All the People In the World Are Sick With the Same Illness

All the People In the World Are Sick With the Same IllnessTwo questions I received on whether it would be best for the world’s spiritual leaders to unite:

Question: If we were to gather all the people of truth in one place and tune into the general system, would we be able to influence the afterworld with our Light or information, as well as the development of our planet?

My Answer: We have to disseminate Kabbalah to all the people in the world, accept the world as a whole, and provide every person with everything they need for correction no matter where they are located. All the people in the world are sick with the same illness – egoism, which separates them from the Light of life. Hence, everyone needs the medication – the Upper Light. This is what we believe, and this is why we disseminate Kabbalah to everyone. After that, it’s up to the person to take the medicine now, or later on – when he will feel his illness at a more advanced stage.

Instead of gathering in one place, people have to gather in one intention, in spite of the physical distance separating them. This is the purpose of our world. Nevertheless, when someone wants to move to Israel to join our group, we don’t turn them away, and about 5-10 people move here every year. However, I don’t consider this necessary for spiritual advancement. There have also been cases when people moved here and found it to be too intense for them, and had to return to their previous location.

Question: Do the world’s spiritual leaders, such as Rav Laitman and the Dalai Lama, as well as their students, have a spiritual connection and do they help each other (I don’t mean the World Wisdom Council)? I get the impression that spirituality is just a game, where each person (or group) is for himself. Sooner or later people get tired of these games, because you start feeling like you’re the soccer ball and you don’t want to play for any team. If the spiritual leaders have a connection with each other, then why isn’t it revealed to us, the masses, in a material form and with a true final goal (again, I don’t mean the World Wisdom Council)?

My Answer: I don’t associate myself with any organization, including the World Wisdom Council, and I have no connection with any spiritual leaders. I only participate wherever I see an opportunity to disseminate Kabbalah. Kabbalah is so vastly different from other methods at the root, that we cannot unite or work together with any earthly method or religion.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Disseminate Kabbalah on the Internet, But First Find Out How
Laitman.com Post: Religion and Kabbalah Are Opposite
Kabbalah Today Article: At Odds with Nature
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Peace”

Redemption Will Come At the Hands of the Creator

Redemption Will Come At the Hands of the CreatorQuestions I received on descents and how to deal with them:

Question: Sometimes I lose the right intention and feel like I’m straying from the spiritual path. Sometimes I feel afraid and empty in relation to this world. There are even times when I feel inspired and I make many actions, but I still feel like this is a lie and that I lack the right intention. When I have these feelings, should I try to see the Creator and what He is trying to “tell” me through them?

My Answer: You will have to collect even more impressions in order to begin feeling the Upper State. What should you do? Just continue. (Read the texts of Baal HaSulam and Rabash that talk about this). No one knows ahead of time what volume of their soul has to become fully revealed in every Reshimo and on every degree, in order for the soul to then ascend to the next degree. Therefore, the only thing we should do is “push” in one direction, “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.” “It’s not up to you to complete the work, yet you must do it constantly and persistently, and you aren’t free to leave it,” and then the correction will come as “redemption at the hands of the Creator, instantly and unexpectedly,” according to the principle “you made efforts – and you found it.”

Question: When I am in the state of descent, should I immediately open up a book, or should I try to overcome this state on my own first?

My Answer: It is best to open up a book, go to our website, or to my blog – to read or watch something that your feelings will respond to. For beginners I recommend my fourth book – Attaining the Worlds Beyond, as well as quotes by Kabbalists.

Question: Is it possible for a person to be advancing too fast and risk falling because of it?

My Answer: Descents are useful, and they have to happen between the degrees. They won’t go by quickly or slowly depending on whether a person puts in all his efforts or not. It’s because he isn’t the one to determine this; it is determined by the nature of the degrees – the next degree becomes revealed to him as soon as he is ready to go on to it – as soon as he has prepared his Kli to perceive it. In other words, the corrected, ready Kli becomes filled with the property of bestowal, the Light, or the Creator.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: When In Doubt, Disseminate
Laitman.com Post: Be Happy about the Descents!
Laitman.com Post: We Build Our Soul By Correcting the Reshimot That Come to Us (Advanced)
Laitman.com Post: The Cycle of Descents and Ascents, and the Correction of the Maaser (Advanced)
Laitman.com Post: Guidelines for Achieving Unity – Selected Quotes of Baal HaSulam
Shamati #128: “Dew Drips from that Galgalta to Zeir Anpin”

