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Hi João Chico,
The path of light means that we develop consciously under the influence of the light.
Whereas the path of suffering is an inactive form of development, where we wait for sufferings to accumulate until we start to move. It’s like a child that refuses to go to school, so the parents put more and more pressures on him until he agrees to go.
Keep in mind that we don’t really advance on the path of suffering. Since pressuring and punishing a child is not the same as educating him. So after all of the pressures and punishments they put on him, he will still have to go to school and get his education.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
https://laitman.com/2015/05/we-wont-follow-the-path-of-suffering-forever/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Christian,
The “I” is the part of the Creator in us.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2022/08/you-cannot-do-without-the-human/
You can also read more about it in Baal HaSulam’s Introduction to the Book of Zohar, items 8-9.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Christian,
The heart represents all of our desires. Among all of them, there is a certain point, a very small desire, that we’re incapable of satisfying with anything in this world. This is the point in the heart. If it awakens, it pushes a person towards spirituality. If not, a person will aspires to fulfill all of the usual desires in life.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2008/06/when-the-point-in-the-heart-awakens/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Christian,
1. Instinctively is the key word there. Meaning that the first three levels are simply carrying out their inner programming, like machines, without any free choice.
Humans too follow their own inner egoistic programming. So in that regard, we are no different than animals. It’s only when we start to develop spiritually and begin to rise above our inner programming, become independent of it, only then do we truly rise above the animate degree into the human degree.
What then is the use of the first three levels? They are there to support the human level. Baal HaSulam writes about it in the Introduction to the Book of Zohar, here’s an excerpt:
We must not ponder the state of the rest of the beings in the world besides man, since man is the center of creation, as will be written below in Item 39. All other creatures do not have any value in themselves, but to the extent that they help man achieve his wholeness. Hence, they rise and fall with him without any consideration of themselves.
2. It depends on the context, but in the corporeal world, inanimate refers to the still part of nature, like rocks, minerals, etc.
3. Kabbalah does not look at the stories in the Torah as literal stories, but rather as a road map of our inner spiritual development. Male symbolizes the desire to give while female symbolizes the desire to receive. Essentially our entire work is to bring these two opposites together, in the sense that we’ll be able to receive all of the goodness that the Creator wants to give us, in order to bestow back to Him.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
If you’re interesting in learning how to properly decipher the stories in the Torah, check out the books: Disclosing a Portion or The Secrets of the Eternal Book.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Michael,
In the introduction to the book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam explains to us the three state model of Creation. From there we learn that the end goal is set, we have no choice there, every single one of us must reach it. The only difference is that there are those with awakened points in the heart, that are doing this consciously, and there are those whose point in the heart is still not ripe, so they are advancing on the path of suffering. But both are advancing towards Him and both will eventually reach Him.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2014/01/from-perfection-to-perfection/
https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Anthony,
It’s normal. We go through many states on the spiritual path. Many ups, downs, and everything in between. The main thing is to just keep going, to keep placing yourself under the influence of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic lessons, and it will balance everything out.
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
