Welcome, enlightened viewers, to Science and Spirituality on Supreme Master Television. Today our topic is the wisdom of Kabbalah, possibly one of the oldest schools of spiritual wisdom that has existed till this day. Kabbalah is often incorrectly associated with schools of Judaic mysticism.

Kabbalah is a supernatural science. Kabbalahists study the Upper World’s, or Heaven’s, forces and laws that govern our physical world. By contrast, the natural sciences, such as physics or biology study our material world in terms of how it is perceived by our five senses.

The start of Kabbalah goes back around 3800 years ago to the time of the ancient, biblical figure, and enlightened Master, the Patriarch Abraham who was originally from the Mesopotamian region in the Middle East. Kabbalahists believe he discovered the existence of “Godliness,” a reality outside this world, and then wrote a book about it, called “Sefer Yetzira” or “The Book of Creation.” This is is the world’s first book about Kabbalah.

Kabbalahists also believe that Abraham often would sit by the door of his tent and welcome travelers to come in. He would then feed them and teach them about the wisdom of Kabbalah. Then, approximately 500 years later around 1350 BCE, Prophet Moses, also an enlightened Master, wrote his Book of Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. This is also considered one of the books that are a part of the Kabbalah tradition.

In the 2nd century CE Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai wrote the “Book of Zohar” or Brightness, with commentaries on the Torah. This book features much discussion on the nature of God and the origin and structure of the Universe. This fact makes the Book of Zohar a primary reference text for Kabbalahists.

Rabbi Yitzhak Luria Ashkenazi, popularly known as the “Ari,” lived during the 16th century. He is responsible for making Kabbalah more like a science, and the nature of the Kabbalah school of today reflects his enormous contributions.

Finally, in the 20th century, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, also known as “Baal HaSulam” or “owner of the ladder,” wrote the book entitled “Sulam” or “Ladder,” containing his famous commentary on the Book of Zohar. Since the times of Moses, Kabbalahists have written their books using worldly language, with references in the texts to things of this world. However the books actually do not refer to this physical world. Instead they are descriptions of the Upper World – the root of forces that create and sustain all things in our material world.

The Book of Zohar states that Kabbalah will be revealed in our times in order to elevate humanity to a harmonious level of co-existence. In some ways Baal HaSulam made that prophecy a reality. He made Kabbalah more accessible to everyone, even those who do not follow Kabbalah by use of modern language, and by making its spiritual philosophy more understandable through his explanations. They also say he created a practical method of teaching Kabbalah that can be used by anyone to attain the Upper World.

Baal HaSulam has written: “And I have named that commentary The Sulam (Ladder), to show that the purpose of it is... that if you have an attic full of goods, then all you need is a ladder to reach it, and then all the bounty of the world is in your hands.” The word “Kabbalah” originates from the Hebrew word “reception,” which refers to being in contact with the Upper Light or Creator, which is pure bestowing love.

But if we are equipped with just the five senses that only tell us about the physical world, how do we develop spiritually inside and be in touch with the Creator’s force from Above? Kabbalahists point to their books as the answer. They say the authors of these texts reached high levels of spiritual attainment and could recognize the Creator.

Once a person studies about the soul and about their sixth sense from these books, the reader will be able to draw the Light of the Creator upon themselves and advance in spiritual knowledge. This is an excerpt from the “Introduction to the Talmud Eser Sefirot” by Baal HaSulam that gives further explanation:

"... 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."

We’ll be right back to discuss more about creation and the nature of our world from the Kabbalah perspective. You are watching Supreme Master Television.

Welcome to back to Science and Spirituality. Today we are discussing the wisdom and science of the ancient Kabbalah.

Kabbalahists believe that the entire substance of creation is born out of a desire to receive pleasure. This desire evolved in four phases, the last of which is called a “creature,” meaning an independent being. In Kabbalah, the evolution of the desire to receive controls everything that exists, in particular matter, time, space, or motion, in our physical world. For this reason Kabbalah focuses on the forces of the Upper World.

Here is a short description of the four phases. Each phase of creation is not like an independent stage of development, but rather each succeeding phase is a new quality of desire that is developed on top of all previous ones. One can view the multiple phases like the transition from infancy to adulthood. We know that even a mature person not only retains memories of the past, but also behaves like a child sometimes; on occasions he or she overreacts emotionally the same as when he or she was small.

So the different phases of development are not erased once passed through, rather it is the latest phase that primarily controls. The Zero (Root or Keter) Phase in creation is Light or the Creator. Light is love, bestowing the gift of pleasure. But in order to bestow, Light must have something to give to. Therefore, Light creates a vessel, called a kli, a being, which is like an imprint of the Creator in order to fill it with pleasure. This is called Phase One or Hochma.

