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I have been pursuing the teachings of Kabbalah for almost 10 years, honestly, it has been an on and off process. At first, I was frustrated with my level of understanding, it led to mental burnout. I realized I was looking for a concept to put my burning existential questions at rest for they continuously haunt me. I have taken several “breaks” from the teachings and experienced the guilt of falling or backsliding… I have come to innerstand and overstand that it is my journey. My question is, how do I avoid the extremities of chasing these teachings which I am so passionate about that eventually lead to the sensation of “falling”, maybe I do know the answer to the question already and I’m merely seeking confirmation but any insight or perspective will still be appreciated.
Hi Justin,
I’ve heard Rav Laitman describe it once that “to learn to walk, one needs to learn to fall”. In other words, falling is part of the process. But if we don’t understand this, every time we fall, we’ll disconnect from the process completely and stop progressing. So we do need to learn how to fall and get back into it.
For this reason, Kabbalists have always studied in groups. So that if one person falls, the group will give him the strength to get back up. It’s like with mountain climbers that tie themselves together. So if one falls, the others catch them.
We’ll learn how to apply these things practically in the more advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
On the ascension is there “backsliding” ever?Do the spiritual levels overlap?Im thinking about grief,and the stages of grief:denial,anger,(theres a few more that equally suck)and then finally acceptance and understanding.I know for me this past year,I bounce back and forth.I’ll feel like I have a breakthrough and peace about losing my Mom and then the next week I might be crying as much as when it first happened and not wanting to see it as in anyway good or right.I guess what I’m asking is are the spiritual levels attained in a structured way like the drawing or are there in-between stages or diffent orders?Is the path unique to the individual or are we all going to go through a similar process?
Hi Heather, great questions!
1. The rule that “one is raised in holiness and never lowered.” So we never go backwards. It’s possible that we receive an additional challenge that belongs to a higher degree and that challenge can feel like we’re going backwards, but it’s still a step forward.
This is similar to how a bodybuilder that masters a five pound weight moves on to ten pounds. That ten pounds is much more challenging and he cannot do as many reps as before, but this is nonetheless considered progress and advancement.
2. Yes, there are intermediary spiritual degrees. Overall, the spiritual ladder consists of 125 steps. But it’s hard for us to grasp this structure with our current egoistic mind because spirituality is built on a completely different integral quality. For example, if we are to focus on one degree, and zoom into that degree, we’ll find there 10 sub-degrees. If we zoom into those sub-degrees, there are 10 more sub-degrees for each degree, and so forth.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2009/10/how-do-you-calculate-infinity/
3. Overall we’re all advancing in the same direction, but each individual has a different path to get there because each one has a different root of the soul. This root dictates the unique process each one needs to undergo to reach their correction.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/10/the-root-of-the-soul/
4. As we develop spiritually and begin to reveal the reality outside of our ego, our attitude to life and death will change.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/06/life-and-death-in-the-eyes-of-a-kabbalist/
Albert @ KabU
Hi! Thank you for this lesson. In the video it is described how the souls during the time of Abraham were a bit more refined than the “modern” souls, and that something happened that made this shift occur. I wonder, what happened with the souls and why, why did we become less all of a sudden?
I’ve read the recommended literature now and got the answer for my question there.
Instead I now wonder about the term “the recognition of evil”, why is it referred to as evil when it is in fact part of natures plan for us to realize something greater by experiencing separation and egoism? There is nothing to be protected from it is said, does this mean evil is meant to be experienced, it serves a purpose and is in fact a part of the good, not something to be protected from?Hi Johanna,
Yes, evil does serve a purpose. There is rule that “there is no light without a kli (vessel)”, meaning that there is no fulfillment, without a lack. This is similar to how we cannot enjoy food without feeling hungry.
Likewise in spirituality, the light cannot correct us, if we don’t reveal something that needs correction. So the evil is meant to be discovered more and more, so that we have more and more need for the light.
But it doesn’t mean that we should be digging within ourselves looking for the evil. Our aspirations should always be towards something positive, towards acquiring the Creator’s qualities of love and bestowal. If as a result of that work we reveal our opposite evil nature, that’s fine. But that’s a side effect and not something we aspire for directly.
