[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Curtis, great questions!

1. Our nature is the desire to receive pleasure. It simply means that every calculation we make is to chase pleasure or avoid pain. This is similar to how any other animal functions. By itself, there is nothing wrong with this nature, it’s simply the program by which we function and preserve ourselves.

Egoism is when this program begins to be used in a way that harms others. Not only do I want to receive pleasure, but I want to receive it at the expense of others, at their detriment. This is the corporeal ego.

There is also a spiritual ego. 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. Spiritual perception works according to the law of equivalence of form. Meaning that in order to perceive spirituality, we need to become similar to it, to the qualities of 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.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/

And yes, each spiritual degree is felt differently. Just like in our world, the way a newborn perceives the world is different to how a five year old perceives it, and that is different to how a 25 year old perceives it, etc.

3. These terms are interchangeable. Sometimes they are translated from Hebrew as will to receive or sometimes as desire to receive. And sometimes they are called vessels (Kelim) of reception. So these terms can be used interchangeably. (Kli is Hebrew for vessel, Kelim is the plural form, vessels).

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Curtis,

I’m sorry, I cannot answer your questions yet, we’re still as if speaking two different languages. I recommend that you go through a few of the lessons, get the course books and read through at least Kabbalah Revealed. Afterwards these things will become clearer to you and I’ll be able to further explain these concepts.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Sarah,

I’m not an expert in other methods, so I don’t know how others define this word. But when we use the word mysticism, we are referring to something mystical, something removed from reality, something that does not follow the laws of nature.

So when we make the distinction that Kabbalah is not mysticism, this is because Kabbalah is very much so grounded into nature. Kabbalah researches nature and the laws of nature using a very strict scientific method: “a judge has only what his eyes can see” and “what we do not attain we do not call by name”. Even our knowledge of the upper force, of the Creator, is limited to our research tools, meaning the desire. And whatever does not enter into this desire, we cannot research or talk about. For these reasons, it’s more accurate to classify Kabbalah as a science.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/kabbalah-without-a-trace-of-mysticism/

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Allen,

Yes, you can say that. Just keep in mind that the Creator is concealed, so I cannot examine myself relative to Him. But what is revealed are other people. So I can examine if I’m aspiring towards the Creator’s qualities in my relation to other people, especially those on the spiritual path together with me. We’ll learn about this in the more advanced lessons.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Allen, great questions!

Emotions are what we feel. The intention is the reason for our actions. Generally speaking, our intentions are concealed from us. Even if we seemingly have beautiful intentions to bestow, later on, we discover that it was all to serve our ego. But that’s fine. No one is expecting of us to be saints. In fact it’s impossible to do an action that’s not egoistic because egoism is our very nature. So in the best case scenario we can aspire towards bestowal, fail, and then discover a true need for the light to correct us.

In other words, it’s ultimately the light that performs all the changes and corrections on us. Our work is only to extract more and more of that 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

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Maria,

This already depends on the intention, not just the action. If the intention is to receive the state of being like the Creator in order to bestow back to the Creator, then it’s not egoistic.

Check out the Guest and Host Analogy in Chapter 3 of Attaining the Worlds Beyond for more details.

Albert @ KabU

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