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Hi Denise,
In truth, we all have a certain set of baggage with which we come to the wisdom of Kabbalah. But we don’t need to fight these things or to force changes upon ourselves. All the changes we experience here are not due to our own strength or wisdom. Rather all the changes we undergo are due to the force of the light that we extract from the Kabbalistic studies. Ultimately this is the only force that can change us. So it does not matter what baggage you came with. The important thing is to keep placing yourself under the influence of the light, and it will make all the necessary changes and corrections.
For this reason, it’s good to set aside some time to regularly return to the source of the light, meaning to the Kabbalistic sources, videos, lessons, etc. Such a habit will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
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 Niklas,
Our very nature is egoistic. So we shouldn’t expect anything good to come out of our nature. On the contrary, we will see again and again to what extent this ego rules us in everything. And that’s okay. After all, we were created like this on purpose. So no one is demanding of us to be saints, no one is demanding of us to have superhuman strength and to conquer our ego. Nope. All that we need to do, and all that we’re capable of doing actually, is just to try. That’s it. We just need to try to be above the ego. We don’t need to succeed, we just need to try. Such efforts are enough to extract the reforming light and it’s the light that ultimately makes all the corrections on us. Our work is only to extract 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/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Asher,
I’m not sure who you are referring to as the first Ashlag. Are you asking about the difference between the writings of Baal HaSulam (Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag) and the writings of Rabash (Baruch Shalom Ha-Levi Ashlag)? In which case there is no difference in their teachings. Everything that Rabash did was a continuation of the work of Baal HaSulam. You can see it in the very first line of the very first article of Rabash. Here’s an excerpt: “We have gathered here to establish a society for all who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam, the way by which to climb the degrees of man and not remain as a beast (Purpose of Society – 1).
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Attila, good questions!
1. There are different degrees of correction. There is a person’s personal correction and there is the final correction of all of humanity. There were many Kabbalists throughout the generations which reached varying levels of correction. But it’s only Rabbi Shimon and his 9 students that were able to reach the final degree of correction. They were the pioneers that had to reach this state in order to pave the way for the rest of us. So in our days, this work is not limited to a select few, but it’s open to the whole world.
2. There is no time in spirituality. Reaching it does not depend on hours of study or acquisition of knowledge, but rather it works according to laws. One of these laws is that “there is no light without a kli (vessel)”. Meaning that if we don’t have the vessel (desire) we have nothing with which to get the light (the fulfillment for that desire).
In other words, everything depends on us, if we build the right desire for spirituality, we will right away reveal it. If not, then even if a few more thousands of years pass by, we will still not reveal it. This is called “there is no coercion in spirituality”. Meaning if we don’t want it, we will not receive it.
And although we spend a lot of time studying, the goal is not to acquire knowledge, but through the study to draw the light, a special force that helps us to build the right desire. Meaning we don’t need to be super strong, wise, or talented in order to succeed in Kabbalah, all we need is to extract more and more of this light and it does all the rest.
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 Ale, good question!
It’s usually out of respect for the culture and traditions that a person grows up with. We should keep in mind that Kabbalah and religion are two separate things. Let’s put a few things into perspective to understand this:
Kabbalah is the method of correcting our egoistic nature and thereby revealing the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal. The first one to actualize this was Adam. His name gives us a hint at this since Adam comes from the Hebrew word “Dome”, meaning “similar to”. He was not the first one alive, but rather the first one to reveal the Creator by becoming similar to this quality of bestowal.
This wisdom gets passed on ward from Adam until Abraham who adapted it to the people of his generation and made the wisdom more practical. Abraham put together a large group of Babylonians who were interested in actualizing this method. These people later on became the Israeli nation. The word Israel comes from the Hebrew words “Yashar” “El” meaning straight to God. These are the people who had an active point in the heart in those days and were interested in revealing the Creator.
These people greatly succeeded in this method. The peak of their success was symbolized in the building of the first and second temple, which reflected the level of unity and bestowal they were able to reach. At a certain point, they lost the spiritual connection between them (the destruction of the 2nd temple) and what remained was just these external symbols of their connection.
At this point the wisdom of Kabbalah became concealed. People still had the holy books, Torah and etc, but they did not know how to use them. Since the Torah is written in the language of roots and branches. Meaning it uses words of our world to describe spiritual phenomena. But if a person does not have this spiritual connection through which he can see this, then he thinks this book is talking about this world, history, morals, commandments, etc. From this emerges the Jewish religion.
From all the above we see that Kabbalah itself is not connected to any religion and that the modern religions came out due to the concealment of Kabbalah. At the same time, 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.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/10/religions-place-in-our-lives/
Albert @ KabU
By the way, if you want to ask this question to Tony directly, you can do so at the live Q/A event. The next one is on November 14 at 1 PM eastern time. Check out this link for more details: https://kabuconnect.com/live/
Hi Louis,
No. That excerpt is talking about the path we undergo. There is me, the path I go through, and the end goal of that path. Underlying all these things is the law of equivalence of form. Which means that in order for me to reach that end goal, I need to become similar to it. In other words, the path I go through is the means by which I correct myself and become similar to the Creator until I reach complete adhesion with Him. This is why later on in that article, he writes that these 3 things ultimately become as one.
We’ll learn more about this law in the upcoming lessons. In the meantime, 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
