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Hi Ale, good question!
In general, it’s not recommended to talk about spirituality with others that are not on the path. It’s impossible for a person without an active point in the heart to understand these things. It just leads to unnecessary arguments which ultimately harms both them and us.
It harms them because we naturally try to justify ourselves, to prove our path to them, or even to force our path onto them, which violates the rule that “there is no coercion in spirituality”. It’s like forcing a 5 year old to do something sexual, which they are clearly not ready for. It’s an extreme example, but you understand how such things can mess a person up for life. Likewise when we try to force this path onto others that are not ready for it, it can mess them up spiritually for a whole lifetime.
Or these arguments can harms us, since our opinions on spirituality will mix with their opinions and our desire for spirituality, the most precious thing we have in life, will weaken more and more. So the best thing to do when outside of the spiritual environment is to act normal, just like everyone else. And when speaking with people outside the path, talk about the normal everyday life and not about spirituality.
And if you think someone is interested in spirituality, instead of arguing or going into any explanations, simply give them one of the beginner books as a present or send them a link to the course. This is the safest approach.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/11/only-people-with-the-point-in-the-heart-can-feel-that-kabbalah-is-the-salvation/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Jeff,
Kabbalah and religion are two separate things, so I cannot comment on the religious observations of the Mitzvot. In general, regarding connecting to the Creator, we learn that the process goes “from the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator”. Meaning that if we want to reach a connection with the Creator, we can do so only through our connection with other people. This is why R. Akiva said that love your friend as yourself “is a great rule (klal) in the Torah”. The word rule (klal in Hebrew), also means general, all encompassing. In other words, this is the all encompassing rule that summarizes all of our work. We’ll learn more about this and how to practice it in the more advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Beth,
1. Turning to Him is always good. Just keep in mind that spiritual correction begins in our common work with other points in the heart in the Kabbalistic group. Towards the rest of the world, we should act normal, just like everyone else. We’ll learn how to do all these things practically in the more advanced semesters.
2. It’s correct that we did not choose anything. Each person receives the most optimal conditions for the correction of that person’s soul. And freedom itself means rising above our egoistic nature. Which, as we learned in lesson 2, is through the help of the spiritual environment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2010/10/what-no-fortune-teller-knows/
Albert @ KabU
It’s not irrelevant. Everything we experience, down to the tiniest detail, to the smallest blade of grass is not incidental, but all is arranged from above in the most optimal way for the correction of our soul.
So yes, you can say that at the level of our egoistic world everything is predetermined. True freedom begins when we try to rise above the ego through the help of the spiritual environment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2010/10/what-no-fortune-teller-knows/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Maika,
We all go through many ups and downs on the spiritual path. This is normal. 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 Dyrk,
Will vs Desire: As a rule of thumb, when the English words get confusing, it’s best to look at the Hebrew originals from which these things get translated. Both will to receive and desire to receive come from the Hebrew words: רצון לקבל – ratzon lekabel. So they are the same and used interchangeably.
1. Yes, we only change the intention. The desire to receive will always remain the same desire to receive, but it’ll be used in order to bestow. Meaning receiving with the intention to bestow. Check out the guest & host analogy in Chapter 3 of Attaining the Worlds Beyond for more details on that: http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/4180?/eng/content/view/full/4180&main
2&3. Kabbalah only deals with our desire for spirituality. Regarding the desires of our animalistic bodies, Kabbalah does not deal with these things. Our corporeal desires don’t have any relation to spirituality, so each person can arrange these desires however is most comfortable for them (of course within the context of the law and without harming others). As for the desire for spirituality, this is possible to fulfill only in a group with others who have the same goal. We’ll learn more about these things in the more advanced lessons.
As for our corporeal desires, we don’t need to suppress or sacrifice them. We only need to work on making the desire for spirituality the most important thing. Then naturally the rest of our desires will fall into place. For example, it’s like with an artist that is so involved in his art, that he fulfills all the rest of his desires out of necessity so he can quickly return to his passion. Same with us, when spirituality is the most important desire, then we will be able to properly relate to all the rest of our corporeal desires in a balanced way.
4. Usually when we first reach Kabbalah, we lose taste in all the pleasures in life that we couldn’t care less if the world burned down, all we want is to fulfill our point in the heart. Later on, these other desires will begin to intensify more and more, and we will derive even greater pleasures from these things than before. These desires will begin to obscure our point in the heart and give us room to grow spiritually, meaning to make that point in the heart even more important than all these basic things. But these are already advanced stages of our development which we’ll learn about in the more advanced semesters.
5. Yes, you can say that. It’s important to note that Kabbalists are not monks. They don’t abstain from receiving pleasures. They don’t disconnect themselves from the corporeal world. Rather they continue to exist on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder of development.
Albert @ KabU
