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I have debated on whether or not I should ask this.. I am not trying to stir the pot, but I just can’t get it off my mind and it is interfering with my studies.
Why did Rav Laitman post this incredibly negative post, including a statement that he is not optimistic for humanity?
(That is supposed to be a link to the article, but I am having trouble posting without it being edited or automatically deleted.)
This is really messing with my head because it seems to go directly against everything I have been taught here.
Is it simply a matter of “no one is perfect?” and he was having a moment of doubt?
Or is this article really a reflection of Rav Laitman’s inner self/beliefs/subjective reality?
Linked to this very article is one about how our negative attitudes are causing negative reality.
I understand that we can’t turn a blind eye to what is happening, and that we must take it seriously and face it in order to make change, but is that how we should approach the challenges?
That things were horrible last year, are horrible this year, and will continue to be horrible with no hope/optimism for humanity?
Aren’t we literally taught that all of the bad things that we perceive are lessons, reflections of ourselves, and all just a part of the journey home?
Aren’t we taught that our beliefs and our intentions are what matters the most?
Many people are influenced by what Rav Laitman posts, and may now have a negative belief, and no optimism for the future of humanity.
Why would he want to create that?
What am I not understanding?
(Also, if the article entered my reality, and I am getting emotional about it, does that mean that it is a reflection of how *I* secretly feel?
Do *I* secretly have no hope for myself/humanity?
Is that the entire point of his post? To cause us to ask that question and take action???)
I’m sorry about this. I need to know.
Hi Shel,
These are good questions, thank you for bringing them up.
1. Sorry for the linking issue, the developers are still working out the kinks in the forum links, it does not always work for me either. But here’s a link if someone wants to read the full article: https://www.kabbalah.info/net/2022-was-bad-2023-will-be-no-better/
2. We all develop at different rates, as such, the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah gets adapted to the different levels of development of humanity. Those with active points in the heart have a desire to study Kabbalah. They learn it in a more direct way, like we do on KabU. Those without active points in the heart have all sorts of other media channels through which this wisdom is brought down to a level that they can understand.
This article was written for a wider audience, those without active points in the heart. Meaning such people are not looking for the meaning of life, they don’t have a need or foundation to understand our inner spiritual work. They simply feel bad in life and are looking for a logical explanation for why and what to do. This is why this article was written in such a way.
3. Why does it have such a negative tone? Because the situation in the world is indeed dire. It’s like the world is sick with cancer and Rav Laitman is the doctor that diagnosed it. As difficult as it is for a doctor to tell a person that they have cancer, it’s still the truth and the right thing to do.
4. Regarding things being bad and will continue to be bad, this is correct. All the bad things in the world stem from our uncorrected egoistic nature. As long as we don’t correct that egoistic nature, we should not expect things to get better. On the contrary, life will indeed only get worse and worse.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/
5. As for the world being a reflection of our uncorrected internal world, that is correct. But trying to see that the external world is our reflection is our inner work. It should not stop us from carrying out any of the normal actions that we need to carry out in the external world. If I’m sick, I still go to the doctor. If someone is trying to hurt me, I still need to stop them, call the cops, sue them, etc. If the world is heading towards destruction, the Kabbalists still need to warn them and teach them how to correct the situation.
I think I largely answered your concerns with the above five points, let me know if something is still unclear.
Albert @ KabU
Thank you for your answer.
I am still unclear as to why Rav Laitman would say that he has no optimism for humanity.
This in specific is really bothering me.
Is this really his view?
It goes against everything we’ve been taught (thus far at least.)
Reading that after watching the last few videos is a very.. jarring difference.
Using your example of the doctor diagnosing his patient with cancer:
Imagine if a doctor told a patient: “I am not optimistic for your recovery” VS telling the patient: “If you do the following actions, you could recover.”
If he tells the patient they can recover with certain behavior changes, they are MUCH more likely to attempt those behavior changes, compared to being told there is no hope. In which case they are much more likely to put their affairs in order, and just live it up until they die.
If there is no hope, why bother trying to change things?
I think that there must be a positive finale to our Story as Humanity since Creator cannot fail in his aim of guiding and supporting us in attaining His quality of Unconditional Love. We still have 215 years to reach our goal (completion of 6.000 years from Adam HaRishon onwards) therefore we will accelerate. The point is: what Path will we go through? (Hope to have understood properly…)
Hi Shel,
Is this really his view?
