Among the many teachings about our destiny, mankind and its development, there is an ancient teaching called “Kabbalah”. The word “Kabbalah” comes from the word “to receive” – to receive ultimate information about creation and nature.

This science came into being about 5700 years ago, when the first Kabbalistic book was written. It is not clear how it was written, but it is dated in this period. The book is called “Secret Angel” (angel is the name of the force which controls the world), and it speaks about the total outer force which controls our whole world.

The next book of Kabbalah was written around 1800 BC, and is called “The Book of Creation”. It describes the system of control within our world in more detail and clarity. In 200 AD the next book of Kabbalah was written, – the Book of Zohar, probably the most famous Kabbalistic text. Then, in the 15th century Lurianic Kabbalah, the books of Ari were written, followed by the Kabbalistic books of Baal HaSulam in the 20th century. Altogether there are five sources of Kabbalah in existence.

 

Why there are only five?

Kabbalah maintains that the main material of our world is human egoism, our desire for pleasure, fulfillment, information, knowledge, possession, and absorption – on any level. Also, this process doesn’t only occur within ourselves. This desire of matter to preserve its form – i.e. crystals, properties etc., – exists on the following levels: still, vegetative, animal, and human - and is the desire to preserve itself at all times, that is, to attract the useful and to eliminate or push away the harmful. This is the main quality of all matter. The development of matter occurs in the development of the egoistic quality of intake.

 

How is this determined on the human level?

Level zero of human development are the desires of the body, which would be present in man even if he lived alone in the forest. These basic desires are food, family, children, and sex, or whatever the body demands naturally. So, bodily desires – is level zero of the development of desire. It is on this level of development that the first book of Kabbalah was written, “Secret Angel” (5700 years ago).

The next phase in the development of desire (the first level of desire) is the desire for wealth. Egoism increases, and man, besides wanting to simply exist, begins to desire possessions higher than the animal level. During this period appeared the second book of Kabbalah, “The Book of Creation” (1800 BC).

The next level in the increase of egoism in humanity (the second level of desire) resulted in the desire for rank, fame, and power. The desire for power is the strongest of the three. At this time appeared the Book of Zohar (200 AD).

The following or third phase of the development of egoism is the desire for knowledge, and alongside this development the books of the famous scientist Ari (16th century).

During the 20th century, the time of the Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, a further development of egoism took place. At this time desires higher than natural knowledge appeared: desires for the Upper or spiritual attainment. This development has continued into our time: the early 21st Century.

All these books speak about one thing: about the world around us, about its way of existence as well as something beyond it, called the Upper world. In what way is our world controlled from the Upper world and, vice-versa, how do we, through the Upper world control our world? This is how a Kabbalist thinks.

It is said in the book of Zohar, written in 200 AD, that the time will come - the prediction is very precise – 1995 – when humanity will enter a phase of such an egoistic development that it will not be able to be fulfilled by the bodily desires such as for wealth, power, or knowledge, and will begin to search for something that is beyond this world. And then the science of Kabbalah, which was concealed for thousands of years, must be revealed (beginning in 1995) and offer everyone its knowledge. If this does not happen then, as the science of Kabbalah says, humanity will enter a period of disorientation and disillusionment, and drugs will flood humankind. This happens because mankind does not understand, know or see the point of its existence.

This, in short, is the history of humankind, and with it, the history of Kabbalah.

All of these Kabbalistic sources are identical, except during each period they speak about our world and man and his state differently. They speak about free will, about the way a person thinks, how he makes decisions and adapts to his world and how humanity can achieve higher attainment. This is what can be said about the development of the science itself.

What does Kabbalah say about the composition of the universe? It says that there exist five worlds: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya, and our world. All of the worlds are identical; the difference between them is only in the material from which they are created. Just like in nature there exist five levels of egoism, so these worlds differ in their levels of egoism or the matter from which they are created. The system of control descends from the higher level to the lower level. It follows that in our world almost everything is predetermined from the Upper level, except one thing, the opportunity for man to develop the as he attains and gains knowledge of the Upper world.