We can compare this phase to a baby in the mother’s womb. The kli is unaware of desires, and depends entirely on the Creator who bestows Light upon it. At some moment, through receiving of this Light, the creation senses love and the giving intention of the Creator. This leads us to Phase Two (Bina), when the creation wants to be like the Creator and therefore rejects the Light.

But again in order to engage in creation, one requires another being that needs to receive Light, and the closest one is the Creator. However, at this stage of infancy, the creation has nothing to give to the Creator. The creator just wants to bestow pleasure. Therefore, the creation discovers that by receiving Light from the Creator, she will actually be bestowing by conferring what pleases the Creator. If one imagines the pleasure a mother derives from nurturing her baby, one will realize that the baby is actually giving pleasure to its mother simply by receiving the nurturing.

Hence, in the Phase Three (Zeir Anpin), the creation independently chooses to receive some of the Light, 10% for example, in order to please the Creator, and the rest is given back to the Creator. Kabbalah says the creation is still very much dependent upon the Creator’s giving. They both share equal status as givers, although the creation does not know the thought behind creation and just copies the Creator’s will to confer in order to be like Hirm.

Nevertheless, Kabbalah says from the Creator’s perspective, Phase Three, could complete the process of creation, but the creation did not settle for that. At the end of Phase Three, the creation feels independent pleasure from receiving Light, as well as pleasure from sharing the Creator’s status. This sensation constitutes Phase Four (Malchut) which is very different from the first three phases because the creature develops a specific kind of pleasure, one of which is a desire for sharing status with the Creator.

In fact, by sharing the status of the Creator, Malchut, which is now an independent creature, is elevated to a higher spiritual state that is even above its own root. It is called “Ein Soft” (No End), which is a land with no limitation on receiving pleasure. Malchut is in bliss. Kabbalahists say there is a beautiful connection here. On the one hand, it seems as if the creation and the Creator are separated and pursuing different ends, because the creation receives Light from the Creator.

But in fact, the Creator’s greatest pleasure is to see Hes creation enjoy and share status with Hirm, which is also the creation’s greatest desire. Similarly, children generally want to become like their parents, and parents naturally want their child to achieve what the parents have or even more. Therefore, the created being and the Creator are actually pursuing the same goal from the beginning of the creation!

Kabbalah says that if we could comprehend this concept, then our lives would be very different now. However Kabbalah says Malchut is not looking at things from the Creator’s perspective. Instead, Malchut looks from its own perspective, without complete understanding of its own nature which is a “will to receive,” an opposite of the Creator. Thus, to become spiritually like the Creator, the creature (Malchut) must use its will to receive with the intention to bestow like in Phase Three.

By doing that, it will turn its focus from its own pleasure to bringing pleasure to the Creator. But the ultimate pleasure, and goal of the creature, is not in sharing spiritual status but also to resemble the Creator, which would include Hiers mind and thought of creation. And this obviously could not be given to an undeveloped creature, which simply responded to the Light in its infancy stage. It is what the Malchut must achieve the hard way and on its own.

Therefore, as Malchut indulges in receiving unlimited pleasures, at the same stage it becomes aware that the Creator is an ultimate Giver. This leads to a painful sense of spiritual shame. Malchut then regards itself as a lower being and these thoughts moved Malchut away from the Creator. Malchut decides to, first, restrict itself from receiving Light altogether to stop the pain.

This act is called Tzimtzum (restriction). Malchut then acquires tools to control receiving light which is called Masach (screen). From now on, the creature will only accept the necessary amount of light into the vessel or kli and the rest will be reflected.

Clearly, Malchut, wants to correct himself by controlling it’s own desires in order to resemble the Creator. Needless to say it was part of the creation plan. This is just the beginning stage of the creation. At the end of the correction, the creature will receive all of the Creator’s Light and unite with Hirm again. This is the purpose of creation, to enjoy the bliss of it.

When we reach that state, we will feel it both as individuals and as a single, united society. This is because the complete kli or vessel is not made of one person’s desires, but of the desires of all of humanity. Kabbalahists say when we complete this last correction, we will become identical to the Creator and Phase Four will be fulfilled. Thus creation will be completed from our perspective, just as it is completed from Hes.

Thank you for being with us today on Science and Spirituality. Please join us next Monday for part two of our program on Kabbalah. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May your life be filled with inner tranquility.

