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I expect I am like all of us, listening to the videos, reading the texts, exploring links provided and more. And then there are the descents. Last night through this morning. So much time invested, what difference does it make, where is the gain, for me? Will I ever really feel that I have attained the spirituality I came to find or will it all be just intellectual?
So I left the computer, left the confines of the house, went outside with my dogs under the blue sky, fresh from the cold and yesterday’s snow, already melted. I walked slowly through the pasture down to the play area, looked at the surrounding mountains still covered in snow. And suddenly it was as if the sky had opened and I could see and feel the presence of the beyond.
The mourning dove sat there on the fence, so close to me that I knew the Creator was in that little bird. With a deep breath I pictured of Rav Laitman walking through the trees where he does many of his videos. I could see him, I was there with him. As I looked up to the top of the Blue Spruce a mockingbird landed right there and started to chirp. He was talking to me. The Creator was talking to me through him. I could see the roots way up in the clear sky as they came down to touch the top of that tree and I knew this day of descent was over.
It made a big difference to go quietly outside and be still, in Nature. To quietly observe the wonders of Creation and allowing it all to flow inside of me brought me back here. I just wanted to share the experience, perhaps it will touch the point in your heart too. I posted it here because it wasn’t really something from the lesson, or maybe it was in a way.
Hi there,
The videos this week appeared to make a strong assertion that the ego (the will to receive) cannot be suppressed or destroyed. What then, is the concept of Tzimtzum? Does the concept of Restriction have no corporeal relation whatsoever?
I can’t remember exactly where I read it, but some of the texts here seem to imply that Tzimtzum is quite literally the only action the Creature can take in order to cross the Machsom, because below the Machsom the Creature has absolutely nothing to bestow. It can’t possibly bestow to the Creator because it has no perception of him (I can’t, without deluding myself, enjoy a slice of cake ‘for the sake of the Creator’), and even on a lower level it can’t possibly bestow to other people because Egoism cannot be eradicated without help from above.
In other words, are efforts to restrict our corporeal desires with the intention of getting closer to the Creator a waste of time and energy? Is the practical work in a group our only tool at our disposal to becoming closer to spirituality? This last question is particularly stressful because of the worry that one won’t ever find a group of Points in the Heart in order to work with.
Hi Nick,
These are good questions, but each has a clear solution. You don’t need to find a group, you’ll be provided a virtual group in the graduate environment, and since the work is from your heart outward whether you can touch them physically or not, it’s sufficient.
You’re right that you can’t and don’t need to suppress corporeal desires. That’s not the field for cultivating spiritual capital. That’s trying to work on oneself. I can work on myself through others. That’s the game Nature arranged. Whereas I’m like some hologram with which nothing effective can be done spiritually, if I’m trying to work on myself directly.
HI Gianni & friends,
This is a follow-up to the question I accidentally put in the Preparation section. Apologies.
It was clear from your answer (for which gratitude), that my question came from my level of awareness which is only of THIS world. Actually, very enlightening for me, thank you.
My question is, personal to a degree – are you, Gianni, able to sit in that aeroplane & look down on the corporeal world from above it? I suppose I m asking whether, as we continue, we will be able to get above that line ? I ‘m guessing it isn’t an inevitable progress ? What may support us in our studies/experiments, so we achieve this?
Hi Sarah,
Kabbalists and even those who know what it takes to become one never like to speak personally. When my teacher came to his teacher, the Rabash, he asked him something like that, and Rabash simply said “go search,” go find another place that you think might work out for you. This seems like the opposite answer to what we’d expect from someone who (a) knows the way to the Upper Worlds (b) is in Equivalence with the Upper Force, at least to some degree (c) should want to help us reach the Creator too. And that’s because of what is written, “The Creator says, your ways are not My ways, your thoughts are not as My thoughts.” And the corporeal explanation of this is that an answer here won’t help you and may actually harm. It won’t help because you’ll still have to believe Gianni – when you’ve already been provided much greater ones who told you they attained the spiritual world up to the 125th degree in the case of Baal HaSulam. If you don’t believe them, you can’t believe Gianni either. Or, let’s say Gianni says no and then you lose all hope. And there are other psychologies here as well. So, for the student to do the work they will in any case have to do, it’s enough for one to know that Baal HaSulam, Rabash, and Dr. Laitman attained the Creator, and that they show us the way to definitely rise above the Barrier to the spiritual world within the span of one’s life. If I understand how serious and sublime this prospect is, then a realistic person knows it will be neither simple, easy nor in any way how I’m picturing I’ll manage to do it. But it is possible and steps will be provided.
HI Gianni & friends,
I ve only just done the introduction, but – I m confused as to what BESTOWAL really means.
For example, I live near Glastonbury, Uk, where there is a cafe where you can “Pay it forward”, That means I can pay for a cup of tea, or a meal, for one of the towns many homeless people. It gives me pleasure to help someone out anonymously. But for bestowal, does this mean I m not doing it FOR to the street person, but doing it to give G-d pleasure ?
WHY would this please G-d, what is the root cause of His pleasure? Is He pleased because someone in need is being helped, or because I am thinking of Him ? Can I be sure I m not just doing it so He will be pleased with me – because isnt that still self-centred?
That’s a great example, Sarah. In the eyes of society, that’s an act of giving, but since it gives you pleasure, it’s already called an act of receiving because the act doesn’t matter. What matters is whether the pleasure remains outside of me completely. Now, since any act could be one of bestowal, it is wise to not try to implement spiritual bestowal by doing acts that society already regards as giving.
