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Many thanks to Tony Kosinec and the entire KABU team for sharing great lessons.
My question;
Did man descend through the 125 levels because of his(male/female) sins? OR was it in the original plan of the Creator for man to descend into the corporal world by which he(male/female) will be developed?
The Bible records that man ate a forbidden fruit at the center of the garden of Eden planted by the “Creator”. Does this expression has any deeper/ hidden meaning in Kabbalah?
Summary of questions; Is man’s descend through the 125 levels and current struggle to ascend back up a punishment for the sins of his wrong desires or a path to development originally designed by his creator?
Thank you once again.
Hi Christian,
The descent is pre-planned in the thought of creation in order to help us to further grow and develop. It’s similar to how we help our kids to grow. We don’t just give them a completed jigsaw puzzle. Rather we take it and break it down into many pieces. Then in the process of them putting it all together, they grow and develop.
If you’re interesting in learning how to properly decipher the stories in the Torah, check out the books: Disclosing a Portion or The Secrets of the Eternal Book.
Albert @ KabU
is” the law of equivalence” a made-up term by Kabbalist? if not, can you provide references?
we are not creator, we are creature, how can we even be equivalence to the creator? how is it possible to change from total receiving to bestowal if we are wired to be so? Â sounds like maybe by practicing what Jesus taught us: love your neighbors, but I thought we are incapable of doing so by nature, we try as hard as we could, but we are not 100% capable? are we supposed to not think about our own needs/feelings at all but always put others the first? the Creator is capable of doing so, of course due to the willingness but also due to capability right? the Created has unlimited power, wisdom but we do NOT.
I guess I am just confused on how it’s possible to be at any level of equivalence to the Creator.
Hi Helen,
Here’s a blog post from Rav Laitman about the law of equivalence of form: https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
We can see an example of this law in radio receivers. That when we tune the internal frequency of the radio receiver to match the frequency of the external radio wave, then we can pick up that wave and hear it. Likewise in our spiritual work, when we become similar to the Creator, we can reveal Him in practice. This is essentially all of our work, to become more and more similar to Him, to His qualities of love and bestowal. All the way until we reach complete adhesion with Him.
And you’re right that this work is against our nature. Meaning that we cannot just invert our own nature. We need help to reach this change. This is why all that is demanded of us and all that we’re capable of doing really is just to aspire to be like Him. Even if that aspiration is not real, even if it’s just playing pretend, still, when we play such a game, especially in the Kabbalistic group and during the Kabbalistic studies, this attracts the force of the light. The light then gradually works on us and makes this game real.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
If you have the time, I also recommend reading through the article A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar, where Baal HaSulam talks in detail about the law of equivalence of form.
Albert @ KabU
I enjoy all the videos but the reading materials are hard to keep up with. it’s like I understand each word but it’s hard to comprehend the paragraph. sometimes it feels like it says a lot but means little. any tips on how to better utilize those reading materials? thanks!
Hi Helen,
That’s completely normal. The important thing is to just keep going and everything will balance out.
The Kabbalists write about this “it’s not the wise that learns”. Meaning we’re not learning this material simply to acquire knowledge, to store it in some box in our brains. After all, if knowledge was the path to spirituality, then a supercomputer loaded with all of the Kabbalistic texts would be the most spiritual being in the world. But obviously this is not the case. So why do we study if not to gain knowledge? Because through the study, we draw the force of the light. And this force is what makes all the internal changes, clarifications, corrections that need to be made.
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
I’ve been reading Kabbalah For The Student from the start and it very much seems to be for people with a clear picture of Judaism. It leaves me a bit baffled as my knowledge isn’t in this area. However, from the recommended reading for this week and from that excerpt on the 3 discernments, could you give a clearer definition to exactly what it is implying. I interpret it as a yearning to be as one with the Creator, making sure to do your daily tasks with the correct intention (Mitvah) but what is the 3rd aspect. Also, can you clarify the abbreviation NRNHY please?
Hi Anthony,
1. There are three recommended books for this course. Kabbalah Revealed and Attaining the Worlds Beyond are there to give you a solid foundation in the Wisdom of Kabbalah. Besides the recommended readings, it’s good to read through these books from beginning to end a few times.
Kabbalah for the Student on the other hand is a textbook of primary sources. This is an advanced level book which we’ll be studying from throughout our entire spiritual development. It can be a bit challenging for us without the proper foundation of the previous two books. So for now, it’s best to just stick with reading the recommended reading materials in that book. After you get a good foundation, you can read through that one as well. And in the more advanced phases, we’ll study articles in that book together and in greater depth.
2. Regarding Judaism, Kabbalah and Judaism are two separate things, so knowledge of Judaism is not necessary to study Kabbalah.
3. In the article Walking the Path of Truth, Baal HaSulam writes to us about three components in our work: Israel, Torah, and the Creator.
Israel is me, my point in the heart, my desire to actualize myself, to reach spirituality. Torah comes from the Hebrew word Ohr, meaning light. So when Kabbalists us the word Torah they are not referring to the book but rather to the system through which we draw the light that corrects us. The Creator is our root to which we want to return.
He writes that these three components need to be present and equal, otherwise I deviate from the spiritual path. Meaning if I’m just thinking about the Creator, without working with the system called Torah in order to correct myself, then I’m deviating from the path. Also if I’m just working on correcting myself without aiming my work to the Creator, this too is a deviation.
Only when all three of these things are used equally, then we are truly progressing and the light works on us in the most optimal way. It’s like I have a rifle, the rifle scope, and the target. My job is to align the rifle through the scope towards the target. In this way I’m certain to hit the mark.
4. NRNHY is an acronym for Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida. These are the names of the lights that enter into the spiritual desire. There are five of them because there are five levels of the spiritual desire. Each level of desire has a corresponding light that enters it.
Albert @ KabU
I feel like this path from the ‘basics’ is not true for everyone. I have from a very young age have had a desire for knowledge, way before a desire for sex. Also, I have never had a desire for power or fame. So, I doubt I’m the only person who’s desires don’t follow this view…..I also don’t see a desire for sex and food and shelter as basic and animalistic. It’s hard for me to want to learn more when I feel like my desires are being judged as lesser or greater or needing to be fixed. Human beings need food and shelter to live….m
Hi Kelti,
They described the desires in general. But since each person is unique, each one of us has a different arrangement of these desires.
Regarding being judged, Kabbalah is a science, not a religion. Just like when we learn about the physics of our world, no one is judging us there, likewise when we’re learning Kabbalah, which is essentially the physics of the spiritual world, no one is judging us there as well.
As for the correction of our desires, spirituality works according to laws. The main law of spirituality is the law of equivalence of form. It means that if we want to reveal spirituality, we need to become similar to it, to the qualities of pure love and bestowal that reside there. This is just like how a radio can pick up an external wave, when we tune the internal frequency of the radio to that wave. So if we tune our desires in the direction of bestowal, then we will become similar to spirituality and reveal it in practice, in our lives. This is essentially what we’re learning how to do.
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
No question at the moment, just an observation. I love the idea of trying to see and understand the Creator’s intent behind every situation in life, knowing that the Creator is all good and only wants the best for us. It’s simultaneously so simple but also so profound and life-changing. Thank you for so beautifully illustrating this vital point.
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