We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced semesters. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
Albert @ KabU
Hi,
I’m 57 years old, Jewish with a strong Jewish education in my past, and a fair bit of knowledge & experience of life, as well as various “paths of growth”.
I’ve read a fair bit about Kabbalah and listened to various talks over the years.
Although I have been quite excited following a lot of what I’ve read and listened to from your site etc, I do have a concern, that has lingered through many of the videos I’ve watched –
and that is that much of your material has a “cultish” feel.
Much of how it is presented, in content & style, and in hearing you say things like all other approaches to Kabbalah are invalid or nonsense, but only ours, and through our particular books etc. is the valid approach.
In much of your material, and Dr Laitman repeatedly says that Kabbalah in your approach is a “science” – yet the out-of-hand dismissal of other approaches to Kabbalah together with the “idealization” of your approach and leaders, keeps triggering off this cult-like feeling in me.
I’m not writing this at all to denigrate you – because I have read and heard much of value in your approach so far, I’m genuinely hoping you can address this concern of mine.
with thanks,
Robin.Hi Robin,
Thanks for sharing your concerns, hopefully this will clarify them:
1. Kabbalah does not hold the monopoly over spirituality. It’s not claiming to be the one and only method. The Wisdom of Kabbalah is the accumulation of thousands of years of experience from people practically trying to reach spirituality, what worked, what didn’t, etc. It’s not a must to use it, but as you can imagine, it’s a lot faster and easier with it.
2. Furthermore, I’m not an expert in other methods, so I cannot comment on what they do or teach there. Ultimately, there is no coercion in spirituality, so it’s up to each person to choose the path that best suits them.
3. And regardless of which path a person chooses for himself, whether here or in another place, it’s highly discouraged to mix methods. If we want to succeed in Kabbalah (or in any spiritual practice really) we should practice it without mixing other things into it. Otherwise it’s like following two different GPS systems. One leads you to the goal through the west highway, while the other through the east highway. If we follow both, we’ll just wind up going in circles.
4. As for the teachers and books, there have been many Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books written throughout the generations, but we don’t really study them directly in our days. In our days we mainly study from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. This is because egoism grows from generation to generation, so Kabbalah, the method for its correction, needs to get adapted in each generation for that level of egoism. For example it’s like in medicine, if a person has a headache he can just drink a tylenol and that’s enough to fix him. But if it’s not just a little headache but something cancerous, then that tylenol won’t do anything for him but he needs a completely different regime to heal himself.
This is why Kabbalah gets adapted in each generation to the level of egoism that is currently found in that generation. So although there were many different Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books throughout the generations, nowadays we mainly learn from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, since their writings contains the light that is most suitable to correct the egoism that is found in our generation.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
hi
The first time that i hered about kabbalah from my brother (about four years ago) i pissed of and didn’t wanna except it. i always said “why are you talking like that the kabbalah is the only way to answers?
i asked this question for several years and i was looking for a way to prove it that i can reach to the top with out studying kabbalah.
but now im here and im trying to get to somthing with studying and sometimes i doubt about it but i couldn’t find a better way.Is this ok if we doubt it?Hi Elnaz,
Yes, that’s fine. It’s written that “there is no greater pleasure than the resolution of doubts”. This is because spirituality is built on the combination of two polar opposites: bestowal and reception. In every new degree, we discover new challenges and new doubts on how to go about doing this. When we succeed in that, we feel an outburst of joy and pleasure. Afterwards we grow and discover greater challenges and doubts, and so forth throughout the entire spiritual ladder of development.
It’s just like with the puzzles that we give kids to help them grow and develop. In the 1st grade, we give them easy puzzles. They solve them and grow. Then in the 2nd grade we give them more challenging puzzles, etc.
Likewise with us, once we resolve one set of doubts, we grow and reveal a new degree with a whole new set of doubts. And we shouldn’t despair from this, but understand that it’s specifically thanks to this process that we grow and develop spiritually.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/the-benefit-of-the-doubt/
Albert @ KabU
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