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How does the Jewish Bible fit into this teaching. Jacobs Ladder? 40 years in the wandering. The stories of the Bible. Is the Bible even relevant? And then the history of Jesus and the years following?
Hi CS, great questions!
The Torah is indeed a Kabbalistic text. But keep in mind that the stories in the Torah are written in the language of roots and branches. It’s a type of code that uses words of our world to describe spiritual situations and phenomena. As such, these stories are not literal stories.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
As for Jesus, Kabbalistic writings don’t talk about Jesus. So we could speculate one way or another about who he was and whether he was a Kabbalist or not, but these would just be speculations. We should keep in mind that Kabbalah is a science. Kabbalah only deals with the correction of our egoistic nature and the revelation of the Creator. It has no connection to faith, religion, or religious leaders.
But ultimately these things are not so opposed. Both talk about the importance of loving others as yourself. Kabbalah goes even further and gives us a method to actualize loving others to such an extent that we can reveal in our lives the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal.
Albert @ KabU
I’ve checked several of KabU videos and began reading your book for students.
Beside this, i’ve learned that to study Kaballah, a student have to be thought verbally by a teacher (Kabbalah instructor) to understand the langage of roots and branches to understand the real kabbalistic messages in the Torah and other relevent books.
It this right and how to proceed to receive this teaching ? Is this covered in this Kabbalah Revealed course or a later course within KabU studies ?
Thank you !
Hi Francis, great questions!
There are two levels of studying from a Kabbalistic teacher: mouth to ear and mouth to mouth. Mouth to ear is simply to hear the words of the teacher and try to implement them.
Mouth to mouth means that there is a shared anti-egoistic screen between the two of them. This is an internal connection with one’s teacher, in which the teacher and student are so connected that the thoughts and desires of the teacher simply pass to the student on an internal level.
We of course aspire to reach such a connection with the teacher, but in our days it’s not by studying with the teacher one on one. In our days it’s more important that we study together with others in a Kabbalistic group, even through the internet. And in the connection with the Kabbalistic group, we will also build a connection with the teacher. We’ll learn about these things in the advanced semesters on KabU where each one will receive their own Kabbalah group with whom they can put these things into practice.
In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/make-yourself-a-teacher-and-a-group/
Albert @ KabU
Is there any specific books you would recommend reading to someone studying kabbalah for the first time. I have watched quite a few videos introducing me to the wisdom and am eager to learn more. I absolutely love this site and am grateful for the structure of the course provided. I am trying not to get ahead of myself that way I can absorb all I can in the process.
Hi Tristan,
Yes, there is a recommended reading section accompanying each week’s lesson.
https://kabuconnect.com/lessons/recommended-reading/
There are three recommended books for this course:
Kabbalah Revealed and Attaining the Worlds Beyond are there to give you a solid foundation in the Wisdom of Kabbalah. It’s good to read through these books from beginning to end a few times. We’ll be learning from them mainly in the fundamental stages of Kabbalah.
Kabbalah for the Student on the other hand is a textbook of primary sources. This is an advanced level book which we’ll be studying from throughout our entire spiritual development. It can be a bit challenging for us without the proper foundation of the previous two books. So for now, it’s best to just stick with reading the recommended reading materials in that book. After you get a good foundation, you can read through that one as well. And in the more advanced phases, we’ll study articles in that book together and in depth.
Albert @ KabU
I understand the importance of killing the ego to become altruistic, but if done for the purpose of receiving reward or avoiding punishment, isn’t it still egoistically driven?
Hi John, great question!
Yes, the ego is tricky like that. Even the process of working on it is done egoistically. And that is okay. After all, we were created with this nature on purpose. And just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our nature by ourselves.
So no one is demanding of us to be saints, no one is demanding of us to have superhuman strength and to conquer our ego. Nope. All that we need to do, and all that we’re capable of doing actually, is just to try. That’s it. We just need to try to be above the ego. We don’t need to succeed, we just need to try. Such efforts are enough to extract the reforming light and it’s the light that ultimately makes all the corrections on us. Our work is only to extract the 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/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
Keep in mind that the Kabbalistic method is not about suppressing or killing our ego, rather it’s about rising above it. In fact the more we advance, the more our egoistic desires grow. They turn into a type of mountain that we climb over. The bigger the desires, the higher we can climb, and the higher the spiritual degree that we can attain. On the other hand, if we were to eliminate our egoistic desires, then accordingly, we would only be able to attain a tiny degree of spiritual attainment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
Albert @ KabU
Thank you, Albert, for your timely and thoughtful response. After I asked the question I began reading the book, Kabbalah Revealed, in which Rav Laitman provide an answer to the same question. I thought to myself, “What an elementary question, I asked”. I had one of those “Duh!” moments. I was well prepared, therefore, for your answer confirming my understanding. I appreciate you and everyone there assisting us in this climb.
Is it bad that I don’t really have any questions right now? as you have answered all the current ones I did have.
Hi Hensy,
That’s perfectly normal. We go through many different states on the spiritual path, many ups and down. Sometimes we’re overflowing with questions and sometimes no questions at all, etc. It’s fine.
The most important thing is to just keep going, to keep placing yourself under the influence of the spiritual light and it’ll balance everything out.
Albert @ KabU
Regarding something that was said in one of the course prep videos, about reincarnation and how not everyone has a soul. Once a person has created a soul, do they experience reincarnation? Is it possible to lose a soul once you start to create it?
Are we creating a new soul, or are we connecting to the soul we all share? If we create our own soul, does it eventually merge back with the soul that we all share?
Is the purpose of all of this essentially reproduction? Creating copies and then making them conscious? (Like how we hope to one day create AI that is conscious?)
When the process is done, are we at a state of the giver and the receiver, both whole and conscious, like two perfect counterparts? Or does the process repeat and create more than just one giver/receiver?
Thank you so much for your time and work!
Hi Shel, great questions!
1. The soul is a type of desire. Our nature is the desire to receive pleasure. The soul is the corrected form of this desire, when it’s operating in order to bestow. By default, no one has this corrected desire, so no one has this thing called a soul, only a soul in potential that we call the point in the heart. If we develop that point, it can turn into the soul. If not, this same potential continues to reincarnate again and again until it gets fully realized. After it’s fully realized, there is no need to reincarnate again to this level.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/06/what-happens-to-the-soul-after-death/
2. You can say that we’re all parts of a single soul, like cells within a single body. From this perspective, then we’re not creating something new but rather consciously returning to the root of our soul, to our place in this common system.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/10/the-root-of-the-soul/
3. Yes, you can say that at the end of the process of correction we become consciously connected.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/04/the-purpose-of-creation/
What about after that? After that there are further degrees of development, but they are currently beyond our tools of research, so the science of Kabbalah does not talk about it.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/10/what-happens-after-the-final-correction/
Albert @ KabU
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