People often wonder if, by studying Kabbalah, they will become smarter. A person’s desires are very small at birth. Then they begin to develop to a slight degree. How much these desires develop determines how much the mind develops. The brain can develop only to the extent that it must in order to satisfy our desires. But when we embark on the study of Kabbalah, our desires grow and we become increasingly egotistical, and therefore smarter. But there is no need to worry: when you study, you will get everything you need for your development from Above. You will actually feel something new within you—a gift from the Creator.
Sometimes after years of studying Kabbalah, the goal of one’s life becomes “routine.” Those special thoughts seem to disappear, and it sometimes feels as if there is no movement or attainment. Sometimes the goal itself disappears. This is, in fact, temporary. It is when we feel absolute emptiness, which occurs only when we strive for attainment with all our might, that we make real progress.
Our struggle may be made under the most desperate of situations and after years of disappointments and the perpetual reawakening of our aspirations towards our goal. Then, gradually, it becomes clear that only the Creator can change our situations. Such change can occur only by our total devotion, despite the fact that the Klipot (shells), meaning our egoistic desires to enjoy the Light of the Creator, constantly tell us that we can still do things by ourselves. Only then, and without any warning, comes the help of the Creator, like a dream come true, at the least expected moment.
The Spiritual Screen that Leads Us to the Unknown
The most important thing in Kabbalah is to attain the screen that you begin cultivating on your own. The screen is born and develops in us without any intent on our part, because we don’t know what it is. All the new things that appear in us are solely the direct result of our studies.
We cannot know what will appear in us the next minute. It will always be something new and unfamiliar, so how can we know about it in advance? How can we anticipate it?
“New” means something from a higher degree than my current one. Therefore a screen cannot be cultivated intentionally.
How to Balance Mood Changes, “Ups and Downs” Along the Path
If after awhile you lack joy from your study environment, remember that it is a temporary state. Keep studying and your alienation from society will soon be replaced by the opposite situation: you’ll feel that there are more pleasures around you than you had ever felt before. Then, you’ll discover within you a greater will to receive than before. This will happen to give you something to correct.
When you feel a lack of desire for the spiritual hits, read a lot, and read only the material that your teacher suggests, those parts that your heart desires. At times such as these, my teacher suggested I divide the study between the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” and articles and letters. Study whichever calls to your soul.
Moods often change along the way. This is natural and shows you’re making progress. The articles you’ll read will show you that your feelings and thoughts are typical of one who is making progress. In the morning, before work, study in The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha) for an hour, and before you go to bed read the letters and articles that speak of inner work.
When you, as a student of Kabbalah, feel a lack of excitement, what you are feeling is the beginning of your receiving new values and your reaction to this phenomenon. This period takes some time; you cannot perform significant changes all at once because your mind, your fundamental systems, your nervous system, and the reciprocal relationships with your environment make it very difficult for you to do so.
If you experience this, the good news is that you have already begun the initial process of inner change. Keep studying and asking questions. You’re just like any other person who feels the initial effects of correct study on your inner world. A person who studies Kabbalah does not descend from a previous state, but climbs to a higher one, so there’s no reason for despair, much less depression.
Living the Next Degree, Making It Real
There’s a law in nature called “the law of equivalence of form.” That law makes objects with similar attributes draw nearer, and objects with opposite attributes distance themselves from each other. When signs of spiritual attributes arise, that law begins to act on us to the degree that we have attained these attributes. If you study the material correctly, you’ll soon find that many tiny changes happen within you. You’ll find you are being led, that there’s a soul within you, and that something is affecting it from the outside.
You’ll find that your soul and the Light of the Creator, which affects it, are leading you, not your physical brain. Your mind contains knowledge of the present, whereas the future remains unknown. But even before the future is revealed to you, you want to do more than just fantasize about it; you want to act as if you are in it, as if you have risen to the next degree of awareness.
When we study Kabbalah correctly, the surrounding Light that is awakened works our souls and initiates the next spiritual state. That state will arrive by itself and replace the present state. By making considerable efforts in the study of Kabbalah, a person can accelerate personal changes. That, in fact, is the only freedom of choice we have in this world.
“How to Take Grip of Your Spiritual Path” is based on the book, Wondrous Wisdom: Everyone’s Guide to the Study of Authentic Kabbalah by Michael R. Kellogg.
