: to climb up there and feel (“see”).
You think that there is some hole in this world, through which you can enter the spiritual world without having to change your attributes. From the perspective of Kabbalah, this is a good example of what the human imagination can make of the Upper World without the prior knowledge from Above.
You speak of people who are intellectually great, but they are great only intellectually, without any superior spiritual attainment. You must know this: spirituality is higher than our minds and our natures.
Spiritual attributes can only be given from Above, and only if they are used in a special way, conveyed thousands of years ago: the way of Kabbalah. For spiritual attainment, there must be a void in man, called “the vessel of the soul,” in which a person can feel the Creator, and only the Creator, through Kabbalistic knowledge. Try it!
Man is Alone with his Purpose
Q: How does Kabbalah relate to aliens?
A: I can only say that there is nothing like man in the entire creation, and it is only man who can raise himself to the highest contact possible with the Creator, and equalize with Him. All other creatures that exist on earth and outside it do not have a godly purpose. All the talks about creatures from another planet are meaningless; we are alone with our purpose!
UFOs
Q: How does Kabbalah relate to the question of UFOs?
A: Regarding UFOs, Kabbalah does not speak of other life forms in other places. There is no other life - we are alone! Man would like to discover something in the universe because he needs it as support. However, besides us, there is only the Creator!
Q: I am a UFO researcher and I have found thousands of descriptions of actual facts, but nowhere is there a mention of the Creator. Why not?
A: I am trying to explain to people like you that there is something in nature around us that we need, yet cannot feel. You may have a lot of facts at your disposal, but man wants to touch! I would say that you, like me, are dealing with a mysterious science. The method of Kabbalah can make something mysterious and intangible become real and open.
A Kabbalist has contact with the Creator, and is willing to teach any person who really wants contact with the Creator. It is like dialing a telephone number: all you have to know is how to dial. Kabbalah does not disqualify anything, because the presence of another culture does not bother one who studies Kabbalah in order to discern the existence of the Creator.
I research the Upper World, not something that may exist in our universe. But the Upper World is for some reason hidden from us. When I study Kabbalah, I know that there are no creatures like us, creatures that the Creator assigned with a certain goal.
What does it matter if there is something else on earth, or on another planet, if the Creator wants to contact you, and not them?
An Eclipse of the Sun and a Lunar Eclipse
Q: How should I relate to and prepare for a solar or lunar eclipse?
A: I don’t want to disappoint you, but the best advice that I can give you is to simply ignore it. Such events only psychologically affect people, who long for a change for the better.
There will be no change. Nothing will happen because man has arbitrarily set up a calendar based on the movement of the earth around the sun. It is only possible to affect one’s destiny through the spiritual world! Study those rules and you will discover the wisdom and power to do anything.
Parapsychology
Q: What is the connection between parapsychology and Kabbalah?
A: There is no connection between parapsychology and Kabbalah. All of man’s experiments with the mind do not reach beyond the borders of regular psychology. There is still more hidden than is revealed in the human body. You can refer to it as “hidden” only because it is still hidden from us.
But just as science and technology in the 19th century did not succeed in finding out much about the laws and forces of nature (they were hidden from us and then were revealed), so in the future, science will disclose many more of today’s secrets, and they will no longer be hidden.
Kabbalah is called “the wisdom of the hidden” because it will always remain hidden, except for Kabbalists. It is a science about the Upper World, which cannot be revealed by orthodox scientific methods or technical instruments, but only by attaining the attributes of the Upper World.
We feel the world through our attributes. If we had other attributes, we would have other ways of feeling. As long as we do not acquire attributes and sensors with which to feel the Upper World, we will not be able to feel it. Science and the instruments of our world only expand our sensory organs, but reveal no genuinely new qualities. Behind all the equipment and deductions we remain as we were, with the same five senses.
Therefore, there is not a single physical science that enables us to peek into the Upper World, but only to acquire further information about the expansion of the abilities of our five senses in this world.
Astrology
Q: How is Kabbalah related to astrology?
A: In the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is the matter of Kabbalistic Astrology, as well as Kabbalistic Geography and Kabbalistic Medicine. Those topics deal with the connection between our universe and the systems in the collective universe, the broader one, which includes the Upper World.
If you’re interested in learning why our world is built the way it is, including the earth and stars, the planets and the links among them, know that in actuality everything corresponds to the forces in the Upper World. All the bodies and the forces in our world are but a consequence of the materialization of those Upper Forces.
The reflection of the Upper World in ours creates various fields called Astronomy, Astrology, Psychology, Medicine, etc. That is why the science in our world is to some extent a reflection of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the material foundation of our world.
Q: Why is it that, in our time, there is such an evolution of sciences such as astrology?
A: People have always searched for any possible way to end the misery of mankind and society. Humanity has slowly gained experience, and became convinced that the progress of science and technology, including medical technology, does not deliver us from pain and torment.
