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Where it says that the creature shattered and all the pieces fused with all the individual desires contained in each one. . . is that like the idea of a holographic universe, where each unit within that universe is also a representation of the whole?
Is that how Arvut works, that as each universe (person) improves their image of reality, that they are all impacted?
As we get into all things action related there is the system in kabbalah of roots and branches where I’m told everything that happens in the physical world reflects in the upper worlds.
I’m not Jewish but half of my family is and they constantly tell me that Mitzvot and covenants and prayer can’t be attained without the physical rituals in this world like Brit Milah praying from the siddur wearing teffilin etc so I don’t understand. Do these religious customs need to be performed physically in order to attain the spiritual meaning of them ? I can’t get a straight answer to these things and I’m still confused. The inner meaning I understand and I’m told that the Physical ACTION is the the action of the light on us and not customs or religious obligations that we do with our own hands. And also if these 2 worlds reflect one another in the branch system does that mean, war, arguments and sectarianism etc also exist in the upper worlds?. Everyday humans perform actions some good and some bad in this current era we can see so much awful actions being performed so do these actions good or bad exist in the upper world. ? As humans we have to make use of the Corporeal world but for the most part it seems kind of useless because in the end we will either be burried or cremated and then it’s all over for the physical body and it can’t perform anymore actions physically.Hi Luke,
Sorry, there was some confusion on our end, I can answer. It’s true, Judaism is primarily practiced in a way that the main thing is to do actions from morning until night. It’s less about belief than other religions. You do all these actions, but do you also believe such and such? I suppose I believe that. But belief is not the main thing, in practice. And beyond believing, that I should also have specific intentions in my actions — let alone that the Upper World should open up… no one is even claiming such things, so I won’t upset anyone by saying that it won’t happen like that. The maximum claim is that in the next world (Olam HaBa) maybe it will be good for you if you do all the right actions — and in the religious lexicon that means after you die biologically. That’s religion. If it’s Judaism, the main thing is the actions; in other religions, it’s usually less about actions and more about belief. And in Kabbalah, neither will help.
Kabbalah is the hidden wisdom, the wisdom of intentions, which is why Kabbalists cleaned the language of all external wrappings. So, if you have such and such objects in the Upper World, maybe their mechanisms were expressed by something like you take the Tefillin and wrap in around your hand and so on, so Kabbalists since the 1500s started explaining that that’s talking about the actions of Zeir Anpin in the world of Atzilut, etc. All the physical Mitzvot (commandments) only come as a reminder that it is necessary to carry out internal acts of correction. If someone wants to do them, knows how, and will use them as reminders about the intentions, by all means, go ahead. He also needs to learn what the intentions are, but no one is stopping anyone from also doing their customs if they wish.
In short, here we learn the intentions that should be behind all our actions. And in general, we can go toward the spiritual goal like early Kabbalists, before the establishment of these “traditions,” which are behaviors in our world that are identical to the higher correction that everyone must perform in his 613 desires, aiming them at “love the other as yourself.” Achieve contact with the Upper World, like Abraham, for example, and then see if the Creator has anything else for you.
That’s a really good question. I look forward to reading the response you get! I understood the performance of physical mitzvot as a performance of faith above reason. One can start the work without a proper intention. Yet, through the work one should come to the correct intention. I also see that we all have personal work to do. We all need to find and walk our middle line like Abraham and Jacob (find our connections, our ego, our scrutiny, and our faith above reason). I am 100% sure there are many more layers to both.
I feel drawn to want to know and understand the mitzvot. I also find it really intimidating, and my ego tells me I don’t belong.
I’m so sorry to keep inserting myself. It’s like I’m stuck on your question.
Good and Bad, or the perception is only in the worlds BYA. I recommend reading the Introduction to the Book of Zohar. The Preface comes first, don’t skip it. He talks about keeping us focused on what we are able to learn in our current states. He explains levels of perception and shows them in relation to the world. After the Preface comes the Introduction. This is where he asks 5 common questions and answers them in depth. I’m not saying you will understand everything, but the more I learn the more the concepts come to life. You will get your answers if you keep going. The copy I have says Volume Two, and the original texts are from Baal HaSulam and the commentary is by Rav Michael Laitman PhD.
Just one more thought! We have to be in this world because it allows the Creator to be concealed from us. This is the only place we can actually do the work and achieve growth. Since this world is in concealment of course there are bad things happening. Our egos perpetuate the bad actions and also conceal the Creator. That’s why we work, so we can reveal the Creator step-by-step in this world. The more we draw the Light, the more we can add to this world.