Not necessarily. It’s like when we educate our kids. Sometimes we want to reinforce a certain behavior, so we smile and show them a happy face. Sometimes we want to teach them that a certain behavior has bad consequences, so we show them a sad or upset face. Are we actually happy or sad when we show them those faces, not necessarily. But if we have to show them a happy or sad face to teach them something, we do.This is why I pointed out in my previous explanation that this wisdom gets adapted in different ways towards those with active points in the heart and those without them. And that article was geared more towards those without active points in the heart, so it’s written in a style that will have the strongest influence on that level of desire.
If such articles confuse you, I would recommend avoiding them for now and focusing more on the things we are studying here. Once you have a stronger foundation, you’ll better understand those types of articles as well. Similar to how as kids, we don’t always understand our parents’ attitude towards us and everything they do in order to educate us. But when we grow up and become parents ourselves, we’ll be able to understand them and what it takes to educate a child.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Rae,
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.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/10/bestowal-should-become-fashionable/
Albert @ KabU
Thank you so much! So eof these studies I have to do in secret to blend in with corporeal life. I’m blown away by the growth this is forcing in me and to finally understand my own ignorance and why it makes me happy to see it I just can’t express in words. Thank you so much for the teachings and your kindness is beyond appreciated! Thank you for the link ❤️
Hi Michael,
Yes, I can measure the rate at which I develop spiritually in my attitude towards others that are doing spiritual work with me. I begin to see how my attitude towards them changes from complete indifference all the way until I start to feel them as pieces of my soul. We’ll learn more about this in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
What becomes of Man when the vale is totally taken off his eyes? Will he still have desires? I’ve understood that the purpose of creation is for correction. When it’s all said and done, what’s next?
Hi Michael,
Concealment is an important aspect of our spiritual development and free will. Without it, we would be no different than robots. So as long as we’re in the process of correction, there needs to remain a certain level of concealment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/07/without-concealment-we-couldn%E2%80%99t-reveal-perfection/
As for what happens after we finish the process of correction, Kabbalists hint that there are further degrees of development, but in our current state, we don’t yet have the tools to properly measure these things, so we don’t talk about them.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/03/a-door-to-the-unknown/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Tony, first thank you, for the clear explanations you give. I have experienced myself as inhabiting this body, witnessing it in other words not being it. Also have had many blissful moments but they go eventually. My question is are these states always transient or are they a window of learning?
Hi Roger,
You can say that they are a window of learning, in that we need to always aspire towards the goal and not get stuck on the path, even in a very pleasant moment.
Keep in mind that our nature is egoistic, so avoiding pain is one of the major motivating forces for us. If we were to completely get rid of that force, then we would have no drive to continue our development. So as long as we have not fully corrected our egoistic nature, there always needs to be a force that prods us to move forward. Without it, we would agree to remain in the current state forever and not reach the goal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/
Albert @ KabU
Let me rephrase that last question in my series of questions below. I wrote, “Any by exerting my effort to choose here, I am exercising my freedom of choice at the point of freedom?”
I meant to ask, this… by exerting my effort to choose here, am I exercising my freedom of choice at the point of freedom, or is this the Creator’s force at work, and my exercise of choice was when I created an environment in which I read the article?
Hi Scott,
True freedom is actually a very high degree. We’re still in preparation for it. After all, we did not even choose to be here. This follows the saying that “the Creator puts man’s hand on the good fate and says “choose this for yourself””. Meaning He awakened our point in the heart and that desire started to push and pull us to a place where we can actualize it.
But if the point in the heart is forcing me to be here, what needs to happen for me to start actualizing my free will? This desire then needs to be taken away from me little by little, and then I begin to reveal more and more the place of my freedom.
This is similar to how we teach a child to ride a bike. First the parent holds the child completely. Then as the child learns to pedal and balance himself, the parent lets go a little, then a little more and a little more, until the child continue to pedal without the parent holding him at all.
So we too need to learn to continue to do this work even when that initial desire for spirituality begins to disappear or when the ego grows and begins to pull us into many different directions. Here there is already a need for mutual work in the Kabbalistic group, the spiritual environment. On one hand when I fall into my ego, they need to pull me out, and on the other hand I need to help pull others out when they fall. This is why Kabbalists have always studied in groups (physical or virtual).
We will learn more about this in the more advanced semesters on KabU, where you’ll receive your own Kabbalah group with whom you can practice these things.
Albert @ KabU
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