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Hello Albert,
Where does the number 600,000 come from? I read the blog post from Rav. Laitman: laitman.com/2010/09/love-and-hatred-of-600000-souls/
But I didn’t undersunderstand what is the meaning of Zeir Anpir and Arich Anpir?
Many thanks,
Mira
Hi Mira,
The Creator created a single desire to receive pleasure. In the process of correction, this desire gets partitioned into sefirot, partzufim, and worlds.
The most basic division of the desire is 1 Sefira. 5 Sefirot compose 1 partzuf. 5 Partzufim compose 1 world. There are 5 worlds in total. So 5 worlds each with 5 partzufim each with 5 sefirot equals 125 (5x5x5) steps on the spiritual ladder, or in other words corrections that need to be performed on the desire.
Zeir Anpin and Arich Anpin are two different partzufim, referring to two different parts of the desire. The main takeaway from the 600,000 blog post should be that 600,000 is not a quantitative number, but a qualitative one. It represents the strength of the spiritual desire after it has been fully corrected.
As for the technical differences between the sefirot, partzufim, worlds, etc, in the advanced semesters, there is a whole course dedicated to that, where we’ll learn these things in depth. In the meantime check out the article: Foreword to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah for more details.
Albert @ KabU
I felt lethargic after class. The realization that you have no direct influence on your free will. I hope to learn this soon.
I also understand that you can achieve better results with a group of 10 (connection).Hi Ramar,
On the one hand, it could be discouraging, but on the other hand, it really helps to focus our work. It’s like stepping into a room with a thousand buttons, and you know that only one will actually do anything.
It’s the same in our lives, we can run around from morning to night doing all sorts of actions, but the only thing that has any influence whatsoever on the system that we’re in, is choosing to be influenced by the spiritual environment. All the rest is a result of that choice.
For more details, see my reply 333155 to Lana below, as well as this blog post from Rav Laitman: https://laitman.com/2010/10/what-no-fortune-teller-knows/
Albert @ KabU
The point in the heart is like a drop of semen containing all the information and tendencies of previous generations, but in abstract form. So out of this point unfold all the worlds.
What worlds are we talking about here? Spiritual or a Corporeal actual one?
By reading this, I am getting the impression that one can be the creator and create “worlds” if he grows the point in the heart in the right environment. Am I correct in that assumption?
Hi Iheb,
All the worlds, starting from the spiritual, until it descends to our world.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/a-science-about-the-world/
We don’t become the Creator, we become LIKE the creator.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/11/everyone-is-a-point-everyone-is-infinity/
Albert @ KabU
“The Kabbalists tell us that all the generations that have existed in this world are really the same generation that has returned and progressed over thousands of years.”
Does this mean that Adam, Abraham, Noah, Jacob, etc.. still exist today within a person or as different people within our generation?
Does a generation in Kabbalah means the same as the mainstream meaning of generation or something else?
Hi Iheb,
Both are true. Adam, Abraham, etc represent spiritual levels which each person attains.
At the same time, there did indeed exist Kabbalists with those names in the past, which continue to reincarnate generation after generation (generation in the normal sense of the word).
Baal HaSulam writes about it in the article “The Peace“, here’s an excerpt:
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THE WHEEL OF TRANSFORMATION OF THE FORM
First, let me present the opinion of our sages concerning the unfolding of the generations of the world: although we see the bodies changing from generation to generation, this is only the case with the bodies. But the souls, which are the essence of the body’s self, do not vanish, to be replaced, but move from body to body, from generation to generation. The same souls that were at the time of the flood came also during the time of Babylon, and in the exile in Egypt, and in the exodus from Egypt, etc., until this generation and until the end of correction.
Thus, in our world, there are no new souls the way bodies are renewed, but only a certain amount of souls that incarnate on the wheel of transformation of the form, because each time they clothe a new body and a new generation.
Therefore, with regard to the souls, all generations since the beginning of Creation to the end of correction are as one generation that has extended its life over several thousand years, until it developed and became corrected as it should be. And the fact that in the meantime each has changed its body several thousand times is completely irrelevant, because the essence of the body’s self, called “the soul,” did not suffer at all by these changes.
And there is much evidence pointing to that, and a great wisdom called “the secret of the incarnation of the souls.” And while this is not the place to explain it, because of the great importance of the matter, it is worthwhile to point out to the uneducated that reincarnation occurs in all the objects of the tangible reality, and each object, in its own way, lives eternal life.
Although our senses tell us that everything is transient, it is only how we see it. In fact, there are only incarnations here—each item is not still and does not rest for a moment, but incarnates on the wheel of transformation of the form, losing nothing of its essence along its way, as physicists have shown.
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Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
Albert @ KabU
How does our intention relate to whatever freedom of choice we have? Is it my choice to develop the correct intention or does the Creator decide it for me?
Hi Lana,
Our freedom of choice is in choosing to be influenced by the spiritual environment (meaning the Kabbalistic books, group, and teacher). Everything else, including our intentions, is a result of that choice.
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 to him good concepts. If one does not do that, but is willing to enter any environment that appears to 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 easier to come by. 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 that 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 and 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 deeds.”
Albert @ KabU
How does the 600 000 parts relate to individuals living today? Are these 600 000 parts distributed among the population today? Do each of us have a part? Are some without a part?
Hi Mel,
600,000 is less of a quantitative number and more of a qualitative number. It represents the strength of the spiritual desire after it’s been fully corrected. So essentially all of humanity is included in this number.
Check out this blog post to see how this number is derived: https://laitman.com/2010/09/love-and-hatred-of-600000-souls/
Albert @ KabU
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