Q: Isn’t Kabbalah another form of mysticism, like many others in the world?
A: No. People want to label Kabbalah as mysticism, blessings, curses, charms, etc. These labels became linked with Kabbalah because it was forbidden to study. But that is really the case. Even the holy Ari writes that it is prohibited to use charms and blessings, because they have nothing to do with Kabbalah.
Kabbalah is a science that teaches the law of reality, of which we are a part. Through this science, we discover those rules and the spiritual world, which is the reason for everything that happens here with us. They are collective rules, which encompass the laws of all the sciences in our world.
Kabbalah is not another belief, or some imaginary view of life unseen; instead, it offers exact, clear laws that depict the structure of the Upper Worlds.
It is when we study Kabbalah that we first acquire knowledge of the world outside our own. We discover the Upper, Spiritual World. Then, we gradually attain the ability to affect it. Through tests and experiments, we learn how to do it, and then we enter the comprehensive reality.
At this point, we begin to work not from within our own bodies, but from our souls, which are our true essence. After all, “man” is not the physical body that is replaced at the beginning of each new life; it is the soul that we, as yet, do not feel.
The purpose of creation is that we will act from within our souls, from the Upper World, and live at the highest degree possible, rather than in the lowest (our world), which is beastliness alone. By discovering our souls, we attain contact with the Upper World, and thus achieve a whole, complete, eternal and blissful life.
Q: Is Kabbalah a mystical experience?
A: It is not a mystical experience. It is something that students learn as rules that they are part of, which they must abide by. These laws are active in all levels of nature – still, vegetative, animate and speaking.
Q: Is Kabbalah just a theory, or has it been tested in practice?
A: It is not a theory. With Kabbalah, a person actually acquires knowledge. You might say that it involves a lot of mathematics and dry rules. It has nothing to do with psychology or other imaginary fantasies. There is a good reason for the name, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah” (the wisdom of receiving): it is a wisdom that teaches one how to receive.
Those who acquire knowledge about the laws of reality begin to use and consequently increase their egos. Unlike other religions and mystical methods, the study of Kabbalah does not require one to nullify one’s ego and cancel one’s desires. There is no requirement to fast or to mortify self.
One does not have to leave everyday life or abandon family duties. Nor does one float in the air, or practice breathing exercises in order to attain tranquility.
Quite the contrary, students build their egos and turn them into vessels to help them attain the sublime goal. To study Kabbalah, and understand how the Upper World operates, one must be at the center of that world and act from within it.
Therefore, one must perform all one’s mundane duties. The attainment of the spiritual reality must be in one’s corporeal senses, closely connected with one’s normal life.