Ask Anything

[Gil]

Ask, connect, inspire.

[Lyndon]

dEAR kABU,

I have mentioned this before, it would be very helpful if there were a “one-to-one drop-in” session or similar where questions, which the student has from their private study, could be discussed and answered with an instructor.  The YG and SMWF doesn’t give this platform so I list a couple of my questions below:

Q 1: In “Baruch Shalom Ha-Levi Ashlag (Rabash)/ Assorted Notes “I Will Remove the Stony Heart”.  It says that in order for one to feel like “a lack,” the creator will give him Mayin Duchrin but there must be special education about this. And, “Otherwise, we do not feel that this is called “a lack.” A person feels only the lack of diminution of light, meaning that he has no pleasure in Torah and prayer the way he understands it should be. But the lack of a Kli [vessel], and that this is the real lack, not everyone is given this feeling.

Can you please help me with regard to the meaning of ‘special education’ in this regard and how one can attain the lack in order to remove the/ones Stony heart.

Q 2: In Shamati 1 refer several times to ’her organ‘ and ‘her private organ/s’ in the text.  What is the meaning of this ‘organ’.

Q3 :  in Shamati it refers to ‘that place of stench’ and being ‘reincarnated as a pig’ I don’t understand what the actual meaning of this is.  Of course I can assume that the ‘stench‘ is the submergence of the senses in pleasure but this is only an approximate idea additionally I have no idea why particularly the animal of a pig would be referred to.

I have so many questions from personal study outside the Young group and SMWF and would love answers to the above.  Warm wishes and thank you very much.  Lyndon S

[Jim – KabU Instructor]

Q1. What we receive from the Creator (mayin duchrin -MAD) is not what we expect. Our will to receive expects to get all kinds of wonderful stuff. But we come to find out what we need is not a will to receive, but a will to bestow. We need to be like the Creator, in equivalence of form with Him. Thus, this special education is reserved for people with an awakened point in their heart. The general public does not want to hear about having a need to give. They are temporarily stuck with the stony heart. We, in our work in our group, develop a lack for bestowal, and come to feel we need this more than anything.

For a kabbalist, our prayer (mayin nuchva, MAN) and the Creator’s answer (mayin duchrin, MAD) is the special education that pierces the stony heart.

Q2. My understanding is these organs are the souls. All together they make up the Shechina.

Q3. The place of stench, and the pig, refer to the filthy will to receive for my own benefit.

[Jim – KabU Instructor]

Hello Lyndon. Sorry for the delay, I’ve been away and just saw this. Will work on a reply in the morning.

jim

[Christianne]

Thank you very much  dear   Instructor Jim   and  instructor Zohar   for quickly reply

[Christianne]

Dear Zohar

I try to follow the lessons as much as possible and want to learn  from you more and more ,,like to listen to others Because of the time Icannot follow all,  its difficult during the night to wake  up to follow the class and during the days I am very busy. But try to see the recording lessons as much  as possible

Maybe I dont speak as much as needed but the reason is that  my english is  not strong enough to speak in public ,my apologize  for that.   I do the efforts to translate  and wright  all  in my studybook for good understanding the articles etc.  and try do not  make mistakes by speaking  because its important to use the right words for correct  understanding. Thanks a lot to be our teacher .I will continue kabbalah as long as I can,   it has a big impact and  changes my  thoughts and  my life  and I like to grow  step by step  on the spiritual path   big  hug    kind regards

[Jim – KabU Instructor]

Hello Christianne. Here’s a reply from Zohar:
Thank you for your words Christianne,
You should know that spiritual advancement is something that happens from our efforts, not our understanding or knowledge, so above language and comprehension, you exert at wanting to connect with others above all the so called “obstacles” to unite.
Keep up the good work, it is very inspiring, and together we will get there!

[Paul]

Since a few days ( a week) I can not find the Pticha lessons anymore. ( the ones with Eran and later Gianni and Zohar), in the Grad Environment. Can this be restored, or where can I find this lessons from now on? They were (are) so precious.

