Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”: If there is any definition that can tell spiritual from corporeal, it belongs only to those who have attained a spiritual thing and felt it. These are the genuine Kabbalists; thus, it is the wisdom of Kabbalah that we need.

This material world is completely detached from spirituality. Kabbalists explain to us that our material world is simply an outcome of our imagination. After we wake up, we’ll see that we “were as dreamers.” This dream and our existence in it seems real; however, at its core it is imaginary and illusive.

But we are unable to make the distinction. There is a reality and there are five sensors through which we can investigate the reality. Our exploration of this realm is called “science,” a complex of dependable knowledge that we use as guidance. With the help of science, people produce medications, build houses, etc., thus make our lives better. The set of knowledge that we call “science” is very reliable, trustworthy, and tested. This explains why science makes us more confident and satisfies us.

However, we keep thinking about “life after death.” We don’t know what it is. Physically, one dies together with one’s body, and yet it’s not a secret that on top of it there is a certain part in us, a spiritual component. There are no solid proofs of this fact; moreover, the wisdom of Kabbalah states that there is no spiritual constituent in us whatsoever. The one who hasn’t attained spirituality stays at an “animate,” physical level for one’s entire life. It’s not an accident that Baal HaSulam once said that he didn’t care where his “sack of bones” would be buried. However, we do have a chance to alter our nature in a way that in addition to our “animal” existence we also disclose life in another dimension, a spiritual reality.

It is very straightforward: whatever one manages to attain is all one actually has. Fantasizing won’t help; nothing from this world can be related to spirituality. Spirituality exists independently and if we are not yet there, we just cannot deliberate on it. Therefore, scientists do not explore this topic since they don’t have relevant “tools” for it.

And yet, there is a special approach to life that is called “philosophy.” It speculates on topics that are impossible to explore using traditional scientific methods. As a result, philosophers come up with various opinions about the spiritual world as if they sense, understand, or have access to it. No doubt that it’s clearly a wrong, unscientific approach that has nothing to do with science or common sense. It’s all about fantasizing; so, it’s not an accident that nowadays the word “philosophy” became derogatory. Those who are detached from reality are called “philosophers.” And rightly so.

That’s why Baal HaSulam was strongly against the philosophical approach. Previously, when it was impossible to reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah to the masses, philosophers could talk profusely about their views. Today, the wisdom of Kabbalah spreads out into the world, whereas philosophers continue to discuss things that they do not have any contact with, thus confusing people even more.

Baal HaSulam explains that philosophical constructions have no basis and that you can’t listen to philosophers since they mystify and puzzle themselves and others, thus depriving humanity of a chance to speed up their progress in attaining the goal of creation. After all, doesn’t the goal of creation come before and stay above all other things? If we don’t hurry up, if we let philosophers confuse us even more, we’ll be triggering additional afflictions. This is what concerned Baal HaSulam.

By the way, a curious question arises: How can sober, thinking people fantasize about something they haven’t yet attained, have no proofs of, and is something they have never tested or analyzed? This mystery of philosophy still has no answer.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The Torah, “Exodus,” (Mishpatim), 22:18: Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

The attainment of the upper world is only by the connection of two parts: the male and the female. The male part is the means, the intention of in order to bestow, and the female part is the desire to receive. They have to connect on certain levels in a certain combination between them. It isn’t that just any male part can take any female part, but there are actually certain conditions of how they should connect and combinations and to what extent they are compatible.

The male part especially cannot match the beastly part and the beastly part cannot match the female part. It’s impossible since the difference between the levels is so big that it will lead to nothing. It’s just like the differences between the Reshimot (spiritual genes), it cannot be. In other words, what cannot advance spiritually must be executed, since such a connection between people and beasts is unnatural.

Question: What brings a person to lie with a beast?

Answer: In our world it is a hormonal imbalance or a deviation. Sometimes it’s even typical of certain cultures.

From a spiritual perspective, in one’s internality; it’s the connection with the beastly part of Malchut that is not ready yet, which is on the third level of development. We consist of the still nature, the vegetative, the animate, and man. The male line and the female line have to connect on the male level and not on the level of man with the animate level or the female level with the animate level. This type of connection will not lead to any spiritual advancement. It is the wrong vessel.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/27/13

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The Torah, “Exodus,” (Mishpatim), 22:19: He that sacrificeth unto the gods, save unto the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.

Sacrifice, Korban (stemming from the Hebrew root to come closer), means that I sacrifice my ego in order to rise above it. If I do so in order to reach the attribute of bestowal, it helps me to advance. If it is the opposite and I do it in order to receive, it’s called paganism and so it is forbidden.

