Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah Incorporates All Sciences of the World

Where the knowledge of investigators [investigation of the universe via egoistic qualities, the means of our world] end, the science of Kabbalah [investigation of the universe via the investigator’s acquisition of spiritual qualities of love and bestowal toward others] begins.
– Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Sichot Moaran, pg. 225

The inner wisdom void of distortion [of the picture of reality perceived by our ego], the heights [depth of attainment] of which are immeasurably higher than all the other wisdoms [which are based on investigating the universe via man’s egoistic qualities], this true wisdom [for it offers us an undistorted picture of the world] is the wisdom of Kabbalah.
– Rav Shimon Bar Tzemach Duran (RASHBATZ), The Book of TASHBETZ, Part 2, Item 52

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Seven Sciences That Originate From Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah: The Root of All Sciences
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is A Science About The Upper World

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and the System of Mussar (Ethics)

You will also find a significant difference regarding the support because following the ethics is supported by the favor of people, which is like a rent that finally pays off. And when man grows accustomed to this work, he will not be able to ascend in degrees of ethics, for he will now be used to such work that is well rewarded by society, which pays for his good deeds.

Yet, by observing Torah and Mitzvot in order to please his Maker, without any reward, he climbs the rungs of ethics precisely to the extent that he pursues it, since there is no payment on his path. And each penny is added to a great account. And finally he acquires a second nature, which is bestowal upon others without any self-gratification, except for the bare necessities of his life.

– Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Where To Look For The Reward For Bestowal
Laitman.com Post: Setting Examples Of Bestowal
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam Describes The Society Of The Future

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Kabbalah was the source of Rav Kook’s teachings. He viewed Kabbalah as the foundation for creating a new state and society in Israel where the prime directive would be the law of “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Basic Concepts of Rav Kook’s Teaching

A nation represents a single organism and has to attain the same state of oneness through its own effort. In doing so, the nation becomes close to the Creator. Each member of society has to know their role and because of their uniqueness, not in spite of it, they become a part of the whole, the nation, and consequently the world. Only then does a person fulfill his purpose: reaches equivalence to the Creator. An individual cannot merge with the Creator unless he unites with the others: “From the love of others to the love of the Creator.”

The nation of Israel can exist only as a single entity that yearns for mutual love and bestowal for the purpose of uniting with the Creator through the equivalence of form. With this in mind, Abraham created this nation from the Babylonians, and mutual love was the foundation of their existence.

While in exile (opposite to the Creator), outside of the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel – the desire to be similar to the Creator), there is no nation of Israel. In order to restore their relationship with the Creator, the people returned to the Land of Israel and formed a state, an opportunity to correct themselves and become one.

Therefore, forming the State of Israel signifies the beginning of the correction of the nation of Israel and consequently all of mankind. Together, they will ascend to the level of the Creator. As to the religious laws, they should remain solely within the social and cultural aspects of our existence.

Forming a state helps to achieve a nation-wide responsibility for correction, first of the nation of Israel, and afterwards of all of humanity. Mankind has evolved and is now ready to absorb Kabbalah, the method of the revelation of the Creator.

It’s time for the nation of Israel to return from their spiritual exile and illuminate the path of revelation of the Creator for the nations of the world. This is the only way to receive support from all of the people of the world for building the state of Israel.

In case the nation of Israel fails to accomplish the mission assigned to them, if they are unable to bring the method of correction to the people of the world, then its state will be destroyed and its people will be exiled again.

Although Zionism doesn’t realize what is at stake, it must eventually acknowledge the need for Kabbalah and employ the method of revelation of the Creator (the Upper governing Force) as the state and world constitution. The unique mission of the nation of Israel lies in serving mankind on its path of correction and being the “light for the nations of the world” (Prophet Isaiah).

More about Rav Kook and his connection with Baal HaSulam is in my book The Two Great Lights (in Hebrew).

