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Hi Loyda,
It is helpful to have some of the basics memorized, but it’s not a must. Essentially it’s not our memory that will get us into spirituality, but our desire. If we build the right desire for it, in that desire, we will reveal spirituality. If not, even if we memorize all the Kabbalistic books, we will still not feel it.
And although we spend a lot of time studying, the goal is not to acquire knowledge, but through the study to draw the light, a special force that helps us to build the right desire. Meaning that we don’t need to be super strong, wise, or talented in order to succeed in Kabbalah, all we need is to extract more and more of this light 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/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Allen, great questions!
We were indeed created in the state of perfection, in complete adhesion with the Creator. (Baal HaSulam describes this in the article Introduction to the book of Zohar). But this was an unconscious state, like a baby in its mother’s womb. So we necessarily had to come to the complete opposite state, to lose that state of perfection, in order to once again reach it, but this time consciously.
And the fact that we had to lose this state is not something bad, but it’s a necessary part of our development. It’s just like with kids. We don’t just give them a completed jigsaw puzzle. On the contrary we take it and break it down into many pieces. Then in the process of them putting it together, they grow and develop. Same with us, this process of losing that state is a necessary part of our further growth and development.
This process also adds to us a certain level of freedom, without which, 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 this goal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2014/01/from-perfection-to-perfection/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Lucky,
Kabbalah is a science. The Kabbalists are the scientists of Kabbalah. Everything we know is based on their research. This is similar to how other sciences work. The Kabbalists are those researchers that have performed a certain experiment and reached a certain result: the correction of our nature, the revelation of the Creator, the force of bestowal, etc. So if we are to replicate their experiment, to follow their procedures we should reach the same results.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/kabbalah-and-other-sciences-philosophy-and-religion/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Sue,
It depends on the context. Here’s a few excerpts from that same chapter:
On page 100 he writes:
“Faith – the power that gives an individual confidence in the possibility of attaining a spiritual life, coming alive after being spiritually dead. The more clearly we realize that we are spiritually dead, the more strongly we feel a need for faith.”
On page 101 he writes:
When we gain confidence in our own altruistic strength, we can gradually begin to experience pleasure for the sake of the Creator, for by so doing we are pleasing the Creator. Since it is the Creator’s Will to bestow pleasure on us, this congruity of wishes brings the Giver and the receiver closer together.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Milos,
Just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just correct our own nature. So it’s the light that corrects us. Our work is only to extract 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 Milos, great question!
By ourselves, each one of us would give up a long time ago. But if we’re connected to a strong spiritual environment, then we can tap into an endless source of energy to do spiritual work.
It’s just like with the example of going to the gym and lifting weights. Naturally this is something extremely painful and unpleasant. But when we’re under a good influence of the gym environment, have friends that value such things, read lots of articles about staying healthy etc, we begin to enjoy these things. And what was previously a painful activity turns into something pleasurable. So it all depends on the influence of the environment.
For now, your spiritual environment consists mostly of these different KabU forums, weekly lessons, live sessions, etc. But in the more advanced semesters, everyone will receive their own virtual Kabbalah group with whom they can put these things into practice.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/10/bestowal-should-become-fashionable/
Albert @ KabU
