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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
Hi Michael,
1. Our nature is egoistic. By default, it’s impossible for ANYTHING good to come out of it. So we don’t need to focus on doing any good actions. We need to focus on correcting this egoistic nature. Furthermore, we cannot just correct our own nature, it’s only the force of the light that can make this change. Essentially all of our work boils down to extracting more and more of this light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
See my reply below to Micha for more details.
2. No. Although we say that there are these two paths (suffering or light), in truth we don’t really advance on the path of suffering. It’s like a child that needs to go to school. Pressuring and punishing him is not the same as educating him. So after all of the pressures and punishments we put on him, he will still have to go to school and get his education. In other words, the path of suffering is only there to pressure us to return to the path of light.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/05/we-wont-follow-the-path-of-suffering-forever/
Albert @ KabU
