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Why did kabbalists consider it necessary to conceal the spiritual knowledge of the Torah and Zohar using the language of branches? It would seem that more of humanity could correct their collective desires if the knowledge of the upper spiritual worlds was not hidden.
Hi Aaron, great question!
Spiritual development is a gradual process. If a person is not ready for it, even if you put the entire wisdom in their hands in an easily accessible form, they will not be interested in it. You can even see this for yourself: take one of our intro books and give it to a few friends and family members. If they don’t have an active point in the heart, even if they are suffering greatly in life and can benefit from this wisdom, they wont find anything special in it.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/11/only-people-with-the-point-in-the-heart-can-feel-that-kabbalah-is-the-salvation/
Furthermore, if a person is not yet developed enough to have a spiritual need for this wisdom, their entire inclination will be to use this wisdom in an egoistic way. Similar to how people want to abuse science for egoistic purposes: to make money, weapons, atomic bombs, etc.
For these reasons, the Kabbalists typically concealed this wisdom from the masses and waited until humanity ripened enough to have a true need for it.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/12/true-kabbalah-without-mysticism-or-myths-part-1/
Albert @ KabU
To my personal knowledge, there are two general kinds of problems that we are dealing with on a daily basis.
The outer problems that are related to our physical needs like making a living, relationships and so on, and the inner problems that are related to our minds…
In many of eastern modalities they say that we are not our minds and that our true self is actually pure consciousness and so forth… Are we also to learn how to calm our minds in Kabbalah?
Hello,
Not quiet. We learn in Kabbalah that “there is none else besides Him”. This means that everything that we experience, every single life event, every desire and thought that awakens in us, it all comes to us directly from the Creator. So we don’t work on eliminating these things, but rather learn to use them as means for building a connection with Him.
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/2017/12/there-is-none-else-besides-him/
Albert @ KabU
It depends on the context, sometimes attaining is synonymous with achieving. At other times it points to the “ultimate degree understanding” as Baal HaSulam explains in the article “The essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah“. Here’s an excerpt from it:
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Kabbalah uses only names and appellations that are concrete and real. It is an unbending law for all Kabbalists that “Anything we do not attain, we do not define by a name and a word.”
Here you must know that the word “attainment” [Heb: Hasagah] means the ultimate degree of understanding. It derives from the phrase, Ki Tasig Yadcha [“Your hand shall attain”]. That means that before something becomes utterly lucid, as though gripped in one’s hand, Kabbalists do not consider it attained, but by other names such as understanding, comprehension, and so on.
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Albert @ KabU
Hello Albert,
Thank you for your time! It sounds interesting. There are many voices in my head from the previous teachings but I am trying not to compare though it sometimes inevitable.
I once also had heard that there are two main so-called voices coming to us… one if from the Light and the other is from The Noise if I recall correctly, but if there is none besides Him then whatever else is nothing but some imaginative story or explanation, right?
I am so excited to know this being that is called Him as soon as possible! Thank you again!
It’s a good idea not to mix spiritual methods. It’s like following two different GPS systems at the same time. One leads you to the goal through the west highway, while the other through the east highway. If you follow both, you’ll just wind up going in circles.
As for our thoughts, they all come to us from the Creator. Baal Hasulam writes about it in “Pri Chacham Sichot. The Secret of His Name”. Here’s an excerpt:
“All the thoughts that enter a person’s mind are the act of the Creator. That is to say, it is not what a person feels, that he draws them from some place or that they originated from him. This is false, the biggest lie. Rather each thought, the smallest of the smallest, the Creator sent it to the mind of man, and that is the motivating force of man and of beast and of every living thing.”
Albert @ KabU
Another question:
Can we improve our lives through learning Kabbalah independently or it is a collective way? I know that there’s a collective aspect to it but is it possible to change apart from how the people around want to advance?
Thanks!
