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Hello, in which level does the elements (of the periodic table) and the particles belong? As we know very little about them…
Thanks!
Hello, can I person go up and down the ladder? Meaning, if one reaches the first concealment, can he “drop” in the double concealment again? Or from correction phase to double concealment?
If yes, to preserve the attainment and go further is possible only by BTG??
Thank you in advance!
Hi Zorica,
Yes, it’s possible for these states to alternate. Ultimately though we should keep in mind the rule that “one is raised in holiness and never lowered.” So we never go backwards. It’s possible that we receive an additional challenge that belongs to a higher degree and that challenge can feel like we’re going backwards, but it’s still a step forward. Similar to how a bodybuilder that masters a five pound weight moves on to ten pounds. That ten pounds is much more challenging and he cannot do as many reps as before, but this is nonetheless considered progress and advancement.
Albert @ KabU
P.S. I’m not sure what BTG stands for, please clarify if you want me to expand on that.
Shalom, I hope your very well!
Well so what are the 613 mitzvot or desires that need to be corrected? I mean a ben Noach (from what I’ve learnt) is allowed to observe almost any mitzvot apart from a few special ones like studying parts of the Torah that don’t relate/apply to the ben Noach, wearing phylacteries etc are forbidden and so on (rightly so). So, are these 613 desires related to the mitzvot in the Torah or they are different mitzvot/desires altogether? Like as in when i keep the mitzvah of being honest with my Neighbour, or the prohibition against gossiping tale bearing etc is that a correction of one of my desires? And also, this is for the sake of the creator, not to receive reward.
Does that question make sense?
Hi Zorica,
The Kabbalistic books, teacher, and group make up our spiritual environment. It is the foundation of all of our work. Without this foundation, we are incapable of attaining anything in spirituality. It’s like a seed relative to fertile soil. Nothing will happen with the seed by itself. Only by placing that seed in a specific soil will the seed sprout and turn into something else. Furthermore, if we place it into fertile ground, let it sprout, and then take it out, it will die.
Same with us. Without placing ourselves in a good spiritual environment we wont be able to attain anything. And if we remove ourselves from that good environment, we will lose what we previously attained.
We can see this in the example of Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma that Baal HaSulam talks about in the article the Freedom. Here’s an excerpt:
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The Necessity to Choose a Good Environment
Now you can understand the words of Rabbi Yosi Ben Kisma (Avot, Chapter 6), who replied to a person who offered him to live in his town, and he would give him millions of gold coins for it: “Even if you give me all the gold and silver and jewels in the world, I will live only in a place of Torah.” These words seem inconceivable to our simple mind, for how could he relinquish millions of gold coins for such a small thing as living in a place where there are no disciples of Torah, while he himself was a great sage who needed to learn from no one? Indeed, a mystery.But as we have seen, it is a simple thing and should be observed by each and every one of us. Although everyone has his own source, the forces are revealed openly only through the environment one is in. This is similar to the wheat sown in the ground, whose forces become apparent only through its environment, which is the soil, rain, and sunlight.
Thus, Rabbi Yosi Ben Kisma correctly assumed that if he were to leave the good environment he had chosen and fall into a harmful environment in a city where there is no Torah, not only would his former concepts be compromised, but all the other forces hidden in his source, which he had not yet revealed in action, would remain concealed. This is because they would not be subject to the right environment that would be able to activate them.
And as we have clarified above, only in the matter of the choice of environment is man’s reign over himself measured, and for this he should receive reward or punishment.
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(Keep in mind that Torah here is not referring to the book but rather to the Kabbalistic method by which we draw the reforming light. And the environment is not necessarily something physical, but can also be built virtually.)
Albert @ KabU
Hi Luke,
The 613 desires that we are learning about are spiritual desires, meaning desires that we don’t yet have. This is 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/
As for the 613 Mitzvot, each Mitzvah (commandment) is an INTERNAL process by which we correct the corresponding desire. In other words, Kabbalists don’t look at the 613 Mitzvot as physical actions to be performed by our hands and feet, but rather as allegories to the internal process of correcting our desires.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/02/mitzvot-commandments-the-correction-of-desires/
Albert @ KabU
I am somewhere in the stages of single concealment and double concealment, and it is absolutely miserable
Hi David,
We go through many ups and downs on the spiritual path, that’s normal. The important thing is to just keep going, to keep placing yourself under the influence of the light and it’ll balance everything out.
