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Hi! Thank you for this lesson. In the video it is described how the souls during the time of Abraham were a bit more refined than the “modern” souls, and that something happened that made this shift occur. I wonder, what happened with the souls and why, why did we become less all of a sudden?
I’ve read the recommended literature now and got the answer for my question there.
Instead I now wonder about the term “the recognition of evil”, why is it referred to as evil when it is in fact part of natures plan for us to realize something greater by experiencing separation and egoism? There is nothing to be protected from it is said, does this mean evil is meant to be experienced, it serves a purpose and is in fact a part of the good, not something to be protected from?Hi Johanna,
Yes, evil does serve a purpose. There is rule that “there is no light without a kli (vessel)”, meaning that there is no fulfillment, without a lack. This is similar to how we cannot enjoy food without feeling hungry.
Likewise in spirituality, the light cannot correct us, if we don’t reveal something that needs correction. So the evil is meant to be discovered more and more, so that we have more and more need for the light.
But it doesn’t mean that we should be digging within ourselves looking for the evil. Our aspirations should always be towards something positive, towards acquiring the Creator’s qualities of love and bestowal. If as a result of that work we reveal our opposite evil nature, that’s fine. But that’s a side effect and not something we aspire for directly.
We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced semesters. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
Albert @ KabU
Hi,
I’m 57 years old, Jewish with a strong Jewish education in my past, and a fair bit of knowledge & experience of life, as well as various “paths of growth”.
I’ve read a fair bit about Kabbalah and listened to various talks over the years.
Although I have been quite excited following a lot of what I’ve read and listened to from your site etc, I do have a concern, that has lingered through many of the videos I’ve watched –
and that is that much of your material has a “cultish” feel.
Much of how it is presented, in content & style, and in hearing you say things like all other approaches to Kabbalah are invalid or nonsense, but only ours, and through our particular books etc. is the valid approach.
In much of your material, and Dr Laitman repeatedly says that Kabbalah in your approach is a “science” – yet the out-of-hand dismissal of other approaches to Kabbalah together with the “idealization” of your approach and leaders, keeps triggering off this cult-like feeling in me.
I’m not writing this at all to denigrate you – because I have read and heard much of value in your approach so far, I’m genuinely hoping you can address this concern of mine.
with thanks,
Robin.Hi Robin,
Thanks for sharing your concerns, hopefully this will clarify them:
1. Kabbalah does not hold the monopoly over spirituality. It’s not claiming to be the one and only method. The Wisdom of Kabbalah is the accumulation of thousands of years of experience from people practically trying to reach spirituality, what worked, what didn’t, etc. It’s not a must to use it, but as you can imagine, it’s a lot faster and easier with it.
2. Furthermore, I’m not an expert in other methods, so I cannot comment on what they do or teach there. Ultimately, there is no coercion in spirituality, so it’s up to each person to choose the path that best suits them.
3. And regardless of which path a person chooses for himself, whether here or in another place, it’s highly discouraged to mix methods. If we want to succeed in Kabbalah (or in any spiritual practice really) we should practice it without mixing other things into it. Otherwise it’s like following two different GPS systems. One leads you to the goal through the west highway, while the other through the east highway. If we follow both, we’ll just wind up going in circles.
4. As for the teachers and books, there have been many Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books written throughout the generations, but we don’t really study them directly in our days. In our days we mainly study from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. This is because egoism grows from generation to generation, so Kabbalah, the method for its correction, needs to get adapted in each generation for that level of egoism. For example it’s like in medicine, if a person has a headache he can just drink a tylenol and that’s enough to fix him. But if it’s not just a little headache but something cancerous, then that tylenol won’t do anything for him but he needs a completely different regime to heal himself.