If He Loves You, He Won’t Come Between You and Kabbalah

If He Loves You, He Won\'t Get Betwen You and Kabbalah Questions I received on what to do with a boyfriend who doesn’t study Kabbalah and women who hate dissemination:

Question: A woman becomes fulfilled spiritually through a man – I feel this very clearly. However, all I can think about is my boyfriend, who doesn’t study Kabbalah. I broke up with him when I encountered Kabbalah, but now we are back together and I am still studying Kabbalah. I feel like I prefer spending time with him over going to the lessons, and this scares me because I’m neglecting my purpose and the Creator’s goal for me. I can’t leave you and the group and the entire world Kli. I need you and you need me. But on the other hand, I am drawn to my boyfriend. I really want to be on the path and develop my Kli together with a man, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to manage without my boyfriend.

My Answer:
1. Calm down.

2. If he loves you then he won’t interfere with your Kabbalah studies.

3. If you still can, choose another man who will study Kabbalah for sure.

4. Don’t force him to study, but gently and lovingly get him involved in passive participation. We’ve had cases when husbands got involved in Kabbalah this way, and then continued studying even when their wives left Kabbalah.

5. In any case, creating a family is more important than Kabbalah! After that your priority should be your work, and then Kabbalah.

Question: Can one woman teach another woman in the Bnei Baruch group?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: What should we do with women who only want to study and hate the idea of dissemination?

My answer: When a woman first comes to study Kabbalah, then she should be taught the basics – just like a man. After that she should be offered a chance to take on “extra weight,” such as participating in dissemination and paying Maaser. If she doesn’t agree to this, then we don’t continue working with her – let her study at home on her own – the Internet is free. We’ll think twice before letting her attend a Congress, and might even decide against it. People who don’t disseminate are depriving themselves of the opportunity to advance because they don’t develop their Kli by adding the desires of others to it, in order to reach the necessary critical mass.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Women’s Spiritual Progress
Laitman.com Post: Women on the Path of Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: The Cycle of Descents and Ascents, and the Correction of the Maaser (Advanced)

One On One With the Mafia’s Attorney

I had a conversation that was recorded with Israel’s leading criminal attorney, Sasi Gez.

Mafia\'s Attorney

Sasi was born and grew up in the country’s most criminal neighborhood – Pardes-Katz, but by a “lucky chance,” instead of learning to steal, be a pimp or a drug dealer, he became the defense attorney for his childhood friends. His “happy childhood” (mostly blood mixed with snot) turned him into a “mafia’s attorney” – a recognized criminal defense attorney of the state. It was amazing to see his “Don Corleone” manners, and to find out how much “the cops and the thieves” can have in common.

Sasi wrote a very thick book on criminal law. (In the picture above, it lies next to him on the table; and beside it, the somewhat more modest looking Book of Zohar with my commentary.) Sasi’s close work with his childhood friends and acquaintances (who include leaders of the underground business) and his ability to defend them in court have turned him into one of the most influential people in all social circles. It gave me great pleasure to meet a classic hero – the mafia’s attorney, face to face.

On his end, Sasi completely agreed with the fact that man in our world has no freedom of will, and that our world lacks the means to educate and reeducate people. He agreed that Kabbalah can help do this.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Corporeality Has No Effect on Spirituality
Kabbalah Today Article: Spiritual Education
Article: Why Kabbalah? Why Now?

Which Books Should One Read to Learn Kabbalah?

Which Books Should One Read to Learn Kabbalah?A question I received: I am 25 years old and I live in Brazil. I read your book Cabala: Alcançando Mundos Superiores in Portuguese, and felt a deep desire to learn more about Kabbalah in order to become a good servant of the Creator. I don’t know exactly which book I should read now. I am debating between the Torah and The Book of Zohar. In your opinion, which of the two books should I read next?

My Answer: The only books you should read are the books of Baal HaSulam. Additionally, in the beginning you can read our books, since they explain Baal HaSulam. Once you gain a precise understanding of what is Kabbalah from these books, then you will be able to read any other book without straying from the right path to the Creator.

Baal HaSulam wrote about this in many texts. He says that the difficulty of explaining Kabbalah, the difficult examples, and the non-systematic presentation were the main reasons why Kabbalah was misunderstood by the masses.

If you can only read Portuguese, then your choice of books is rather limited. If you can read in other languages, then I advise you to visit our website and see what’s recommended there for beginners – whether it is books, lessons, talks, and so on.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Advice for Beginners – Find the Answers Inside Yourself
Laitman.com Post: By Developing One’s Desires, Kabbalah Also Develops One’s Mind