[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Miryam,

That sounds like an interesting experiment, but we need to draw the right conclusions from it. Which is that we are powerless against our own ego.  This is why the Kabbalistic method focuses on CORRECTING our egoistic nature, not diminishing or fighting it. Fighting it directly is an impossible battle.  In fact, the more we fight it, the stronger it gets. It’s to show us that we’re truly powerless against it. The Creator made it like this on purpose, so that without His help, we would not be able to succeed.  So our focus here is not on fighting the ego, but it’s more on drawing the force of the Creator’s light to help us to correct it.  We do this primarily through the Kabbalistic studies, lessons, gatherings, etc.  In which case, I would not recommend missing the Sunday gathering. Missing it would not help you to deal with your ego, quite the opposite.

See my reply to Micha below for more details.

Furthermore, it’s also important to keep in mind that as we develop spiritually, our ego will continue to grow even more.  And this is not a bad thing.  In fact in Kabbalah, the ego is not a bad force but rather a partner that helps us to advance. Meaning we don’t eliminate our ego, we rise above it.  It turns into a type of hill or mountain that we rise above. In other words, the greater the ego, the further up we can climb, and the greater the spiritual level we can achieve. On the other hand if we eliminate the ego, then the spiritual level we can achieve is relatively tiny.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Danielle,

I agree, it’s hard to justify how humanity treats animals. It’s also hard to justify anything else that is wrong with the world. After all, there is so much hatred, killing, wars, etc. How can we justify all these things?

The Kabbalists tell us that every single moment comes to us directly from the Creator, this is called “there is none else besides Him”. Furthermore, they also say that He is the “good that does good”. Meaning that every moment He is sending us nothing but goodness. Why then don’t we see this in our world? Why don’t we feel everything that is happening as something good?

This is because our world is governed by our egoistic nature. This egoistic nature is opposite to the Creator’s nature. Because of that, it inverts the Creator’s goodness into something bad. It’s just like multiplying numbers, a positive times a negative equals negative.

So as long as we remain within this egoistic nature, we will continue to see more evil and suffering in the world. But if we correct our nature to be similar to the Creator’s nature, we will reveal the true reality in which only goodness exists and that our previous egoistic state was nothing more than a dream.

We’ll learn about these concepts in more detail in the future lessons, but in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

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: 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

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Jurgis,

See my reply below to Judit, especially the blog post links I referenced.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

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

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

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: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/

Albert @ KabU

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