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Hi Esther,
We don’t choose our thoughts and desires. These things come to us from the Creator. Baal Hasulam writes about it in “Pri Chacham Sichot. The Secret of His Name”. Here’s an excerpt:
“All the thoughts that enter a person’s mind are the act of the Creator. That is to say, it is not what a person feels, that he draws them from some place or that they originated from him. This is false, the biggest lie. Rather each thought, the smallest of the smallest, the Creator sent it to the mind of man, and that is the motivating force of man and of beast and of every living thing.”
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So we can’t change our thoughts and desires directly, but we can do so indirectly, as we learned this week, through our choice of the environment. Baal HaSulam writes about it in the article “The Freedom” (https://kabbalahmedia.info/sources/4AtF9tGS?language=en) . Here’s an excerpt:
“However, there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart upon him good concepts. If one does not do this but is willing to enter any environment that appears before him and read any book that falls into his hands, he is bound to fall into a bad environment or waste his time on worthless books, which are abundant and more accessible. In consequence, he will be forced into foul concepts that make him sin and condemn. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in this there is definitely a choice.
Therefore, he who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. But here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts or deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment, which brings him these good thoughts and actions.”
Albert @ KabU
Hi Eliyahu,
Our nature is the desire to receive pleasure. It has three modes in which it operates: faith below reason, faith within reason, and faith above reason.
Faith below reason is the same as blind faith, to believe in what you are told without examination.
Faith within reason is a rational scientific approach: to research, measure, and do only what makes sense to do.
Faith above reason is to operate with a completely different nature, the nature of bestowal. In order to reach this new nature of bestowal, we need to learn about it from the Kabbalistic books and teachers. When we learn about it, if we are true with ourselves and critique what we’re learning, we’ll naturally find it repulsive. This is because bestowal is against our egoistic nature. So faith above reason means that despite this repulsion, we still aspire towards those higher levels of love and bestowal that we’re learning about. Through this process we gradually evoke the reforming light from the study and it will correct our nature, bringing us closer and closer to the pure qualities of bestowal, closer and closer to the Creator.
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 @ KabU
Hi Dyrk,
Nature is in the form of a pyramid. The lowest part of the pyramid is the inanimate nature, then comes the vegetative, then animate, and then the speaking (human) level. Each lower level is greater in quantity while each higher level is greater in quality. Also each higher level has a stronger and stronger effect on all the lower levels. Meaning that humanity, the peak of the pyramid, has the strongest effect over the rest of nature.
Furthermore, the still, vegetative, and animate levels don’t require any correction, they are naturally in harmony with nature. Why then do they suffer? Because the uncorrected human ego is at the top of this pyramid and it causes all of the imbalances and harms on those lower levels. So when we correct that human level of egoism, the still, vegetative, and animate levels will return to their natural balance.
Once the human ego is corrected, we will also be able to properly relate to the other levels. Properly meaning that we will use the other levels only out of necessity. We learn that “necessity is neither praised nor condemned”, meaning that acquiring our normal necessities is neither good nor bad, it’s simply what we must do. Just like in nature when an animal eats another animal, it’s not doing it out of spite or to harm the other, but rather because this is simply how it was programmed and how it needs to survive. Likewise with us, when humanity corrects it’s egoistic nature, it will also use the lower levels of nature in a balanced way, without causing harm.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/01/chernobyl-is-flourishing/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Henry,
Every moment of our lives we’re in a dialog with the Creator. This is called that “there is none else besides Him”, that the Creator is the singular force behind ALL of reality. All of my thoughts, desires, all the events in life all originate from Him.
But the Creator operates on the frequency of bestowal, while our nature is on the frequency of reception. As such, we operate on two completely different frequencies. So it’s currently impossible for us to understand Him. We first need to correct our nature, become similar to Him, and only then will we begin to understand Him, to understand this constant dialog that’s happening between us.
We’ll learn more about this in the upcoming semester, in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/09/learn-the-creators-language/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Helen,
The first tip is to know that it’s important to stay balanced. 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 to focus on spirituality (this is called Torah).
See my reply 190475 to Niklas below for more details: https://kabuconnect.com/forums/topic/ask-anything-about-week-4-lesson-and-materials-and-get-an-answer-from-a-senior-kabbalah-instructor-2/#post-190475
The second tip is to create some kind of framework for yourself. Like a routine or a daily schedule which includes time for all of your corporeal necessities as well as some time for spirituality. Try to stick to this routine no matter how you feel. So even when all you want is spirituality or the opposite when you don’t want it at all (which will happen once you advance a little), you will still stick to your routine.
The third tip is to tap into the strength of the spiritual environment, the Kabbalistic group. This will be very important especially after that initial honeymoon phase of spirituality is over and other desires will begin to grow and overshadow our desire for spirituality. See my reply 187619 to Niklas in the KR2 week 2 question forum for more details.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Niklas,
I cannot comment on your personal states, but in general the states that we go through are part of an accumulative process by which we build a true desire for spirituality. In this process we gradually begin to see that the ego is in charge of us and completely ruling us. Afterwards we begin to form a desire to come out of this ego. When we try to do that, we realize that we’re incapable of coming out of it. This then builds in us a true desire, a true prayer for the Creator to help us to come out of our ego.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/praying-in-order-to-change/
Albert @ KabU