Hello,
There are different levels of spiritual advancement. At first we’re simply studying and absorbing the study materials. This gives us a necessary foundation in this wisdom. After we develop a bit in this style, we’ll begin to feel the need to practice this together with others in a Kabbalistic group.
Will I be limited to advancing at the pace the group is advancing. Not really. Even if I’m a great sage and I’m practicing this wisdom with beginners, by properly appreciating them, I will be able to reach even higher spiritual degrees. In other words, although we practice spirituality together with others in a Kabbalistic group, our advancement depends on our own efforts and not on the group itself.
We’ll learn about this in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
The essence of week one as I got it is that this corporeal world that we are familiar with, is nothing but a mere outcome of a true reality that’s beyond our inborn perception… it’s like a reflection on a mirror and is not independent.
Now the natural result is that anything we see or experience here is rooted above and beyond the know reasons or causes, right?
I have a question for now:
There are many people around the world who are struggling with seemingly dead-end situations or deadly diseases and many of them have been born with serious sicknesses… now the question is if these kind of dilemmas can be resolved and changed through the wisdom of Kabbalah and through the “inner transformation” that Mr. Kosinec explained in the lesson??
Thank you!
Hello,
Yes, it’s possible. When we study Kabbalah we as if put ourselves in a spiritual incubator which greatly speeds up the rate of our development and correction. So instead of going through these corrections in a slow and painful way, spanning many lifetimes, we can go through these things relatively quickly, in an easier and more internal way.
We’ll learn more about these things in the upcoming lesson on the path of light vs the path of suffering. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
Albert @ KabU
Hello. As I look at this world, I see that all the beings in this realm are interdependent and somehow connected to one another. But Kabbalah so far explains that we, creatures of this physical world have no influence on the spiritual worlds and all the causes are somehow directed from the worlds above, downward to our physical world.
So that means those forces have influence over us, while we have no influence over them. Seems like a one way street. Doesn’t that violate the principal of interconnectedness of existence? I mean what kind of an internet would it be if you were only able to download stuff and no uploads were allowed?
Hi Mehrardi, good question!
Kabbalah as well states that all of humanity is completely interconnected. If so, where is our place of freedom? After all, being interconnected does not mean that I’m free, it’s quite the opposite. Being interconnected means that I’m a cog within a machine. As long as the machine is running, I’m being forced to spin together with everyone else as well. And everything that happens to me is a result of my place in this machine. So where is my freedom? Where is my opportunity to step out and influence this machine? It’s just some food for thought for now, we’ll learn about these things in depth in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
In the card game of Poker, three of a kind beats two pair. Let’s assume the Creator was playing poker and He had two pair and another player had three of a kind who would be the winner?
Hi Ben,
1) It’s an interesting question, but because it’s philosophical, there is no real answer here. We can say in general that all of life is a game with the Creator. This is called “there is none else besides Him”. Meaning that He’s the only source behind EVERYTHING that is happening in life. Every single thought, desire, life event that we experience, it all stems from Him. So how can we possibly beat Him in this game? Only if we unite our points in the heart, will we have the strength to defeat Him.
We’ll learn about this in the more advanced lessons, in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2017/12/there-is-none-else-besides-him/
2) We should keep in mind that Kabbalists are not philosophers, they are scientists. They research the Creator in a purely scientific approach. See my reply (#304863) to Dan below for more details:
Albert @ KabU
Hi Ben,
The game is rigged in such a way that it’s impossible to win against Him directly. But if we unite and ask for His help together, then He will give us His strength with which we can defeat Him.
But I’m not talking about a game of poker rather about our spiritual work. Which is the process by which we correct our egoistic nature to make it similar to the Creator’s nature of love and bestowal. The reason that this game is rigged is because He is the one that gave us our opposite nature. And this nature is completely under His control, so we cannot do anything against it. The only thing we can do is to ask Him to correct our nature for us. This is how we win in this game.
I don’t want to go any further into this example because we don’t have enough of a foundation to understand these things properly. We’ll learn about these things in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
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