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I see that KabU distances itself from the term “mysticism.” But the general definition of “mysticism” is the belief that we humans can unite with God. Isn’t that the actual goal of Qabalah? Reunion with the Divine Light/God?
Hi Dee, good question.
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
What would you say is most effective to focus on at this early stage? What is the meaning of my life is a question that has tormented me for years–and won’t let go–I’ve tried. But, reading about spiritual worlds still seems a bit abstract. I feel I’ve glimpsed that everything comes from the Creator and then it passes, why, or is this my imagination? My question in the end is, do I just relax, continue the course, keep reading, posting, or is there some work I can be doing internally?
Hi Ilya,
The purpose of our lives is to reach adhesion with the Creator. But it’s one thing to read about this and grasp it intellectually. It’s another to actually feel it in practice. Feeling it does not work according to our intellect, but rather according to the law of equivalence of form. Meaning that if we want to come closer to the Creator, we need to become similar to Him, to His qualities of love and bestowal. To the extent that we’re similar to Him, we reveal Him in practice.
It’s just like a radio receiver that can catch different external frequencies by matching them on the inside. But just like the radio cannot just tune itself, we too cannot just change ourselves or our own nature in order to match the Creator’s nature. We need outside help to do this. This help comes to us from the force of the light. The light is a special force thanks to which we can perform this correction. Essentially all of our work boils down to extracting more and more of this light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
So the most practical action that you can do towards performing this change and realizing the meaning of life is to set aside some time to regularly return to the source of the light, meaning to the Kabbalistic sources, videos, lessons, etc. This will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
For more details, check out the blog posts from Rav Laitman that I linked throughout my response above.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Andrew,
Yes, we’ll learn about these things in great detail, especially when we get to the technical studies of the upper worlds. If you want to learn a bit more about it now, you can check out the article Foreword to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, it’s also in the Kabbalah for the student book.
Albert @ KabU
Hello, my name is Darren. I enjoyed the 1st video: The Essence of Wisdom. It leaves me with a question: Anthony shares that there are 125 steps to the highest spiritual world (Beriah). In the system of yoga, yoga is often defined as union with the divine. If one climbs all 125 steps, would that be the equivalent of achieving yoga, union with the divine?
Hi Darren,
I’m not an expert in other methods, so I cannot comment on what they teach there. In general, the 125 degrees symbolize the difference between us and the Creator. Our nature is pure reception, while His nature is that of pure bestowal. To the extent that we correct our nature, make it similar to His, to that extent we’re climbing this ladder. And in this process, we become more and more similar to Him until we are fully adhered to Him.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/04/the-purpose-of-creation/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Alejandro, good question!
Although we point to 1995 as to when Kabbalah became revealed, technically the prohibition was lifted much earlier, from the time of the Ari. He was the one to make a very special correction within the entire spiritual system, after which its not only possible, but a must to openly disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah in order to help the whole world reach its correction.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details on the Ari: https://laitman.com/2010/08/the-ari-rav-isaac-luria-the-godly-man/
So why do we say 1995? Let’s put a few things into perspective:
Kabbalah is the method of correction of our egoistic nature, thereby revealing the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal. Why was it necessary to conceal such a wisdom? Because egoism was still not yet fully developed. For example: if you compare Kabbalah to a medicine that can cure a rare disease, obviously you can’t take the medicine before you’re diagnosed with the disease, but once the disease actually manifests, you can take the medicine and be cured of it.
It’s just like the 5 stages development of a disease within a person. First a person is healthy. Then he is sick, but he does not feel it. Then the disease spreads to the point that he starts to feel pain and symptoms of the disease. This then pushes him to go to a doctor to get diagnosed and find the cure, and etc.
2000 years ago, egoism was still on a very low level, there was no need to correct it. Starting from the days of the Ari, egoism already grew to a certain extent (and technically the prohibition on Kabbalah ended there), but humanity still didn’t feel sick, on the contrary the ego was the main driving force of all of our development. Then from around 1995 egoism peaked and began to show itself as bad, like a cancer that begins to kill the host body. This is the peak at which there was a true need for the cure. Which in essence is what the Kabbalists have been waiting for all these years, for the desire, for egoism to fully ripen.
Albert @ KabU
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