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Hi Mitch,
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 how these numbers are derived in the more advanced lessons on KabU that deal with the structure of the upper worlds.
Albert @ KabU
I have understood that we human vessels are a type of co-creator in the since that Light, Giver, Permeates and penetrates every aspect of existence. Light, therefore, gives us thoughts, and nothing is created without the thought of man. In fact, Giver seems to give only us certain thoughts, dreams, aspirations, and etc. We are the only species attempting space flight, business, writing, art, etc. my question is, how does a Kabbalist understand/explain the passionate drive of man to create? Is this drive to create a rocketship, for example, just part of the program of receiving the idea (desire) and NOT an actual action of creation on the behalf of man?
Hi Gates,
All these things essentially fall under the desire to receive pleasure.
Even our drive for spirituality stems from our desire to receive pleasure. This is why the point in the heart is initially described as a black point, meaning that it too is egoistic.
So naturally, we all start out as egoists wanting only to receive. It’s only after much spiritual work that a person is capable of rising above this nature. And even then, rising above the ego is a gift from above, it’s not something we can do by ourselves. Just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our own nature.
So ultimately we’re all enslaved to our egoistic nature and it’s only thanks to the light that we have the ability to come out of it.
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
the 613 laws of nature that you mentioned probably refer to the 613 commandments written in Torah. They also are written in code because most of them are impossible to attain these days?
Hi Victor,
Yes, you can say that. There are 613 desires that we need to correct. Corresponding to each desire, there is a commandment. These are the INTERNAL processes by which we correct that specific desire. In other words, Kabbalists don’t look at the 613 commandments 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
Hi Logynn,
It depends on the context, but essentially a firmament is a certain boundary.
Here are some blog posts from Rav Laitman on the topic:
https://laitman.com/2021/04/let-there-be-a-firmament/
https://laitman.com/2014/03/the-firmament-the-righteous-and-the-end-of-correction/
Albert @ KabU
That first one sounds like it’s not so much that Malchut rises to Bina, as it is that Malchut is at the bottom of an ocean and we slowly empty it and uncover Malchut and as the surface drops below Malchut she’s is then in Bina.
That second link is wow. I’ll have to read that a bunch of times. It’s a nutshell of Kabbalah I’ve never seen. This part:
“Question: Does it mean that the Creator is a force that the righteous reveals by reaching the property of the firmament”?
Answer: Yes, it is true. The Creator can be revealed only when He dresses in a human being. A man who attains equivalence of properties with the Creator is called righteous.”So, we lower the surface of the firmament by looking at every single thing in reality and re-categorize it from “other” to “none other besides Him?” and put a seal of approval on it whether we can understand what is going on there or not?
Hi Logynn,
The mechanism behind all of spirituality is the law of equivalence of form. Meaning that in order to discover and reveal spirituality, we need to become similar to it, to the pure qualities of love and bestowal that are found there. This is just like how a radio can pick up an external wave, when we tune the internal frequency of the radio to that wave.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
Albert @ KabU
I saw on YouTube today that the Kabbalah Revealed students were supposed to get assigned to “special teams.” Was there something I was supposed to do to be eligible for a team?
I have been taking my time going through the course “weeks,” because I didn’t know there was any kind of deadline. But it’s not that I haven’t been doing a lot of work. I have read Attaining the Worlds Beyond, the Zohar, and Unlocking the Zohar. Some I have read several times. I have watched a lot of videos on the YouTube channel.
How do I become eligible to go into a special team?
Thanks
Hi Logynn,
If you’re referring to tens, everyone will be assigned a group of ten in the advanced semester.
The prerequisite for that is to finish the fundamentals and intermediate semesters.
Albert @ KabU
Ok, I have another question. I’ve been reading a lot of the books and watching a lot of videos that are outside of this class. And usually they all make perfect sense. But this week I am coming across a lot that confuses me.
I hope this is still the right place to ask. But I was watching this video about what the Ten Commandments are: youtu.be/0pVAtvb59gs?si=rDU8cldk8qKdGRL4
And he says the one not to bear false witness is basically not to create fiction. (Only things that actually happen reflect the true forces and relationships.) And then farther along he says according to Baal HaSulaam there are only two commandments, which are basically to benefit society and fulfill society’s members. The example of fulfillment is to help turn them towards the Creator.
But what if all of your abilities and work and influence have to do with writing and illustrating games and fiction? I am a professional writer and illustrator. My favorite personal project topics to illustrate are spiritual concepts. But, they discuss in this video how it’s intrinsically impossible to depict these things. So any depiction is bearing false witness, in a way.
So if my abilities are in writing and illustrating, and this is what people listen to and respond to, how do I work to benefit the collective by it?
Hi Logynn,
1. We’re still in the fundamentals, so don’t be so quick to change your whole life.
2. Bearing false witness, it’s clear such things are not rooted in benefiting others and loving others, so clearly it’s not good.
3. Written stories and illustrations, there are times when these things are used to cause harm to others, which is not good. And there are times when these things are used to benefit people, to educate them, etc, which is good. So it depends not on the action itself, but on the intention behind the action.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/12/lie-and-truth-part-3/
By the way, during the pandemic, I myself have dabbled a bit in using illustrations to illustrate spiritual concepts. There was mostly positive feedback from that action. Here are some examples.
Albert @ KabU
Thanks for sharing those examples. I struggle with storyboarding, scenes and cartoon type styles. So you and I would have very complimentary skills if we were on the same production team.
Example: https://www.redbubble.com/people/ravenslore/shop
Based on that blog post this is a very nuanced topic that I’ll have to observe and think on for a long time. Thanks for your help.
It wouldn’t let me link to my example. I put a link to my Redbubble store under the content creator name: Ravenslore
I used that because, like your example, it’s an account that it is almost completely my efforts to depict spiritual things.
Any other examples I have of my work are online professional portfolios of games I’ve made, which have nothing to do with spiritual things and TBH I don’t like them.Anyhoo.. Thanks again for sharing.
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