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Hi Helcio, great questions!
1. True advancement in Kabbalah does not come from comprehending with our minds, but by building the right desire for spirituality. See my reply to Michael in the Week 1 Questions forum for more details.
2/3. Yes, everything we are going through is ultimately to push us towards the purpose of creation. This goal is already set before us. If we wait for life to push us in that direction, then we experience these pushes as something unpleasant, as sufferings, etc. If we go willingly towards this goal, then instead of sufferings we experience a faster, more pleasant path towards this goal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details:Â https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/
4. 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 the 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 Jurgis,
That is correct that we start working with these 613 desires when we start the ladder of 125 degrees. Except we’re not there yet, we’re still in what is called the “preparation period” prior to the spiritual ladder. It’s similar to how we first teach our children the basics: reading, writing, basic math, etc. And only once they grasp the basics, can we teach them how to apply all these things towards some kind of profession.
Likewise with us, we’re not yet doing practical spiritual work. We’re only learning about it, setting the foundations. We’ll learn how to put all these things into practice in the more advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Lucy, good question!
A Kabbalist by definition is a person that has already attained spirituality, at least to a certain degree. Even the first out 125 degrees is also a certain level of spiritual attainment. There were many such Kabbalists throughout the generations. As for those that reached the state of the final correction, meaning completed all 125 degrees, the only example that we have is the group of Rabbi Shimon which wrote the book of Zohar. They were the pioneers that had to reach this state in order to pave the way for the rest of us.
For more details about the Kabbalists, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman:Â https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Ludumo,
On the one hand there is “none else besides Him”. Meaning that there is a single force behind ALL of reality. EVERYTHING comes from Him and I have no say in this whatsoever. On the other hand there is “if i’m not for me, then who is?” Meaning that EVERYTHING is in my hands and EVERYTHING depends on me, on which actions I will perform throughout the day.
We are working between these two extremes. But we shouldn’t fall into one extreme or the other, we need to learn how to combine these two things together. We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced lessons, in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/10/if-i-am-not-for-myself-then-no-one-will-help-me/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Ludumo, great question!
No, we don’t need to forget our dreams or fight with our desires. 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.
Regarding the first two desires you mentioned, keep in mind that Kabbalists are not monks, they don’t eliminate their desire or disconnect themselves from the corporeal life to live on some mountain top. Rather, Kabbalists continue to live on the level of this world throughout the entire spiritual ladder. So they continue to live in the normal way: to work in their profession, to take care of their family, health, etc.
As for the 3rd desire, this is actually directly connected to a person’s spiritual work. We’ll learn in the upcoming lesson on the perception of reality that everything outside of me is nothing more than a reflection of my own uncorrected egoistic state. As long as I’m not corrected, I will see in front of me a bad world, wars, suffering, starvation, etc. And when I correct myself, the external world will appear corrected as well. It’s like I have these dirty glasses through which I see the whole world as dirty. The moment I clean my own glasses, I’ll look at the same world, but now it’s clean and perfect. In other words, we don’t need to become humanitarians or make any corrections in the external world, we only need to correct ourselves, and then we’ll see this correction reflected in the world.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2014/04/in-neutral-gear/
Albert @ KabU
