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What is Kabbalah’s definition of mysticism? I ask this because this lesson draws a distinction between mysticism and Kabbalist teachings. The denotation of the word, however, does not differ so greatly from what Kabbalah teaches.
Hi Sarah,
I’m not an expert in other methods, so I don’t know how others define this word. But when we use the word mysticism, we are referring to something mystical, something removed from reality, something that does not follow the laws of nature.
So when we make the distinction that Kabbalah is not mysticism, this is because Kabbalah is very much so grounded into nature. Kabbalah researches nature and the laws of nature using a very strict scientific method: “a judge has only what his eyes can see” and “what we do not attain we do not call by name”. Even our knowledge of the upper force, of the Creator, is limited to our research tools, meaning the desire. And whatever does not enter into this desire, we cannot research or talk about. For these reasons, it’s more accurate to classify Kabbalah as a science.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/kabbalah-without-a-trace-of-mysticism/
Albert @ KabU
Hello there! Thanks for the lesson and materials.
Concerning inner properties and intentions: This week, after making efforts to be more aware of my inner world, to better capture my emotional states and intentions as they arise, I noticed that over the years I have definitely developed some “tricky” inner mechanisms to avoid pain, to cope or escape, and immediately plot a course to pleasure. There are times I do want what is best for others, but I most definitely and powerfully desire what is best for myself. Yet, I also have strong desires to be less selfish and more altruistic. That led to a few initial questions. I hope I have expressed them in a clear manner. Thank you for your time.
1. What is the relationship between an emotion and an intention?
2. Is being aware of either rising within oneself similar to “feeling” them, or is awareness the same thing as feeling in this case?
3. Once you are aware or feel one or both, what can be done with them regarding the Light or surrounding Light?– Allen
Hi Allen, great questions!
Emotions are what we feel. The intention is the reason for our actions. Generally speaking, our intentions are concealed from us. Even if we seemingly have beautiful intentions to bestow, later on, we discover that it was all to serve our ego. But that’s fine. No one is expecting of us to be saints. In fact it’s impossible to do an action that’s not egoistic because egoism is our very nature. So in the best case scenario we can aspire towards bestowal, fail, and then discover a true need for the light to correct us.
In other words, it’s ultimately the light that performs all the changes and corrections on us. Our work is only to extract more and more of that light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
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
Thank you for the answers and article, Albert.
I relate to the “unknown longing” mentioned in the article. I should experience this as “okay” (not a bad thing) and will be encountering unknown longings again as I continue to practice, learn, and grow. . . . If you please, can you give some clarification to and correct my summary below? Thank you.
(1) Most of the time, I cannot or will not be able to know or identify my intentions clearly; however, I can still feel the desires that arise internally in any given situation.
(2) Then, I can begin to clarify those desires, which aid my overall understanding of myself in relation to the Creator: (As in, in what ways and how much am I similar to the Creator?);
(3) only the Light can reform my desires, and I should never retreat into an egoism that claims credit for any positive, internal changes within me, rather be inspired by the changes and seek more Light as well as better circumstances/environment to potentially receive “maximal Light.”
(4) Better understanding of my underlying intentions comes with the practice/process.
– Allen
Hi Allen,
Yes, you can say that. Just keep in mind that the Creator is concealed, so I cannot examine myself relative to Him. But what is revealed are other people. So I can examine if I’m aspiring towards the Creator’s qualities in my relation to other people, especially those on the spiritual path together with me. We’ll learn about this in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
When the creature gets to Malchut and begins to desire to be identical to the creator, hence climbing back up the ladder does that not make him egotistical again because his desire is for himself?
Hi Maria,
This already depends on the intention, not just the action. If the intention is to receive the state of being like the Creator in order to bestow back to the Creator, then it’s not egoistic.
Check out the Guest and Host Analogy in Chapter 3 of Attaining the Worlds Beyond for more details.
Albert @ KabU
During the 1st week I was reminded of Plato’s cave. Is there a connection with the Kaballah?
Kind regards,
Jacob
Hi Jacob,
I’m not an expert in philosophy, so I cannot comment on that. But in general, most spiritual methods, religions, philosophies, and even sciences in one way or another stem from the wisdom of Kabbalah. Either as a stepping stone for a person to develop through until his point in the heart awakens (such as many eastern traditions), or from an attempt to copy and implement this wisdom (like what early philosophers tried to do, which later on turned into modern sciences), or as a side effect of the concealment of this wisdom (which is how the modern religions and spiritual paths emerged).
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/kabbalah-and-other-sciences-philosophy-and-religion/
Albert @ KabU
I keep going through these videos without advancing to the graduate environment because I have certain objections to some principles in Kabalah.
I hope that this time, I will be able to get them clarified so I can follow through.
What are the differences between God, ourselves, and the other. Are we the same thing or different things?
Why do we have to spiritually ascend?
Who gets the most benefit out of this. And why?
As an organization, what are you getting out of this?
Hi Iheb, great questions!
1. These things start out as the same, like a candle within a torch, where you cannot differentiate one from the other. Then in the process of correction, these things all become separate. Later on, they once again reunite, but still remain separate.
Baal HaSulam writes about it in the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, here’s an excerpt:
“4) The reason why the will to receive must cascade by the four above-mentioned discernments in ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya) is that there is a great rule concerning the Kelim (plural for Kli): the expansion of the Light and its departure make the Kli fit for its task. This means that as long as the Kli has not been separated from its Light, it is included in the Light and is annulled within it like a candle in a torch.