Welcome, enlightened viewers, to Science and Spirituality on Supreme Master Television. Today we continue to follow the footsteps of the story of our world’s creation based on the Kabbalah account. “Kabbalah” in Hebrew means “receiving.” Kabbalah is a supernatural science and a spiritual method of getting in contact with God. Kabbalah is not a religion, but rather it is founded on spiritual experience.

Attainment of God is achieved through an individual’s study of certain Kabbalah books such as the “Book of Zohar.” By way of scientific methods and through perceiving of the spiritual reality of the upper worlds, Kabbalahists can develop a sense of the surrounding spiritual space and this gives them wisdom to deal with our material world.

Kabbalah says if we wish to truly change anything in our world, including ourselves, we must first climb up to the spiritual level and do it from there. This is what Abraham, who is known to those of the Judaic, Christian and Islamic traditions as the Biblical “father of the nations,” discovered almost 4,000 years ago. This is the essence of Kabbalah.

Let’s briefly recap the creation process as we discussed on last week’s program. We had discussed the root of creation and the four phases of a creature’s, meaning an independent being’s, development, which differ by degree and kind of desires. This pattern of creation occurs again and again during the world’s evolution on every level and is a fundamental part of its design.

Every succeeding phase of creation has attributes of the previous phases – just as one who has reached adulthood may still act like a child on occasion. At the root of creation is the desire of the Creator who emanates Light, and who is the Light, to love and bestow. This is known as phase zero. However to do so, Light creates a vessel called a Kli or an underdeveloped creature.

The Kli has an opposing nature - that is, the desire to receive pleasure - and it is filled with the Light. This is phase one or Hochma. Once so filled, the creature senses the Giver behind the Light, and naturally responds by bestowing the Light back to the Creator in phase two or Bina. But the Creator’s pleasure comes from giving. Therefore, in order to please Hirm, the vessel simulates its own action by combining two desires, the receiving and bestowing of Light, at the same time.

This is phase three or Zeir Anpin. Out of this mixed action, the creation gets some sense of the Creator’s thought, and in phase four or Malchut becomes a creature that feels independent, but is not truly independent yet at this stage.

Malchut is aware of its own pleasure in two forms – one from receiving Light and second, from sharing the Creator’s status. Malchut feels in bliss in the world of infinity (Ein Sof), where every desire is fulfilled, and is spiritually very close to the Creator. Malchut is also now above its own root spiritual level.

But soon, the creature discovers that she is only a receiver of the Creator’s Light, She is ashamed of only receiving pleasure which brings her unbearable anguish that she is not on the same level as Hirm.

Therefore, Malchut decides first to completely end the receiving of the Light with an act called Tzimtzum or restriction. She then acquires Masach, which means ‘screen’, to control the reception of Light. This turn of events is to be applauded, as the creature wants to correct its own desires, in order to resemble the Creator. The creature’s true nature is to receive, not to bestow, hence once the vessel is filled up, no more pleasure can be received.

This is comparable to when we have satisfied a feeling of hunger. We no longer have an appetite for more food. Therefore if the pleasure is felt not because we receive it for ourselves, but because we immediately bestow delight upon another being, then pleasure and desires can be infinite, because it all depends on how much we can receive.

The more we can bestow upon another being, the more pleasure we receive. The role of Masach is to calculate how much inner Light is to be received into the vessel. The remaining Light, which is called the surrounding Light, is rejected and forms a surrounding environment for the creature. The screen basically controls the ratio between egoistic and altruistic desires of the creature.

As a result of the screen action, Malchut’s vessel is divided into two parts: The top, the white zone, constitutes the “Worlds,” which receive Light, thus it can bestow pleasure upon others called workable desires. The lower, gray zone, where no Light penetrates, constitutes creation, which is made purely of desires which cannot bestow pleasure on others called unworkable desires.

The workable desires feature the now familiar zero-to-four phase-structure, starting from the world “Adam Kadmon” (the root phase) at the top, followed by “Atzilut,” “Beria,” “Yetzira,” and then “Assiya” at the bottom. Similarly, the bottom part of the vessel constitutes unworkable desires and is divided into five levels. Starting from the top we have the “Still” (unchanging), at the root level, followed by the “Vegetative,” “Animate,” “Speaking,” and the “Spiritual” level at the bottom.

You might be surprised that spiritual desires are placed at the bottom of the vessel. We’ll clarify this later, when we discuss more about the nature of the material world from the Kabbalah perspective. Please stay with us.

Welcome back to Science & Spirituality. Today we are re-tracing how our world was created according to the ancient philosophy of Kabbalah.