If we look at a person as a model, as a piece of existence, then, as it says in Kabbalah, if we knew our exact composition, all of our qualities with which we were born, all of the parameters that are preprogrammed into us, all the genes (as they say today, there is a gene responsible for murder, for memory, etc. and they are finding predetermined qualities in man), and if we knew in advance all of our nature, then we would see that there is nothing in our behavior that can not be foretold, because everything in us has been prepared, placing us in a specific environment for our development (society, school, parents, etc).

This way, inside and out, we are guaranteed a closed system where it is possible to predict absolutely all of man’s future steps. Kabbalah says that man has a sole parameter within which he is free. This is the opportunity to exert efforts to develop through knowledge, and better still, to attain the integral system of control, the Universe and creation. Only in this is he free, and only in this will he be able to correctly have contact with nature and thus develop within this system of control.

The system of control is made up of two lines: the right (positive) and the left (negative). Man is located between them and has free will to attain the world and thus to change himself.

 

Question: What is the difference between the Kabbalistic sources?

The difference between them is that the first Kabbalistic books were written in a language we could not understand (i.e., the language of fairy-tales, legends, fables, metaphors etc.) and the closer they are to our time the more academic they become. They begin to separate the material into phases, stages, and levels with precision.

At the present moment our main Kabbalistic source is the work entitled “The Teaching of Ten Sefirot”. It is six volumes, a textbook of sixteen parts, each of which is made up of questions and answers, and it is completely suited for our learning.

It explains that the whole system of creation is made of ten concentric spheres, called Sefirot and our world is located in their center. We, located in this center, perceive only the lowest of them. We call it just that: “Our world”. We do not perceive all the other worlds with our regular senses. Kabbalah, as the method of attaining the universe, explains that through the study of Kabbalah man can begin to perceive the outer or Upper Sefirot, to attain in this way the roots of creation from which all the signals descend into our world.

The whole history of humankind, as this teaching asserts, demonstrates that all humanity will ultimately come to a state in which man will be shown the impossibility of existence without attaining the whole picture of creation. This will lead him to an understanding of these outer Sefirot or the outer spheres, to a place where all the systems of control are located.

Why must they exist at all? Existing in this world, can we say that anything exists outside of us? Evidently, we can, even if only due to the fact that we do not know what will happen with us in the next instant. As we completely lack information about the future we are unable to predict anything; we do not know how and which actions affect our world positively or negatively and return to us as good or evil, and we do not know our own destiny nor the destiny of all humanity. In reality, we know nothing, not even a minute or second about the future.

All this, as it says in Kabbalah, is located in the outer levels, beyond our current perception, and although we are people and are the crown of creation, in reality we are in an underdeveloped state. We must develop further in order to attain the outer creation. This is attained only through the study of the Kabbalistic sources.

Kabbalistic sources speak about the organization of these worlds. The book “The Teaching of the Ten Sefirot” begins this way. From the highest level of the beginning of all the worlds and through all the worlds the book tells us about the structure of all the worlds, our world and man in our world. Through studying this entire structure the student slowly begins to see connections in our world which he did not see before, one sees interactions between different objects in our world. In this way the philosophical picture that is offered by the Kabbalistic teaching becomes clear to the student.

As I have already said, in the history of humanity there were five famous Kabbalists. Each of them epitomized a new phase in the development of humanity.

On this timeline we can discern absolutely everything about the history of humanity – how with the increase of egoism there emerged a new socio-economic formation, how suddenly new lands were discovered, how the next change of egoism provoked the necessity to develop technology and so on. In this way we can discern everything depending only on this one parameter which in principle determines everything. Our internal egoistic desires towards the environment – to acquire, to attain, to receive, and to determine – push us towards newer and newer levels of development, which are determined by this system.

In connection to this it is possible to identify philosophical branches (such as when they begin and why), for instance, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as the roots of practically everything that happens to humanity. A more detailed look at this timeline (or the line of egoistic growth in humanity) gives us a way to understand any parameter, that is, any event which happened to us throughout the centuries.

In our time, in the last 10-15 years, as was predicted in the book of Zohar (from the year 1995 and even earlier) Kabbalah is no longer a secret science. It has been revealed and is studied. There are faculties on the study of Kabbalah in philosophical departments and universities. From our Kabbalistic Academy I read lectures in many of the world’s universities. Today it is already a discipline, which is studied by philosophers and included in student programs as one of the teachings worked out by humanity, which is continuing to develop it further.