This is why Kabbalah gets adapted in each generation to the level of egoism that is currently found in that generation. So although there were many different Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books throughout the generations, nowadays we mainly learn from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, since their writings contains the light that is most suitable to correct the egoism that is found in our generation.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
hi
The first time that i hered about kabbalah from my brother (about four years ago) i pissed of and didn’t wanna except it. i always said “why are you talking like that the kabbalah is the only way to answers?
i asked this question for several years and i was looking for a way to prove it that i can reach to the top with out studying kabbalah.
but now im here and im trying to get to somthing with studying and sometimes i doubt about it but i couldn’t find a better way.Is this ok if we doubt it?Hi Elnaz,
Yes, that’s fine. It’s written that “there is no greater pleasure than the resolution of doubts”. This is because spirituality is built on the combination of two polar opposites: bestowal and reception. In every new degree, we discover new challenges and new doubts on how to go about doing this. When we succeed in that, we feel an outburst of joy and pleasure. Afterwards we grow and discover greater challenges and doubts, and so forth throughout the entire spiritual ladder of development.
It’s just like with the puzzles that we give kids to help them grow and develop. In the 1st grade, we give them easy puzzles. They solve them and grow. Then in the 2nd grade we give them more challenging puzzles, etc.
Likewise with us, once we resolve one set of doubts, we grow and reveal a new degree with a whole new set of doubts. And we shouldn’t despair from this, but understand that it’s specifically thanks to this process that we grow and develop spiritually.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/the-benefit-of-the-doubt/
Albert @ KabU
I wonder how does Kabbalah change people? What should I expect to see in my future self if I continue with learning this knowledge? Are there any testimonies of other students who have advanced in this knowledge?
It’s quite funny to learn and to realize that I am created as the will to receive. I felt such relief when I learned this because it helped me not run away from my self and nature. I feel peace knowing that the creator wanted me as I am in this aspect, constantly desiring something, and intended for me to be a receiver of its infinite and creative nature.
Hi Jasmine,
When we study Kabbalah, we learn about our higher states of development and begin to yearn to be there. This yearning evokes the light and the light gradually correct us, adapts us to those higher levels, until we begin to feel them in practice.
In other words, we study not in order to gain knowledge, but in order to extract more light. It’s ultimately the light that makes all the changes on us, our job is to just extract more and more of it, especially during the Kabbalistic studies.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
As for our future selves, we learn that we’re all parts of a single interconnected system, like cells within one body. We begin to reveal this connection gradually, starting from a small Kabbalistic group, as if reconnecting a single organ of that body. And then we add another organ and another, until we expand this connection to the whole world.
In our connection is where we reveal the Creator. He is like the glue that makes it possible for us to connect. This is essentially the goal of Kabbalah, to help us correct ourselves until we reveal the Creator in practice, in our lives.
We’ll learn about this in the upcoming lessons, in the meantime check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/05/puzzle-adam-harishon/
Albert @ KabU
Thank you for this week’s lesson.
How would one be able to discern where on the level of 125 levels one would be at, or even perhaps worlds?
Are you existing in all of them(the worlds), at the same time, but just consciously aware of one of them at any one time?
Hi Shaun,
We’re not yet on any spiritual degree, we’re still in the preparation period prior to the spiritual ladder. But once we start to do real spiritual work, we can measure our progress in our attitude towards other points in the hearts. That I’ll feel how my attitude towards them changes, from complete indifference, all the way until I feel them as pieces of my soul. We’ll learn more about this in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
Hello,
From what I gathered from the videos and reading is that the first Kabbalahistic book was written by Adam, then Abraham, Moses and so on. I am wondering if books like the Books of Enoch, or The Book of Jashur or some of the other apocryphal books were written by kabbalahists? Thanks!
Hi Ed,
I’m not an expert in such things, we can speculate one way or another, but ultimately it would just be speculations.
In any case, we need to keep in mind that there have been many books written by Kabbalists throughout the generations, but we don’t really study them directly in our days. In our days we mainly study from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. This is because egoism grows from generation to generation, so Kabbalah, the method for its correction, needs to get adapted in each generation for that level of egoism. For example it’s like in medicine, if a person has a headache he can just drink a tylenol and that’s enough to fix him. But if it’s not just a little headache but something cancerous, then that tylenol won’t do anything for him but he needs a completely different regime to heal himself.
This is why Kabbalah gets adapted in each generation to the level of egoism that is currently found in that generation. So although there were many different Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books throughout the generations, nowadays we mainly learn from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, since their writings contains the light that is most suitable to correct the egoism that is found in our generation.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
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