[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Peter,

Everything we went through, are going through, and will need to go through is preset in the reshimot. The reshimot are our spiritual genes. Just like when we investigate our corporeal genes, we reveal our entire ancestry, where we came from, as well as the reasons for our inclinations, tendencies, etc. Similarly, the reshimot are our spiritual genes. They are all the states that we have gone through and all the states that we will need to go through in the future.

In other words, they detail the process we need to undergo starting from the initial thought of creation all the way until the end of correction. Essentially our entire path of development is preset in these reshimot. So all the forms we need to evolve through and all the desires that will awaken in us is also preset there. The only choice we have is in the pace we go through it. It’s like all of life is one big strip of film or a movie reel. Every new moment is a new frame, a new reshimot is shown to us. And we cannot change the movie at all, but only to fast forward or go one frame at a time.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/07/the-whole-world-is-inside-the-reshimo/

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Bonnie,

I cannot comment on your personal state. In general the double and single concealment are states that we (those that are on the spiritual path) are constantly going in and out of.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/01/understanding-his-providence/

As for the past, we shouldn’t regret or try to correct the past. Rather the best thing to do towards the past is to say “there is none else besides Him” and that we went through exactly what we needed to go through. Beyond that, we should be very happy that through everything we went through, we merited an awakened point in the heart. After all, less than 1% of the world has this desire and we were as if handpicked by the Creator to be among such people. So we shouldn’t go digging into the past, but rather we should focus on the present, on the opportunity that is presented before us and be happy for the priceless gift that we received!

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Ludumo,

The main thing is to make efforts. Just like a baby that is constantly trying to understand the world around it. Nobody hands the baby an encyclopedia or a dictionary. Nobody teaches it what every single word means. Rather the baby starts doing SOMETHING, whatever it can. It waves its arms, babbles, opens and closes its mouth. In short, it’s making lots and lots of efforts. From these efforts, it begins to understand and feel how the world works.

It’s the same with us. We need to constantly exert ourselves and make efforts. Even if we don’t understand, even if we have no clue what spirituality is, or what the author was feeling when he wrote the text. It does not matter. Our understanding and feelings don’t come from our intellectual, but it comes from us making efforts to understand, from playing pretend as if we’re spiritual grown ups. As a result of these efforts, the light will come. It’ll gradually correct us and arrange all of these different connections within us. And then we’ll start to feel spirituality for ourselves.

Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/

https://laitman.com/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Annililia,

I cannot comment on your personal life, we can only talk about these things in general. In general, pain is an indicator that something is wrong, something is off balance. It’s a defense mechanism for the body. There are even some extreme examples of people who lost their pain receptors for some reason. And we see from these examples how dangerous this state is, that a person can be doing something harmful to himself and he wouldn’t even feel it.

Or another example, let’s say a person is very ill. If this illness causes him some pain, he can go to the doctor and get it treated. But if on the other hand there are no symptoms and no pains, then he would continue this way, and even die from the illness without ever knowing about it. So we see pain serves a very important function for us. We cannot just eliminate it.

Furthermore, within the Wisdom of Kabbalah, we learn that pain and suffering is felt because of our egoistic nature. Our nature throws us out of balance with the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal. So as long as we remain within this egoistic nature, we will continue to experience more pain and suffering in life. This pushes us to correct our egoistic nature. If we were to get rid of that force prematurely, then we would have no drive to continue our development. But after we correct our egoistic nature, we will no longer need pain and suffering in order to push us to develop because we ourselves will generate the force for our development.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Jerry,

It’s like you said, I’m not an expert on religions. I cannot comment on such things. In general, Kabbalah is a science dealing with the correction of our nature and the revelation of the Creator, the force of bestowal. It has no connection to faith, religion, or religious leaders. But ultimately these things are not so opposed. Both talk about the importance of loving others as yourself. Kabbalah goes even further and gives us a method to actualize loving others to such an extent that we can reveal in our lives the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal.

As for religions, Kabbalah is not against religions. In fact we have millions of students worldwide, from many different backgrounds and religions. Many of them do choose to maintain their religion or to perform certain religious customs while studying Kabbalah and there is nothing wrong with that. Just like with any other science, a person can be religious and also be a chemist or physicist. Likewise a person can be religious and also study the science of Kabbalah. Baal HaSulam writes that even after the full spiritual correction people can still keep their religions.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Ludumo,

Balance is very important. There is a saying “no flour no Torah, no Torah no flour”. Meaning we cannot just focus on spirituality and disregard our necessities. We need to continue to work, take care of our family, health, etc. On the other hand, we cannot just focus entirely on our corporeal life without considering the spiritual goal, then we are no different than animals. So we need to work on maintaining the right balance between the two. To take care of our necessities and also to dedicate some time to spirituality, to return to the Kabbalistic texts, videos, lesson materials, etc. This is the balance that we should strive for.

Beyond that, we should keep in mind that spiritual work is inner work, on the level of our thoughts and desires. Meaning that we don’t need to make big changes in our corporeal life. We don’t need to become monks and disconnect from the corporeal life. We continue to exist on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder. So we must continue to live physically and to take care of our normal necessities: work, family, health, etc, together with our spiritual development.

Albert @ KabU

[Author]

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