People are less interested in knowledge and progress and more concerned with their own personal fate. The human ego, the desire to enjoy for ourselves, continues to grow with each generation and seek fulfillment. It is happening very powerfully in our time, and therefore, along with technology, there are courses in astrology and the supernatural that are opening everywhere around us, even in universities. Books about mysticism abound on the shelves of bookstores; horoscopes, prophecies and clairvoyants are found in every form of the media.
I published my first book on Kabbalah in 1984. At that time, the public was very “earthbound,” with its feet firmly on the ground, and thought that progress and a rational attitude would solve the questions of life. It seemed as though the topic of the book went against common sense.
But in retrospect, when I look ten or fifteen years back, I see that everything has changed completely, even among people who are my age. Today, people believe that which they regarded as nonsense only fifteen years ago: the spiritual world, souls, prophesies, the change of fate - these are things that excite everyone today.
The Zohar predicted this time as a necessary phase in the collective development of humanity. For that reason, I am delighted with what is happening. However, as in anything else, after the current enthusiasm there will come disappointment, because magic has existed for thousands of years, and if there were anything real to it, people would have long been using those methods for personal profit in a systematic and scientific way.
The Torah says. “…neither shall ye practice divination” (Leviticus 19, 26), meaning, do not perform witchcraft, although it is possible. When one uses witchcraft, it seemingly improves one’s situation. A visit to a fortune teller performs only a temporary change. But the change is only on the physical level, and for that you don’t have to be a Kabbalist, or have spiritual forces behind you.
The force that exists in our world is enough to slightly change our inner feelings within our physical bodies, because these are only external forces, not spiritual ones.
Nature is set in such a way that it helps us achieve the purpose of creation and spiritual attainment. If we do not approach that goal of our own free will, but search for a way to avoid the torments life presents us, it is as though we do not relate to the force that promotes us. This brings upon us a more intense, acute and painful effect of that force in the next life.
However, the constant pursuit of a way to eliminate the torments and our attempts to overcome them brings us an accumulation of experience, and disappointment with all these methods. Mankind will ultimately arrive at a single system, received from Above, namely the wisdom of Kabbalah.
Q: We can compare our situation in this world to sailing in a small boat that is carried away in a mighty stream. We are unable to do anything about it. How is it possible to escape the drift and the rocks and maintain the right course in order to come to a safe shore in peace, to the inevitable end that we will come to?
A: We can escape disaster only if we add an engine of our own to the boat, called a “screen.” The Kabbalah helps us acquire that screen. With it, we can run our lives by ourselves, without the help of fortune tellers and other such counselors. By so doing, we replace the torment-the cruel pushing force-that keeps pushing us toward the purpose of creation, with the good Force, as we begin to learn to manage our lives and maintain our course.
Everyone will have to go the way that one is ordained to go, but with Kabbalah it will be done in the best possible way.
Q: And what does Kabbalah offer?
A: Take the book of a real Kabbalist, a genuine book, or listen to talks and lessons about Kabbalah, or watch a class. Today, there are many options open for all, man or woman, in some twenty languages. If you use these possibilities and begin to read the right books, the surrounding Light will immediately begin to work on you, and will start to change everything around you: the collectiveProvidence will become private Providence, a beam of Light that points precisely to you. You will gradually feel it, and will acquire an inner strength of your own to change your own destiny.
All that will happen provided you read the books of Kabbalists. That by itself is enough to change the course of your life.
Gimatria
Q: How can a Kabbalist convey his situation to another person?
A: A teacher can take the “case” of his own situation, photocopy it, and express it in a form of an accurate mathematical formula, meaning Gimatria, and convey it to the student. The student then takes that formula, finds it within himself and implements it through his own spiritual powers. This way he goes through the same situation as his teacher. Gimatria is a mathematical formula that expresses the sum total of our spiritual experiences.
Graves of Righteous People
Q: I have a few questions concerning the graves of the Righteous: Does the Kabbalah ascribe any meaning to the graves of the Righteous? How does a prayer at the grave of a Righteous differ from a prayer in a synagogue? What should one pray for at the grave of a Righteous? If I wish to study Kabbalah at the grave of Rashbi or any other Kabbalist, what is the best thing to read?
A: A prayer is a desire for the Creator, for His sake, in one’s heart, not on one’s lips. A synagogue is an invention of the last millennia of exile, but every person speaks with the Creator in one’s heart. That is the meaning of a prayer.
Visiting a synagogue is not a prayer, it is a ritual introduced by our sages for taking care of the people, as are all other commandments, so that they could exist and not perish. From within this framework, a person starts to question one’s existence (why one does certain things, etc.), which eventually leads to the question of one’s relationship with the Creator.
Hence, it is to preserve the people, the masses, that it becomes necessary to observe the traditions and the daily rituals.
But one should differentiate between a ritual and a personal aspiration for the Creator. That is one’s personal work, and it is carried out inside, hence the name
“secret.” It is concealed from others and to a certain extent even from oneself.
In the frame of this inner work of approaching the Creator, a person realizes that this goal can only be achieved by addressing Him with such a request, knowing that only the Creator can move one towards or away from Himself. This request is a prayer, regardless of where it is offered.
