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In one of the suggested readings for lesson 3, it was recommended that we talk to as few people as possible and basically deal with the outside world only if necessary. I like the idea, but I thought the purpose of Kabbalah was connection. So when I read that, it came across as a contradiction.
Loyda,
OK, so first of all, imagine you are a child and you went to see the Olympic figure skaters and you decide at that moment that that is what you want to do with your life.
Mom agrees and the next day you go and buy skates and sign up for lessons.
Now first day on the ice, do you look like the olympians? How about after one week? One year…five years?
So you read something, but first of all you need to understand what it means and second of all, you need to understand that you can’t just jump on the ice and execute it. When you do what the book says, you will already be in a good life, in contact with the Creator and harmoniously integrated with the world around you.What the text is telling you is that we are completely influenced by the world around us, the food advertising, the political advertising, the news, the movies, the music, the fashion around us, it all influences who we are and how we think, feel and behave.
In short, you came to a place where people are studying an authentic method of spiritual attainment passed from teacher to student for 1000s of years. In this environment is where you can talk a lot about what we are studying, but bringing this outside, no one will understand what you are talking about, you can’t go into the supermarket and start saying that there is no time and space and everything is love.
You wrote, “only if necessary”, so more or less, that’s most of your day, kids go to school, we take care of them, we go to work, the grocery store, pay the bills, exercise to stay healthy, spend time with our relatives, so all of that is necessary and with the 1 hour of free time that you have, so there deal with your spiritual life.Later, after you have been washed in the wisdom for some time, you will feel how it affects your thoughts and desires and it stays with you as you go to the market and work, etc.
And regarding connecting the wisdom to the outside world, this also will come later, once you integrate the wisdom there will be many opportunities to spread the wisdom in the form of books or videos, songs, poems, sharing links online, there are 1000s of ways to connect more and more people to the good. We’ll get into all of that later.
Good luck, take it slow and with much more nuance and everything will develop in a healthy way,
Seth@KabUAre you saying this is about talking about Kabbalah?
“We must also avoid contact with other people, except when it becomes necessary for work or for study, without deliberately shunning them, but keeping our thoughts continuously in check. When necessary, we can think of our work. The rest of the time we should devote to contemplating the purpose of life” Attaining the Worlds Beyond p.114.
My understanding was that the text was talking about my life in general, about staying away from people, period. It didn’t occur to me that it was talking about spiritual matters. I agree with regards to spirituality. Talking about it with people not in the path would be pointless, especially Kabbalah which I am struggling to understand myself. It is not something I am interesting in doing.
Loyda,
Don’t take anything practically yet if it’s not clear.
Read what I wrote above about the olympic ice skater and realize that what you entered is a million times greater than that.
So don’t think that you read some paragraph and now you will just go do it. You need to read a lot, experience a lot and slowly it will work on you and you will understand what it means.
Live a normal life with family, work, health, neighbors, etc.
The gist of what it is talking about is that thoughts and desires pass from person to person. And you are cultivating a spiritual worldview and you want to care for it and not be all day confused by CNN and BBC and Beyonce and the Yankees and Levi and Walmart and everything else except for the meaning of life.
Seth@KabU
If the creator bestows upon me desease, how can I use my screen to accept it completly? should I remain ill and eventually die or seek treatment, since it was the upper force that desired for my sickness?
Similarly, how do we apply the screen to basic survival needs, such as breathing and eating, since these actions are completly egoistic, the air and food Im consuming could be “bestowed” to others?
Carlos,
If you are sick you must go to a good, competent doctor. The Creator gave permission to the doctor to heal.
We do our practical work together in a special arrangement of Kabbalists called a group of 10, you will learn about it in the future.
From that work you will be able to develop a screen and with it you will be able to relate to all of your life.But now you can imagine while you eat and do all of these things that you are doing what you must but your intention is that all of the pleasure and good will pass though you and onto all of creation, to bring contentment to the Creator.
Seth@KabU
Is there a concept of sin in Kabbalah? Or would this just be the refusal of the light, or a misplaced desire to receive?
Zachary,
There is a concept of sin in the wisdom of kabbalah, but like all of the other definitions, that have been taken by others who stole them or just used them and then through the generations they were corrupted, so when we arrive back at the books that were written by the kabbalists, meaning, only by those who attained what they are writing, all that we read from Baal HaSulam was written from his attainment, there is no philosophy, no theorizing.