This annulment is because they are completely opposite from one another, on opposite ends. This is so because the Light extends from His Essence existence from existence. From the perspective of the Thought of Creation in Ein Sof, it is all towards bestowal and there is no trace of will to receive in it. Its opposite is the Kli, the great will to receive that abundance, which is the root of the initiated creature, in which there is no bestowal whatsoever.
Hence, when they are bound together, the will to receive is annulled in the Light within it, and can determine its form only once the Light has departed thence once. This is so because following the departure of the Light from it, it begins to crave it, and this craving properly determines and sets the shape of the will to receive. Subsequently, when the Light dresses in it once more, it is regarded as two separate matters: Kli and Light, or Guf and Life. Observe closely, for this is most profound.”
____________
Also check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/11/the-concept-of-god-in-kabbalah/
2. We have to ascend spiritually in order to reach the purpose of creation, which was to create a creature and fill it with all of the goodness. But the purpose of creation is not simply to stuff us full of pleasure like we stuff a turkey, or to take some drug that’ll make us happy for the rest of our lives. The purpose is to elevate us to the highest best possible state, meaning to become similar to the Creator, to His qualities of love and bestowal. In other words, it’s not enough simply to receive, but we need to develop and become similar to Him. That is what it means to “ascend” spiritually, to become similar to Him.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/09/where-is-the-upper-world/
3. The Creator is the pure quality of love and bestowal. As such, He does not lack anything. So the only ones benefiting from this whole process is us.
Although we sometimes use the words that we perform a certain action in order to bestow to the Creator or to bring Him contentment, but in truth it’s just a game to help us to develop. Just like with kids, when we spoon feed them, they see the example from us and want to pick up a spoon and feed us back. Do we really need them to feed us? Of course not. But we still accept this from them, smile, show them how happy they made us by feeding us etc, since we know that through this game, they grow and develop. So ultimately the Creator is not lacking anything. And all of our attempts to bestow to Him are nothing more than a type of game for our own development.
4. A part of our correction is performed by disseminating the wisdom of Kabbalah to anyone interested in learning it. We’ll learn how to do this practically in the advanced semesters. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/08/dissemination-is-spiritual-work/
Albert @ KabU
I have some questions:
1) What happened with the destruction of the temple, two thousand years ago, that broke that connection of humanity and started all the religions? Was it the fact that the arc was hidden?
2) In the description of the worlds, Assiyah above the barrier, the Maschom. But I thought this world was, the physical world, was Assiyah or Malchut? I’m I wrong? Or our world is a level, a lower level, of Assiyah?
3) The new methods developed after 1995, when Kabbalah was disclosed, are not written in the language of roots and branches, are they? What language is that?
4) With this material, we could reach the first step of the sulam, right? After that, we will start to use roots and branches?
Hi Flavio, great questions!
1. The temple symbolized the level of love and connection that this group was able to achieve at that time. When a bigger level of egoism was revealed, they were unable to maintain that level of love and connection. As a result of that, the corporeal temple, the symbol of their love and connection, wound up getting destroyed.
Baal HaSulam writes about this in “Letter 60”, here’s an excerpt:
“this is what our sages meant when they asked about the ruin of the Second Temple, that there was no idolatry there and they were proficient in Torah, so why was it ruined? They said it was for unfounded hatred.”
Keep in mind that the growth of egoism is not a bad thing, but rather a sign of progress. It’s like with exercise, when you master a 5 pound weight, in order to keep progressing, you need to add resistance by going up to a 10 pound weight, etc. Likewise the process of correction works according to the rule of “from light to heavy”. Meaning first the lighter, less egoistic souls reach their correction. They become as the pioneers that start this whole process. And only later on we focus on the heavier, coarser, more egoistic desires.
The people in the days of Abraham were less egoistic and therefore started this whole process. After they corrected the egoism on their level, it opened the door for the rest of the world, the carriers of the heavier, more egoistic desires, to reach their correction.
But the rest of the world was not yet ready for this correction. For this reason Kabbalah had to be temporarily concealed and the people who previously succeeded in this method needed to be scattered throughout the whole world. Then in the process of them integrating with the rest of the world, they sped up the development of the rest of the world to this final state of correction.
So we can see from this whole process that it’s not that something bad happened, on the contrary, those pioneers that started this process finished the correction on their level and then received their next challenge.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/08/building-the-third-temple/
2. The concept of “this world” is not talking about planet Earth. “This world” is a spiritual concept relating to the feeling of being disconnected from spirituality. In other words, in order to be in the state of “this world” you first need to discover that there is such a thing as spirituality and then discover that you’re disconnected from it. So it’s not a given that we’re all in that state. In fact, most of the inhabitants of planet Earth don’t have such a feeling, so it does not apply to them.
As for planet Earth or the corporeal world, Kabbalists typically don’t talk about it. Our world is below the ladder of spiritual degrees. Kabbalists call it “the imaginary world”. Since once we correct ourselves, relative to that corrected state this life would appear as nothing more than a dream.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2010/11/this-life-is-a-dream/
3. It depends on which writings you’re referring to. The writings of Baal HaSulam such as the Study of the Ten Sefirot and the Sulam Commentary to the Book of Zohar are written in the language of Kabbalah (roots and branches). Whereas the writings of Rabash are written more in the style of our inner work.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
4. We need both the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash to reach the first step of the ladder. But the main thing is not the writings themselves but the light that we extract from those texts. It’s ultimately the light that makes all of the changes and corrections on us. Our work is only to 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/
Albert @ KabU
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