 

Question: Scientific critics consider Kabbalah to have appeared in the 11th-12th centuries. Is this so? And the second question: you said, unambiguously, that we can predict certain qualities of man in advance, determine his profession. How does Kabbalah treat the very principle of uncertainty?

Yes, there are several theories about the emergence of Kabbalah. There is a theory expressing the traditional view towards this question, which says that for the first time Kabbalah emerged approximately 5700 years ago, and according to the second view Kabbalah began in the 11th-12th century in Spain, in Europe.

I am of the school which considers the beginning of Kabbalah to have originated in the more ancient period, and indeed, there are sources supporting this. It is difficult to prove from documented sources, but at least the book of Zohar (although it is said that it appeared in the 11th century AD) is written in such a language which clearly points to an emergence of Kabbalah in the 2nd century.

Recently I was at the University of Berkeley, California, where I gave a lecture together with professor Daniel Matt, who holds the other opinion. He and I in front of a large audience exchanged views – he stated his point of view and I – mine, which is normal in science.

Regarding the principle of uncertainty, the fact is that Kabbalah immediately places man in a very certain relation to the world and attainment. Kabbalah says that there exist four levels of attaining the world.

- The first level, which in practical physics, is called the “level of Newton” and states the following: everything that exists around us – exists; I am in this world and I am able to study this existence.

- The next level. Today science already determines, and it is obvious from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, that in principle, that which exists - exists. And I as an investigator, in relation to this existing world am independent, but my observation depends on the relative speed of two objects: the object which I am studying and myself.

- The next theory maintains that man affects the result of the experiment, meaning that I am not simply observing something, as was thought previously, but that which I see is something average between my qualities and the qualities of the “something” around me, and I am not simply studying something – I am studying something within my own qualities.

This way it turns out that we are not attempting to learn the objective picture of the world, and not even attempting to say whether it exists or not, because we always study everything through our five sense organs. We can make an image of man, this system, as a box which has five entrance holes: smell, touch, vision, hearing and taste. Everything that we receive enters this box through the five senses, but what exists outside – I do not know.

Suppose I hear something. What does it mean, “I hear”? Probably that something is outside of me, arousing some kind of waves (how? – I also do not know), that reach my ear drums and, seemingly, push on it. Inside exists a whole system, an eardrum and so on, as well as an electrical system that transmits all kinds of signals to me. I adapt them, compare them with what I know, and this way I understand that something is happening outside, and somehow I decipher it for myself.

A question arises: if along this path I will have some kind of damage, then will I know if something is outside or not? And what if I will have different parameters, a different range of my sense organs, then I will perceive the world to be completely different. For instance, a dog “sees” the world inside of the organs of smell. Everything presents itself as some sort of spots, and the dog discovers only according to smell. What does it see? Some kind of color puzzle.

It follows that we cannot speak about what the world is like; we can speak only about how we picture it. At the present time this position is already accepted by science as obvious and true.

Kabbalah speaks about something else. In general it states that all of our senses are built according to the principle of equivalence, meaning the following: outside some kind of wave is traveling; if inside myself I am able to generate something similar, then according to the principle of equivalence I catch this wave and then I perceive it. In this way, around us – who knows, what may exist - but we catch only a tiny part of the world around us to the extent to which our senses are able to discern it.

Is there something else that exists, something different, wider, inside our volume that we do not pick up at all? Kabbalah tells us that there is. Because of this it is called “Kabbalah” from the word “reception”, which means to receive additional information.

Basically, there is a lot of information around us which we are not aware of. However, we do not feel that we are missing this information. In particular, and most importantly, we are missing information about ourselves: what will happen with our world and with us in the next moment, not to speak about distant future. Is there a way to find this out? Kabbalah, as a practical science, maintains that there is. How so? It's very simple. It’s necessary to attune yourself in an appropriate way; to open an extra sensory organ which exists alongside what is happening, what is outside of us. In short, we need an extra sense.

