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Hi Richard,
Not quiet. The stories were not borrowed. These are not stories that a person sits down, thinks up, and writes in an interesting way. Rather these words are a type of code which uses words of our world to describe their corresponding spiritual roots. Each spiritual root has only one corresponding branch. So if a Kabbalist wants to describe a specific spiritual phenomenon, he has no choice but to use that exact corresponding branch.
Check out the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah” by Baal HaSulam for more details: https://kabbalahmedia.info/sources/DdbFBXFd?language=en
1. After the destruction of the 2nd temple, Kabbalists themselves hid this wisdom because they saw that humanity was not yet ripe for it. This concealment gave room for different religions to spring up. But this is not something bad, but rather a necessary stepping stone in the process of development of humanity.
2. Kabbalists see religions as customs and traditions of each nation, which they are in favor of preserving.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/10/religions-place-in-our-lives/3. It’s a common misconception, but no one goes crazy from studying authentic Kabbalah. Authentic Kabbalah deals with the correction of a person’s egoistic nature and as a result, the revelation of the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal, in our lives.
As for our desire for spirituality, if we were driven only by the desire that was given to us, then we would be no different than robots. There is a saying that the Creator puts man’s hand on the good fate and says “choose this for yourself”. Meaning that He awakened our point in the heart which forces us to want spirituality. If so, how then can we reach any sort of freedom in this system? This desire then needs to be taken away from us little by little, and there we begin to reveal more and more the place of our freedom.
This is similar to how we teach a child to ride a bike. First the parent holds the child completely. Then as the child learns to pedal and balance himself, the parent lets go a little, then a little more and a little more, until the child continue to pedal without the parent holding him at all.
In other words, the more we advance, the more that our desire for spirituality will feel smaller and smaller. So we need to learn how to continue this work even when that initial desire for spirituality begins to disappear or when the ego grows and begins to pull us into many different directions. Here there is already a need for mutual work in the Kabbalistic group. On one hand when I fall into my ego, the group pulls me out. On the other hand I need to help pull others out when they fall. This is why Kabbalists have always studied in groups (physical or virtual).
We will learn more about this in the more advanced semesters on KabU, where you’ll receive your own Kabbalah group with whom you can practice these things.
4. You’re right, more important than reading the Zohar is knowing how to extract the maximum light, the maximum benefit from reading it. Otherwise the benefit of reading the Zohar is relatively small. If you’re interested in learning how to do that, you can check out the Zohar self study course or the book Unlocking the Zohar.
Zohar Self study Course: https://kabuconnect.com/courses/enter-the-zohar/
Unlocking the Zohar book: https://www.kabbalahbooks.info/products/unlocking-the-zohar?_pos=1&_sid=2b32d7354&_ss=r&variant=34618001817733
Albert @ KabU
Hi Richard,
The Torah is entirely written in a type of code called the language of roots and branches. This code uses words of our world to describe spiritual phenomena. So none of it is literal. On the other hand there is a law that every spiritual root must touch the corporeal branch at least once. Meaning although these are spiritual phenomena, they must have a corresponding corporeal branch in our world.
For example, Egypt represents the uncorrected egoistic desire while Israel represents the corrected desire, those are the roots. But in our world these things exist as branches as well. There is actually a physical place that is called Egypt and Israel. Still, despite all the above, the Torah is not a history book, not a single word of the Torah speaks about our world, history, morals, etc.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
If you’re interesting in learning how to properly decipher the Torah, check out the books: Disclosing a Portion or The Secrets of the Eternal Book.
Albert @ KabU
Hi David,
Holding on to “none else besides Him” internally is perfectly fine. The only issue is if this would stop us externally. Externally we continue to exist on the level of this world. So we need to take care of all of our problems in the normal way that is customary to take care of these things. So if I’m sick, I go to the doctor. If I’m jobless, I don’t just sit around waiting for a job, rather I go job hunting. If someone is harassing me, I stop them, sue them, etc. In other words, seeing everything as coming from a single benevolent force is our internal work. Externally though, we must keep living and operating our lives in the normal way.
We’ll learn more about these things in the more advanced lessons, in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman: https://laitman.com/2017/12/there-is-none-else-besides-him/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Richard, great questions!
1. Our development is in the form of a game. Just like kids play pretend that they are adults, fireman, doctors, etc. Through that game they grow and develop. It’s the same with us. We play “as if” we’re already corrected, as if we already have a screen and the qualities of bestowal. Such a game extracts the reforming light which gradually makes this game a reality.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
2. You can call it an exercise, or a game, or spiritual work. Just keep in mind that we do this type of spiritual work only within this safe environment that we call the Kabbalistic group. With the rest of the world, we should act normal, just like everyone else.
As for the guide, yes there is a guide. Our guide is Rav Laitman. He helps us to implement the writings of the Kabbalists in our spiritual work.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
3. We are awake. “There is no coercion in spirituality”. You cannot attain spirituality if you’re not consciously striving towards it.
As for the spiritual worlds, see my reply 221138 to Carlos below for more details:
4. A Kabbalist continues to exist on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder. So we exist on both levels at the same time.
5. If you reveal the Creator in practice, then you know.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/04/when-all-doubts-will-dissipate/
I don’t mind answering many questions as long as you don’t mind all the extra reading materials I’ll provide 🙂
6. Kabbalah is the method by which we correct our egoistic nature and as a result reveal the Creator, the general force of love of bestowal. “Body” in Kabbalah refers to our egoistic desires. Rising above means that we develop the Creator’s qualities of love and bestowal. So yes coming out of our egoistic body (desires) is what Kabbalah is all about.
7. I can’t say for sure, but it’s possible. After all, we go through many ups and downs on the spiritual path. The important thing is to just keep going, to keep placing yourself under the influence of the light and it’ll balance everything out.
So the best thing is to set aside some time to regularly return to the Kabbalistic sources, weekly lessons, videos, books, etc. Such habits of returning to the source of the light will help us get through all of the different ups and downs on the path.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Bonnie,
Yes, there is a certain order to these things which stems from the root of each person’s soul. But in practice we don’t work according to some pre-made list but according to what is being revealed in the moment.
See my reply 221960 to Zhenia below for more details:
Albert @ KabU
Hi Francisco,
Animals operate purely on instinct. As such, it’s not accurate to ascribe to them human attributes, like cruelty, egoism, etc. It’s like a machine that was programmed to act a certain way. For example, I’ve read somewhere that once one of those self driving cars made a miscalculation and got into a car accident, killing the owner. Why don’t we call that car a cruel murderer? It’s because it’s a machine. It was programmed to operate a certain way and that’s exactly what it does. The same thing with the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature. They are simply carrying out their inner instincts and programming.
As for nature, when Kabbalists use the word “nature”, they are not referring to the outdoors but rather to the all encompassing system in which we exist. Furthermore, we can say that the words “nature” and the Creator are interchangeable. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the article The Peace:
“To avoid having to use both tongues from now on—nature and a supervisor—between which, as I have shown, there is no difference regarding the following of the laws, it is best for us to meet halfway and accept the words of the Kabbalists that HaTeva (the nature) has the same numerical value (in Hebrew) as Elokim (God)—eighty-six. Then, I will be able to call the laws of God “nature’s commandments,” or vice-versa, for they are one and the same.”
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/09/elokim-is-nature-in-gematria/
Albert @ KabU
