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Hi Mira,
The Creator created a single desire to receive pleasure. In the process of correction, this desire gets partitioned into sefirot, partzufim, and worlds.
The most basic division of the desire is 1 Sefira. 5 Sefirot compose 1 partzuf. 5 Partzufim compose 1 world. There are 5 worlds in total. So 5 worlds each with 5 partzufim each with 5 sefirot equals 125 (5x5x5) steps on the spiritual ladder, or in other words corrections that need to be performed on the desire.
Zeir Anpin and Arich Anpin are two different partzufim, referring to two different parts of the desire. The main takeaway from the 600,000 blog post should be that 600,000 is not a quantitative number, but a qualitative one. It represents the strength of the spiritual desire after it has been fully corrected.
As for the technical differences between the sefirot, partzufim, worlds, etc, in the advanced semesters, there is a whole course dedicated to that, where we’ll learn these things in depth. In the meantime check out the article: Foreword to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah for more details.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Sheila, great question!
Authentic Kabbalah has indeed been around for about 5800 years, but it’s been concealed for the past 2,000 years, so people don’t really know what it’s all about. Just picture a 2,000 year old game of telephone and all the distortions that would spring up as a result.
So naturally, due to the concealment, many different methods sprang up that are seemingly “Kabbalah”. Some try to associate themselves with Kabbalah as a way to validate themselves, while others borrowed some principles from Kabbalah and created something else, which is how philosophy emerged and later on turned into science. Or it’s also possible that these methods sprang up as a result of the concealment of Kabbalah, this is how the modern religions emerged. But ultimately, authentic Kabbalah has nothing to do with any other method and for the most part precedes all of the modern religions, sciences, and philosophies.
Authentic Kabbalah is the method by which we correct our egoistic nature and as a result we become similar to and reveal in practice the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/12/true-kabbalah-without-mysticism-or-myths-part-1/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Leyah, great questions!
1. The point of Kabbalah is to correct our egoistic nature. As a result of this correction we become similar to the Creator, to the general force of love and bestowal. As a result of becoming similar to Him, we reveal Him in practice, in our lives. All of this follows the law of equivalence of form.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/kabbalah-without-a-trace-of-mysticism/
2. There is no such term as founding Kabbalists. The first Kabbalist was Adam, almost 6000 years ago. He was the first one to actualize this method. His name gives us a hint at this since Adam comes from the Hebrew word “Dome”, meaning “similar to”. He was not the first one alive, but rather the first one to reveal the Creator by becoming similar to this quality of bestowal.
3. Kabbalah is not referring to Kaba or Allah. Kabbalah is Hebrew for reception. Our nature is founded on the desire to receive. But this nature by itself is flawed. The more we receive, the more we cancel our desire, and the less pleasure we actually feel.
It’s like the example with eating: I’m hungry so I eat. I eat a little, I feel a lot of pleasure. The more I eat, the more I cancel my hunger and feel less and less pleasure from eating, until I reach a point that not only do I stop receiving pleasure from eating, but if I continue, I would even feel pain and start throwing up.
It’s similar with all of our desires. Kabbalah helps us to correct our desires to receive, so through them we can receive higher forms of pleasures, those that come from being similar to the Creator. This is why it’s called Kabbalah (reception), it’s the science of reception.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/03/kabbalah-is-a-patent-for-infinite-pleasure/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Tammy,
1. Our nature is the desire to receive. So everything we do, including learning Kabbalah, stems from this nature. This is also why the point in the heart, that initial desire to pushed us towards Kabbalah, is called a black dot. Black meaning it’s not yet corrected and even our study in Kabbalah is for egoistic reasons.
But that’s okay. No one is born corrected and no one is demanding of us to be saints. Our work is not in correcting ourselves, our work is only in extracting more and more of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and the light is ultimately what corrects us.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
2. When the light corrects us, it gradually inverts our desire to receive into bestowal and by that we reach equivalence of form, we reach higher and higher qualities of bestowal, including Bina.
3. Although receiving to bestow sounds like it’s within our reach, in practice, it’s a very very high spiritual degree that we are nowhere near. So I wouldn’t put much focus on that now so we don’t get confused by it.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Zachary,
I cannot comment on your personal state, but in general, all of the changes we undergo in this wisdom are due to the reforming light. Essentially our work boils down to extracting more and more of this 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 Pablo,
Kabbalah actually started with Adam close to 6000 years ago. The reason why we sometimes attribute it to Abraham is because Abraham was a major milestone in the Wisdom of Kabbalah who turned it into a practical method.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/10/what-came-first-the-torah-or-the-wisdom-of-kabbalah/
Albert @ KabU
