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Hello, what can one do once they come to the realization that its the ego that drives them toward studying of Kabbalah ? and then Pharaoh comes to tell a person that if its been working for the ego then what is the point of continuing ? is this just an extension that tells a person how impossible this process is on his own ? and the answer is prayer and to continue in connection basically ? then begins ones question of “how many things have been prayed for that were directly from the ego ?” many questions arise at this point it is indeed impossible to rid the ego but we just make it a slave to love the Lord your God with both inclinations ? it seems prayer is the only way and just continue until some sort of change occurs within perhaps? That is many questions but I appreciate your time in the answering . Thank you.
Kabbalists write that if you try to go on the path, they tell you ‘there is a lion on the way.’ If that doesn’t deter you, they tell you something totally different. They tell you the goal is not so high, so why try? Then they tell you, ok, the goal is sublime, but it’s for special souls, not someone like you. And so on. The answer to the arguments is along the lines of “punch it in the teeth.” Since you can’t win the argument, you simply break his face so he can’t speak. You don’t engage, and you continue. If you have to answer, the answer is “I am going Above Reason because the Creator decided that Above Reason is the most suitable for reaching the goal. And I will answer you afterwards.” Going toward the goal because of the ego works just fine: “From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma.” The only difference, if you think you’re going only with your ego, is that before I didn’t know that I was going with my ego; I thought that maybe I am, perhaps, already in Lishma; and now I know that’s not yet the case.
Hi, I am wondering how to deal with the advise to isolate oneself from external influence in terms of spirituality. When it comes to strong religious or secular communities who may object or mock about spirituality, I can understand. When it comes to other teachings, I am wondering what is meant by isolation…I understand it really doesn’t make sense to mix different approaches, but as a part of locating where I am, to acknowledge these other teachings… rather than hiding from them… I would even consider it beneficial to know them in order to get a clearer view on what I am actually doing, as that shows in the contrast to other things. And finally, what actually makes me feel concerned is, that through isolation one may get stuck or lose the path, as finally, we are all humans, and even if we work with the most beautiful ten, it’s not said, that we don’t get all lost together. So if we isolate in a situation like that, how would we ever know where we are and how to get back on track ? May be you can help me a bit to clarify this demand of isolation.
Wait, who said to isolate?
But no, it’s not true that to truly understand karate, I must learn taekwondo, or that to do physics, I also need to be well-versed in English literature. If I’m going to be in the Olympics, I don’t have time or attention to be a dabbler. Dabblers won’t make it. Depends what one is trying to do in life.
Hi :-), well, I was referring to one of the Rabash articles …No 12…
“Hence, there is no other solution but to establish a separate society for themselves…”
“if the society isolates itself from the rest of the people, if they have no connection with other people in regards to spiritual matters, and their contact is only on corporeal matters, they will not mingle with their views”…
“therefore, in matters of work on the path of truth, one should isolate oneself from other people”.
I understood that in order to not get influenced too much by corporeal values and the mindset of what the majority does, one should separate corporeal versus spiritual life, and in one´s spiritual life stick to one´s spiritual society and in the spiritual work isolate from other groups that might influence through their different approach. I totally agree, that to learn any skill or follow any path, I have to be committed equally, that mixing different teachings doesn´t make sense. I just wondered, how I can take care that if I AM in a spiritual society, let´s say in a ten, or even in a bigger group that is comitted to the same goal, we don´t get lost with each other. What is my resonsibility in this? Because, if the group isolates from outer influence, how can it at the same time make sure, it doesn´t go astray? After all, much as we wish to progress, we still are humans and our ego is working in us…
I’m not going to bring up politics in the karate dojo. It’s known that there’s no space for that. We discuss techniques and basically nothing else. The dojo is the place to practice this only. Then when I’m outside, I’ll know how to fight. Let’s say I’m a special agent who goes to a dojo wherever I am in the world, to ensure the skills I need in my job are sharp. So here too, it depends if I’m a serious person in regards to spiritual advancement. There’s more than room for joy, but every move has to be with the intention: love of friends that yields love of the Creator.
Hi, I am wondering, if we work with self-scrutiny, how can we distinguish between relevant and irrelevant states? If for example a friend feels low,… it could be anything… a „descent“, a corporeal-life-based „low state“ or even an adversive life obstacle that will hinder him/her from staying on the path. So how could we differentiate that in order to raise his /her spirit ? Is there any way at all to distinguish between spiritual and corporeal low states and their causes? Or is that irrelevant because it only depends on how it feels internally and how to „get back“ on the spiritual path? I understand, corporeal life should not really have a place in spiritual work, thatś why I wonder how to distinguish these states.
Dear Gianni,
When speaking of raising the importance of the Creator in order to give ourselves fuel for the work in Lo Lishma, there are two types of importance that I can distinguish here:
1. External importance (which is imparted by society – I think the Creator is great, because the people around me regard Him as such, but this means that I don’t truly regard Him as great, I just want to belong to this society, so I would adopt whatever pleases them) and
2. Internal importance (the greatness of the Creator is personal to me, regardless of what my society thinks, like a child is inherently important to their parents, but this also seems like a very basic, natural regard, which is kind of animalistic and not really useful).
So the question is, what kind of importance should we strive for while still working in Lo Lishma?
Thank you ❤️
A minor comment :
The two types of importance you mentioned; the first one (1.) the external; sounds like the basic of religion , which is common.
The second importance, (2.)The internal, is the urge of the point in the heart to grow, that’s the spark of the light, glowing, bringing you to the right environment to discover it and work on it. Thank you and welcome 🙏🏼
This division is only in our perception. Also, I can think my dad’s great, but that’s nothing compared to many people around me telling me ‘your father is a great man.’ However we look at it, it turns out that it comes back to me when I raise the importance of the Creator – that is, the quality of bestowal – in society. If it will exist in them, in will exist in me. I can even inject importance into them that is less than genuine, and it comes back to me as real.
Hi, to make my question more precise, what I tried to ask is if „life“ as a learning environment is constructed in a way that through our thoughts/feelings/actions /encounters we are exposed to different „states“. So that the purpose of life would not be about what we do / achieve in life, but how we scrutinize, develop and learn to deal with these states. Does that make sense at all? I relate those states to disconnection versus connection, ego versus love of friends.. and finally learning to bestow. I am not sure if I manage to find the right words here, because what I call a „state“ is a sensation that is based a lot on that very first steps in the group work, and even though I am just a beginner, it left an amazing and deep impression. Still, I am not sure if this strong feeling of love, of connection, of home in the work is just grace „from above, like an incentive, or whether this is the right „state“ to look out for (and whether one should be attentive for this at all).
Hi, I understand life is like a „learning environment“ for the soul. And I feel it is all about the states we go through, and less our feelings /thoughts/ actions which create these states. Is that correct? And how to work with these different states? How do we evaluate them and how do we evaluate the change they bring within us? They currently impress me very much, especially as they seem to be shifting so much. Still, of course, outwardly life goes on as usual.
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