Right now we, together with scientists, are working on the development of certain symbols of perception that point to the existence of something that we do not determine in any way. Everything that we determine, everything that we observe and perceive, in reality is only a projection of our senses. And if our senses were structured differently, then we would perceive totally different things. For example, we would perceive firm things as transparent, liquid ones as sticky, and so on. Our senses give us practically the whole picture of the surrounding world.

In summary, at first, there was Newton’s theory, then Einstein’s theory, then Hue Everett’s theory… Recently I gave a lecture at the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Moscow State University. We are finding common grounds and are trying to supplement each other.

 

Question: It is difficult to imagine that physicists and the orthodox would discuss the same problem…

No, of course not. Kabbalah is not a living science; it does not claim to be absolute, all-knowing, or exclusive. It simply offers its theory. Within the framework of this theory, depending on one's egoism and on that “something” that possibly exists around us, it can explain certain questions. We conduct meetings, so-called round table discussions on a regular basis.

 

Question: Can you tell us, how do the main, so-called world religions relate to this? Is there a system of interaction; any discussion or dialogue forum?

It is traditionally considered that Kabbalah came out of Judaism; that it is in some way connected to Judaism. Kabbalists themselves do not consider this to be the case. Kabbalah passed through Judaic representatives, but if you ask about Kabbalah, the most religious Jews will clearly tell you that they do not understand anything about it and do not study it. This means that Kabbalah has no relation to religion, and I would say that it does not have any relation to Judaism as well, because Kabbalah appeared earlier than the Jewish people.

Besides, Kabbalah says that there is no such nation as “Jewish people”. This was a specific group of people who traveled out of Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. If today we conducted a biological test of Jews and ancient Persians (there are still such tribes in Iraq), we would find that they are totally identical. In other words, this group of people is not a nation in a biological sense.

Kabbalah does not rely on any dogmas or traditions in its view of the world. It does not obligate a person to follow any special frame of behavior as the three world religions do. On the contrary, Kabbalah says that this method is offered to all mankind for its further development, when, at the brink of the 20th-21st centuries, humanity really begins pondering about the meaning of life, and can't find the answer in our religions, or inside the framework of this world.

Scientist-Kabbalists (among them were Jews and non-Jews) have always been subject to ostracism and general enmity from religious orthodox Jews. This can be seen even today, because Kabbalah clearly takes its stand from a materialistic position. We talk only about what we know; only that which we can determine through experiment really exists, and under no circumstances do we accept any aspects of faith.

 

Question: But is there also a religious Kabbalah?

This is not Kabbalah. They took the terminology from Kabbalah in order to explain their earthly behavior. Around the 16-17th century there was a group of religious Jews who decided to add some additional religious attributes in order to inspire themselves and their people, because at the time there was a large spiritual downfall (this was related to the common egoism). Several important rabbis decided that they had to somehow revitalize their followers and so they took elements from Kabbalah that explained the qualities of the worlds, meaning the five worlds, and the ten Sefirot, etc.

They started to explain all this to religious people, and did so in order to instill in them some higher thoughts, than simple observance of dead traditional ceremonies, procedures, and dress habits. In this how regular Judaism was supplemented with Kabbalistic elements.

Many took from Kabbalah: there is a Christian Kabbalah, a Jewish, Orthodox, and a Kabbalistic philosophy in general.

 

Question: What about Modern Orthodox Judaism?

I will tell you honestly: I do not deal with them – not Judaism, not Catholicism or Jewish Orthodoxy. A few months ago we made a trip during which we gave a few presentations in Protestant universities. We gave lectures not only in the universities, but also in the communities, including meetings with the Department Heads. This amounted to about 80 million people, a huge number of people. Basically, we encountered a complete understanding, as well as knowledge of Kabbalah. This stands in contrast to the representatives of Judaic religion, who brag about their knowledge, but in reality lack it. With these people it was possible to communicate openly and freely about Kabbalah, and really treat them with deep respect.

Besides, we have a world wide Kabbalah teaching network, which includes about 800,000 people who are studying according to our system. This is a remote study system; teaching takes place over the internet. We also have live courses.

Twice a year we conduct huge congresses. Representatives from 34 countries attended the last such congress. There were people from many different races and peoples. On our internet site the teaching is published in 27 different languages. By the way, our educational site received the prize of Brittanica. You can say that Kabbalah today is pretty fashionable.