Keep in mind that if we’re experiencing any difficulty on the path, it’s a sign that we have not properly connected to the spiritual environment. It’s just like with the example of going to the gym and lifting weights. Naturally this is something extremely painful and unpleasant. But when we’re under a good influence of the gym environment, have friends that value such things, read lots of articles about staying healthy etc, we begin to enjoy these things. And what was previously a painful activity turns into something pleasurable. It all depends on the influence of the environment.
Here too you need to build for yourself a strong spiritual environment that will give you the support you need. And when you place yourself under the influence of the spiritual environment, you wont feel the path as painful, but as a fun challenge.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/10/bestowal-should-become-fashionable/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Albert, thank you for the clarification. For context, the pain I am referring to is the loss of my son 7 years ago. I still struggle with the pain of that loss on a regular basis. This method of Kabbalah has provided me a healthy way to understand and reconcile that pain as a way to develop me and draw me closer to the creator. Kabbalah has really been the only thing that makes that make sense. In this lesson, it says that god doesn’t hear our prayers, for the most part. I understand this to a certain extent in that everything that comes from the creator is good, and is meant to develop us. When I pray and ask God to take away the past, it is almost as if I’m saying that God you got it wrong. I’m trying to break through that, and trying to be thankful for everything. But it’s discouraging to think that God doesn’t hear our prayers. what is the correct way to go to the creator with my heart with this pain I have?
Hi David,
I don’t want to comment on your personal situation because it is indeed something very painful and I don’t want to belittle it. I think it’s best to just continue for now. The more we develop spiritually, the more we’ll be able to understand and justify everything that the Creator does to us. And when we correct our ego and rise to a spiritual degree, we’ll have a completely different perception of everything that we went through.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/06/life-and-death-in-the-eyes-of-a-kabbalist/
Albert @ KabU
I am confused regarding what reincarnation actually means during the double concealment state.
Also, the single concealment “being an incarnation” …
Thank you in advance for clarification
Hi Cyndi,
When Kabbalists talk about reincarnation, they are not talking about the death and rebirth of the body, but about the changes of states. Each time our desires change, our state changes and thereby we go through this process called reincarnation.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2018/08/reincarnation-in-spiritual-space/
Albert @ KabU
Isn’t it better to live all in one community all together with our lives exposed to one another loving and doing our part to uplift the whole of the body and direct each other when we are bent and needing straitened? working toward the same goal to be one and the same with the creator.
Hi William,
At the beginning of the spiritual path, there are a lot of tendencies to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. But the more we advance, the more we’ll begin to see that we don’t need to isolate ourselves. Even Baal HaSulam and Rabash were not living in isolation in some Kabbalistic environment, rather they had normal jobs, families, and lived in a typical neighborhood of their time. How then did they attain such high spiritual levels? By tapping into the strength of the spiritual environment.
So if we build for ourselves a strong spiritual environment, then it will influence us even stronger than the corporeal environment that we’re in. But this is not a one time choice. Building and strengthening the spiritual environment is our constant work. As we progress, our ego will grow more and more, and the corporeal environment will pull us more and more. This is done purposefully so that this resistance will force us to build an even stronger connection to the spiritual environment, and thereby reach an even higher spiritual level.
It’s just like with a bodybuilder. If he lifts only a 1 pound weight all the time, he will not get very strong (this is equivalent to us living in isolation or closing ourselves in a small community). In order to grow, that bodybuilder needs to constantly increase the resistance that he’s lifting. So the more we advance, the more we’ll begin to see how the everyday problems, experiences, work situations, etc we undergo in the regular society are a necessary part of our correction. That we don’t erase these things, but above them we need to stay connected to the spiritual environment. And this will determine the level of our spiritual attainment.
We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced semesters of KabU.
Albert @ KabU
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