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Hi Sheila,
Our spiritual correction is first of all in the mutual work we do with other points in the heart. Meaning that it’s primarily within the Kabbalistic group. With the rest of the world, we should follow the rule that “there is no coercion in spirituality” and not force any spiritual work on others. There we should behave normally, just like everyone else.
Normal meaning that we don’t turn into monks and run away from the world. And we also don’t turn into saints and start sacrificing ourselves for the world. But just be normal: work in the normal way, raise our families and take care of our health, etc, all in the normal way that is customary in this world.
And in the more advanced stages of our development, we will start to see how the problems and situations we undergo in our day to day life are also a part of our spiritual correction. Our day to day life makes it more challenging to stay connected to the Kabbalistic group. And it’s thanks to these challenges that we can develop to higher spiritual levels. Similar to how a bodybuilder needs to keep adding resistance for his muscles to grow bigger.
We’ll learn how to work with all these things more practically in the advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
Hi George,
1. We learn from the Kabbalists that every single moment comes to us directly from the Creator, this is called “there is none else besides Him”. Furthermore, they also say that He is the “good that does good”. Meaning that every moment He is sending us nothing but goodness. But why then don’t we see this in our world? Why do we see so much suffering and wars in the world?
This is because our world is governed by our egoistic nature. This egoistic nature is opposite to the Creator’s nature. Because of that, it inverts the Creator’s goodness into something bad. It’s just like multiplying numbers: a positive times a negative equals negative.
So as long as we remain within this egoistic nature, we will continue to see and feel more suffering and horrors in the world. But if we correct our nature to be similar to the Creator’s nature, then we will reveal the true reality in which only goodness exists, and our previous egoistic state would appear as nothing more than a dream.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/
2. I’m not sure I fully understand the question, but we do have a certain measure of freedom, which is in choosing the environment that will influence us. See my reply 357064 to Leyah below for more details.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Sue,
The 5 spiritual worlds are not place like we think, but rather levels of concealment. World (Olam in Hebrew) comes from the word Concealment (ha-alama). So the 5 worlds are 5 levels of concealment between us, the desire to receive, and the Creator the general force of love and bestowal. To the extent that we correct our own opposite, egoistic nature, for it to also operate in the direction of bestowal, to that extent we reveal these worlds, these higher qualities.
Regarding the order and meaning of each world:
First is Adam Kadmon (primordial Man) this is the first form of the desire to receive that became similar to the Creator, but it operates in a different way then the rest of the system, so it’s called primordial.
Atzilut (from the Hebrew words etz lo: at his place, in his possession). This is the place where the Creator exists, meaning the pure desire to bestow.
Beria (creation), comes from the Hebrew word Bar, meaning outside of. Meaning that it’s already a distinct degree of remoteness from the quality of bestowal.
Yetzira (creation), also means creation but this time it stems from the Hebrew word yetzer, inclination. Meaning there is already an inclination of its own to the Creator.
Assiya (action), this completes the action of creating the desire to receive.
Keep in mind that we usually don’t translate these words when we use them in the lessons. A lot of times it’s better to use the Hebrew word instead of being confused by the translation.
As for attaining these things and understanding them, these are two separate matters. First we reach spiritual attainment and only afterwards can we understand these things. It’s like a blind person that is trying to study colors. He can learn the wavelengths behind each one, the different feelings they all evoke, but ultimately he will never truly understand colors. But if this blind person was to undergo an operation and gain his sense of sight, how easy and simple it would be to teach him colors. We would simply point to it and say “this is red”.
Same with us, until we reach spiritual attainment, it’s impossible to truly understand these things. In order to reach spiritual attainment, we need to correct our egoistic nature. This is done through the force of the light. So our entire work boils down to extracting more and more of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
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
Hi Leyah,
It depends on the context, but yes you can say that.
The main takeaway from this lesson is that every moment we’re under fixed deterministic laws which we have no direct control over. Like placing a seed in a ground and the seed is completely powerless to do anything about what happens to it.
But, we do have the choice of WHERE to place that seed. If we place it in the desert, nothing will come out of it. If we place in a good nourishing environment, then that seed can grow and develop properly.
Likewise with our spiritual work, if we place ourselves under the influence of a good spiritual environment, then we can get the proper nourishment to develop spiritually. Essentially our entire spiritual life depends not on our own strength and willpower, but on our choice of the spiritual environment. Everything else is a result of that choice.
Baal HaSulam writes about it in the article “The Freedom”. Here’s an excerpt:
“However, there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart to him good concepts. If one does not do that, but is willing to enter any environment that appears to him and read any book that falls into his hands, he is bound to fall into a bad environment or waste his time on worthless books, which are abundant and easier to come by. In consequence, he will be forced into foul concepts that make him sin and condemn. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in that there is definitely a choice.
Therefore, he who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. But here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts and deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment, which brings him these good thoughts and deeds.”
We’ll learn how to do this practically in the advanced semesters, in the meantime check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/10/bestowal-should-become-fashionable/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Helen,
600,000 is less of a quantitative number and more of a qualitative number. It represents the strength of the spiritual desire after it’s been fully corrected. So essentially all of humanity is included in this number.
Check out this blog post to see how this number is derived: https://laitman.com/2010/09/love-and-hatred-of-600000-souls/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Igor,
Our work is to correct our desires from receiving into desires to bestow. But our very nature is the desire to receive pleasure. Just like a PC cannot just change itself to run as a Mac, we too are powerless to change our own nature. We need help to perform this change. This help comes to us from the light. This is a special force which has the power to change our nature. Our entire work boils down to extracting more and more of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
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