Question: Why do I behave that way if it’s forbidden?

Answer: You do so because you receive egoistic pleasure by it. A person can stumble and do something wrong on every level, since it has to be his freewill. To stumble means that one just stumbles but does not fall. This means that the fall is relative: I am thrown from the level I am on so that I will learn and rise even higher or so that I would fall as a result of my own doing. This is an intentional fall.

It says: “For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16). When a person advances persistently, he is called a righteous. He will keep on falling and rising, falling and rising, since he is tripped on purpose so that he will learn to advance. If he prepares the fall in advance by himself, he cannot advance.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/27/13

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In the News (from FBII.org): “U.S. researchers learn the rapid devaluation of family values in the United States. The traditional relationships between a man and a woman, when love leads to marriage, reach back. Today, four out of ten Americans believe the marriage institution is obsolete. Scientists find it difficult to justify the current situation, however, they confirm that the American Society tend to disunity.

“Young Americans often delay marriage. This is a typical trend of many racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., even Asians, who had before the highest marriage rates.

“The divorce is common thing in modern America. The ‘separate habitation’ is customary for the generations born in the second half of the twentieth century. Percentage of divorced and estranged, who broke off the relationship, is much higher than the percentage of widowed. It’s typical for all age groups, both men and women. Most divorced and estranged are among 50-54-year-old men (17%) and women (21%).

“The same survey showed that the remarriage isn’t preferred by most Americans. Only 29% of divorced would like to marry again. Among the widowed this rate is even lower – 8%.

“According to studies, the family disintegration has no links with the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

“As a result, the total fertility rate (average number of births per woman of childbearing age from 15 to 49 years) dropped to the reproduction level (replacement rate) – 2.1, and at the end of the 2000s, during the recession – to 1.9.”

“In addition, the share of children born out of wedlock has increased during the 50 years up to 8 times – from 5.3% in 1960 to 41% in 2010. The highest rate of illegitimate births is among the youngest mothers: 86% of infants in 2011 born by mothers aged 15-19, 62% of infants – by mothers aged 20-24 years.

“A record 8% of households with minor children in the United States are headed by a single father, up from just over 1% in 1960, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Decennial Census and American Community Survey data. … Men make up a growing share of single parent householders.

“As we can see, the American family values face serious hardships, that change the society structure and social consciousness. Hardly surprising, almost half – 45% – of Americans, mostly young people, approve the Supreme Court’s voting rights decision over the gay and hetero equalization. The straights represent the minority – 40%.

“The American family future causes alarm, given that the traditional union between a man and a woman, who plan ahead and have many children, likely can be classified by future generations as a jest.”

My Comment: The values of all aspects of the traditional society are being re-examined, and it will lead to a completely unusual conclusion: readiness to accept a new type of family relationships, proposed by integral education. It’s when marriage is based not on a sexual desire, which has already proved to be ineffective, but on the ultimate life goal: unity with the Creator and the possibility of achieving it with a particular partner.
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In the News (from Bloomberg): “Imagine yourself betting on the long-term survival of two types of people. One is the classic egoist, focused and ruthless. The other is more selfless, willing to help fellow humans without any evident gain. Who will be more successful?

“For anyone steeped in the prevailing thinking of our era, the obvious winner is the egoist. Darwinian evolution and the lore of modern capitalism tell us that only fierce competitors survive. Altruists, the game theorists teach us, are mathematically incapable of achieving dominance. Acts of cooperation are either errors born of ignorance or purely selfish strategic moves aimed at getting something of greater value.

“The idea that biological competition favors the greedy, creating the ultrarational and incentive-driven Homo economicus, remains at the core of the models economists use to understand the world.

“Problem is, the ‘hard-headed,’ supposedly scientific take on human behavior bears little relation to reality. An overwhelming body of research demonstrates that helping behaviors (or, as economists like to say, ‘other-regarding preferences’) are the norm in human interactions around the globe. This raises the question: If it really does pay to be greedy, why do humans act differently?

“So far, there’s no definitive answer. But there is some evidence that rational self-interest isn’t always the best strategy. In conditions of harsh competition, Homo economicus might not prevail.

“In many simulations, the nice species ended up doing better than Homo economicus. How? The cooperative types tended to cluster and interact with one another preferentially, thereby benefiting from each other’s selfless behavior. The researchers called the winning species Homo socialis — quite rightly, as it isn’t blind to the potential of social interactions to enhance well-being.

“The take-home point is that Homo economicus is an oversimplified caricature who, in many situations, fails to benefit from real possibilities. Greed isn’t good, as Gordon Gekko famously said in the film “Wall Street.” In many cases, it’s not even very smart.”