However, if a certain location calls to you, then go there. My advice is to search for such moments while studying. (This does not exclude “the special places,” but we’ll discuss them some other time with those who can feel the “specialty of places.”)
The Well of Miriam
Q: Many people ask where the well of Miriam is, and whether one can drink from it. Is this reality or a legend?
A: Any spiritual source spreads through all the spiritual worlds and must materialize (appear in our physical world). There is a certain force called the “ Bina,” the “superior mother,” and in the physical world it reveals in fountains and springs.
However, it is forbidden to relate anything spiritual to water. One who drinks from a fountain does not get anything spiritual from it. The question is, who give that person the water? Water, like anything else, can be linked with its spiritual origin with the messenger of a spiritual force (a Kabbalist), and thus convey spiritual energy to a person.
My rabbi did that many times. He gave a person a peace of bread, or a sip of wine, and in this way conveyed spiritual energy within that corporeal object. After all, there is no other way to convey it to a person who still doesn’t have spiritual vessels.
The Ari did the same with his disciple, Chaim Vital, when he let him drink from the water, which is a very natural thing for a Kabbalist. If that disciple had gone to the Sea of Galilee and drunk the water, he would not have attained any spiritual power. The water, in this case, was just a means for the conveyance of a spiritual attribute, and it doesn’t really matter from where it was taken.
The force that the Ari gave to his disciple was called ‘The Well of Miriam’, not the water itself. I, too, received from my rabbi all sorts of refreshments. A Kabbalist can convey spiritual strength through a corporeal object, as well.
The Western Wall and Other Miracles
Q: I have a picture of the Western Wall taken from the top of the building facing it. This photograph has healing powers. One starts feeling better when it is applied to a hurting spot. Recently, I treated a severe wound on a dog with it. Could you please explain this phenomenon, in light of the Kabbalah?
A: Kabbalah exclusively deals with man’s aspiration for the Creator. Degrees, stages, and steps toward Him are felt as something totally new, as new worlds. There are 125 such degrees. They are divided into five parts, or “worlds.”
The essence of Kabbalah consists of climbing through all the intermediary states and worlds, and reaching complete unity with the Creator. Man starts to feel the Creator from the very first step toward Him. It is called “the sensation of the Upper World.”
Prior to that step, man feels himself, not the Creator. That feeling is called “this world.” The first step toward the Creator signifies that man reaches the Upper World.
Each step forward indicates having a more distinct feeling of the Creator. It is felt in a special sensory organ called the “soul.” We also call it the “sixth sense,” since man isn’t born with it, and it is not a natural bodily sense like the other five senses given to us in this world.
The soul is given to us personally by the Creator from above. Those who receive it rush forward to the Creator, and those who don’t (for lack of the sixth sense, the soul) cannot even understand what we do, and if they received a religious upbringing, they even oppose Kabbalah.
What you describe is not the subject of Kabbalah. The answer to your question can probably be found in psychology or paranormal sciences. At that level exist the miracles in this world! The spiritual world is full of miracles, but these are obvious only to a Kabbalist, consciously perceived and controlled by someone who acquires the knowledge of Kabbalah.
Miracles
Q: How does Kabbalah relate to the term, “miracle”?
A: If the phenomenon exists in creation, in this world or in the spiritual world, the Kabbalah recognizes it and recognizes it as something that exists. If not, it does not exist.
Books of Kabbalah do not describe everything that exists in reality, but then we don’t have to know everything! It is enough for us to know only that which is needed for correction and advancement toward the spiritual world. All the degrees along the way are revealed in the process of progressing toward the goal.
An outcome that was not predicted in the present, and that cannot be predicted by the present reality, is called a “miracle.” It is something that is not supposed to happen according to the current laws.
An example is the miracle of the exodus from Egypt. We strive to attain spirituality without even knowing what we are doing. In fact, we don’t even know what “spirituality” is because we haven’t attained it yet. We aspire to something we do not really know.
The truth, we do not aspire to spirituality, because spirituality is only the desire to give, and we, by our nature, cannot want only to give. But through a special spiritual process, which occurs during the study of Kabbalah called, “from not for Her name,” we come to “for Her name. ” At this point, our– aim changes from receiving for ourselves to “giving the Creator.”
I would say that any help that comes from Above, any spiritual ascent, any acquisition of a new spiritual attribute, any time a person equalizes self with the Creator, is a miracle. That is how it is sensed in each degree.
The Discovery of the Origins of Truth
Q: I have seen in stores many books about Kabbalah. The writers of those books promise to reveal all the secrets of the Kabbalah. I checked and saw that they often rely on the material that you teach.
A: Influence through the public and revelation as a result of mental distress are the ways of the Creator in our world. Your question testifies to the fact that we live in a time of the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah into the world.
It doesn’t matter if the sources are spreading the truth or not-- the next stage will show that, among this wealth of information, the true sources will be revealed. Everyone will clearly understand the meaning of the genuine Kabbalah, the one that speaks of the revelation of the Creator in our world, according to one’s adherence with the attributes of the Creator. At that time, all those who are not ready for this understanding will step aside, and many who want to advance in the path of truth will appear.