But there’s a much bigger problem. As you indicated, bestowal is only if it’s bestowal to the Creator. Otherwise, it’s definitionally not considered true bestowal. For regular people, charity is just fine. But if I want to reach Equivalence of Form with the Creator, then we need to have a different conversation. Maybe the Creator is in charge of the whole reality, every detail, and already giving to each one what they need – not according to what I think they need but what they need according to the Creator’s Plan, since He knows what the best possibility would be for each one in every moment.
And the biggest problem: The Creator wants only one thing, and this is the only thing He can’t do, and thus the only thing one can bestow to Him. That’s for you and/or others to reach Equivalence with Him, spirituality. That is, you can give to Him by reaching correction and the goal of your life or helping others get there.
In this last point, there is also a problem: you can only help those for whom your help would be a gift truly – that is, those who are willingly studying the wisdom of Kabbalah and thus would appreciate your inspiration and so on.
Wow ! Thank you, Gianni,
So, you also answered my questions in lesson 1 forum. This is really helpful because it shows me that I can make a shift towards people who share this, the basic understanding s of the kabbalah:- that makes me feel better about leaving behind people who have no awareness and therefore cannot, CANNOT understand & appreciate our efforts to bestow.
This simplifies it and frees me up to allow some changes, without feeling guilty about making them. I’m imagining that we should still do charity as before, though?
Just as an aside & to share something that has been a great pointer for me, friends, is the work of Marshall Rosenburg, who began a way of working , called “Non-Violent-Communication”, which I m sure he can only have got from the Kabbalah. All the languaging makes so much more sense, has its full depth, from the kabbalistic perspective,
Externally we are all different. But all our essences are the same, isn’t our essence The Creator himself? Just in a dormant state waiting to be revealed? If our shell is opposite, why do we keep saying we need to correct it? You said it cannot be corrected or subdued. You said it goes against the plan of nature. But this is the plan of nature, for us to have a ego shell so that we can have the choice to either live for the ego shell or live for the essence that is connected to the creator. This focus on the ego needs to diminish. The focus needs to be more on our essence and connection with the creator and his creatures, our fellow. The ego is not against the plan of nature, it’s part of the plan to get us to climb higher up the ladder…isnt it?
What’s missing here is an accurate definition of a Creation. A Creation is something new, not an offshoot. Our true essence is the Will to Receive. We’re not the Creator. There’s a Creator and the Created Being. They’ll remain opposites until the end. However, the Created Being will use that entire Will to Receive, in order to bestow. Yet he will not become the Creator. We become similar but not the same – in that the Creator bestows by giving and we, after many corrections, bestow by receiving in order to bestow. The goal of it all is for us to receive and enjoy, but to enjoy the best thing that can ever be: similarly to the Creator.
Ah yes, I may have worded this incorrectly. What I meant was that our point in the heart being “a piece of the essence of the Creator” (bestow) that we need to develope in order to correct “our” essence of our ego (receive). Then the corrected state being equivalence to the Creator, not that we become the Creator, just that our point in the heart grows to be equivalent alongside our essence ego to receive. Hence our focus being on our spiritual growth rather than the focus being on our ego. Did I get that right?
You’re in the right direction, and I think it’s just a layer of scrunity that is still missing – that that Point is still not the Creator’s Essence. It’s a Point that fell down from the Shattering of the Soul of Adam HaRishon. That is – the CREATED BEING (and if we delve further we’ll see that I’m already using that term loosely, for now), which is not part of the Essence of the Creator at all. Rather, it’s the Will to Receive, as well, but in a form of bestowal: that’s what was shattered; that’s what the Point in the Heart is a piece of.
Though we say “it’s a spark of the Creator, Above” it never refers to His ESSENCE. This differentiation will become important later.
The videos were clear on the difference between the ego and the will to receive . So I now understand: we dont change the will to receive. We change the intention so that the will to receive is still present but now serves a higher purpose to bestow rather that only to receive. So it’s the intention we can change which then redefines the ego as altruism. So now I have a will to receive but also a will to bestow?
Hi, I learnt that Kabbalah doesn’t deal with corporeal things. The only thing that matters not to exploit others. Does this mean that in order to develop spiritually, I don’t need to control myself in anything, as long as I don’t cause harm to others? For example, I can eat a lot of sweets, even if it’s unhealthy, but is it delicious? Can I overdo my alcohol consumption? Can I accumulate pleasures?
Hi Gabor,
You can seemingly do whatever you want in this world. However, the Upper Force has allowed its laws that pertain to the level of this world to be revealed to some extent, even though they’re still not all that clear to us. But we understand somewhat how if I start misbehaving in my neighborhood, being a bad neighbor, then nature has forces, manifested in the form of people’s reactions, all of which had we the full data, could be entirely predicted; just as were you to go to the DMV with not all of your paperwork and evidence ready, I could predict what the lady at the counter would certainly tell you. Some people are naive enough to think that without the right papers, they’ll come out of the DMV with a license anyway – but that’s just their limited knowledge of how the world works, at play. Others think that it won’t affect them if they misbehave on their own street. Still fewer are aware of the hidden forces that tie them to every other human, in every action they do. And even fewer know about how even their every thought and desire affects others, and in turn powerful affects themselves, and that this is the source of all their suffering in life. And of course we are so unperceptive that we don’t even know how all the food and drinks we put in our body shape us. If we learn anything from scientists, it goes into our ears but not into our hearts, and the heart is ultimately what controls us.
In short, there are laws on the level of this world. To the extent that we keep them, we feel good, balanced, happy. To the extent we don’t know how to keep them or don’t want to, we can experience all the worst that this world has to offer, very quickly. A Kabbalist should be as grounded in this world as possible, adhering to the norms, as those are designated behind the scenes by the Upper Force – and then one can start trying to also keep the spiritual laws.
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