Body And Soul From The Point Of View Of Ancient Philosophers and Kabbalah

laitman_612Comment: As is known, many philosophers and Kabbalists mentioned that long ago the ancient Greeks visited Judea to learn from the Kabbalists. For example, the great ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras wrote: “Souls never die, but always on quitting one abode pass to another. All things change, nothing perishes. The soul passes hither and thither, occupying now this body, now that… As a wax is stamped with certain figures, then melted, then stamped anew with others, yet it is always the same wax. So, the Soul being always the same, yet wears at different times different forms.”

My Response: This is about reincarnation. I can not say whether he understood correctly what a soul is, but what he said is correct.

My teacher used to tell me that the human body is like a shirt, which one changes, but the soul remains the same.

Comment: Socrates wrote: “Just as you ought not to attempt to cure eyes without head or head without body, so you should not treat body without soul.”

My Response: In Kabbalah, by body, we mean desire. Our physical body is not taken into account; it is nothing more than an animal.

Comment: Aristotle said: “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

My Response: It’s beautifully said. My friend and I are one whole, we are separated only by animal bodies.

In Kabbalah, a friend means a person who is my partner in spiritual work. And everything that I wish to liken to the Creator, I give to him, and he gives it to me, and we exercise together how through each other we can become similar to the Creator. Then a field of mutual bestowal and love is formed between us, in which the Creator is revealed.
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From KabTV’s “A Talk About Soul” 3/30/17

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