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Furthermore to another learners question of Kabbalah not being a religion or mysticism – on googling I see — The earliest roots of Kabbala are traced to Merkava mysticism – in which case who adapted it and for what reason – why do you think there was a need to diverge from Merkava?
Hi Matthew,
Authentic Kabbalah has been around for about 5800 years, but it’s been concealed for the past 2,000 years, so people don’t really know what it’s all about. Just picture a 2,000 year old game of telephone and all the distortions that would spring up as a result.
So I cannot vouch for the information you would find out about it on Google. If you have any questions about the materials that are presented here, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to clarify them.
Albert @ KabU
How does kabbalah relate to religion in sense of feeling? I have always felt an attraction to the jewish religion and a deep relation to the land of Israel. When i am turning almost 50 only now my familiy background shows that I have jewish background. I want to learn to understand that connection more
Hi Koriander,
Kabbalah and Judaism are two separate things. Let’s put a few things into perspective to understand this:
Kabbalah is the method of correcting our egoistic nature and thereby revealing the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal. The first one to actualize this was Adam. His name gives us a hint at this since Adam comes from the Hebrew word “Dome”, meaning “similar to”. He was not the first one alive, but rather the first one to reveal the Creator by becoming similar to this quality of bestowal.
This wisdom gets passed onward from Adam until Abraham who adapted it to the people of his generation and made the wisdom more practical. Abraham put together a large group of Babylonians who were interested in actualizing this method. These people later on became the Israeli nation. The word Israel comes from the Hebrew words “Yashar” “El” meaning straight to God. These are the people who had an active point in the heart in those days and were interested in revealing the Creator.
These people greatly succeeded in this method. The peak of their success was symbolized in the building of the first and second temple, which reflected the level of unity and bestowal they were able to reach. At a certain point, they lost the spiritual connection between them (the destruction of the 2nd temple) and what remained was just these external symbols of their connection.
At this point the wisdom of Kabbalah became concealed. People still had the holy books, Torah and etc, but they did not know how to use them. Since the Torah is written in the language of roots and branches. Meaning it uses words of our world to describe spiritual phenomena. But if a person does not have this spiritual connection through which he can see this, then he thinks this book is talking about this world, history, morals, commandments, etc. From this emerges the Jewish religion.
From all the above we see that Kabbalah itself is not connected to any religion and that the modern religions came out due to the concealment of Kabbalah. At the same time, Kabbalah is not against religions. In fact we have millions of students worldwide, from many different backgrounds and religions. Many of them do choose to maintain their religion or to perform certain religious customs while studying Kabbalah and there is nothing wrong with that. Just like with any other science, a person can be religious and also be a chemist or physicist. Likewise a person can be religious and also study the science of Kabbalah. Baal HaSulam writes that even after the full spiritual correction people can still keep their religions.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/12/the-wisdom-of-kabbalah-and-the-other-religions/
Albert @ KabU
Why is it that at times when I go to study kabbalah, I get hit with this sense of apathy or lack of motivation? How does one overcome such feelings of distance from the creator, where studying kabbalah seems futile sometimes?
Hi Ben,
Spiritual advancement happens specifically from the ups AND downs. It’s just like the EKG chart that measures the heart. If there are ups and downs, the heart is beating, the body is alive. If it flatlines, the body dies.
Likewise in our spiritual work, our advancement is composed of many ups and downs. But if we’re in the same state for a long period of time, then we stop advancing and are spiritually dead.
So what you are experiencing is normal. We go through many states on the spiritual path. Many ups, downs, and everything in between. The main thing is to just keep going, to keep placing yourself under the influence of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies (lessons, videos, Q/A forums, books, etc), and it will balance everything out.
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
If Kabbalah is not a religion or a form of mysticism, how has it been passed down? How has its transmission avoided religious-style expansion?
Hi Yijun,
Kabbalah has been passed down from teacher to student for almost 6000 years.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/kabbalah-without-a-trace-of-mysticism/
Kabbalah avoided religious style expansion because the Kabbalists followed the strict rule that “there is no coercion in spirituality”. Meaning that we cannot force someone to study Kabbalah. We just wait until a person develops the point in the heart and then they themselves come searching for it.
Albert @ KabU
I am unable to purchase the books needed for the courses do to financial issues. Is there anyway to get the materials needed for the courses any other way?
Hi Lezlie,
Kabbalah Revealed and Attaining the Worlds Beyond can be found in our online Kabbalah library.
Kabbalah for the student is a collection of articles from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. All the articles that are in that book can also be found in that same library.
Albert @ KabU
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