It’s a question that never gets a clear answer and it’s hard to determine if what you have read and come to a conclusion to is what it’s supposed to be. I don’t think any instructor plans to answer this. Thanks for your input though. The moment I enter a 10 group I’m going to hit everyone with this question to see what the responses are 😆it’s burning my brain. I respect religious people but I cringe at the thought that I’d have to do rituals associated with religions to achieve corrections etc I’ve been religious before didn’t do anything for me. It’s an interesting topic.
I was raised in a Science of Mind church, which reads from the texts of every religion. They have Jesus, Buddha, Native American deities and Krishna on the same mural in the sanctuary. We celebrate Kwanza, Eid al-Adha, Naw Ruz… everything.
So, it might be easier for me to approach the concept that rituals are only tools for cleaving to your spirituality. My family is from that church also, and one who attends is an atheist who considers it to be similar to TED talks. And this is accommodated by the church, in that they try to word things to be non-specific and only to talk about the concepts. Even the traditional prayers have all reference to specific names and genders removed. And they try not to refer to God as a being unless we are celebrating a holiday taken specifically from one religion.
It actually works really well. Last I checked 6,000 people go to that church.
That being said. In my adult life I have found it much easier to have rituals. Because of my background I had no issues picking and choosing the ones that serve me. My goal is to imbue my mundane life and routine with reminders of the Creator. In my case this is most effective with principles of Ayurveda and Vastu (from Hinduism.) I only chose these because they pertain to everyday things, and they address everything. You can get so granular that there are specific ways to breathe, ways to eat, ways to sleep, ways to bathe, ways to pee… everything! And they also have a mantra for every occasion.
This means that everything in my life has a meaning attached to it that reminds me of the Creator, and by doing it in that specific way I can acknowledge the Creator. I can arrange my house by these rules. I can even sleep that way, by having a mantra in my head that I know so well that my brain continues it when I’m sleeping and I’m already thinking about the Creator before I’m aware that I’m awake in the morning.
Regardless of what the “mitzva” is… I think this is the point of rituals. Not everyone knows this is the point. And I think this is why the Kabbalists don’t outright dismiss them. They are only about the interior, and only about the intention… BUT, doing the action can help you be intentional. So, the answer to “do you have to do the rituals” is yes AND no.
I was just thinking I should mention that the way I came to this method of the Hindu rituals is that I had horrible anxiety and hyper vigilance. I noticed over time that the trigger seemed to be feeling like I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing. (Probably a side effect of overly strict parenting by extended family.)
So I started all this simply so I could feel, in every moment, like I’m doing what I’m supposed to. And I could stop worrying about it.
Someone from a religious background probably feels the opposite anxiety, and might have to think of it differently.
In the reading from “Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life”; The Nature of Matter, the author talks about separating the sensing unit into two parts. He describes having two sensors and one receives the pleasure while the other only senses it. In this way “the sensing of pleasure can become unending and yield a sensation of eternal living.”
Is the author talking about the Surrounding Light?
Katrina,
He is talking about desire and intention as two different things.
With my hands I can be giving or receiving, my legs can be coming or going, all of these changes up down, in and out but in my heart, I’m in adhesion with the Creator.
This would be that Surrounding Light that you mentioned that is pushing us forward, that Light would clothe in our soul and this is what a person would experience.
Seth@KabUI think in this context you can think of the screen like a goalie.
The top half of the partzuf is able to see the Creator firing off all this goodness at it. And it’s like if it goes in to the goal it’s game over.
But if the top half can redirect those good things back out at the team mates we can keep playing the game. And the point is that we all want to play.
That’s how I think of it anyway.
In the short lesson movies it stated that social measures instated by creatures, like for instance the ‘kibbutzim’ failed….though in my history and the way i perceived it they helped unity between mankind quite a bit….undoubtedly acknowledging that people desire for wealth and power would come to overthrow it….all in all it’s a large thing to grasp or fully understand
Koriander,
It’s true that we are learned a thing or two from the kibbutzim, from Russian communism, from all sorts of things.
But this learning is a long, slow, drawn out suffering type of learning where people have to take an idea all the way to the end, until it crashes and burns.
The kibbutzim is a lovely concept, but there are many fallouts from the children not growing up with their families and other things that in theory made sense to the founders but without an understanding of the whole, integral, harmonious system we are in, its impossible to build something that won’t cause suffering.
So our goal is to learn about this system, where we are in it, how we can work with these forces and how to clothe that upper light in a way that the good is revealed in our life and in the life of all of humanity.
Seth@KabU
Therapist. Kabbalah is the next degree after we sort out this world. Whatever’s provided as a solution in this world is one’s first line of defense. I need to go to pay my taxes, go to the doctor, have a job, kids, etc. The Creator provided this field of work at this level, and then there’s a higher level we can build upon it.
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