The actual root of everything that occurs in our physical world is called the “Common Soul,” or “Adam ha Rishon,” or “Adam” for short, meaning “the first man.” Adam was divided into five levels of desires that do not receive the Light, named: Still, Vegetative, Animate, Speaking, and Spiritual.

Adam is surrounded by the worlds of Adam Atzilut and others that do receive the Light. Now with the help of those worlds, that are meant to be Adam’s surrounding environment, Adam tries to change himself by trying to receive Light, as those worlds taught him to do.

However, when Adam attempts to receive the Light, the received pleasure is so overwhelming that, due to his selfish desires, the screen (Masach) immediately shuts off the receiving of the Light. But this second Tzimtzum or restriction is very different from the first one experienced by Malchut. This is because now Adam receives the Light only for himself without consideration of the Creator’s pleasure. This is considered a sin, which in Kabbalah terms means Adam has moved away from the Creator’s purpose of creation.

Thus, during the process of collecting the Light, the egoistic intention expanded, and each desire tried to receive the Light selfishly upon themselves. Thus the Common Soul shattered into 600,000 pieces, with each piece representing a different desire. As a result, the vessel also shatters and Adam’s Common Soul descends through a system of worlds, and through 125 states, enveloping in greater and greater egoism, until Adam manifested on our physical plane of existence.

As a result of this great fall, Kabbalah says we have left the spiritual worlds and become scattered into many residual selfish desires, in which each piece of Adam’s soul experiences separation and isolation from the other pieces. Thus we do not know how to live in harmony with each other and our inanimate, vegetative, and animate creatures. In this world, the Creator’s Light is concealed from us by our own self-centered nature and we rely on the five physical senses – touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing - in order to satisfy our selfish needs. The shattering of Adam’s common soul, although it appears catastrophic from our physical world perspective, was a necessary step to fulfill the purpose of creation.

Human history has already shown how hard it is to address even a little piece of smaller desires. Thus can you imagine how hard it is to correct Adam’s large number of egoistic desires? In order to help Adam, the Light and Creator are concealed from humankind. The Creator, by Hiers concealment, gives Adam an opportunity to learn to bestow and love other creatures, and to experience the sensation of free will, which is actually an illusion.

The historic evolution of the material world we are familiar with is actually very simple. Everything in our world evolves along the same five stages; beginning at the bottom, and smallest desires, the Still or inanimate, then Vegetative level, followed by the Animate level, and the Speaking (human) level at the top, with the strongest desires and Spirituality as the absolute peak of the pyramid.

Our own human development also goes through phases zero through four. At its preliminary or zero stage, humanity has to satisfy the basic physical desires for sustenance, shelter, reproduction, and family, which are the same as animate desires. Then the first stage is followed by the desire for wealth. The second stage is a desire for power and respect, which are social desires. The third stage is the craving for more and more knowledge, hence we have the development of advanced science.

Today, as Kabbalahists say we are approaching the conclusion of this evolution stage, which has taken us thousands of years, they believe we are beginning to realize that it really did not yield much in terms of changing us. They say we are actually more lost and perplexed than at the beginning of the journey.

Today, relatively few people are at this stage, but their number is growing all the time. Eventually, every human being must come to the point where a craving for spirituality, which is a point initiated by the Malchut’s envy, meaning the inherent need in every creature to resemble Creator and reach his status again. Kabbalah says because the Creator is good, it means that the Creator created us with the intention of bringing us to the best possible state of being. This state is Hes own state.

Kabbalists say, they already live in the spiritual worlds, while living in this world. Desire for spirituality isn’t a separate level in its physical manifestation. Rather, it is a distinct level of development, a state where one’s soul yearns to return to its root in the Upper Worlds – a place where the soul was once in direct contact with the Creator. In Kabbalah, the actual act of correction is taken by the upper Light. We cannot do it without the Creator’s help.

So if we have desire for spirituality, but no means to develop it inside ourselves; meaning no special vessel, therefore no way to draw and expand the spiritual force upon ourselves, how can we do that? A prominent 20th century Kabbalist, Bal Ha Sulham answered this question in the “Introduction to the Talmud Eser Sefirot”:

"... 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."

It is very important to remember that things evolve from up above and on downwards and from the spiritual to the corporeal. The reverse is not true. Also there is not a single event in our world that occurs without the agreement of the Upper Worlds. The only difference is that events in the spiritual worlds reflect altruistic intentions, while in our world they reflect egoistic intentions.

Thank you, our spiritual viewers, for joining us for this journey through our world’s creation from the Kabbalah perspective. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May your days be graced with illumination from the Upper Light.