The Goal of Creation Is Perfect Fulfillment

The Goal of Creaiton Is Perfect FulfillmentQuestions I received on turning egoists into altruists, and attaining the goal of creation:

Question: How do you explain your allegation that all of nature, including wild beasts, is altruistic?

My Answer: By the fact that it unconsciously follows the Creator’s plan.

Question: How do you plan on turning egoists into altruists?

My Answer: Through the influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif). See item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Question: In doing so, are you removing the “defective gene” in man?

My Answer: No. Rather, everything remains and grows bigger, becomes supplemented, and corrected!

Question: Why do you think that humanity has to go back in its development in order to become equal to God again?

My Answer: Humanity was never equal to God. It must attain this state by developing and becoming corrected.

Question: What do you think of building an altruistic society out of ascetics?

My Answer: I am against it. Asceticism goes against Nature, because the goal of creation is perfect fulfillment.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Is the Upper Light?
Laitman.com Post: What Were We Wrong About Back in Babylon?
Laitman.com Post: Egoism and Its Manifestations
Kabbalah Blog Post: From Egoism to Altruism-The Key to Social Change

Can a Gentile Study Kabbalah?

Can a Gentile Study Kabbalah?A question I received: I’m Jewish. Can I study Kabbalah together with gentiles – people who aren’t Jewish by birth? The Book of Zohar says that every person who teaches even one letter of the Torah to a gentile is responsible for the destruction of the world, and that a gentile who wants to learn must first convert to Judaism. What should I do?

My Answer: “Jew” comes from the word “Ever,” to cross, so a Jew is a person who has crossed the Machsom. Israel is a person who has the intention of “Yashar-El,” “straight to the Creator.” “Yuhudi” comes from the word “Ihud,” meaning “union” (with the Creator). All these notions are properties of love, bestowal, or altruism.

Goy” (gentile) means “a nation” in Hebrew. This word isn’t offensive; it only underlines the uncorrected, egoistic degree. In the Torah or Kabbalah, “Goy” (gentile) refers to egoism, and Jew, Israel, or Hebrew refer to love and bestowal.

We all start out as gentiles – uncorrected. When we choose the spiritual goal and begin the correction (even while we still haven’t attained it), we become Israel (Isra-El, straight to the Creator). Next, when we cross the Machsom, we become Jewish. And when we attain the goal – union with the Creator, we become Hebrew.

We all came out of Babylon, we are all egoists, and we must all correct ourselves and become like the Creator. When a gentile (an egoist) studies Torah (Kabbalah) for his own sake, he is only harming himself. One should study Torah (Kabbalah) only in order to attain spirituality, the property of bestowal. Hence, you should study with the people who have this goal!

In addition, you should ask: can you and should you study the Torah (Kabbalah) with yourself? Maybe you are a gentile (in your intentions and aspirations)? First you should check whether you want to become like the Creator and attain “love for your neighbor.” If yes, then you can study Kabbalah, because this is the only correction Kabbalah makes to a person. However, if you have a different goal – for your own sake, then you are a gentile, and Torah (Kabbalah) isn’t for you. It is written: “A gentile who studies the Torah must die,” because he attracts Light and thereby becomes even more opposite to It. This is how a person kills the gentile within him. It’s written that the entire Torah is the rule, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Conclusion: Everyone should study Kabbalah regardless of their intention! If they have the intention of a gentile, then they will kill the gentile within them and go from “for one’s own sake” to “for the sake of the Creator.”

Related Material:
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What Is Kabbalah?
Kabbalah Today Article: “Permission to Reveal”

A Kabbalist Feels the Same Pleasure As the Creator

A Kabbalist Feels the Same Pleasure As the CreatorQuestions I received on the pleasures felt by a Kabbalist and the Creator:

Question: Does a Kabbalist ever attain the state of feeling that he gives pleasure to the Creator?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: How is this feeling expressed?

My Answer: As union with the Creator and perception of Him.

Question: What are the signs that let a Kabbalist know that the Creator is really receiving pleasure from his actions?

My Answer: Mutual joy, their feelings expressed in one Kli.

Question: A Kabbalist receives pleasure from the Creator’s gifts, and by doing this he gives joy to the Creator. But how can a Kabbalist be sure that the Creator is really enjoying this?

My Answer: He knows this because they merge into one whole.

Question: Do Kabbalists feel pleasure from the small, material things in life?

My Answer: A Kabbalist still feels all the pleasures of our world. Moreover, he feels these pleasures even more than ordinary people do.

Question: The spiritual goal is the union of souls. When a person enters the spiritual world, he begins to feel the desires and thoughts of the other souls. Does he still differentiate between what’s “his” and what’s “someone else’s”, or does he lose the sensation of his individuality?

My Answer: He doesn’t lose it. Even though he feels everyone, he feels them through himself, like a cell that works for the entire body.

Question: You said that great Kabbalists have great egoism, but they know how to control it. How do they control their egoism?

My Answer: Through Light that comes from above; through the Creator, the way a child does this through an adult.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Revelation of Godliness (Baal HaSulam)
Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 39

The Last Generation – A Song By the Bnei Baruch Band

The Bnei Baruch Band has recorded another song called “The Last Generation.” (The English translation of the lyrics appear below)

So we thought we would succeed if we would think a lot,
So the philosophers sat down and calculated:
If we strain our mind, we might find a solution.
All this may be true – but it led to nowhere.

So we thought we would succeed if we explored a lot,
So the scientists sat down immediately and began to count:
If we find the formula we might prevent disaster.
All this is certainly true – but they also developed the atom bomb.

It may be right under our nose,
Waiting for us to tilt the scale.
It is already here, it is the right time,
For the last generation,
(The last generation, the last generation)

We thought we would succeed if we stopped breathing,
If we fly to the Himalayas to be with the Hindus,
They sit there and meditate all day long,
They are still alive – but have long gone to sleep.

We also thought we would succeed if there were equality,
So the communists said: let’s split up the riches,
Let’s forget about the ego and live the good life,
And what happened to us? It is even worse than Sodom.

It may be right under our nose,
Waiting for us to tilt the scale.
It is already here, it is the right time,
For the last generation,

We also thought we would succeed if there were tranquility,
So the mysticists sat down and thought of a solution:
Let’s close our eyes tight and try to relax,
It was very nice – but nothing happened.
(Nothing happened, nothing happened)

So we said it might be better to just forget everything.
Yes, to take some pill, it will make us feel good.
We can just escape to our imagination.
It may true – but in the end it certainly won’t help.
(Certainly won’t help, certainly won’t help)

It may be right under our nose,
Waiting for us to tilt the scale.
It is already here, it is the right time,
For the last generation,
The last generation,
The last generation.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
Kabbalah Today article: Echoes of the Future