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Hi Sara,
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
Hi Albert, I have been reading your numerous replies on this thread and I am impressed with your ability to answer our questions so clearly.
Should I assume that the great Kabbalists that wrote the original texts and also those that we are currently receiving lineage guidance through their wisdom, study and experience, have gone through the process of ascending back through the 5 worlds to the root of the Creator and they are sharing from that place of experiential achievement of connection with our life’s source, the totality of reality?
Thank you,
Luke Frazer
Hi Luke,
Yes, you can say that. If we’re not yet in spiritual attainment ourselves, then we don’t yet have the tools to verify such things, and so we have to take them as assumptions. It’s just like with any other science. For example, when I read a physics textbook, I see different formulas and experiments that research our reality. If I’m reading this textbook in 8th grade, then I have no choice but to accept the things written there since they come from a credible source. If I’m reading this textbook in college, I’m already given some tools with which I can measure and verify some of these things for myself. And yet there are some concepts that are so advanced, that I have no way to verify them until I become a physicist myself and get access to all the tools that will help me research these things.
Same with us here. There are some things I can verify for myself even when I’m just starting in the fundamentals of this wisdom, and then there are things that I can verify only when I myself have reached attainment.
Keep in mind that although there were many different Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books throughout the generations, nowadays we mainly learn from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. They were the ones to adapt this wisdom specifically to the level of egoism found in our generation, so their writings are the most suitable for our correction.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
Bonjour!
Si la kabbaleestune sciences q’onpuisseetudier, qu’apportepourait changer la kabbalesur la personnememe, et sur la société?
Google translation of the question: If Kabbalah is a science that can be studied, what could Kabbalah bring to change for the person himself, and for society?
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Hi René,
Kabbalah is the method by which we can correct our egoistic nature. As a result of that correction, we become similar to the Creator. As a result of becoming similar to Him, we reveal Him in practice, in our lives.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/04/the-purpose-of-creation/
On the level of society, Kabbalah can help to balance human egoism with the force of bestowal. The typical approach to egoism is to eradicate it. But as we see in the world, this approach does not work. Egoism just continues to grow more and more because it is essential to our progress. In Kabbalah we learn that we shouldn’t eradicate it, but rather, we should learn to use it properly. Then egoism will become a stepping stone for higher development, like a mountain thanks to which we can climb higher and higher.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
Albert @ KabU
I guess I’m getting hung up on some of the language used here. Kabbalah has nothing to do with mysticism? My definition of mysticism is that in entails a direct experience of the Creator. Does Kabbalah not do this through teaching the student how to correct the Tikune? Perhaps I am getting hung up on definitions.
Hi D.R.
I cannot comment on 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 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 these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2011/06/a-science-about-the-world/
https://laitman.com/2017/11/the-concept-of-god-in-kabbalah/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Łukasz,
Yes. Kabbalah is the method by which we can correct our egoistic nature. As a result of this correction we become similar to the Creator and reveal Him in practice, in our lives.
But correcting our nature is not within our power. Just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our own nature. We need outside help for that. This help comes to us from the light. This is a special force in nature that we can use to correct ourselves. By studying from authentic Kabbalistic sources, we tap into that force. Our work boils down to extracting more and more of that force, especially through the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
So we can start practicing and experiencing Kabbalah even now, in the fundamentals. And in the more advanced courses, we’ll explore a few more means by which we can amplify the influence of the light on us.
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
The definition of Jewish came up. I can’t get a clear cut answer regarding the Brit milah (circumcision) physical circumcision is mentioned everywhere in Kabbalah.info videos, in the Zohar and Torah. I understand the whole deeper meaning of it as a symbol but there seems a hesitation to say that in order to begin correction you need to perform a physical Brit milah. There is heaps of content that hints you should. For me this is a really religious thing and I struggle with this because I just don’t believe in it. But I respect Jewish people’s decision to perform it.
Hi Luke,
In Kabbalah, we learn that the commandments are allegories about the internal process of the correction of our desires. Meaning that first of all, we should perform these commandments internally, correcting our egoistic desires into that of love and bestowal.
Externally, if a person decides to perform these things physically as well, like it’s done in the Jewish religion, that’s up to them. But that’s not what we’re learning about here.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/02/mitzvot-commandments-the-correction-of-desires/
Albert @ KabU
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