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Hi Comfort, good question.
The number 125 comes from the structure of the upper worlds. This structure is just a division of the spiritual desire that we need to correct into sefirot, partzufim, and worlds.
The most basic division of the desire is 1 Sefira. 5 Sefirot compose 1 partzuf. 5 Partzufim compose 1 world. There are 5 worlds in total. So 5 worlds each with 5 partzufim each with 5 sefirot equals 125 (5x5x5) steps on the spiritual ladder, or in other words corrections that need to be performed on the desire.
In the book Kabbalah for the Student, there’s an article called Foreword to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah (http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/full/64187) which lists these 125 steps in the language of sefirot/partzufim/olamot(worlds). For now, these are just technical terms for us, but in the future lessons we’ll dive deeper into these things and learn how to feel and experience them.
In simpler words, the 125 steps represents the difference between us and the Creator. The Creator is a desire to bestow and we are the desire to receive. Adapting our desire to receive to work in order to bestow takes 125 steps. So to the extent that we correct our nature, make it similar to the Creator’s nature, to that extent we’re “climbing” this ladder.
In other words, ascending or descending this ladder is not a physical action, but rather depends on how much we’re similar to the Creator’s quality of bestowal (ascending) or less similar to it and more egoistic (descending).
All of this operates according to the law of equivalence of form. Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
Albert @ KabU
Hi David, great questions!
The Kabbalists tell us that “necessities are neither praised nor condemned”. Meaning that taking care of our necessities to live a normal life is not considered egoism. It’s perfectly fine to do that.
What then is egoism and how is it connected to our nature which only wants to receive?
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 Miryam,
1. The text talks about how we start our journey in an egoistic way, with all the different attempts we went through at trying to control the Creator. Later on we get despaired from our inability to do so. And after that we learn about the true meaning of our existence, which is not to control Him but rather to correct our egoistic nature and thereby to connect with Him.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/04/the-purpose-of-creation/
2. The Kabbalists tell us that we are living in a sea of endless light. Meaning that there is no shortage of light around us. Why then don’t we feel this light? It’s because we’re lacking the vessels in order to perceive that light. Once we build the right vessels, the light will immediately fulfill those vessels. This is why the most important part of our development is the process by which we build the vessels for the light.
He writes about this in that same paragraph: “It is precisely through the slow meaningful manner of reading that you can develop feelings, or “vessels” (kelim). These are necessary for us to receive spiritual sensations. Once the vessels are in place, the Upper Light will be able to enter them. Prior to their formation, the light merely exists around you, surrounding your soul, although you cannot perceive it.”
Albert @ KabU
Hi Prescilia,
In simpler terms, bestowal means giving. But why is it so difficult for us to understand bestowal? It’s because true bestowal does not exist on the level of our world. Bestowal is the Creator’s nature. While our nature is that of pure reception. So it’s impossible for us to truly bestow. At best we can perform more and more covert actions of reception. For example, I go to the store and I give them my money, but obviously I want something in return. It’s the same with all of our actions of bestowal in corporeality. Either I do it to receive pleasure directly or indirectly from fame, honor, money, or even the pride of knowing that no one knows about this action, or even avoiding pain or guilt is also part of this same calculation.
So real bestowal, above any calculations for receiving for oneself, does not exist in our world. Real bestowal is purely the Creator’s quality. If we want to acquire such a quality, we first need to correct our nature. This is done by the force of the light we evoke through the Kabbalistic studies. This light begins to work on us, even if we don’t have a true desire to bestow. Even if we’re just like little kids, pretending to be spiritual grown ups. It takes this aspiration of ours and corrects it little by little, building in us a true desire for spirituality, for the spiritual qualities of love and bestowal.
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 Esther,
An example is like looking at the world through dirty glasses. If my glasses are dirty, I think the whole world is dirty. But in truth, it’s just my own dirty glasses. The moment I clean my own glasses, I’ll look at the same world, but now it’s clean and perfect.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/04/in-neutral-gear/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Will,
The root of our soul is like our place in the system. Just picture that all of humanity are like cells within a single body, each one of us has a certain place in this body, a certain organ that we belong to. Or picture that humanity is an 8 billion piece jigsaw puzzle. Each person has a specific piece that is only his own, and his role is to reconnect that piece back into the general picture.
So our root is our specific place in the system. The goal for all of us to return to their root, to their place. And the process by which we reach this goal, everything we have undergone in our development in the past, everything we’re going through now, and will go through in the future, all of this is dictated by each one’s unique place in the system.
In other words, every moment of our lives is shaped by this root in order to help us to reach this goal. And every unique experience we have gone through is because we needed to go through exactly that for our personal correction.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/10/the-root-of-the-soul/
Albert @ KabU
