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I feel that I understand the material intellectually, but I keep losing the intention of altruism in my daily life. I then feel confused about whether or not I am walking the Path of Light, or the Path of Pain. What is a way for me to increase my faith so that I may be pleasing to Him (reaching equivalence of form?) Am I trying to hard by myself rather than allowing the Light?
Thank youHi Steven,
Our spiritual work is not directly in our hands, rather, it’s a result of the environment that we find ourselves in.
We’re like a seed. If we plant the seed in fertile ground, then it’ll get all the right nutrients and grow. If we put it in the desert or just keep it on a shelf somewhere, nothing will come out of it at all. So all of our work boils down to finding the best spiritual environment in which to plant that seed. And what will ultimately happen to it is a result of the environment we put it into.
The spiritual environment consists of the Kabbalistic books, group, and teacher. Our job is to place ourselves under the influence of that environment. So for now, perhaps that’s simply by setting time to return to the Kabbalistic texts and lessons and reading through these Q/A forums. And in the advanced semesters we’ll also learn how to do this type of work in a group.
We’ll learn about this in depth in the next semester, in the meantime, here’s a quote on the topic from Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom”:
“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
I need some clarity on something that I read this week. Maybe my interpretation is incorrect. In the book Kabbalah for the Student on page 33 it says “to observe everything with faith in the Torah and in the Giver of the Torah, that there is a judgement and a Judge” I thought that Kabbalah was not a religion and that there was not legalism in Kabbalah. Saying that we must observe with faith in the Torah definitely leads me to believe that this is a religion or at least a wisdom that recommends following a religion. The Torah which is also the first 5 books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. I have read these books many times and they are filled with many things including the commandments, judgement from God and rules. Is this the foundation of Kabbalah? Can you please clarify this for me?
Hi Tina,
Faith in Kabbalah is not referring to blind faith, rather it’s about acquiring the quality of bestowal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/12/the-wisdom-of-kabbalah-and-the-other-religions/
Torah comes from the Hebrew word Ohr, meaning light. So when Kabbalists refer to the need for the Torah, they are not referring to the book but rather to the light. We need the force of the light to correct our egoistic nature.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/12/know-what-you-want-precisely/
As for judgement, a person is the judge over himself. Judgement is the internal process by which we judge ourselves in the process of correcting our egoistic nature.
Here’s an excerpt from a Rabash article on this topic:
“the judgment that a person is judged in the beginning of the year means that the person judges himself, and he is the arbiter and executor, for man is the arbiter, the litigant, and the knowledgeable one, and witness. It is as our sages said, “There is judgment below, there is no judgment above.”
And a blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2022/03/where-are-hell-and-heaven-revealed/
Little by little we’ll learn how to properly decipher all these words in our inner work so we don’t confuse them with how religions use them.
Albert @ KabU
If someone desires something, and I surprise them with it as a gift, am I providing Light to another through their temporary fulfillment of acquiring their desire? Don’t also receive Light, as I feel pleasure in giving another what they desire?
Hi Steven,
Yes, you can say that the feeling of light is pleasure. Just keep in mind that we practice these things primarily in the Kabbalistic group.
If you practice this anywhere else, in the best case scenario you’ll build some good relationships, in the worst case, people will think you’re weird or try to take advantage of you. But either way it will not lead to the revelation of the Creator.
So generally, with the rest of the world, it’s best to just act normal, like everyone else. Meaning don’t make a saint of yourself and at the same time don’t cause harm to others or break the law, but just act the way normal people act.
As for practicing these things in the Kabbalistic group, it’s not simply by fulfilling another’s desires, rather it’s in fulfilling their desire for spirituality, meaning helping them to reach spirituality. In which case, there are a myriad of ways I can bestow to others. I can help them feel how important spirituality is, I can uplift their spirits if they feel low or discouraged, I can show them a good example of a serious student, etc. We’ll put these things into practice in the advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
“The cause of suffering is that our inborn nature (i.e. egoism) is opposite to the nature that created it.“
The above quote makes me wonder, does this mean that we are the opposite of the Creator? And if the Creator only gives, then is all he is giving a selfish nature? If so, what is a Creator who only creates egoism?
Hi Michael,
1. Yes, we are opposite the Creator. He has a desire to only give and we have a desire only to receive.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/04/the-purpose-of-creation/
2. Our egoistic nature is an inversion of the Creator. Like a glove that is the exact shape of the hand it needs to fit. We’re created in this way in order to be a vessel for all the goodness that the Creator wants to give.
3. Why create egoism and make us go through this whole process to correct it? He could have created us perfect and be done with it.
In the article Introduction to the book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam describes how we were created in the state of perfection, in complete adhesion with the Creator. But this was an unconscious state, like a baby in its mother’s womb. So we necessarily had to come to the complete opposite state, to lose that state of perfection, in order to once again reach it, but this time consciously.
And the fact that we had to lose this state is not something bad, but it’s a necessary part of our development. It’s just like with kids. We don’t just give them a completed jigsaw puzzle. On the contrary we take it and break it down into many pieces. Then in the process of them putting it together, they grow and develop. Same with us, this process of losing that state is a necessary part of our further growth and development.
This process also adds to us a certain level of freedom, without which, we would be no different than machines, or robots, that were programmed to act a certain way and they just carry out this inner script. Instead, we were programmed one way, and we rise above this inner programming, become independent of it, and then develop our own desire to advance towards this goal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/01/from-perfection-to-perfection/
Albert @ KabU
Has any Kabbalists pass the barrier (machsom)?
If so, what is their life in the world like? If not, how can we discern whether their perceptions are real?
Hi Alice,
A Kabbalist is one that has made INTERNAL corrections over his egoistic desire and as a result has become similar to the Creator and revealed Him in practice, at least to some extent. All of this is internal.
Externally there is no way to discern if a person is a Kabbalist or not. Meaning such a person can be a man or a woman, lives a very normal life, works, takes care of his/her family, health, etc. Meaning there is no dress code or rituals or anything external by which we can discern that a person is a Kabbalist.
So how do we know if someone is a Kabbalist or not? If a person reaches spiritual attainment, it’s possible to discern others who have reached that same level. We can see this from the Ari. Although he was a great Kabbalist, his work in revealing Kabbalah received quite a lot of opposition from the local people. It was not until the Ramak came along and vouched for the Ari that the Ari was accepted.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/08/before-the-ari-the-gates-of-wisdom-were-closed-for-us/
But someone who is not in spiritual attainment cannot know who is a Kabbalist. The best they can do is follow their point in the heart and it’ll bring them to the place where it can get realized.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/06/trust-your-heart/
Albert @ KabU
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