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No questions. Feeling especially stupid like I’m not really getting any of this. I believe this is just fear based resistance.
Hi Ozie,
I wouldn’t stress it, it’s completely normal to not understand these things. This is why the Kabbalists tell us “it’s not the wise that learns”. Meaning we’re not learning this material simply to acquire knowledge, to store it in some box in our brains. After all, If knowledge was the path to spirituality, then a supercomputer loaded with all of the Kabbalistic texts would be the most spiritual being in the world. Obviously this is not the case.
So why do we spend so much time studying if not to gain knowledge? Because through the study, we draw the force of the light. This force is what makes all the internal changes, clarifications, corrections that need to be made. After we extract enough light and correct ourselves to a certain degree, then we won’t just intellectually philosophize about spirituality, but we will begin to feel it in practice. And only out of that feeling will we begin to truly understand it.
So it’s normal what you’re feeling. The important thing is to just keep going, keep placing yourself under the influence of the light and it will balance everything out.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
Albert @ KabU
Just a comment that this is really very simply and clearly explained and it is making great sense to me on an ordinary corporeal level and at the same time I am feeling the impact of an energy which I feel is very positive and is moving me forward experientially, beyond what I would expect form straight forward knowledge, so many thanks
The lesson was excellent. But i did have a question about something you mentioned in one of your responses to a question above.
In your answer you mention:
So if we build for ourselves a strong spiritual environment, then it will influence even stronger than the corporeal environment that we’re in. But this is not a one time choice. Building and strengthening the spiritual environment is our constant work. As we progress, our ego will grow more and more, and the corporeal environment will pull us more and more. This is done purposefully so that this resistance will force us to build an even stronger connection to the spiritual environment, and thereby reach an even higher spiritual level.
My question is: What does a strong spiritual environment look like?
And how do i build one?
Thank you!
Hi RDB,
Let’s say that I need to exercise but I’m feeling lazy today. What will help me get out of my laziness? Maybe if I had a workout buddy with whom I work out, we can encourage each other. Or if I read about the importance of exercising from a magazine or heard about it on TV. Or maybe if I had a coach who would push me to workout. This is a corporeal example of how we use the corporeal environment to push ourselves towards a corporeal goal, but it’s the same with our spiritual goal.
Spirituality consists of acquiring qualities of love and bestowal, qualities that are opposite to our egoistic nature. So we need support to achieve this goal. This support comes from the spiritual environment. The spiritual environment consists of the Kabbalistic books, group, and teacher. For now, our spiritual environment consists mostly of this KabU platform, the Q/A forums, the Kabbalistic books, lessons, sources, videos, etc. In the more advanced semesters on KabU, each one will also receive their own Kabbalah group with whom they can put all these things into practice.
As for building our connection to the spiritual environment, there is a quantitative and qualitative connection. Quantitatively, I can set aside some time to regularly return to the Kabbalistic books, lessons, source, etc. This is an important foundation. Once we have this foundation, we can work on the quality of this connection: to what extent do I value the spiritual environment? To what extent do I allow it to influence me? To what extent do I see these fellow students not just as random people that have similar interests as my own, but as pieces of my soul? We’ll learn about these things more practically in the more advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
It was a great lesson.
I have a question about the influence of society on our spiritual development.
Society has become too materialistic and too interested in sex, money and food.. we can’t change this thing I know it’s a phase everyone has to go through, but how can I live with a very materialistic society without being affected, instead can I influence my society?
Could our spiritual development isolate us from society or make us live in isolation?
Thanks
Rawan..Hi Rawan,
At the beginning of the spiritual path, there are a lot of tendencies to isolate ourselves from the world. So what you’re feeling is normal. But the more we advance, the more we’ll begin to see that we don’t need to isolate ourselves. Even Baal HaSulam and Rabash were not living in isolation in some Kabbalistic environment, rather they had normal jobs, families, and lived in a typical neighborhood of their time. How then did they attain such high spiritual levels? By tapping into the strength of the spiritual environment.
So if we build for ourselves a strong spiritual environment, then it will influence even stronger than the corporeal environment that we’re in. But this is not a one time choice. Building and strengthening the spiritual environment is our constant work. As we progress, our ego will grow more and more, and the corporeal environment will pull us more and more. This is done purposefully so that this resistance will force us to build an even stronger connection to the spiritual environment, and thereby reach an even higher spiritual level.
It’s just like with a bodybuilder. If he lifts only a 1 pound weight all the time, he will not get very strong (this is equivalent to us living in isolation). In order to grow, that bodybuilder needs to constantly increase the resistance that he’s lifting. So the more we advance, the more we’ll begin to see how the everyday problems, experiences, work situations, etc we undergo in the regular society are a necessary part of our correction. That we don’t erase these things, but above them we need to stay connected to the spiritual environment. And this will determine the level of our spiritual attainment.
We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced semesters of KabU.
Albert @ KabU
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