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Albert and Friends,
It’s interesting to learn that the spiritual environments I have experienced are appropriate for my ability to receive there. I truly appreciate this way of thinking because I am allowed to attain understanding myself. In the past we were told what to believe and very often many do not attain the understanding, they continue the ritual of it all. I have a new perception of even the people that I thought were hurtful to me that nothing can occur outside of our Creator.
This explains to me, how people can experience horrible occurrences for generations, but they have hope and not despair. I agree with Cristina that it is very difficult to move away from ego. I am free then to choose my connections. Am I on track?
Blessings to all!
Hi Loria,
Freedom means rising above our egoistic nature. As we learned in this week’s lesson, we do this by building for ourselves a strong spiritual environment.
Baal HaSulam talks about this in the article, the Freedom. He writes: “Harut (carved) on the tables”; do not pronounce it Harut (carved), but rather Herut (freedom), to show that they are liberated from the angel of death.
Throughout the article he explains how our current egoistic nature is that angel of death. Meaning although we are technically alive and surviving, relative to spirituality, our life is considered death. True life is within a completely different nature, that of bestowal. In order to reach freedom from our current nature, we need to choose and build a spiritual environment for ourselves which will influence us with the importance of acquiring the quality of bestowal.
For this reason, the Kabbalists equate our main freedom in life in choosing to be influenced by a spiritual environment. Not just any environment, but specifically a spiritual environment, since only through the spiritual environment can we get the importance of coming out of our egoistic nature and only through that environment can we draw the light that can help us to actualize this.
In the more advanced lessons, we’ll learn how to build this type of spiritual environment, in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/10/bestowal-should-become-fashionable/
Albert @ KabU
So, if I understand these lessons correctly, all of the external factors of my life are predetermined (who I will talk to today, where I will go, what I will eat for lunch, etc.) and my free will resides solely in my response to these events; my attitude towards them? And my attitude towards them should be focused on the Creator’s intention behind the events and loving others as myself? This is what I should be focusing on daily, as often as possible?
Hi Dustin,
Our freedom is in choosing to be influenced by a good spiritual environment. The rest, including our good thoughts and deeds, is a result of that influence. Baal HaSulam writes about it in the article “The Freedom” . Here’s an excerpt:
“However, there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart upon him good concepts. If one does not do this but is willing to enter any environment that appears before him and read any book that falls into his hands, he is bound to fall into a bad environment or waste his time on worthless books, which are abundant and more accessible. In consequence, he will be forced into foul concepts that make him sin and condemn. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in this there is definitely a choice.
Therefore, he who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. But here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts or deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment, which brings him these good thoughts and actions.”
Albert @ KabU
This aspect of Spirituality that we refer to as the “free will” of the person living in this “world” is one of the most interesting and seemingly contradictory.
In the “Related” section for this week, there is a video by Rav Laitman titled, “There Is None Else Besides Him | Fundamentals of Kabbalah | Webinar with Kabbalist Dr. Laitman” that would be very helpful for everyone to watch because it addresses this issue of “free will” directly. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_O07Nz1nt8.
In Albert’s response to Patricia above he says, “Yes, this follows the saying that: the Creator puts man’s hand on the good fate and says “choose this for yourself”. Meaning He awakened your point in the heart and brought it to a good spiritual environment in which you can nourish it. After that the rest is up to you.”
My question to Albert then is, Who is this “you” that you refer to, as “the rest is up to you.” In this video, Rav Laitman is answering many questions from groups around the world, and he is pretty clear that there really is no other Presence, no other Being except the Creator.
Yes, He created the Creation but is this Separate from Him? Yes, initially we are taught that quality-wise, being receivers for our “selves” and He being the only Bestower, we are opposites. But this is only a way of looking at things from our temporary experience of believing we could actually BE separate. But Who put “us” in this state? There is only the Creator, there is no “other”, not you, not me, not anyone, not anything. He IS the ONE and the ONLY. The seemingness of separation is just an illusion that He Himself created for Himself, for His own Purposes. It is His Way of appreciating His Own Godliness. But there is no Actual separate you and me to share in this appreciation. He really is the only ONE.
Rav Laitman did say in this video that he Knows himself to be One with the Creator. In this state, and only in this state of Actual, and Eternal Attainment of Oneness with the Creator can “you” dissipate the illusion of being a separate ego, and merge into your Eternal Essence, your Actual Uniqueness as an aspect of the Creator. There never was a separation, there never was a journey from uncorrected to correction. Now your Real Will to only receive to Bestow is One with Creator’s Only Will to Bestow, and this is the only Actual Free Will that is possible. He only chooses to Bestow to Himself in all the infinitude of Unique Aspects of Himself that He has Created. There is no Actual “other”. This has always been Reality for all of Eternity, and could never BE any other way.
Blessings to all.
Hi John,
In practice, we cannot defer to “there is none else besides Him” if we have not attained that for ourselves.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/10/if-i-am-not-for-myself-then-no-one-will-help-me/
Attaining that state works according to the law of equivalence of form. Meaning that in order to attain spirituality, we first need to become similar to it, to the spiritual qualities of love and bestowal. But since this is completely against our nature, we need a supportive environment that will help us in achieving this goal.
It’s just like with the example of going to the gym and lifting weights. Naturally this is something extremely painful and unpleasant. But when we’re under a good influence of the gym environment, have friends that value such things, read lots of articles about staying healthy etc, we begin to enjoy these things. And what was previously a painful activity turns into something pleasurable. It all depends on the influence of the environment.
So through the spiritual environment, we get the necessary support and importance of coming out of our egoistic nature. And even more importantly, through that same spiritual environment we draw the force of the light in order to actualize this change. For this reason, the Kabbalists equate our main freedom in life in choosing to be influenced by a good spiritual environment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/10/bestowal-should-become-fashionable/
Albert @ KabU
Thank you everyone for all the questions and input. I am struck by the magnitude of the “idea” of free will vs the actual reality of free will. I have often felt throughout my life a “powerlessness” to change certain situations no matter what I did, and with the best “will” in the world I was still unable to change. Of course on reflection I was nearly always trying to change others, situations or things to my way of thinking or viewpoint.
I now understand why it was so exhausting, mentally draining and pointless.
I hope I remember it for next time.
Thanks
when you are in the path of discovering that all what you perceive in this physical world is not real and its perceived just by you.
there is some horrible feeling of fears a rise here….may be fear of losing who you used to take yourself to be …
please if there is some insights about those states and how the wisdom of kabbalah refers to them.
Hi Marouane,
Yes, it’s common to have such feelings. Here are some things to keep in mind to help you stabilize this picture:
1. The physical world is real until you attain otherwise. If the Kabbalist attained something and wrote about it, this is their attainment, not yours. You cannot just take their attainments as your own. So until you attain otherwise, this world is very much so real.
2. Even after we attain spirituality, we continue to exist on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder of development. So we cannot just disconnect from this world and start living in the clouds. Rather we must continue to exist as normal people do: to work, take care of our health, families, etc.
3. The entire spiritual path is one of correcting our egoistic nature, for it to operate in the direction of bestowal. We don’t lose anything as a result of this correction. On the contrary, we only gain. This is because our current state is the lowest and worst possible state. When we begin to correct ourselves, we’ll gain higher and higher levels of perception and experience exponentially greater levels of fulfillment.
Here’s an excerpt from Rav Laitman’s blog on this:
“In our world, everything is opposite to perfection because one acts at the expense of the other. Our world is the lowest, the worst of the worlds. Only ascent above it is possible. There is nothing worse than this world.”
Albert @ KabU
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