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Hi John,
1. Tony, myself, and all the instructors here are students of Rav Laitman. When you finish the graduate courses on KabU, you’ll have a strong enough foundation to join his lessons as well, if that is what you want. Ideally the teacher we choose is still alive in this world. Like Baal HaSulam writes above “Since the rav is in this world, within time…”. But whether you will see Rav Laitman as your Rav or not, I cannot answer that for you. It’s up to you. Ultimately “there is no coercion in spirituality”.
2. In practice, bestowing upon the Rav means sharing his goal to bring the world closer to the Creator. So it’s not like we’re idolizing the person, but rather we are working on disseminating the wisdom of Kabbalah to the world.
3. I cannot comment on what they teach in other spiritual paths. You can see from this very question that there is something incomplete in their explanation. After all, how did Rashbi, Ari, or Baal HaSulam reach all 125 degrees of attainment if their teachers did not?
In general, if we want to succeed in Kabbalah (or in any spiritual practice really) we should practice it without mixing other things into it. Otherwise it’s like following two different GPS systems. One leads you to the goal through the west highway, while the other through the east highway. If you follow both, you’ll just wind up going in circles.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Nathan,
I’m not an expert in religions so I cannot comment on what is taught there. But in general, most spiritual methods, religions, philosophies, and even sciences in one way or another stem from the wisdom of Kabbalah. Either as a stepping stone for a person to develop through until his point in the heart awakens (such as many eastern traditions), or from an attempt to copy and implement this wisdom (like what early philosophers tried to do, which later on turned into modern sciences), or as a side effect of the concealment of this wisdom (which is how the modern religions and spiritual paths emerged).
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/11/the-origin-and-purpose-of-eastern-teachings/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Brad,
Yes this is week 1. Every week a new week opens up for self study.
As for the books, yes the recommended books will be used for this 5 week course and the next one. You can read through Kabbalah Revealed and Attaining the Worlds Beyond from beginning to end. This will give you a strong foundation. Kabbalah for the Student is a textbook of source articles. It can be a bit more challenging. We’ll be studying from it together throughout all the courses.
For more technical support, you can use the “Need Help?” button in the bottom right.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Elham,
It’s not enough to study the language of roots and branches, because it’s not something you learn but rather something that comes with spiritual attainment. Without spiritual attainment, we cannot truly 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”.
It’s the same with the language of roots and branches. It’s currently impossible for us to truly grasp these things. But once we gain our “spiritual sight” we would pick these things up very easily and naturally.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/why-do-we-need-the-language-of-branches/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Peter,
Spirituality is the process of reconnecting to the shattered soul. It can never be done alone because we need someone with whom to connect with. We do this type of work in groups of ten. In other words, we don’t need to wait for all of humanity to reconnect all at once, rather it’s done gradually. First we connect within our own group of ten. Then a few groups of ten connect together, and then a few more, etc. Until we come to include all of humanity in that connection. We’ll learn more about these things in the advanced semesters where each one will receive their own group with whom to practice this.
As for when, yes that is important. It’s like building a giant jigsaw puzzle, first you start with the corners and only afterwards do you work your way to the center. Those with awakened points in the heart are like those corner pieces, they need to start this whole process. Only after they finish their work, is it possible for other parts of humanity to start this work.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Ricardo,
Yes, you can say that we read in order to extract the light from the text. That light will begin to gradually change us and build these spiritual structures within us, until we will begin to feel what we’re reading about in practice.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
As for how many times you should read it, there is no magical formula here. It’s up to you. Keep in mind that every time we read, the light gradually changes us. As we change, we will begin to experience the text differently. In other words, I can read the same article today and tomorrow, and tomorrow I’ll experience it completely differently. It’s not about memorizing anything, but rather the more we invest into reading the Kabbalistic text, the more light we extract, and thereby the more we change and experience it differently.
But don’t focus on reading it mechanically a certain amount of times, rather set aside some time on a regular basis to return to the Kabbalistic texts, lessons, etc. Such a habit of regularly returning to the source of the light will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
Albert @ KabU
