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Hi Anita,
Kabbalah is a science. The Kabbalists are the scientists of Kabbalah. Everything we know is based on their research. This is similar to how other sciences work. The Kabbalists are those researchers that have performed a certain experiment and reached a certain result: the correction of our nature, the revelation of the Creator, the force of bestowal, etc. So if we are to replicate their experiment, to follow their procedures we should reach the same results.
But if a person is not yet on the degree of a Kabbalist, how does he relate to everything he’s learning? Like to any other science. For example, when I read a physics textbook, I see different formulas and experiments that research our reality. If I’m reading this textbook in 8th grade, then I have no choice but to accept the things written there since they come from a credible source. If I’m reading this textbook in college, I’m already given some tools with which I can measure and verify some of these things for myself. And yet there are some concepts that are so advanced, that I have no way to verify them until I become a physicist myself and get access to all the tools that will help me research these things.
Same with us here. There are some things I can verify for myself even when I’m just starting in the fundamentals of this wisdom, and then there are things that I can verify only when I myself have reached attainment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/kabbalah-and-other-sciences-philosophy-and-religion/
Albert @ KabU
What did it mean “you now understand and know how to use the readings of the managerial even if you don’t understand it I must have missed that key part in session one there is no one besides him ……
After seeing the video I have 2 main questions:
1. why or how do we descend from the reality into our world? was that a punishment?
2. I would like to know more about the 125 steps
Hi Al,
1. We were created in the state of perfection, in complete adhesion with the Creator. (Baal HaSulam describes this in the article Introduction to the book of Zohar). But this was an unconscious state, like a baby in its mother’s womb. So we necessarily had to come to the complete opposite state, to lose that state of perfection, in order to once again reach it, but this time consciously.
And the fact that we had to lose this state is not something bad, but it’s a necessary part of our development. It’s just like with kids. We don’t just give them a completed jigsaw puzzle. On the contrary we take it and break it down into many pieces. Then in the process of them putting it together, they grow and develop. Same with us, this process of losing that state is a necessary part of our further growth and development.
This process also adds to us a certain level of freedom, without which, we would be no different than machines, or robots, that were programmed to act a certain way and they just carry out this inner script. Instead, we were programmed one way, and we rise above this inner programming, become independent of it, and then develop our own desire to advance towards this goal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/01/from-perfection-to-perfection/
2. The number 125 comes from the structure of the upper worlds. This structure is just a division of the spiritual desire that we need to correct into sefirot, partzufim, and worlds.
The most basic division of the desire is 1 Sefira. 5 Sefirot compose 1 partzuf. 5 Partzufim compose 1 world. There are 5 worlds in total. So 5 worlds each with 5 partzufim each with 5 sefirot equals 125 (5x5x5) steps on the spiritual ladder, or in other words corrections that need to be performed on the desire.
In the book Kabbalah for the Student, there’s an article called Foreword to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah which lists these 125 steps in the language of sefirot/partzufim/olamot(worlds). For now, these are just technical terms for us, but in the future lessons we’ll dive deeper into these things and learn how to feel and experience them.
In simpler words, the 125 steps represent the difference between us and the Creator. The Creator is a desire to bestow and we are the desire to receive. Adapting our desire to receive to work in order to bestow takes 125 steps. So to the extent that we correct our nature, make it similar to the Creator’s nature, to that extent we’re “climbing” this ladder.
In other words, ascending or descending this ladder is not a physical action, but rather depends on how much we’re similar to the Creator’s quality of bestowal (ascending) or less similar to it and more egoistic (descending).
All of this operates according to the law of equivalence of form. Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
Albert @ KabU
Hello. I’m wondering if there will be instruction to use any of the books that was recommended to supplement this course.
Hi Park,
Each weekly lesson has recommended reading materials from the course books. Here is the link for week 1.
Furthermore, it’s recommended to just read through Kabbalah Revealed from beginning to end. After that, you can also read through Attaining the Worlds Beyond.
As for Kabbalah For the Student, this is a textbook of primary sources, it can be very difficult to read on your own. We’ll go through those articles together throughout the semesters.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Aleta,
Lo Lishma and Lishma refers to our intention, the reason for why we’re studying Kabbalah. Lo Lishma means that we aspire to spirituality egoistically, for our own sake. While Lishma is when the light corrects our initial egoistic aspiration and makes it operate purely in the direction of bestowal, for the sake of the entire system.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/07/lo-lishma-having-something-to-correct/
Albert @ KabU
There are many variations of the word/name Adam in the readings. Please explain the varied use and meanings. Thank you.
Hi Aleta,
Adam is Hebrew for man or person, it could also be the name of a person.
Adam Kadmon, which translates to: primordial man, is part of the system of worlds. It is the first form of the desire to receive that became similar to the Creator, but it operates in a different way then the rest of the system, so it’s called primordial.
Adam HaRishon, which translates to: the first man, is the active part within the system of worlds. This is similar to how you have planet Earth and you have people or those that inhabit the planet.
So Adam Kadmon is part of the system of worlds, while Adam HaRishon is the active part within that system.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/05/the-human-is-the-innermost-part-in-the-system-of-worlds/
Albert @ KabU
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