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So by seeking out these questions that are ignited by the point in the heart we are seeking balance?
Hi Mark,
I’m not sure in which context you’re asking this question, but in general, yes, you can say that. The point in the heart awakens and in a way this throws us off balance. We become incapable of simply living out our lives like everyone else. Rather we start asking some deep existential questions and start seeking some other type of fulfillment in life.
Albert @ KabU
Hello
In reading the text and watching the videos I keep hearing that we must always try and connect to the author’s feeling, to the state he wrote the text from.
My question is…how does one even begin to connect to a feeling. I mean I know how to focus using my senses but how do I connect to a feeling?
Hi Ludumo,
The main thing is to make efforts. Just like a baby that is constantly trying to understand the world around it. Nobody hands the baby an encyclopedia or a dictionary. Nobody teaches it what every single word means. Rather the baby starts doing SOMETHING, whatever it can. It waves its arms, babbles, opens and closes its mouth. In short, it’s making lots and lots of efforts. From these efforts, it begins to understand and feel how the world works.
It’s the same with us. We need to constantly exert ourselves and make efforts. Even if we don’t understand, even if we have no clue what spirituality is, or what the author was feeling when he wrote the text. It does not matter. Our understanding and feelings don’t come from our intellectual, but it comes from us making efforts to understand, from playing pretend as if we’re spiritual grown ups. As a result of these efforts, the light will come. It’ll gradually correct us and arrange all of these different connections within us. And then we’ll start to feel spirituality for ourselves.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
https://laitman.com/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
Albert @ KabU
Hello, what does Tony Kosinec mean when he says that my responsibilities is only to the intention?
Does this mean that I have to control my thoughts and not entertain any thoughts that do not relate to Ultruism even though all thoughts are from the CREATOR?
Hi Ludumo,
He means that the action is not so important, rather it’s the intention behind that action that counts. For example, I can donate a million dollars, but what is my intention for doing such an action? Maybe it’s to feel pride or to show off. Or maybe it’s because I would feel bad or guilty if I didn’t do so. If so, then even if the action is one of bestowal, the intention is still one of reception. So that whole action turns into an action of reception.
The importance of the intention is most clearly illustrated in the guest & host analogy. Check out chapter 3 of Attaining the Worlds Beyond for more details.
Albert @ KabU
What about a suicide bomber then? I mean by the logic of action doesn’t matter, only intension. What of the individuals that kill themselves for their cause? Are we then going to say because of their intension their actions are justified?
“Sure they blew up innocent people but they the right intension.”
Are our actions in the physical world of our own choosing or does the Creator have dominion over them as well?
Hi Ludumo,
The intention is concealed. So we cannot judge anyone’s intention. This is why Kabbalah is called the concealed wisdom, because it deals with what is inside of a person. But we don’t know what is happening inside someone else. So each person can only judge himself. He has no way to properly gauge what is going on inside someone else.
Furthermore, we learn in the lesson on the perception of reality, that the entire external reality is nothing more than a reflection of our own uncorrected egoistic state. Meaning that to the extent that I’m not corrected, I see in front of me a bad, egoistic world, full of suffering. And to the extent that I correct this ego, to that extent the external reality will change as well. It’s like I have these dirty glasses through which I see the whole world as being dirty. The moment I clean my own glasses (correct myself) then 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: http://laitman.com/2014/04/in-neutral-gear/
As for our actions in the physical world, the most important one of our actions is in choosing to place ourselves under the influence of a spiritual environment. There is a certain level of freedom specifically in that. We’ll learn about this in depth in the next semester when we’ll study the topic of freedom.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Ludumo,
Balance is very important. There is a saying “no flour no Torah, no Torah no flour”. Meaning we cannot just focus on spirituality and disregard our necessities. We need to continue to work, take care of our family, health, etc. On the other hand, we cannot just focus entirely on our corporeal life without considering the spiritual goal, then we are no different than animals. So we need to work on maintaining the right balance between the two. To take care of our necessities and also to dedicate some time to spirituality, to return to the Kabbalistic texts, videos, lesson materials, etc. This is the balance that we should strive for.
Beyond that, we should keep in mind that spiritual work is inner work, on the level of our thoughts and desires. Meaning that we don’t need to make big changes in our corporeal life. We don’t need to become monks and disconnect from the corporeal life. We continue to exist on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder. So we must continue to live physically and to take care of our normal necessities: work, family, health, etc, together with our spiritual development.