Question: How do you feel about centers of traditional Jewish Kabbalah, for example in Tzfat? This is my first question. And the second question: please tell me how you evaluate the influence of Kabbalah in Tzfat – positively or negatively – on Hasidism of the 17th – 18th centuries in Spain, Germany (and from the 17th century in the territory of Ukraine)?

Regarding Kabbalah and its center in Tzfat, I am the representative of this branch in Kabbalah. This is very dear to me. This is what I have studied and continue to study and in my teaching I highlight specifically this area of Kabbalah. Lurianic Kabbalah is what is called “Kabbalah of the city of Tzfat”. Presently there is practically no center of study there. The Kabbalah of Tzfat ended during the 16th and 17th centuries. Today Kabbalah is not studied in Tzfat, and there are no Kabbalah representatives there.

Further, in relation to the effect that Kabbalah of the 11th-12th centuries made on Hasidism of the 16th-17th centuries in Spain (as well as Byelorussia and Ukraine): if we interpret the history correctly, we see that there is practically no connection between them. All Hasidism grew out of Lurianic Kabbalah – around the 15-16th century, and it does not relate at all to Kabbalah of the 11th-12th century, that is, the Spanish period. In Spain it was not Kabbalah, it was religious philosophy of Rambam and others. Besides, I would say that this is a totally different way of thinking.

I will mention a few important points in the history and maybe later you can clarify them more by yourself. We can investigate the surrounding world through two types of governance: general and particular. The difference between them is the same as between the wave and the particle theories of light – everything goes outward either through spheres, or through informational currents.

Before the Kabbalist Ari, that is, before the 15-16th centuries, Kabbalists investigated the general theory of governance through spheres. This is how Kabbalah looked until Ramak, who was the last Kabbalist before Ari. After Ari, Kabbalah has investigated everything only through precise, goal-oriented governance, that is, through directed informational currents. There is no relation between the two ways of thinking, not even a connection; they are very clearly separated books.

It is impossible to say that there is any connection between Hasidism in Eastern Europe in the 17th century and later and the philosophy of the 11th-12th centuries. Of course, you can always find some kind of connection, but there are no strict connections.

 

Question: Is Kabbalistic teaching about God?

Kabbalah does not even say the word, “God”. It says that there is the Upper force, which can be called the Supreme thought; and on it, like on a sheet, lies the entire universe. This Supreme thought is called the Creator, because it creates everything else, but it is a thought, i.e., an informational field.

This is not what religion says about God: that there is Something, and if you pray with Him, He answers you positively, and if I don’t pray with Him, He treats you worse, and so on. There is no such thing.

Kabbalah refers to the Creator, to this common informational field as to the general law of nature that acts in all the worlds (including our world). In other words, it is a law just like the law of gravity: you may or not pray with it - it does not matter, because if you jump from a ten story building you will have the same result. This is how Kabbalah looks at the world around us, meaning, that this is not God who can be kind or harsh - it is a law. If you comply with this law, then you use this world properly to the degree of your compliance with it.

This is why Kabbalah says: open your eyes, study the world around you, including the one that is beyond your five senses. If you get to know it better, you will start acting correctly. That's all. The need for upbringing disappears, because we see that ordinary traditional upbringing brings little results. Regarding punishment, we also see that any punishment, including the confinement of a person, bears little fruit.

Only when a person clearly sees that the consequence of his behavior harms him does he refrain from acting in a certain way. We simply need to discover the world; to realize that everything in it is the opposite of you, and then you will naturally act better. Then the principle of “love thy neighbor” and others, that are preached by religion as well, will really be observed. We just need to attain.

 

Question: In the books which you have given us there are stories about the creation of the world, about how man, Adam Kadmon, came about, and how peoples appeared, - is this to be taken literally or understood in a different way?

Nothing is perceived literally, everything is perceived in the form of a technical, physics-like picture. I hope that the material which I gave you will make it clear that Kabbalah relates to the world like any other materialistic science.

If you speak with physicists and astrophysicists today, they will tell you that they are already guessing that at the basis of the Universe there is some kind of intelligence. It stands behind everything that happens to us and what we observe in the Universe. This means that that science is already approaching this barrier in order to go beyond the knowledge and attain a higher understanding.

