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It seemed to me as there is 613 desires /challenges for each of us to solve (by changing each desire from egoistic to altruistic).
- Is there a book that describes each of these desires?
- If there are smaller desires / challenges and bigger desires / challenges – are we all moving from each desire to another in same algorithm (starting with smaller desire and finishing with most advanced)?
- Is it possible to find out with which current desire(-s) I am being challenged? Are there many at a time?
1. If good and evil are just a perception of my unreal reality and not of the true reality, How can I know when to do a “Mitzvah” when I am not even convinced if this is a good or evil deed?
2. Does ignoring the path of light for the path of suffering produce the same result?
Hi Michael,
1. Our nature is egoistic. By default, it’s impossible for ANYTHING good to come out of it. So we don’t need to focus on doing any good actions. We need to focus on correcting this egoistic nature. Furthermore, we cannot just correct our own nature, it’s only the force of the light that can make this change. Essentially all of our work boils down to extracting more and more of this light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
See my reply below to Micha for more details.
2. No. Although we say that there are these two paths (suffering or light), in truth we don’t really advance on the path of suffering. It’s like a child that needs to go to school. Pressuring and punishing him is not the same as educating him. So after all of the pressures and punishments we put on him, he will still have to go to school and get his education. In other words, the path of suffering is only there to pressure us to return to the path of light.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/05/we-wont-follow-the-path-of-suffering-forever/
Albert @ KabU
The forces of nature are against us, causing suffering, pain. Inner motivation to overcome this suffering, hopefully leads met to the pathof light. Sometimes i feel that my conscience is growing, guiding me to do the right thing, meaning my aim is true. Or is that disguised egoism? Put it differently, Is there on the path of light also pain, spiritual pain?
Hi Paul,
The forces of nature are not what causes us suffering. We suffer because of our egoistic nature, which puts us out of balance with the forces of nature.
Regarding pain, we’re egoists and 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. This is similar to how there are people born without pain receptors. They can be bleeding or standing in a fire, causing great damage to their body without even knowing about it. In other words, pain is an important indicator that we cannot live without. As long as we remain within our egoistic nature, sufferings and pain will always be there to motivate us to come out of our ego. But once we correct the ego, we will no longer need problems and suffering in order to push us to develop because we ourselves will generate the force for our development.
As for choosing the path of light, we need to keep in mind that this is not a one time choice. Rather every moment we have the opportunity place ourselves on the path of light. Ideally we would like to be on the path of light all the time, but in practice, our egoism constantly grows and throws us back into the path of suffering. At which point we have to choose the path of light again. So we’re as if taking the middle path between the two, as if ping ponging between the two paths.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
Albert @ KabU
A lot of the concepts we are learning and discussing remind me of concepts found in the Book of Job – which I tend to think of as a kind of play (in the sense that Job could be produced on a stage) . Â Would it be correct to suspect that the author of Job was involved in Kabbala learning at some point?
Hi Mark,
Yes, that is correct. The entire Torah, including the book of Job, was written by Kabbalists. Keep in mind that these books are written entirely in a type of code called the language of roots and branches. Meaning that it uses words of our world to describe spiritual phenomena. As such, not a single word in these books is speaking about history or our world.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
Albert @ KabU
Why precisely 613 desires? Should we convert them one by one? And how it is possible to convert them? Only by a strong, deep desire?
Hi Judit, great questions!
613 is the number of corrections that need to be placed over the spiritual desire. This number is further divided into 248 desires of bestowing in order to bestow and 365 desires that operate on receiving in order to bestow. We’ll learn about this in detail in the more advanced lessons on KabU that deal with the structure of the upper worlds.
Keep in mind that these are 613 spiritual desires that we don’t yet have. Similar to how a single cell in a body only has some basic desires. But when that cell is part of a greater body, it reveals there higher desires which are impossible for the individual cell to have: desires for money, honor, power, etc. Same with us, until we integrate with the general body of Adam HaRishon, we don’t reveal or understand these 613 spiritual desires.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/12/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-613-desires/
Regarding the order of corrections, there is a certain order but in practice, we don’t work according to some pre-made list, but simply with whatever is being awakened in the moment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/09/compliance-with-the-613-mitzvot-commandments/
Albert @ KabU
“Keep in mind that these are 613 spiritual desires that we don’t yet have.”
“Same with us, until we integrate with the general body of Adam HaRishon, we don’t reveal or understand these 613 spiritual desires.”
In video material above at 11:28 is explained that it’s needed to transform those 613 desires from egoistic to altruistic. And there are events in our life to have a chance to transform those desires.
Also at 14:08 is explained that these desires are linked to our 125 steps till we reach of Adam HaRishon. So we would face step by step those desires and would need to correct them in order to reach of Adam HaRishon.
Now video material and Your reply seems conflicting for me. Please explain more. Or maybe my English is just at too poor level.
Hi Jurgis,
That is correct that we start working with these 613 desires when we start the ladder of 125 degrees. Except we’re not there yet, we’re still in what is called the “preparation period” prior to the spiritual ladder. It’s similar to how we first teach our children the basics: reading, writing, basic math, etc. And only once they grasp the basics, can we teach them how to apply all these things towards some kind of profession.
Likewise with us, we’re not yet doing practical spiritual work. We’re only learning about it, setting the foundations. We’ll learn how to put all these things into practice in the more advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
From my understanding, this sounds a little like karma yoga. Can you give some practical hints or examples on how to transform a desire to its altruistic state?
Hi Micha, good question!
Our nature is the desire to receive. This is our operating system. Just like a PC cannot just change it’s own operating system to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our own nature. We need outside help to make this change. This help comes to us from the force of the light. Our work essentially boils down to extracting more and more of this light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it makes all of the changes and corrections on us.
So the most practical action that you can do towards performing this “transformation” is to set aside some time to regularly return to the source of the light, meaning to the Kabbalistic sources, videos, lessons, etc. This will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
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
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
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