So we need to recalibrate ourselves to definitions.
Take a word from our normal life like “cool”, someone can say, “that’s so cool”. No go back 200 years ago and use the word “cool” of course someone would have different understanding of the word.
Now we are talking 1000s of years and not only that we’re not even talking about the same world. “cool” and “cool” seperated by 200 years are still on Earth.
But not only do we need to grasp the words of the kabbalists, we also need to grasp that they are describing a spiritual system, they use a special language called roots and branches, so they point to something in this world and refer to its root in the spiritual world.Regarding sin. In order to sin, one would need to do something, let’s say against the Creator. However, no one can do anything against the Creator since each person is 100% controlled by their desires and has no freedom of movement to the left or to the right and if he didn’t think he’d get more pleasure from say, lifting his finger to scratch his cheek, then he’d leave his hand where it was.
So on this degree, there is no such thing as sin. And there are many scrutinise and questions that everyone has about how and why and what about….
In order to sin, one needs to be in place exactly between reception and bestowal, half way between 100% to receive for himself and 100% connected to the Creator. From that place there is free will and from there it can be said that there could be a sin.
We will learn about this later.
Seth@KabU
Zachary,
The Creator created a vessel that is exactly opposite to his endless light so that his endless light filled every space and corner of this vessel called Malchut of Ein Sof.
Then the Light departed from the vessel so that the creature would be able to develop and feel itself, for while the light filled it completely, it was totally still, perfect, no movement, no lack.
So when the Light exits, there remains a yearning in the exact shape of the emptiness that the Light left when it departed.
All our work is to bring the Light that now remains outside of our soul as Or Makif (S urrounding Light) and to admit it inside as Or Pnimi (Inner Light).
The condition for the Light to enter the vessel and fill it is that the vessel needs to acquire the exact same qualities as the Light.
This process of making the empty vessel into a vessel has the same qulities as the Light is called building the soul. The soul is the vessel where the Or Pnimi (Inner Light) dwells.
That soul is divided into 5 parts that each one is more pure. From lowest to highest they are called Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida.
Seth@KabU
Why does the Creator need to create a perfect creature, if He is only a giver, why does he need a creature that will receive in order to give
Milos,
Before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created, there was no “Creator” or creature. Everything was one simple light, no beginning, no end. From there emerged what is called the thought of creation, to create a creature and to bestow endless good upon it. This thought…and you know in spirituality it is not like in corporeality. In corporeality, you have a thought to build a house, so you need to make drawings and collect materials and dig a hole and pour a foundation and then construct and furnish it with appliances, furniture, etc. In spirituality, the thought and the deed are at the same time, there is no time and space.
The thought to create a creature and fill it with abundance, sets all of reality alive.
In order for the Creator to give endlessly, there must be a creature who receives endlessly.
The next part of your question, why does He need a creature that will “receive in order to give”, this is something else, this is the means by which the creature can receive endlessly. If a creature receives for itself, then it is limited by the size of his stomach, the size of his pockets, but when he bestows upon others, there is no limit to how much light can flow through him to the others.
Seth@KabU
Ramar,
Baal HaSulam straightens this out for you in item 3 of the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. He says,
”
3) The above-mentioned order of cascading, which brings the will to receive to its final form in this world, follows a sequence of four phases that exist in the four-letter-name [HaVaYaH (Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey)]. This is because the four letters, HaVaYaH, in His name contain the whole of reality, without any exception.
In general, they are described in the ten Sefirot, Hochma, Bina, Tifferet, Malchut, and their root. They are ten Sefirot because the Sefira [sing. of Sefirot] Tifferet contains six internal Sefirot, called HGT NHY [Hesed–Gevura–Tifferet Netzah–Hod–Yesod], and the root is called Keter. Yet, in essence, they are called HB TM [Hochma-Bina Tifferet-Malchut].
These are four worlds called Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. The world of Assiya contains this world within it. Thus, there is not a creature in this world that is not initiated in Ein Sof, in the thought of creation to delight His creations. Hence, it is innately comprised of light and vessel, meaning a certain measure of abundance with the will to receive that abundance.”
Here is a link to the article, https://kabbalahmedia.info/en/sources/kB3eD83I?source_language=en
Good luck,
Seth@KabU
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