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In one of the additional videos, one of the three principles of Kabbalah is the transience of desire; that is, the enjoyment disappears once the desire is fulfilled. But doesn’t it really depend on the desire? Yes, if someone desired some sort of flashy car (an example from the video), they would probably lose the enjoyment fairly quickly — but if someone desired just some car (because it significantly improves the quality of life where they live), wouldn’t they enjoy it as long as it works. Another example: I’ve been married for about 35 years, and our enjoyment (with all its ups and downs) only grows. Or: I had a rather unexpected, very ad hoc, desire to sign up for the Kab U membership, but I am enjoying it more and more every day… 🙂 To sum up, it feels like there must be some “qualifications” on the principle that the enjoyment of receivership subsides once the desire is fulfilled…
Hi Elena,
I think food is the best example to illustrate this point. I get a lot of pleasure from eating cake. The first two slices are delicious. Third slice I barely enjoy it and I’m already a little nauseous from it. Fourth slice already starts to hurt my stomach. Fifth slice and I might just throw it all up.
From this example we see that there is a limit to how much pleasure we can receive from each desire. Even if we try to fulfill that desire more, it wont necessarily lead to more pleasure. And if we pass that limit, not only do we stop enjoying it, we can even start to feel pain instead of pleasure.
And of course there are nuances to each desire, even for cake, I can eat a slice a day instead of the whole thing, etc. But that’s not the point we’re making. The point is that our desires are limited and thereby the pleasure we get from each desire is limited. In Kabbalah on the other hand, we learn how to tap into an infinite desire and thereby can experience pleasure on a completely different level.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/03/kabbalah-is-a-patent-for-infinite-pleasure/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Don,
Not necessarily. There are those that study and then there are those who simply use the results of the study. Similar to how there are a handful of scientists that invent something new whereas the rest of the world just uses their invention without even knowing how it works. So those with active points in the heart are the scientists that delve deep into the wisdom of Kabbalah and develop the method by which the whole world can reach peace.
Check out this article from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/12/how-to-reconstruct-a-world-in-pieces-and-attain-peace-times-of-israel/
Albert @ KabU
In the video, Tony said “Kabbalah started with Abraham”. Can we unpack this a bit? Where did Abraham get this wisdom from? In what form did it already exist and what did Abraham do with it for us to say that Kabbalah “started” with him. How do we know all of this?
Hi Alex,
Kabbalah actually started with Adam close to 6000 years ago. The reason why we sometimes attribute it to Abraham is because Abraham was a major milestone in the Wisdom of Kabbalah who turned it into a practical method.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/10/what-came-first-the-torah-or-the-wisdom-of-kabbalah/
As for how we know all this, we learn about it from the Kabbalists. The Kabbalists are the scientists of Kabbalah. Everything we know is based on their research.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
Does this apply to humanity or individuals as well (the path), I’d say both, but I would like to clarify.
Also I feel that there are many parallels to basic spiritualism, is that true?
Hi Szilvia,
The path is open to anyone who wants it.
As for parallels, I’m not an expert in other methods, so I cannot comment on that. In general, it’s best not to draw parallels between what is taught here vs what is taught in other places. Such things might turn us into good scholars but it wont turn us into good practitioners of Kabbalah.
Practicing what is taught here is best done without mixing anything else into it. Like trying to replicate a science experiment. And if we start mixing in other methods, we will not reach the desired results.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Lori,
Humanity has essentially gone through the 125 steps down already and are now at the lowest point, complete disparity of form with the Creator. So there is only up from here. Up meaning becoming more and more similar to the Creator, to His pure qualities of love and bestowal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
Albert @ KabU
Hello,
After watching Tony’s video on the Five Worlds and the descent of consciousness from the Infinite Light, I was left reflecting on a key question:
What initiated the descent from the Infinite Light into the realm of Adam Kadmon? And what caused the continued, step-by-step descent through the spiritual worlds, ultimately reaching our physical reality (“Our World”)?
Was this process driven by a specific purpose or necessity? I’d love to understand more about the inner mechanism or intention behind this journey from unity to multiplicity.
Hi Georgette,
This process was a necessary part of our development. It’s thanks to this process that we feel ourselves as existing. Baal HaSulam writes about it in the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, here’s an excerpt:
“The reason why the will to receive must cascade by the four above-mentioned discernments in ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya) is that there is a great rule concerning the Kelim (plural for Kli): the expansion of the Light and its departure make the Kli fit for its task. This means that as long as the Kli has not been separated from its Light, it is included in the Light and is annulled within it like a candle in a torch.
This annulment is because they are completely opposite from one another, on opposite ends. This is so because the Light extends from His Essence existence from existence. From the perspective of the Thought of Creation in Ein Sof, it is all towards bestowal and there is no trace of will to receive in it. Its opposite is the Kli, the great will to receive that abundance, which is the root of the initiated creature, in which there is no bestowal whatsoever.
Hence, when they are bound together, the will to receive is annulled in the Light within it, and can determine its form only once the Light has departed thence once. This is so because following the departure of the Light from it, it begins to crave it, and this craving properly determines and sets the shape of the will to receive. Subsequently, when the Light dresses in it once more, it is regarded as two separate matters: Kli and Light, or Guf and Life. Observe closely, for this is most profound.”
Albert @ KabU
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