A Little Secret to Financial Success (and Other Interesting Facts)

A Little Secret to Financial Success, and More...Questions I received on Jesus, the Pyramids, organ donations, and lucky pendants:

Question: Does Kabbalah say anything about Jesus?

My Answer: No. Kabbalah speaks only about the correction of the soul and the revelation of the Creator. It bears no relation to any religion.

Question: What do the ancient pyramids represent in our world?

My Answer: Man’s belief in a bodily, material afterlife.

Question: According to Kabbalah, is it permissible to donate human organs?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: Someone gave me a pendant called “the key to financial success.” It is a silver key with some Aramaic words inscribed on it. The problem is that I accidentally broke it! I don’t know if there is a connection, but ever since it broke, I started having financial problems. Is there a connection between these two events? And what should I do with the broken pendant?

My Answer: Fix it! Faith in the “lucky pendant” works. (Although I also heard that what works best is to catch a banker and eat his liver raw at midnight on a full moon. Then his bank account will immediately and secretly be transferred to yours.)

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Where Is Jesus Christ in Kabbalah?
Laitman.com Post: What Came First, Religion or Kabbalah?
Kabbalah Today Article: “Kabbalah Chronicles”
Kabbalah Today Article: “It’s All about Pleasure”
Kabbalah Today Article: “The Consumer Effect”

The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Who Is This?”

The Book of ZoharThe Book of Zohar. Chapter “Who Is This?” (abridged)

169. Rabbi Elazar opened (the way for the Light into his Kli) and said (revealed what was discovered), “Who is this coming up from the wasteland?” WHO IS THIS (MI ZOT) is the common ground of the two worlds, Bina and Malchut, which are bound together. COMING UP – coming up to become the “Holy of Holies.” For MI is Bina, called the “Holy of Holies.” And she joins with ZOT (Malchut), so that Malchut could come up and inherit THIS, to become a bride (of the Creator) and enter (together with Him) the bridal canopy (the common Screen).

170. She comes up from the wasteland (exile, the darkness of this world) of the soft utterance of lips, as it is written in Song of Songs, “And your mouth is comely.” This is because the Hebrew word MIDBAR (desert/wasteland) is derived from DIBUR (speech). It is written that the mighty forces strike Egypt (man’s egoism) with all the plagues of the wasteland (lack of fulfillment), for the Creator did not create souls in the wasteland (emptiness and darkness), but in settlements (opportunities to fulfill themselves).

171. He asks: “How does Malchut ascend in speech?” And he replies: “When man first awakens in the morning (when the Upper Light begins to shine from the darkness), and opens his eyes (becomes aware of the world, the goal, and the path), he must bless his Creator (for the property of bestowal that he has received, for acquiring a soul). How is he to bless Him? The way it was done by the first (those who have acquired souls) Hassidim (those who have acquired the Light of Hassadim – the property of bestowal): they would prepare a vessel of water (the property of bestowal, Bina) beside them (with their uncorrected desires) from evening (in spiritual darkness), so that when they woke at night (due to the Upper Light that came to them), they would wash their hands at once (correct their desires “to receive” to desires of bestowal), and would rise (in all the thirty Sefirot of the soul’s height) to study the Torah (to correct their desires), having blessed it (for this property of correction).

When the rooster (the desire for the Light, for the property of bestowal) crowed, precisely heralding midnight (the initial point of correcting one’s desires), the Creator was with the righteous (those who desire to correct themselves) in the Garden of Eden (Malchut that rose to Bina). And in the morning (the Light shines, and hence) it is forbidden to perform a blessing with unclean hands (with the desires to receive).”

172. For when man is asleep (when spirituality is concealed), his soul leaves him (he cannot feel it). And as soon as his soul (the property of bestowal) departs from him, the impure spirit (the property of reception) replaces it at once, and it fills his hands (desires) and defiles them (with egoism), and hence it is forbidden to utter a blessing without washing one’s hands (correcting one’s desires).

173. But woe unto those who do not beware and do not guard the Creator’s glory, for they do not know the foundation of the world.

Related Material:
Baal HaSulam Article: “A Speech for the Completion of the Zohar”

What Will Help Us Along the Way?