My Comment: Studies, though far from complete, are right. The question is how to bring these 7 billion egoists to reason? The method of integral education offers a means of correcting human nature. Undoubtedly, sooner or later, meaning after having suffered, we all will begin to see the need of its realization.
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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Meaning of Conception and Birth,” Lesson 14

The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “The Second Commandment,” Item 201, Lesson 71

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 3, Part 9

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Peace”

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Rabash, “Love of the Other”: I am looking at a tiny point, called the love of the other, and reflect on what I can do to delight all the others?

And looking at the people I see suffering, illness and everyone’s personal pain, and general misery of the whole society, that is, wars between nations. But besides a prayer, I have nothing to give them, and it’s called “empathy with the suffering of society.”

Love of people and love of the Creator are one and the same thing since it is located outside the body, outside a person’s selfish interests, and thus he does not feel any difference between them. That is why people are given the commandment to love one’s neighbor. After all, if I can check myself at all times and in all states, that is, in all the changes of my desires, then I will quickly understand whether I have it or not, and every second I can correct myself to quickly attain love of the other, which is practically the same as the love of the Creator.

I look at people and think of what I can do for them. They ask for food, family wellbeing, money, power, and knowledge: I have nothing that could fulfill those desires. And if I did, then, do I have to do it, is this the right way? Is this world given to us in order to correct and improve it on the physical level, organizing society to achieve material prosperity in the usual ways? We see that everyone tries to do this without success, so why would I suddenly be more successful than others?

But the only thing we have to do is to understand that “there is none else besides the Creator.” There is only one force that acts in the world. What we need to do is only to request from Him, to ask, to convince Him that we really want Him to intervene and to perform the work of the Creator. All the changes, all the corrections, are entrusted to Him, and our task is just to ask, to raise a prayer, MAN.

Therefore, when we are working for dissemination and meet with different people, from young children to those that have grown old, we need to understand that we do not bring them any material goods of this world. Although we organize all sorts of activities and clubs, it is only the external, related phenomena, and if it were possible to do without them, we would have done without them.

We need to organize this material framework only to create a practical basis on which the work of the Creator is realized. But everything else, the action itself, happens only through a prayer, a request, in response to which the Upper Light that Reforms begins to work and fills the desire.

We cannot understand how reality changes. Either it changes from one’s material actions, correcting something in the world, or the Light comes and changes our inner properties, and we can see that the world has changed and become better.

All the actions are realized only by the power of prayer and through the help of the Creator, His work, changes, coming from above to below. We still have to accompany this by our material actions, but then we will see the Light of the Creator, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made” and earth.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/8/13

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Question: How can a person “steer” his states when he is thrown from side to side?

Answer: A person has no steering wheel, he is run from above, and he should only change his attitude to what is done to him. In such states, we have no power over ourselves; we just need to understand this and agree to want that the Creator would do His work on us. That’s why it is called the “work of the Creator” (Avodat HaShem).

What we need to do is to cancel ourselves and be glad that the upper takes care of us just as babies are taken care of by their mother. That is enough. And if we do this well, then we might reveal later how we ourselves can participate in this work. Our main part is to be joyful—when I am happy that the upper takes care of me no matter what He does to me!
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/13

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Our attitude towards reality is defined by our level of advancement. We have to examine and cultivate our approach towards reality since otherwise we will remain at an animate level and won’t reach the speaking state. We start forming the speaking level by asking ourselves a question: How do we relate to this realm?

Either we perceive only what we see around us, the physical nature, or we realize that Nature has a will, a desire of its own to bring benevolence to creation; it also has a program and a goal. Do we realize that nature methodically and purposefully influences us? In this case, we are obligated to act in accordance with the laws of nature and to “comply” with them. We become responsible for our destiny, for our future, which directly depends on the conditions and states that we arrange for ourselves.

This is where our work in this world begins: “Will I drag myself through a miserable existence making attempts to avoid sufferings until I die? Or do I want to learn the program, the goal, the process, and to become able to participate in the course of events thoughtfully, rationally, and thus become a person who can make an impact? Can I influence the environment and receive corresponding reactions?” Then, I voluntarily start working with nature, the force that stands right in front of me.

That’s the whole point. He who wants to know this force is called the human being (Adam), similar to it. After all, these people, according to their task, build themselves in the likeness of this upper force that created and set all laws. We want to know its laws and act according to it, in tandem with it. That is our goal, and we become partners on the path towards it.

Conversely, those who do not reveal it, regardless of their views about nature and the highest stage, remain on the “animal” level.
[116099]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/13, “The Peace”

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