Inner-work
The inner work of Kabbalah
Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag, known as the “Ba’al HaSulam” (the “Master of the Ladder”) taught the works of the Kabbalah within the context of conscious work of self-transformation. He perceived the great works of Kabbalah as being both descriptions of the cosmic reality of the higher worlds down to this world, and as being an inner road map for the soul. He named his commentary on the Zohar, “the Ladder” as he saw it to be a ladder whereby the soul may ascend, rung by rung, back to unity with the Creator.
He gave over this inner teaching in his lifetime as oral discourses to his students, helping and guiding each one on their path according to the yearning of their individual soul. Rabbi Baruch Shalom haLevi Ashlag,his first-born son, wrote down many of these teachings and thus preserved an invaluable resource for the application of the Kabbalah as a true spiritual practice. These discourses are preserved in the book “Shamati”Rabbi Baruch Shalom Ashlag, in his turn, wrote essays based on this oral transmission of the inner work, which he distributed among his students on a weekly basis, in order to help them in their own inner work of transformation. These have now been published as the books “Bircat Shalom (Sefer Hama’amarim).”
We ourselves, have the blessing to study with a student of Rabbi Baruch’s who emphasizes the importance of bringing the study of the Kabbalah down from the head to the heart in our daily practice.
It is to this inner work of the Kabbalah that this part of the web-site is dedicated. Here you will find one of Rabbi Baruch Ashlag’s essays entitled The Right, the Left and the Bride in the Center.”
In our own inner work we have responded to this article in different ways… . Mark has composed a meditation which he himself uses on a daily basis, and Yedidah found within the article a set of affirmations which she uses. Both these are expressions of our own individual, creative responses to this essay which we are pleased to share with you. However, we are sure there are more. If you find your own response echoing inside you we would be happy to hear from you.