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Hi Jarrett,
Great questions, although they are a bit advanced for where we are now in the fundamentals, but great questions nonetheless.
1. Our nature is egoistic. As long as we remain within this nature, we’ll continue to experience unpleasant things because that is the major motivating force for our ego. But once we rise above our ego, we’ll no longer need suffering to move forward.
The force that pulls us out of our ego is called Mashiach (Messiah in English), which comes from the verb “to pull” (Moshech in Hebrew). So in Kabbalah, the messiah is not a person, but a special force that has the ability to pull us out of our egoistic nature.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/
2. Friend (Haver in Hebrew) comes from the word connection (Hibur in Hebrew). So when we say “friend” in Kabbalah, we’re not talking about our corporeal acquaintances and buddies, but specifically the Kabbalistic group in which people are aspiring towards a spiritual connection within which we reveal the Creator.
3. Regarding talking about what we’re going through, the only person we can openly share every single inner state we’re going through is our spouse.
Whether to do so with the friends, it depends. Before we do anything, we need to make sure that our intention is to help the friends, not ourselves. With that intention in mind, there could be a scenario where sharing with the friends that we’re going through hard times can be beneficial for the friends. It can give them a push to unite and pray. There are other times when sharing such things can bring the spirits of the friends down. So it depends. But in general, if we’re aspiring to love the friends and do what is good for them, then we won’t be mistaken in what we do or don’t present to them.
But if we are not sure, then we should only show them a good example, that we’re full of energy, excited about the path, that bestowal is important, etc. Even if it’s just a game and not how I truly feel. Nonetheless, what is just a game for me is felt as real by the friends and actually inspires them. And they will do the same for me. In this way, everyone gets help to come out of their state.
We’ll learn about these things in the more advanced semesters, when everyone will receive their own Kabbalah group with whom they can practice these things. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
4. And yes, connecting to the Kabbalistic lessons is an important part of our spiritual work. That is the main way by which we extract the light. It’s ultimately the light that clarifies all the states that we’re going through and 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/
Albert @ Kab
Hi Sara,
Yes, Kabbalah is meant to be a very practical method by which we correct our ego. Keep in mind that since our very nature is egoistic, we ourselves are powerless to do anything against the ego. We need outside help to change this nature. We get this help from the force of the light. This is a special force which has the ability to correct our ego.
We extract the light primarily during the Kabbalistic studies. So even the studies themselves, although they seem theoretical, the act of studying and yearning towards the things we learn about is actually a major part of our practical work. Since that is the primary way in which we extract the light. And every time we do so, the light works on us more and more and corrects our ego more and more.
There are other ways by which we extract the light, such as connecting in a Kabbalistic group. We’ll learn about that in the more advanced semesters.
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 Kristin, great questions!
1. You’re right that spirituality is built on opposites. So we cannot reach spirituality without the ego. This is why we don’t work on eradicating our ego, but only on rising above it. In fact the more we advance, the more our egoistic desires grow. They turn into a type of mountain that we climb over. The bigger the desires, the higher we can climb, and the higher the spiritual degree that we can attain. On the other hand, if we were to eliminate our egoistic desires, then accordingly, we would only be able to attain a tiny degree of spiritual attainment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
2. Yes, you can say that suffering is due to looking at the world through the lens of the ego.
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 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/
3. As for the necessity of suffering, it’s true that without suffering, we would not have the motivating force to move forward. But this is only in the preliminary stages. Once we reach a certain level of correction, avoiding suffering is no longer necessary to motivate us to move forward (as you saw in the previous blog post).
It’s sort of like when kids don’t want to go to school, then we threaten to punish them. But if the kids do want to go to school and they willingly run to school, then not only do we stop punishing them, but we can also build a completely different relationship with them. We can take them on educational trips, give them all sorts of puzzles and extra curricular activities, etc.
So some suffering is necessary for our ego, but it’s not the ideal way to advance forward. We can move forward in a much more pleasant way. Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
4. We can argue that suffering increases as the generations develop, but it’s more of a qualitative difference. After all, previous generations barely had food to feed their families and didn’t have most of the modern technology and luxuries that we have. Whereas we have all these things and yet still feel empty.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Frank, great questions!
A1. You’re right that according to our nature, we’re incapable of doing anything that is truly altruistic. Which is why the first step is to correct this nature. We do this with the help of the reforming light. The more we extract this light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, the more it works on us and gradually corrects our nature.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
A2. We learn that “necessities are neither praised nor condemned”. So the things we need to do in order to acquire our normal necessities are not considered egoistic or altruistic. It’s simply what we must do to preserve ourselves and not become a burden on society.
B1/B3.
Yes Moses was a Kabbalistic.
Torah comes from the Hebrew word ohr (light). So when Kabbalists use the word Torah, they are not referring to the physical book, but rather to the light. This is a special force that we can extract, especially through the Kabbalistic studies, in order to correct our egoistic nature. Once we correct that nature, the light of Torah also refers to the fulfillment that is felt in that corrected state.
Keep in mind that the light itself does not change. We change, meaning our desires change, and accordingly we feel the light differently. It’s similar to how electricity is the same electricity but based on what appliance we plug in, we have different uses and results from it. Plug in a heater and you’ll produce warmth, plug in an AC and you’ll get cool air, etc. So when we’re not corrected, the light helps to correct us. And when we are corrected, the light fulfills us.
As for the Mitzvot, when Kabbalists use the word Mitzvot (plural of Mitzvah) they are not referring to the corporeal Mitzvot that a religious person performs with his hands and feet. But rather the Mitzvot are the internal processes by which we draw the light and correct the egoistic desires.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/11/spice-up-your-desire/
As for the list of Mitzvot, in practice, we don’t work with a list, but only according to whatever desire is awakened at the moment. Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/09/compliance-with-the-613-mitzvot-commandments/
B2. Yes, correcting the spiritual desire takes 125 steps.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Skye,
There is the desire to receive pleasure and there is egoism. Although we sometimes use these two things interchangeably, in truth they are two separate things.
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/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Marta,
That video is covered in week 4 of this course. Here is the recommended reading link and related videos link for that week’s content.
And here’s a blog post from Rav Laitman about the law of equivalence of form.
Albert @ KabU
