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Hi Michael,
1. There are 4 levels in nature: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking (human). Within each level, there are 4 sub levels: the still of the still, the vegetative of the still, the animate of the still, the speaking of the still, etc. Humanity as a whole is currently found on the speaking sub-degree of the animate level. Meaning we have not yet reached the true speaking degree, which is a spiritual degree.
So yes, humanity is currently on a higher part of the animate level. And yes that there is no egoism on the animate level. Even the ego that we currently reveal is not the true spiritual form of egoism. Spiritual egoism is everything that stands in the way of our connection with the Creator. Normal people don’t have a spiritual ego. This is only something that we discover after doing some serious spiritual work.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/10/true-evil/
2. Not yet feeling others means that they relate to others through themselves. For example, there is the rule of “do not do to the other what you yourself hate”. Meaning that you don’t yet feel the other, you just feel yourself. But you understand yourself, you understand what it is that you hate, and at the very least, you don’t cause that harm to others.
3. Because at least in action, that level is able to maintain itself in a spiritual framework. It’s still not true spirituality, since spirituality means acquiring the pure qualities of love and bestowal, which is an internal correction.
4. It’s like a hologram where the big image is made up of identical smaller copies of that image. So if there is a flaw in one of the smaller images, that same flaw is found in every piece. And if you correct that flaw in the small piece, it’s reflected in the whole image.
So reaching my personal correction means that I have corrected my flaw that is found in everyone. And when each one will correct their part of the general picture, then we reach the final correction of the whole world.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/04/the-fractality-of-nature/
5. The Creator gave us our nature, our master, so going against our nature is like going against the Creator. According to the saying “My sons have defeated me”.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Anthony,
1. There are three recommended books for this course. Kabbalah Revealed and Attaining the Worlds Beyond are there to give you a solid foundation in the Wisdom of Kabbalah. Besides the recommended readings, it’s good to read through these books from beginning to end a few times.
Kabbalah for the Student on the other hand is a textbook of primary sources. This is an advanced level book which we’ll be studying from throughout our entire spiritual development. It can be a bit challenging for us without the proper foundation of the previous two books. So for now, it’s best to just stick with reading the recommended reading materials in that book. After you get a good foundation, you can read through that one as well. And in the more advanced phases, we’ll study articles in that book together and in greater depth.
2. Regarding Judaism, Kabbalah and Judaism are two separate things, so knowledge of Judaism is not necessary to study Kabbalah.
3. In the article Walking the Path of Truth, Baal HaSulam writes to us about three components in our work: Israel, Torah, and the Creator.
Israel is me, my point in the heart, my desire to actualize myself, to reach spirituality. Torah comes from the Hebrew word Ohr, meaning light. So when Kabbalists us the word Torah they are not referring to the book but rather to the system through which we draw the light that corrects us. The Creator is our root to which we want to return.
He writes that these three components need to be present and equal, otherwise I deviate from the spiritual path. Meaning if I’m just thinking about the Creator, without working with the system called Torah in order to correct myself, then I’m deviating from the path. Also if I’m just working on correcting myself without aiming my work to the Creator, this too is a deviation.
Only when all three of these things are used equally, then we are truly progressing and the light works on us in the most optimal way. It’s like I have a rifle, the rifle scope, and the target. My job is to align the rifle through the scope towards the target. In this way I’m certain to hit the mark.
4. NRNHY is an acronym for Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida. These are the names of the lights that enter into the spiritual desire. There are five of them because there are five levels of the spiritual desire. Each level of desire has a corresponding light that enters it.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Kelti,
They described the desires in general. But since each person is unique, each one of us has a different arrangement of these desires.
Regarding being judged, Kabbalah is a science, not a religion. Just like when we learn about the physics of our world, no one is judging us there, likewise when we’re learning Kabbalah, which is essentially the physics of the spiritual world, no one is judging us there as well.
As for the correction of our desires, spirituality works according to laws. The main law of spirituality is the law of equivalence of form. It means that if we want to reveal spirituality, we need to become similar to it, to the qualities of pure love and bestowal that reside 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. So if we tune our desires in the direction of bestowal, then we will become similar to spirituality and reveal it in practice, in our lives. This is essentially what we’re learning how to do.
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
Hi Johan,
If we simply followed nature’s laws instinctively, like any other animal, we would not have any free choice. We would be no different than machines, or robots, that were programmed to act a certain way and they just carry out this inner script. Instead, we were programmed one way, and we rise above this inner programming, become independent of it, and then develop our own desire to advance towards the goal.
Check out my reply 363142 to Jonah below for more details about reaching freedom.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Diane,
Yes, the awakening of the point in the heart is the precondition to reaching freedom. Not just any freedom, but specifically freedom from our egoistic nature.
Check out my reply 363142 to Jonah below for more details.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Diane,
You’re right that there are different levels to this thing called a soul. In the beginning, we all have an animalistic soul, meaning a certain force that enlivens our animalistic body, similar to any other animal. But the human level of the soul is not something we have by default, but rather something that we acquire by correcting our egoistic nature. In other words, each one of us has a human soul in potential which we call the point in the heart. If we correct that point, out of it, we can build the full level of the soul. If not, that same potential continues to reincarnate again and again until it gets corrected.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2015/06/what-happens-to-the-soul-after-death/
As well as this article from the book The Kabbalah Experience.
As for the stories in the Torah, if you’re interested in learning how to properly decipher the Torah, check out the books: Disclosing a Portion or The Secrets of the Eternal Book.
Albert @ KabU
