The Universe Is Within A Person

Question: Why did the Creator create so many stars? Or is this only an illusion? What are the limits of the universe?

Answer: 60 years ago, when I was a student, I had learned that the universe is boundless, that it was not created, and, rather, that it had appeared a countless number of years ago and that time was also infinite.

Today, scientists have reached the conclusion that both the universe and time are limited, but this information is not useful to us at all; these are all kinds of hypotheses and nothing more. Suddenly, galaxies were discovered in relation to them; the space that we had discovered earlier has become like a small point and, therefore, involvement with research like this is absolutely useless.

Astronomers, cosmologists, and many other scientists are involved with mathematical calculations regarding the system of the universe, yet, in fact, they do not understand or know anything serious about this system.

Question: Why have more and more galaxies been discovered by people? How is this information useful?

Answer: The information gives us a feeling of desire that constantly expands and within which we feel the external world. In “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” it is said that everything we feel outside of us is actually found within us. That is how it is arranged so that we will be able to understand the structure of the creation that is found within us.

I do not feel what is found within me. In contrast, everything that spreads out beyond me apparently “fell” out from me. Therefore, I can already discern it and learn from it because it is far from me and seems to exist without any connection to me. An illusion is created for me–that it is not mine–and, therefore, I can relate to it more objectively than if it were inside of me.

Question: Does the discovery of an infinite universe reflect the infinity that is discovered within me?

Answer: Certainly. My inner desire to grow reveals the seemingly expanding universe.

Question: Does this mean that a Kabbalist can look within himself and say, “This star is my desire”?

Answer: That is precisely accurate; it is exactly the way we talk about the sun, the moon, the Earth, and all the planets in the solar system. For example, a Kabbalist can discover a “moon” within himself, which is the characteristic of Binah, the characteristic of bestowal that illuminates through the Ohr Hozer (Reflected Light) from the sun. The sun is the characteristic of Keter, and the Earth is the characteristic of Malchut. We cannot determine these characteristics within us because everything is found outside of us so that we can determine and learn from them, but, in fact, we are learning about ourselves.

Question: What does this give a person? After all, people have been looking at the sun and the moon for thousands of years and were unable to determine that these celestial bodies embody the characteristics of bestowal and reception found within them.

Answer: They had no need for this knowledge and therefore they did not understand it, but if people begin to discover these characteristics within themselves, they will discern–through their connection with the objects of the solar and spatial system–that these objects actually embody a tremendous number of the desires found within them.

Question: This is saying that of the billions of stars, each one of them is a particular desire. Is there a name for every desire as there is for every star?

Answer: Yes. For example, the Hochma of Keter of Binah, etc. is a very long phrase that precisely determines the name of a particular desire.

Question: How does a Kabbalist discover these desires within himself and what does he do with them?

Answer: A Kabbalist needs to do only one thing with the desires: gather them together and attribute them to the Creator. He does not need to work with every separate desire. Our correction is very simple. I do not need to change myself or my desires but only my intention or how I use myself. Therefore, I do not pay attention to my desires; it is not important to me what they are. Rather, only my intention regarding the Creator is important and that depends upon the importance I attribute to the Creator within me. Therefore, the main thing is to develop the image of the Creator within my eyes.

Question: Which is to say that desires arise and float up by themselves and it is only up to me to relate to them with the right intention?

Answer: Yes, certainly. But this already depends on the group, on the study, and how ready you are for them arise and float up within you.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/19/17