Questions and Answers with Dr. Laitman

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Good and Evil”

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Item 1

Writings of Baal HaSulam  “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 12 

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: How can a person understand the Creator‘s greatness and His providence?

Answer: The whole goal of creation is the revelation of the Creator to the created beings in order to do them good. The Creator does the created beings good by revealing Himself to them and by filling them. The Creator is dressed in the created being, which means that the Light of Hochma is dressed in Light of Hassadim.

But do we know how to advance towards the revelation of the Creator? By what attributes do we look for Him and in which direction should we advance? How do we make sure that we don’t draw away from the right path? We have to be stabilized in order to do that. If I were in space not knowing where I am, I would find my way according to the stars.

It is the same in spiritual work. We cannot say anything about any phenomenon, outcome, force, or attribute if we don’t measure it in relation to something. It is important to make sure in relation to what we measure something.

For example, we assess the behavior of animals that devour one another and it seems very cruel to us. But the point is that we assess it wrongly, in relation to human feelings. This is why we reach wrong conclusions. It is the same in regard to any phenomenon.

The problem is how we should assess every phenomenon. This is important both in spirituality and our world, and in order to assess phenomena, we use tools such as compasses, measurements, and specific units to measure distances, weight, and different frequencies. Humanity has created these systems of measurement in order to determine and measure different phenomena.

Before measuring systems were invented, it was very difficult for people to communicate. If I wanted to exchange my chickens for your donkey it was difficult to measure how many chickens the donkey was worth. Today we have money for that.

The increasing accuracy of different measurements allows us to measure different attributes. This is exactly how we bring up a child, teaching him how to see himself with regard to his environment in order that he has the right orientation with regard to space, the furniture in the room, his parents, to other children, and to himself.

When we enter the spiritual world, we have no means by which to feel it. It is because we lack a standard and we don’t know in which way we should change ourselves and what we should do with our attributes.

Therefore, it is impossible to exist only by the positive force, so we need to use the two forces together. This is the reason that there is always light and darkness. It is impossible to see anything in contrast to one light and neither is it possible to see anything in the dark. The only way to see something is in the contrast between light and darkness. This principle is true in every aspect.

Just as a small child begins to recognize attributes and differences through his close environment and to gradually learn how to establish increasingly wider connections until he knows all of humanity, so we also establish connections between us in the group and begin to know the spiritual world.

It is impossible to do this in any other way. The Creator is revealed in the group, in the relationships between us. If our relationships are egoistic, there is no standard of measurement since there is only one force at work, which is help against us. We also need the opposite force. When I develop the force of bestowal and it begins to operate against the force of receiving, I can begin to turn and manage myself and measure the diversion.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, just as in any other science, the main thing is the measurement: NRNHY, KHB ZON, Partzufim, levels, Hassadim, and Hochma. It is all based on measurements, when different things are compared and thus new phenomena are discovered.

It is written: “Thou shalt not make other gods,” which means that different forms intentionally appear before us so that we will be able to measure and format the Creator in relation to them.

When the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity) fills Malchut of Ein Sof it does not leave a shadow within it and everything is totally filled with the white Light. It is thanks only to the fact that phase four, which becomes coarse, appears within it and sees itself as opposite from the Light. From this oppositeness, we can begin to measure things.

Therefore we cannot manage without “other gods” although they are fictitious and a lie and don’t really exist. But we need them in order to measure things in relation to them. This is how the Creator plays with us. This is the reason that He created the evil inclination and the Torah a as a spice, “since the Light in it reforms.”

Thus we have 613 desires and opposite them there are 613 lights by which we acquire our senses. If there are 613 lights that fill 613 desires, we have 613 elements by which to measure. We can assess and clarify many near and distant concepts with regard to every desire and the light inside it. We can find out in which direction they operate, whether in the direction of Hassadim or Hochma, bestowal or receiving.

It turns out that after we correct our desire to the intention of in order to bestow, according to the principle of “the advantage of the Light from the darkness,” we get a chance to know the Creator, the Light of Ein Sof. Other gods stem from the Creator, so that we should know them and stabilize ourselves by using them. Without them, there is no way we can get to know the one upper force, the One who is “there is none else besides Him.”
[149328]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/09/14, Shamati #15

Related Material:
A Flood Of Light On The Potential Difference Of Desire
There Is No Evil Without Goodness
Light And Darkness: Reevaluation

Filed under: Baal HaSulam, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work, Inner Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Perception, Science, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The creation goes through three stages.

The first stage is “Infinity.” There, we are in a perfect state that is given to us from Above and derives from the thought of creation. The thought of wellbeing in the creations instantaneously reveals itself since the Creator does not have to do any actions in order to bring good to His creations. However, the creations exist only “in potential,” which will be implemented in the future.

The second state is the descent from Infinity through five worlds down to this world. On this way, we go through shattering and splitting into two systems: wickedness and purity. A special Partzuf (Adam HaRishon) appears at this stage; later it shatters as a result of the sin of the “Tree of Knowledge.” Souls break and proliferate; the evil unfolds to the level of this world, to its lowest degree.

