The Spiritual Magnet of the Himalayas

1. The Root of "the Wisdom of the People of the East"

The Torah relates that Abraham our father sent the sons of his concubines "eastward, to the land of the East (kedmah el eretz kedem)" — the lands of the Far East and India — and gave them "gifts." Our Sages reveal that these gifts were "names of impurity" — deep metaphysical knowledge of energetic forces, spiritual manipulation and magic.
The holy Zohar, the foundational work of Kabbalah, takes us a step further and relates that these forces flow from a spiritual place called "the Mountains of Darkness" (which many of the early sages located on the way to India, among the high mountain ranges). There, according to tradition, the fallen angels (Aza and Azael) were bound. Figures like the wicked Balaam went there to learn sorcery and witchcraft in pursuit of control, power and ego.

2. Beware of the Kelipah (the "Husk"): The Illusion That Exploits and Enslaves

The ancient wisdoms of the East — yoga, meditation and the spiritual disciplines of India and Tibet — are not mere human invention. They draw from that same ancient root. Kabbalah — the Torah's mystical tradition — explains that "impurity" is not necessarily violent, murderous evil (like that of Amalek or the Nazi regime, may its name be blotted out — a regime that merely stole and distorted the symbols of the East); rather, it is a system that offers illusory peace of mind, "enlightenment" and spirituality — while disconnected from the blessed Creator and from the laws of morality.
Here lies the great danger that exists to this day: the forces of impurity (the kelipot, the "husks") feed by drawing vitality from holy souls — above all, Jewish souls. In a world of spiritual teachers and assorted methods, it is very easy to get caught inside systems that produce psychological enslavement, emotional exploitation and charlatanry, in which a Jew may, God forbid, surrender his free choice and his own clear judgment to a guru or a method.

3. King Solomon, the Eagle and Your Ring

King Solomon, the wisest of all men, also wanted to explore these wisdoms. The Zohar relates that he would fly on the wings of a giant eagle to Aza and Azael in the depths of the Mountains of Darkness. But there was one enormous difference between him and Balaam:
King Solomon was never enslaved by that impurity and never swayed by it. He subdued the forces of darkness by means of the explicit Name of God engraved on his ring. He took their knowledge, mastered it, and redeemed the sparks hidden within it in order to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

4. Why Did You Land in Dharamsala, of All Places? To Redeem the Sparks!

The holy Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, taught that nothing happens by chance. If tens of thousands of young Jews — Israelis above all — are drawn precisely here, to the mountains of India, it is because of an inner magnet of the soul. Within these places, where foreign forces are concentrated, very lofty sparks of holiness lie hidden — held captive, waiting just for you to redeem them.
When you explore the world while guarding your inner compass — when you keep Shabbat (the Sabbath) here, learn Torah, eat kosher and steer clear of idolatry — you discover the connection to God in the very heart of these mountains, and you are doing the work of King Solomon. You are not trapped in the kelipah; you are redeeming the sparks and raising them up to holiness.
The perfect tool that helps us do this without losing ourselves is the wisdom of Kabbalah and Chassidut — the inner dimension of the Torah. It hands us "Solomon's ring" — an inner wisdom, pure and deep, that explains how our soul works and allows us to experience an infinite spirituality bound to truth, with a clear mind and complete free choice.
We invite you to leave the cynicism and the masks at the door, and come experience with us a Jewish spirituality that is pure, deep and powerful. We look forward to having you join us for a rich spiritual journey — and insights that will stay with you for life.

With great love,
Rabbi Dror Shaul and the team of the Chabad House of Dharamsala