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Hi Luke,
In Kabbalah, we learn that the commandments are allegories about the internal process of the correction of our desires. Meaning that first of all, we should perform these commandments internally, correcting our egoistic desires into that of love and bestowal.
Externally, if a person decides to perform these things physically as well, like it’s done in the Jewish religion, that’s up to them. But that’s not what we’re learning about here.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/02/mitzvot-commandments-the-correction-of-desires/
Albert @ KabU
Google translation of the question: If Kabbalah is a science that can be studied, what could Kabbalah bring to change for the person himself, and for society?
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Hi René,
Kabbalah is the method by which we can correct our egoistic nature. As a result of that correction, we become similar to the Creator. As a result of becoming similar to Him, we reveal Him in practice, in our lives.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2019/04/the-purpose-of-creation/
On the level of society, Kabbalah can help to balance human egoism with the force of bestowal. The typical approach to egoism is to eradicate it. But as we see in the world, this approach does not work. Egoism just continues to grow more and more because it is essential to our progress. In Kabbalah we learn that we shouldn’t eradicate it, but rather, we should learn to use it properly. Then egoism will become a stepping stone for higher development, like a mountain thanks to which we can climb higher and higher.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Łukasz,
Yes. Kabbalah is the method by which we can correct our egoistic nature. As a result of this correction we become similar to the Creator and reveal Him in practice, in our lives.
But correcting our nature is not within our power. Just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our own nature. We need outside help for that. This help comes to us from the light. This is a special force in nature that we can use to correct ourselves. By studying from authentic Kabbalistic sources, we tap into that force. Our work boils down to extracting more and more of that force, especially through the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
So we can start practicing and experiencing Kabbalah even now, in the fundamentals. And in the more advanced courses, we’ll explore a few more means by which we can amplify the influence of the light on us.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
Albert @ KabU
Hi D.R.
I cannot comment on how others define this word, but when we use the word mysticism, we are referring to something mystical, something removed from reality, something that does not follow the laws of nature. So when we make the distinction that Kabbalah is not mysticism, this is because Kabbalah is very much so grounded into nature. Kabbalah researches nature and the laws of nature using a very strict scientific method: “a judge has only what his eyes can see” and “what we do not attain we do not call by name”.
Even our knowledge of the Creator is limited to our research tools, meaning the desire. And whatever does not enter into this desire, we cannot research or talk about. For these reasons, it’s more accurate to classify Kabbalah as a science.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2011/06/a-science-about-the-world/
https://laitman.com/2017/11/the-concept-of-god-in-kabbalah/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Nika,
We learn that the world is a reflection of ourselves. It’s like I’m looking at myself in a mirror. So if I see something in the mirror I don’t like, I shouldn’t start coloring the mirror and making changes there, rather I need to change something with myself.
The same with the world, if I see something bad in the world, it’s a sign that I’m not yet corrected. So I need to focus on my own correction. After I correct myself, I’ll look at the world, but then it’ll appear as perfect.
So the world will indeed change, not because I changed something in the world, but because I corrected myself and that correction will be reflected in the world.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2018/03/i-return-the-whole-world-inside-me/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Joel,
No, these are different things.
In general, Kabbalists ascribe many names to the Creator, such as “I am that I am”, HaVaYaH (Yawah), and many more. This is because we research this thing called the Creator through our desires. Every time we correct a different desire, we reveal a different aspect of this thing called the Creator, and thereby give it a different name. But ultimately these are all phenomena within our desire.
As for the Creator Himself, His essence, what exists outside of our desires, we don’t have the tools to measure such things, so we don’t talk about it. It’s important to keep this in mind so we stay within the realm of science and not venture into religion or philosophy.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/12/the-holy-names-of-bestowal/
And if you’re interested in learning how to properly decipher the Torah, check out the books: Disclosing a Portion or The Secrets of the Eternal Book.
Albert @ KabU