What Will Help Us Along the Way?A question I received: When I started studying Kabbalah, I was fascinated and dedicated, and everything was all right. I had downs and ups, but after a down there was always an up. The problem is that some time ago I started feeling depressed all the time. I can`t stand my reality, I feel sick, I am moaning all the time, and I can’t reach balance. I’m still trying to study with my virtual group, but because of my work, I can’t watch morning lessons. I also feel that my intention is worth nothing now. I don’t even know where it is. I feel confused and weak. Also the people around me keep telling me that I have changed, that I’m aggressive and nervous, and that I am thinking only about myself. And I feel that this is true, but I can’t change my behavior.

Is all of this natural for a person studying Kabbalah or I am doing something wrong? What can I do to pass this and be better for everybody around me and for myself, because I feel that I hate myself as well?

My Answer: We all go through states like this. Kabbalah compresses all of your future states for many years ahead, leading you through them over a shorter period of time. Hence, it isn’t easy to live through this period. Everything inside you changes suddenly and drastically. You get thrown from Light into darkness, from joy into depression, and so on.

The only thing that will help is to lower your head. In other words, regardless of your thoughts and desires (your mind and heart, and the sensations in them), cling to the group as the only source of salvation in this world given to you by the Creator. Organize systematic, daily studies for yourself, and spend all your free time participating in dissemination. Accept the fact that this life was given to you in order to come out of it and enter the Upper Life.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: “A Day for Each Year”
Laitman.com Post: Advice for Beginners – Disseminate!
Laitman.com Post: The Group Is the Place for Discerning All Your Spiritual Questions
Chapter from the Book A Guide To The Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah
Shamati #50: “Two States”

The Spiritual Goal Is the Same for Everyone

The Spiritual Goal Is the Same for EveryoneQuestions I received on attaining the root of one’s soul:

Question: If I haven’t solved my mundane problems, can I still solve the problems of my soul?

My Answer: Yes. In fact, this is the only way you can find out what your true mundane problems are.

Question: How can I tell what my spiritual goal is?

My Answer: It’s the same for everyone – to attain the root of one’s soul, the point from which the soul descended to our world.

Question: Why are Kabbalah studies only effective in a group? Can’t I practice unconditional bestowal with people who don’t even know that Kabbalah exists?

My Answer: It’s because the group gives you the goal and the power to attain it.

Question: In one of the morning lessons, you talked about seeing the souls as one whole. This reminded me of an interview I watched with a researcher who spent his entire life studying ants, and found that they they are an indivisible whole that works to achieve a common goal. Is this research analogous to a Kabbalist who reveals the goal of all the souls of Adam HaRishon and the connections between them?

My Answer: Yes. Kabbalah reveals the essence and path of every soul, the destinies of all the souls together, and their final state. The revelation takes place inside the person who attains, to the extent he is similar to the unique, eternal and perfect condition of “the merging of all the souls into one, with each other and with the Creator.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Correction Lies in Unity
Laitman.com Post: In All Life Situations, Your Behavior Should Be Determined Only by the Spiritual Goal
Laitman.com Post: By Developing One’s Desires, Kabbalah Also Develops One’s Mind

How Do You Get Rid of Anti-Semitism?

How Do You Get Rid of Anti-Semitism?Three questions I received on anti-Semitism:

Question: Why do people hate the Jews?

My Answer: Because the Jews hold the key to the correction of this evil world.

Question: How can I learn to view the Jews in a positive light?

My Answer: Only by understanding their history and mission.

Question: How can I get rid of anti-Semitism, which has become obsessive and won’t let me live a normal life (I can’t avoid constantly thinking in terms of “mine – theirs”)?

My Answer: Correct yourself together with them and help others find out about it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Laitman.com Post: The Jewish Nation Can Only Be Revived By Restoring “Love for One’s Neighbor”
Interview with the Future: Part 5, Spiritual Exile -Two Parts to the Soul-Israel and the Nations of the World

Virtual Kabbalah

Virtual KabbalahA few days ago I had a meeting with the Israeli students of the virtual group. They study with us through the Internet and from time to time they also get together in person for different events. Some of them take a few days off from work to be at our center and work together with us. Sometimes they also come to the morning lessons.

I think that the next generation will perceive everything through the Internet. Then people will discover that the virtual connection enables us to get rid of the false external impression and to understand others on a deeper level.

Moreover, people will then understand that the virtual connection is also incomplete, and that a greater, spiritual connection is necessary. In addition, rising prices for travel and the time lost in traffic jams also push people toward the Internet. Hence, the development of the learning system through the Internet is the most important thing in the dissemination of Kabbalah in the world.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Internet Is Just a Step Toward Revealing Our True Connection With Each Other
Kabbalah Today Article:  You Have a New Message 🙂
Kabbalah lesson archive