Albert @ KabU
1) As was mentioned at the beginnig of the course, each creature must want to discover the world of kabbalah in order to attain its wisdom, right?
2) So, we may say that people doing extremelly bad deeds in this world are conciously bad humans fill with extreme sense of egoism or pleasure for evil, right?
3) if it so, how or when if ever, can this creatures managed to enganged in the equivalence of form as it was design from the beginning as well?,
4) Do the rest of creatures have anything to do in this regard, meaning can there be any positive incluence from those reaching the equivalence of form with the creator, to those mentioned above?
Hi Ricardo,
1. Yes, this follows the rule that “there is no coercion in spirituality”. Meaning we cannot force someone into practicing spirituality, it needs to be according to one’s need for this, which is called the point in the heart. Only after this point awakens does a person feel the need to aspire for spirituality.
2. Not really. The biggest egoists are actually those that are engaged in the wisdom of Kabbalah. The rest of the world are simply carrying out their inner impulses like any other animal. As for those studying Kabbalah, they don’t just have a corporeal ego that wants to get satisfied by the nonsense and trifles of this world, but they have a spiritual ego, which wants to get satisfied by eternal spiritual pleasures, from revealing the Creator.
But keep in mind that the ego in Kabbalah is not a bad force but rather a partner that helps us to advance. In Kabbalah we don’t eliminate our ego, we rise above it. The ego turns into a type of hill or mountain that we rise above. In other words, the more we advance, the more it grows, the further up we can climb, and the greater the spiritual level we can achieve. On the other hand if we eliminate the ego, then the spiritual level we can achieve is relatively tiny.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
3. Since the rest of the world is simply carrying out their inner impulses, they are already in a sense in a type of unconscious adhesion with the Creator. After all, where are these impulses coming from? From the Creator. This is called “there is none else besides Him”. Meaning that EVERYTHING comes from Him. He is the singular benevolent force behind ALL of reality. All of our thoughts, desires, all of the life events, etc, it all comes from Him. So those that have not yet received an awakened point in the heart are all already unconsciously under his influence 100% of the time. Whereas those with awakened points in the hearts are trying to do so consciously.
We’ll learn more about these things in the more advanced lessons. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/12/there-is-none-else-besides-him/
4. Everyone has a point in the heart and everyone will reach this goal someday. The only difference is the order in which this happens. There is certain order of corrections that need to take place. It’s like building a large jigsaw puzzle. First you start with all the corner pieces, and only then do you gradually work your way to the center. So those that received awakened points in the hearts are like those corner pieces of the puzzle that need to start the whole process. Later on, due to their good work, they pave the way for the rest of the world to join this process.
Albert @ KabU
I have no questions about the lessons so far, but I am curious what Kabbalists say about the other religions that claim similar spiritual ascents by various individuals over the centuries. Â Did they just happen to tap into the the same forces by their intention, and are therefore, in some way, Kabbalists in their own right?
Hi,
1. Kabbalah is a science, not a religion.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2011/06/a-science-about-the-world/
https://laitman.com/2011/01/kabbalah-and-other-sciences-philosophy-and-religion/
2. I’m not experts on religions or other spiritual methods, so I cannot comment on what they do or teach there. But in general, most spiritual methods, religions, philosophies, and even sciences in one way or another stem from the wisdom of Kabbalah. Either as a stepping stone for a person to develop through until his point in the heart awakens (such as many eastern traditions), or from an attempt to copy and implement this wisdom (like what early philosophers tried to do, which later on turned into modern sciences), or as a side effect of the concealment of this wisdom (which is how the modern religions and spiritual paths emerged).
Albert @ KabU
Arriving at week 5 I still DO NOT feel like I can perceive the Creator. Sure I have intellectual understanding of Kabbalah. But I still don’t feel any different. For example…in Perceiving Reality I can understand “Theoretically” that all of creation is within me, but I still don’t feel it.
It’s been more than 5 weeks and still nothing.
What am I doing wrong?
Hi Ludumo,
Right now, we’re in the fundamentals, learning the basics of this wisdom. We’ll learn how to put all of this into practice in the more advanced lessons. But one thing that is constant regardless of where you are in your studies is that all of the changes that happen, take place only thanks to the force of the light. Our entire work boils down to extracting more and more of this light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
So the best thing you can do towards attaining spirituality is to set aside some time to regularly return to the source of the light, meaning to the Kabbalistic sources, videos, lessons, etc. Such a habit will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
Albert @ KabU
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