On this plane, our development is called “evolution” during which we reach the very bottom; at the same time, it is a turning point that allows us to alter the tendency of our advancement. In this “bifocal” point, the creation starts rising, i.e., we begin understanding and acknowledging questions like “Who am I? What am I for? What is the purpose of my life?” This quest is especially acute for our generation. It is inexplicable, painful, and burdensome; it brings us desperation, helplessness and lots of problems.

From this point on, humanity has to begin its advancement in a new direction; it has to understand and realize how it should correct itself and admit that our correction is mandatory and unavoidable.

At this point, all of humanity splits into two categories:

Those awakened from Above who received a point in the heart, a special desire that draws them to know the Divine, without “introductory” disasters and difficulties. It is the lack of knowledge that draws them upward. These people come to study the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Others do not tend to reveal the reasons, purpose, or essence of their existence. They don’t bother questioning themselves about the purpose of their existence; they are satisfied with the lives they have and try to get maximal benefit with minimal expense.

These two categories advanced throughout the entire history until today. Nowadays, one of these groups has acquired the energy to ascend. This group is receiving the power of The Book of Zohar that truly makes them capable of a large-scale self-correction not feasible since Abraham’s time.

These things are possible only in Keter and Malchut of the entire process, i.e., in its highest and lowest degrees.

By going through these states, we approach the realization of the third state. It is the second state that leads us to it. The third state is our goal, the end of correction, when we once again become included in the Creator, in the unity among us.
[125081]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
A Tool For Detecting The Creator
A Sense Of Responsibility For Everything
An Adapter Between The Creator And The Creature

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Preparation for the Lesson

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” “Concerning Bestowal”

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 81

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Item 1

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” “Love of Friends” 

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Item 1

Writings of Baal HaSulam  “Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: What is the revelation of the upper force that controls all of creation?

Answer: Kabbalists are people who are the sons of Adam. The first Kabbalist who discovered the upper reality is called Adam. He was the first who felt the desire to reveal the meaning of life and so he began to ask “What am I living for?” and to study it. Thus he advanced in his research and even wrote the book The Angel Raziel.

Then there were other Kabbalists who followed his research from one generation to the next: his sons and then the next generations until Noah and then Noah’s sons. The Torah tells us about the inner process a person goes through and how he develops in attaining the Creator.

We cannot simply ascend to some special force called the fore of bestowal if the only thing we know in our life is the force of the egoistic reception. The force of bestowal is the initial force, which included all of nature including the upper reality that is still concealed from us, and the lower reality, our small world.

Being the force of bestowal, it is totally unlimited. Because it is aimed at bringing delight to the creation, this force develops the whole world: the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of nature. Because of the nature of bestowal, this force wants to bring all of creation to its level.

The nature of bestowal makes this force unlimited by time or place. It has no limits since it has no deficiency or a desire to receive but rather a surplus of positivity, a desire to give others the maximum. It is like a cow full of milk wanting to feed its offspring.

It is a great pain when you want to give someone something but there is no one you can give to. This is the need concealed in the attribute of bestowal. The creation stemmed from this desire to bestow and also the desire to receive so that there would be someone who would want to receive. This is how we begin to study about the creation, which stems from the Hebrew word “Bar” meaning external to bestowal.

We discover the relations between the force of bestowal, the Creator, the upper force, and the entire creation, which develops from small desire to receive that He created externally to Himself. With this begins the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains how there is a desire and all its development from the beginning of creation until its ultimate state in which this desire has to fully resemble the upper force and to attain the same height of wholeness as the upper force.

Humanity has to go through this whole process. So far we have been through the first, second, and third levels that correspond to the evolution of the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, which we see in the world around us. But we are talking about the inner desire of each level: of the still nature, the vegetative, and the animate.

Now, however, we have reached a state at which we have to begin to develop on the human level, the level of man (Adam), stemming from the Hebrew word “Domeh,” meaning to resemble the Creator

This is a very special level. On the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, we developed unconsciously, being forced to without understanding and feeling who makes us advance, how we do it, and for what purpose. This is how all the previous generations lived: simply existing without knowing what is going on. The evolutionary process didn’t concern us and we didn’t care what it was for and where it was leading us, since who knows that?

But today we have reached the end of our evolution on the animate level and the current general global crisis is an indication of that. Every level ends with a crisis from which, thanks to the shattering, it is possible to ascend to the next level.
[149563]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Kabbalah Is The Wisdom Of The Upper Reality
True Wisdom About The Basics Of Creation
The Method Leading To The Light

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 43 

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Ascents and Descents,” Item 121

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 81

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 2, Part 6, Item 2 

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” “Conveyance from a Wise Kabbalist to an Understanding Receiver”  

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 32  

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 81

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 2, Part 6, Item 2 

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” “The Language of the Kabbalists Is A Language of Branches”  

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” “What ‘You Have Given the Strong to the Hands of the Weak’ Means in the Work” 

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Item 812

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 80

Writings of Baal HaSulam  “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →