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While listening to this video I was wondering about my current romantic relationship. For many years in my life I hadn’t been able to feel the love and warmth of an intimate relationship like I longed for because of obstacles and my controlling family. However for the past year and a half I have been with my boyfriend whom I love so much and feel his love fill my needs. An empty cup filled at last, I am so grateful. I have lived the magical moments of traveling together and all those things I thought I could never have.
Now I wonder, how? And why? I’ve been telling myself “it’s because you finally healed a lot of the anger you had within you and learned not to hurt other people in relationships” those steps I took made me feel deserving of the relationship I now have. But there’s a fear inside me that God wants to hurt me. It’s hard to believe God is all love or all good. I say God is good when I find a way to work with reality and what I want but I feel so much fear because I think God doesn’t care what happens to me in the end.
So regarding this situation, I feel fear that the thought behind bestowing this loving relationship onto me is to then take away the love I have (all of it) so that I am broken and all I have left to think about is God.
“Why did this happen, God? Do you really hate me? What have I done? Maybe if I don’t love anything then you wouldn’t find a way to hurt me again”, this is fimiliar to me.My question about this video is, how is God so sure that I would ask him for help? Because so far I just keep pushing him away and hating him. I mean I might die before I trust God. I sort of wish to live happily without ever knowing him.
On a side note though, I think this is my reaction to realizing that God DID this to me. That he is the created of the bad and painful experiences that I went through. However in moments when I blame the pain on something or someone else, I can feel more surrender to God as my savior in that moment because I see God as innocent and I too.
This is funny to me because it explains how religious people love God so much and find it easy to pray and ask for help while I’m out here trying to make it on my own, walk the line straight without asking for help and trying to understand the will to bestow only so that I can feel safer and able to relax in his world.
Hi Jasmine,
It’s not my place to comment on your personal life, but we can talk about these things in general.
1. The Creator is the pure quality of love and bestowal. As such, He does not lack anything. Meaning He does not need us thinking about Him or loving Him, etc. The only ones benefiting from this whole process is us.
Although we sometimes use the words that we perform a certain action in order to bestow to the Creator or to bring Him contentment, but in truth it’s just a game to help us to develop. Just like with kids, when we spoon feed them, they see the example from us and want to pick up a spoon and feed us back. Do we really need them to feed us? Of course not. But we still accept this from them, smile, show them how happy they made us by feeding us etc, since we know that through this game, they grow and develop. So ultimately the Creator is not lacking anything. And all of our attempts to bestow to Him are nothing more than a type of game for our own development.
2. Coming closer to the Creator works according to the law of equivalence of form. Meaning that we can come closer to Him to the extent that we become similar to Him, to His qualities of love and bestowal. But since He is not in need of us loving Him (point #1), this is done in practice specifically with other people. Meaning that loving other people is the way by which we come closer to Him. In other words, there is no such thing as disconnecting from people while thinking about the Creator. Our closeness to Him is specifically through our closeness with other people.
The foundation of this type of work is done in a small Kabbalistic group. And once we build a certain foundation there, we can add more and more layers on top of that, until we can include the whole world in that connection.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
3. We learn from the Kabbalists that every single moment comes to us directly from the Creator, this is called “there is none else besides Him”. Furthermore, they also say that He is the “good that does good”. Meaning that every moment He is sending us nothing but goodness. But why then don’t we see this in our world? Why do we see so much suffering and problems in the world?
This is because our world is governed by our egoistic nature. This egoistic nature is opposite to the Creator’s nature. Because of that, it inverts the Creator’s goodness into something bad. It’s just like multiplying numbers: a positive times a negative equals negative.
So as long as we remain within this egoistic nature, we will continue to see and feel more suffering and horrors in the world. But if we correct our nature to be similar to the Creator’s nature, then we will reveal the true reality in which only goodness exists, and our previous egoistic state would appear as nothing more than a dream.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/
Albert @ KabU
When answering Joel’s question, Albert (the Instructor) utilizes a dirty glasses metaphor. By engaging in this wisdom we seem to gain a 2nd set of glasses. Nothing really changes in the world as I still can go on online and see pictures of the planetary scale devastation but i won’t get as upset because I have a new perspective through my new K-grade glasses. The new perspective surfaces a key fact: nothing happens on its own free will, there is nothing “bad” in the world. Rather, everything was create for the purpose of guiding humans in general (and what I see in particular) towards the ultimate state of delight and pleasure of all the creatures. What’s the point of even thinking for a brief moments about where I can make things better? Why give a helping hand for someone in need? If everything and everybody is developed to bring them to the perfect state, why do we need charity or a simple act of compassion? In these acts of giving, don’t we mess up with the Creator’s plan? If the plan of creation requires millions of people to battle with addictions brought to humanity by civilization and yet more millions to suffer in pain and more innocent children to die from curable diseases – who am I to interfere? When I see a homeless person in my town, is it a time to turn to the Creator with….. what? Gratitude seems wrong. Asking in my heart or with a prayer for that homeless guy to get help and a new point of balance seems wrong too. Why does anyone need to hear that?
Hi Nika,
We learn that the world is a reflection of ourselves. It’s like I’m looking at myself in a mirror. So if I see something in the mirror I don’t like, I shouldn’t start coloring the mirror and making changes there, rather I need to change something with myself.
The same with the world, if I see something bad in the world, it’s a sign that I’m not yet corrected. So I need to focus on my own correction. After I correct myself, I’ll look at the world, but then it’ll appear as perfect.
So the world will indeed change, not because I changed something in the world, but because I corrected myself and that correction will be reflected in the world.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2018/03/i-return-the-whole-world-inside-me/
Albert @ KabU
A few times I have heard in lessons by the Rav, the story about how Rabash would say “let it suffer” in regards to his corporeal body. I am very sure that a kabbalist does not believe in masochism and would not want the students to ever think that that was the case, I rule that out definitely. What can I learn from Rabash in this, and how can I use it in my own corporeal suffering? I believe Rabash was showing that he was trying to minimize the corporeal body’s importance and also to accustom himself to be able to handle corporeal suffering in the correct way?
Thanks
Hi Robert,
That example shows us that a Kabbalist can separate himself from his body. On the one hand there is what the body experiences and on the other is our aspiration for the Creator. The Kabbalist can rise above what the body experiences and live within that desire for the Creator. The disconnection could be so great that even while the body is suffering, the Kabbalist can be happy.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/05/what-to-ask-for-when-we-are-in-pain/
Albert @ KabU
Questions from the video, “The path of light”.
1) When the time comes and Adam Ha Rishon is once again whole and we re-connect and cleave unto our creator, do we all lose our individual selves and are just ‘One’ creature in connection with it’s G-d or do we continue to exist as an individual? Will I personally recall all the lives I have lived and all the experiences I had during this seperation and correction?
2) Can we become aware of our Reshimot? This I ask because when I came into this life, I somehow knew things about this world and life in it, that most people I have know are completely unaware of. For example I knew by the age of 11 that this world was ‘Not’ real, that it was an illusion, a hell, a punishment of sorts, and that the only way out was to aquire enlightenment. I had felt since this time that I was here against my will, that I did not choose to be here and I hated everything because of that.
3) Is it possible to discern or sense our Masach. If our sixth sense is developing as we make the effort to walk the path of light, can we sense it increase within us?
4) I also have a very deep and personal question I would like to ask, however I do not wish to share this openly in this forum. Is there someone who I could contact privately to ask this important question concerning Mitzvot and Tikkun? Much of the events of pain and suffering in my life revolve around this subject and as I say, deeply personal.
Hi Philip,
1. We don’t lose our individual soul. Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/10/each-soul-is-individual/
As for recalling past experiences, the spiritual system is built such that quiet a lot of information is concealed from us simply because it’s not necessary for our development. And to the extent that it is necessary, it will get revealed to us.
2. Our work is not to identify and get fixated on a certain reshimot, our work is to speed them up. The reshimot detail the process we need to undergo starting from the initial thought of creation all the way until the end of correction. Essentially our entire path of development is preset in these reshimot. So all the forms we need to evolve through and all the desires that will awaken in us is also preset there. The only choice we have is in the pace we go through it. It’s like all of life is one big strip of film, like a movie reel. Every new moment is a new frame, a new reshimot is shown to us. And we cannot change the movie at all, but only to fast forward or go one frame at a time.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/07/the-whole-world-is-inside-the-reshimo/
3. Yes, but keep in mind that the only thing broken in the entire system of creation are the proper connections between people. So our entire spiritual work is in fixing those connections. And we measure all of our spiritual advancement in that as well. We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced semesters.
4. We currently don’t have an official way of doing that. You could try to reach out to the technical support team and ask them if that’s possible.
Albert @ KabU
Hi, I’m trying to sort things out in my understanding. From what I’ve heard the lower world (us) is a reflection of exactly what is going on in the upper worlds. My question is whether the upper worlds are horrified by what the human race has done to this deeply beautiful, intelligent miracle of a creation. We have the Sixth Extinction approaching fast and things like we only have 60 more years left of farmable soil to grow food for the world. I do Love these Kabbalah teachings but what happens when the human race and all other species go extinct and what happens when the human race destroys this beautiful one of a kind creation. There may be other life in other parts of the universe but I am only interested right now in the here and now. I feel besides studying Kaballah action needs to be taken to preserve life for future generations. I feel much of this in my heart.