[Zohar – KabU Instructor]

Dear Paul,
Thanks for letting us know about this issue with the site. You are right, when they did the upgrade to the course page this week it seems to have been removed.
You can access it this way:
Go to the VOD link up on top of the site, and there, make sure to choose from the top links on the VOD page “GE Past Lessons”, there you will find all the Pticha recordings
We will meanwhile work on reinstating the course to it’s previous position

[Paul]

Thanks Zohar , for your quick reply.

 

[Jake Lawy]

Hi Jim,

Hope you are well.

I am looking for a clear definition of what the WILL is in order to adequately differentiate will to bestow from desire to bestow.

Is will the source of desire? Ie creator = will to bestow

creation = will to recieve

 

desire to give is created by the will to bestow as soon as a true deficiency or desire to receive is formed ?

If I could also be clear about will as opposed to both thought and intention that would help me also .

If you are aware of the Hebrew words for these things I’d be happy to know them .

Thank  you

Jake

 

[Jim – KabU Instructor]

Hello Jake. First off, here’s a reply from David Monolo:

Hi Jake,

Initially only the Creator existed—the will to bestow. Following, He created the will to receive, to be fulfilled. This is the matter of creation. We have two opposing qualities in the universe, the will to bestow, to fill, to love, the qualities of the Creator, and the will to receive, to fill only oneself even at the expense of others, the qualities of creation. So, the Creator has only the will to bestow. The creation has both a will and an intention: the will to receive and the intention “for my own sake” or “for the sake of others,” including “for the sake of the Creator.” The words “will” and “desire” are interchangeable as they are both addressing the quality of bestowal or reception.  This is from Rav’s blog:

“The Creator is the desire to bestow, give, and love. However, we shouldn’t think that there is no lack in this desire – there is. Only it doesn’t come from a lack of fulfillment, but from being unable to share its perfection. This is why the Creator created the will to enjoy – it was in order to fulfill it and express His love toward it.”

To Dave’s reply, I would add that thoughts are our way of figuring out how to fulfill our desires. Intentions are the direction of  benefit – am I receiving for my benefit, or for the benefit of another.

Bestowal, in Hebrew, is the word ashpa’ah. Reception is the word “kabbalah”.

[tom]

Hi everyone,

I’m new here in the graduate environment and I’m just wondering where to start. For the moment it seems a little bit overwhelming. Am I supposed to first explore the courses (at random) and will I thereafter be contacted to join a ten, or what?

Thanks

[Jim – KabU Instructor]

Hello Tom.

Welcome to the Graduate Environment, we are very glad you are with us. The GE currently consists of six interactive components, and you can use all or some of them. The heart of the Graduate Environment is the Young Group. You will be receiving an email assigning you to your group. In the meantime, you can visit either of the current Young Groups (one on Sundays and another on Tuesdays) to get a feel for it and start connecting with friends. On Tuesday night “A Sage Speaks”, taught by Seth Breitman, covers some of Baal HaSulam’s articles. On Thursday night “Grad Class” with Mike Kellogg explores one of the aspects of Kabbalah that Rav Laitman taught this week. “Sunday meeting with Friends”, hosted by Zohar, is a chance to ask any questions about our work and study in kabbalah. “Weekly Portion of Light” is taught by Gilad Shir. Also, you have access to the “Forum” where you can post any questions you have, and they will be answered by KabU instructors. In the event you missed, or want to watch again, a particular class, all are recorded and archived. There are also links to all sorts of Kabbalah materials such as songs, articles, videos, so explore the site.  you have heard, joining a ten is a very important part of Kabbalah. Once you have been assigned to your permanent Young Group, about 4-5 weeks into the semester, the YG will be divided into tens and you will work with this 10 throughout the course. Use the Graduate Environment how it works best for you, some, or all.

Enjoy and Connect

[tom]

Ok. Thank you very much.

I guess it’s a great opportunity to try to find a routine. Waking up at night without disturbing the rest of the family will be the most difficult I think.

[Author]

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