Forum Replies Created
- Replies
Hi Geneva, great questions!
1. There is a force that enlivens our bodies, which is called the animate soul. But Kabbalists are not usually talking about that part. They are usually referring to the point in the heart. Every person has something called a point in the heart. The point in the heart, the desire for spirituality, is like a seed. If we nourish that seed, it can grow to the level of something called a soul. A soul is also a desire, but one that has already been corrected to operate in the direction of love and bestowal. But if we don’t fully realize that initial point in the heart, then that same point, continues to reincarnate again and again until it gets realized.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/06/what-happens-to-the-soul-after-death/
As well as this page from the book The Kabbalah Experience: http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/86133?/eng/content/view/full/86133&main
2. Also Baal HaSulam as the next incarnation of the soul of the Ari. “The next reincarnation of the soul is like the inheritance of the entire spiritual attainment of the father, which is passed on to the son.”
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2020/08/on-the-anniversary-of-the-aris-departure/
3. I see that you’re really interested in this topic. I recommend you check out this collection of articles and clips revolving around that: https://www.kabbalah.info/bb/what-happens-when-you-die/
4. Yes, the whole old testament, or Tanakh (Books of Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim), as well as Psalms, Gemara, Talmud, Zohar, etc. These are all Kabbalistic texts.
Albert @ KabU
Hi James,
I’m not an expert in other methods, so I cannot comment on what they do or teach there. As for Kabbalah, Kabbalah is a method by which we can correct our egoistic nature. As a result of this correction, we reveal the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal, in our lives.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Aaron,
1. It’s the light that builds the screen. Our job is only to extract more and more of the force of the 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/
2. The end goal is preset but we determine the pace at which we get there. Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
3. Although you are correct that we shouldn’t waste our time on unnecessary things, we still need to find a good balance between our corporeal lives and our spiritual aspirations. Without a good balance in our corporeal lives, we won’t be able to advance in spirituality either. This is called “no flour, no Torah – no Torah, no flour”. Meaning a Kabbalist continues to exist on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder. So I cannot just turn into a monk and disconnect from this life and only focus on spirituality. On the other hand, if I only focus on corporeality, then I’m no different than an animal. So the important thing is to find the right balance between the two: to take care of all of one’s normal necessities: to work, take care of the family, health, etc (this is called flour) and to set aside some time on a regular basis to focus on spirituality (this is called Torah).
Albert @ KabU
Hi Luis,
Kabbalah does not deal with dream interpretations. In general, Kabbalists don’t attribute much importance to dreams or the state of dreaming. They see it simply as a state where the brain summarizes/organizes the daily experiences. Similar to how some computers go through the process of defragmentation.
On the other hand, there is a spiritual state called dreaming which is the process by which we transition from one spiritual degree to another. It’s like the neutral gear on a manual transmission, which requires you to switch to the neutral gear before switching to another gear. In other words, in between every spiritual state is a state called “dream”. But it’s not related to the corporeal dreams that we experience in our physical bodies. Kabbalists don’t ascribe any importance to corporeal dreams.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2016/04/an-ordinary-dream/
https://laitman.com/2015/02/we-cannot-live-without-sleep/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Jessica, great questions!
The Creator created our egoistic nature. Why? Because it’s a vital component in our development. Without it, we would not feel separated from the Creator and would thereby not have any free will whatsoever. Baal HaSulam describes this in the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”, here’s an excerpt:
“4) The reason why the will to receive must cascade by the four above-mentioned discernments in ABYA (Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya) is that there is a great rule concerning the Kelim (plural for Kli): the expansion of the Light and its departure make the Kli fit for its task. This means that as long as the Kli has not been separated from its Light, it is included in the Light and is annulled within it like a candle in a torch.
This annulment is because they are completely opposite from one another, on opposite ends. This is so because the Light extends from His Essence existence from existence. From the perspective of the Thought of Creation in Ein Sof, it is all towards bestowal and there is no trace of will to receive in it. Its opposite is the Kli, the great will to receive that abundance, which is the root of the initiated creature, in which there is no bestowal whatsoever.
Hence, when they are bound together, the will to receive is annulled in the Light within it, and can determine its form only once the Light has departed thence once. This is so because following the departure of the Light from it, it begins to crave it, and this craving properly determines and sets the shape of the will to receive. Subsequently, when the Light dresses in it once more, it is regarded as two separate matters: Kli and Light, or Guf and Life. Observe closely, for this is most profound.”
Meaning that if you place the light of a candle within the light of a torch, you cannot differentiate one from the other. So in the process of giving the created being the nature of reception, by that, the created being became separated from the Creator and as a result feels itself as existing and independent. Later on, even though they return to a state of adhesion, they still remain as two separate things. We’ll learn more about this in the upcoming lessons.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Luis,
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman: https://laitman.com/2013/09/from-root-to-branch/
Albert @ KabU