Hi Joel,
The concept of “this world” is not talking about planet Earth. “This world” is a spiritual concept relating to the feeling of being disconnected from spirituality. In other words, in order to be in the state of “this world” you first need to discover that there is such a thing as spirituality and then discover that you’re disconnected from it. So it’s not a given that we’re all in that state. In fact, most of the inhabitants of planet Earth don’t have such a feeling, so it does not apply to them.
As for planet Earth or the corporeal world, Kabbalists typically don’t talk about it. Our world is below the ladder of spiritual degrees. Kabbalists call it “the imaginary world”. Since once we correct ourselves, relative to that corrected state this life would appear as nothing more than a dream.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2010/11/this-life-is-a-dream/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Joel,
1. I was not referring to disconnecting from the world. I was referring to a state where a person discovers that there is such a thing as spirituality and that he lacks it.
2. The dream of this world means that my picture of reality is not fixed, but rather it depends on the lens through which I look at it. If I’m not corrected, I look at it through the lens of my uncorrected egoistic state, and thereby I see a terrible world in front of me.
If I correct my ego, then I’ll start to see the world through that corrected lens and see that I’m actually in the Garden of Eden.
It’s like I have these dirty glasses through which I see the whole world as dirty. But the moment I clean my own glasses, I’ll look at the same world, but now it’s clean and perfect.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/04/in-neutral-gear/
Albert @ KabU
Walking the path of truth…Questions.
Can the word NRNHY be correctly understood as ‘intensity’? as suggested in Dr Laitman’s comments in the ‘An Electric Stove’? To increase one’s intensity is dependant upon our ‘resistance’ What does ‘resistance’ mean in this analogy, my mind wants to think in terms of electrical resistance, but I’m sure it is much deeper?
Further it states that the 620 mitzvot are actually the 5 properties, or “intensities’ of the soul and that these are the ‘light’ of the Torah, which the creator is wrapped within as all of these 620 mitzvot are the names of the creator which he wishes to bestow upon his created beings. The Torah and the G-d are one.
Do these 5 letters of intensity, N R N H Y, which are also the 5 properties of the soul, relate individually to each one of the properties or intensities of the soul as is suggested in Dr Laitman’s article (above),
“A scale of voltages goes out like this but at every level the voltage is constant, and everything depends on this, how you connect to it: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida. You finish this level, you have used all the divisions of the switch on your “stove,” and now you can move to a new “stove.”?
Concerning the 3 ‘discernments;
The first, Isreal, is myself, me. What do I need to discern about myself in relation to this topic, ‘walking the path of truth’ ?
Secondly, the Creator, which we all long for, seems self evident but I wish to learn ‘how’ to discern the Creator, to better walk the path of truth?
Third, so now the 5 letters of intensity, the 5 properties of the soul, the 613 ways of Torah which are the 613 names of the creator, are the way in which we ‘purify’ our soul,“This is the spice, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination, I
have created for it the Torah as a spice.” and,” Just like seasoning does not nullify the flavor of the food, but only improves and enhances it, so too does Torah affect the evil inclination. Torah study and its commandments do not come to destroy the evil inclination, but rather to purify and elevate it. The ultimate goal is to use the evil inclination to do good, so that it becomes like an ox that is made to plow a field. Not only should the evil inclination not be an obstacle to serving G‑d, it should itself serve G‑d! (latter quote from Chabad.org, 2 hearts in one)
This discernment seems to be of utmost importance and as I know from this lesson my failure to discern these are a result of my ‘incomplete’ efforts in the work of the G-d. Also as this is all about the ‘middle pillar’ of the G-d’s work and the narrow path it presents to our soul. This teaching seems to suggest that we must discern all three of these to achieve the goal of returning to the root of our soul, the G-d.
Then the lesson states the following,” Hence, one who walks upon the true line of preparing for the work of
God must always test himself: Does he crave the three above discernments
equally? Because the end of the act equalizes with its beginning. If one craves
one discernment more than the second or the third, then one deflects from the
path of truth. Then this statement follows,Thus, you had better hold onto the goal of yearning for the commandment
of the Upper One, for “one who does not know the ways of the Upper One and
the commandments of the Upper One, which are the secrets of Torah, how will
he serve Him?” Among all three, this is what guarantees the middle line most. ”The final question I have is how to accomplish these thing in my life today. As I am eager to follow the ‘straight and narrow’ path as it were, I need to come to a deeper understanding of how to “Walk the path of Truth”
I understand that this message is somewhat verbose, however I really wish to learn the deep complexities involved in the work towards cleaving unto my G-d. Thank You
ShalomHi Philip,
1. 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. You can liken it to intensity, Nefesh being the smallest light and Yechida the greatest.
2. 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.
We’ll learn how to work with these things practically in the more advanced lessons.
Albert @ KabU
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