What does Kabbalah say about the method perception? The method of perception is studying, and nothing else, just as in our world. But the difference (and this is why it is called a secret teaching) is that in our world you can conduct experiments parallel to your study, researching the nature in this way. However, in Kabbalah you cannot conduct experiments. You can experiment only to the degree of to which you are equivalent in form to what which is outside.

Studying Kabbalah changes you. It broadens your internal abilities and your internal absorption of the environment. You begin to feel more acutely and, accordingly, start conducting experiments yourself; start observing the consequences. In other words, Kabbalah allows you to see and feel what happens beyond matter, from the other side, meaning, it allows you to perceive the forces that control matter.

Because humanity is created solely from one kind of material – the egoistic one, it is very easy to compel us, as we are always striving for maximum pleasure with minimal effort. This is the law of our behavior – mental, physical, it does not matter what, - but it not the spiritual law. Because of this we are easily compelled to something. A little suffering, caused by our egoism, - and we begin to move in the direction in which it prompts us to. This determines all of our behavior. That is why there is no other way out.

As it is said even in the first book of Kabbalah (and it doesn’t matter if it was written in the 11th century, as my colleague says, or 5700 years ago, as I say; in any case it is an ancient theory) – thanks to the development of egoism and only because of it in particular, we will begin to sense and comprehend the entire universe, that is, will take over control into our hands instead of being blindly controlled.

There are three centers for studying Kabbalah: in New York, in Israel, and in Moscow. These are the three main centers, and there are also over 200 smaller centers in the whole world. The teaching is free, and is mainly given over the internet. There is also a communications system with these centers.

 

Question: What is absolute egoism?

Absolute egoism is us. Kabbalah says that originally one common soul was created; it is called Adam. Adam is not the person that once supposedly existed on the Earth and from him followed all humankind – it is everything that exists in humanity for tens of thousands of years.

Adam is the person in whom the egoistic level zero emerged for the first time. In other words, he took a burden and was able to write the book “Secret Angel”. This is what happened on Earth.

Basically, the common absolute egoism is the original unification of us all, which occurred before the Universe disintegrated, before the Big Bang. This is a huge mass which dismantled due to the shattering of the vessels (in Kabbalah this is examined in great detail). There was a colossal explosion that occurred because this egoism, that is, the egoistic force of separation or individualism was greater than the force of mutual attraction.

This is what we have. Egoism increased slightly and look what is happening today: since the middle of the 20th century (only 50 years have passed!) families have been falling apart, people are becoming so individualistic that they are no longer capable of living in a family; children leave parents, and people are beginning to take drugs in order not to feel this world, to completely check out of it. A desire to disconnect from this world is the expression of the very last level of egoism. Psychologists are completely in agreement on this.

 

Question: Is there such a concept as Kabbalistic magic?

There is no such thing. This is only ascribed to Kabbalah; not magic, Tarot cards, spells, red strings or holy water – there is none of this in Kabbalah. Take any modern man – all of this is ascribed to Kabbalah so that it easier to sell it.

 

Question: But is there really such a thing?

There is no such thing. I face with this all the time. These are common questions that people ask. If you take purely Kabbalistic sources – “Secret Angel”, “The Book of Creation”, the book of “Zohar”, the books of Ari and Baal HaSulam – you will not find a single world or a hint suggesting that Kabbalah is some sort of magic.

We exist on this Earth for many thousands of years – have you seen any miracles or any “holy” force that you can pray with – and did anything happen? Give me an example. I don’t know of such things.

I'm a scientist; my profession is biological medical cybernetics. I graduated from the University in Leningrad, and worked in the Military-Medical Academy. Then I began to study Kabbalah. I did not go into religion; I only studied science. That is why I can not even speak on this level. I remain a materialist.

In my opinion there is no magic in the world. As I understand it, magic and faith are nothing else but lack of knowledge. There are many things that we don't know about nature; we use only 2% of our brain, but, if 98% were also created, we probably need it for something. By developing further one begins using it.

And, of course, whatever we know about the nature does not even amount to 2%; it's an impossibly small percentage, so it is obvious that we will find out much more. But I don’t think that there is room for magic. There is room for science and information.