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Hi, I read in the Zohar (Annotations to the Ashlag Commentary) in the Chapter  „the Rose“ about the thirteen petals of the rose, resembling thirteen properties of mercy surrounding the Assembly of Israel. What are these thirteen properties of mercy? And in general, which meaning does mercy have in terms of spiritual development? ( I understand in sociology or psychology, it is considered a thriving motif for altruistic behaviour, but I suppose this here might be different… and spiritual altruism is not the same as psychological atruism) Still, is  mercy a specific spiritual force? What is its relevance?
Hi, these questions have  been answered in  the Q/A today, I think. So, it should be fine, I understood that it is not about good and evil, and not about the religious aspects of Thorah, Bible or else, and also not about commandments and religious laws, but – and thatÅ› what I had hoped- that all these terms need to be re-interpreted in terms of spirituality. Like a Mitzva would be a correction, i.e. an internal process relation to oneÅ› intention, and not so much the physical action you would find in terms of religion, I hope I got that right now. Please tell me, if I am wrong, since I feel itÅ› better to clarify at the beginning of this journey rather than to stumble over it all the time along the way. (Just so that no one gets it wrong, I totally respect every aspect of religion, itÅ› just not what I relate to spirituality personally, therefore I need to differentiate).
Hi Gianni, I read a lot in this forum, and itś starting to make me feel rather confused. So far, I was really fine with the concept of spirituality, that I learned about in all the courses, and Q/As. Because I felt it was going beyond religions, and beliefs, connecting and exploring what is at the core of basically everything that exists, and really trying to reveal the „laws of nature“. But when I read this forum, and also when it comes to some of the Grad classes and discussions there,  it seems to be a lot about definitions from  Thorah or Bible, about commandments or „laws of God“, and in general a lot seems to be about „good and evil“. I am starting to feel that I am maybe in the wrong place here.. Itś no critism, I just really think, maybe I am not right to be here. For one thing,  I dońt understand the point of stressing out that as humans we are evil all the time, because evidently, if we had managed all the journey, we wouldńt be here.  For a second thing, I was looking for discovering more about the laws of nature that connect everything, but now I feel itś all about Thorah, Bible, evil inclination and being bad right down from the core. Whatś the connection between the laws of nature and this religion-related ideas? And what is the attitude suggested to have towards these things? I am happy for any honest answer to that. Because it doesńt make sense to me to keep going and invest my heart and time into it, if in the end it´s getting me back to believing in good and evil. (That doesńt mean that I don´t see the egoistic nature of mankind. I just dońt see why I should beat myself up for this… I feel itś hard enough to just accept it and try to grow beyond it in little steps) .
In spirituality, is there a difference between egoism versus destructiveness? Like „receiving to receive“ versus „harming to receive“? I suppose, both can be formed in feelings, thoughts and actions, but is both on the level of „egoistic desire“ or is there a difference, because whereas egoism can at least be neutral to its environment, destructiveness will essentially cause harm.