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Two Great Lights
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalists On The Purpose Of Creation, Part 9
Laitman.com Post: Introductory Lecture: “Rav Kook”

Filed under: Kabbalah Dissemination, Kabbalistic Sources - 1 Comment →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and the System of Mussar (Ethics)

The goal of ethics is the well-being of society from the perspective of practical reason, derived from life’s experiences. But in the end, that goal does not promise its follower any elation above the boundaries of nature.

Hence, this goal is still subject to criticism, for who can prove to an individual the extent of his benefit in such a way that he will be compelled to even slightly diminish his own self in favor of the well-being of society?

The religious goal, however, promises the well-being of the individual who follows it, as we have already shown that when one comes to love others, he is in direct Dvekut, which is equivalence of form with the Maker, and along with it man passes from his narrow world, filled with pain and impediments, to an eternal world of bestowal upon the Lord and upon the people.
– Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: My Greatest Virtue Is My Deficiency
Laitman.com Post: Reveal The Book Of Zohar For Yourself
Laitman.com Post: What Is The Book Of Zohar And The Sulam Commentary About?
Laitman.com Post: Crossing The Narrow Bridge From Malchut To Bina

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and the System of Mussar (Ethics)

Many are mistaken and compare our holy Torah to ethics. But that has come to them because they have never tasted religion in their lives. I call upon them: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

It is true that both ethics and religion aim at one thing—to raise man above the filth of the narrow self-love and bring him to the heights of love-of-others. But still, they are as remote one from the other as the distance between the Thought of the Creator and the thought of people.

For religion extends from the Thoughts of the Creator, and ethics comes from thoughts of flesh and blood and from the experiences of their lives. Hence, there is an evident difference between them, both in practical aspects and in the final aim.
– Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose”

For the recognition of good and evil that develops in us through ethics, as we use it, is relative to the success of the society.With religion, however, the recognition of good and evil that develops in us, as we use it, is relative to the Creator alone, that is, from the disparity of form from the Maker, to equivalence of form with Him, which is called Dvekut [adhesion].
– Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Realizing The True Essence Of Religion
Laitman.com Post: The Difference Between Spiritual Correction And Ritual Observance
Laitman.com Post: How Can Religion Come Out of the Crisis It’s In?

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Philosophy loves to pride itself on understanding all the negatives [does not state who He is, but rather who is not Him] about His essence. However, the sages of Kabbalah put their hand to their mouth at this point [when the Creator Himself rather than His manifestation with relation to us is being discussed], and do not give Him even a simple name, for we do not define by name or word that which we do not attain. That is because a word designates some degree of attainment [based on the perception of the attained object in our senses].

However, Kabbalists do speak a great deal [to the extent of the researcher being similar to the properties of the Light] about His illumination [His manifestation with relation to us] in reality, meaning all those illuminations they [researchers themselves] have actually [practically, in sensations] attained [within themselves], as validly as [our] tangible [world, meaning the reality which we sense from the beginning through our inherent qualities] attainment [of objects and properties].
– Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: We Are Existence From Absence
Laitman.com Post: The Stages Of The spiritual Path
Laitman.com Post: Tuning To The Creator’s Wavelength

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources, Love - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Since the day I have discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah and dedicated myself to it, I have distanced myself from abstract philosophy [its conclusions and reasoning] and all its branches as much as the east is from the west. Everything that I will write henceforth will be from a purely scientific  perspective, in utter precision [of definitions based on practical, repeatable experiment], and by means of simple recognition of practical, useful things.
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

Needless to say, today our generation has already recognized that metaphysical philosophy contains no real [based on practical experiment] content upon which it is worthwhile to spend one’s time. Hence, it is certainly forbidden for anyone to take any spices from their words [for examining oneself, the world, and their reasons and purposes].
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

Philosophy loves to concern itself with His Essence and [seemingly] prove which rules do not apply to Him [based on negation]. However, Kabbalah has no dealings whatsoever with it, for how can the unattainable and imperceptible [that has no practical experimental data but only one’s own guess work] be defined?
– Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalists on the Essence of the Science of Kabbalah, Part 14
Laitman.com Post: A Question Of Life An Death
Laitman.com Post: Philosophy’s attempts To Discover Reality

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Not only is it the wrong place to argue with them [philosophers] about their fabricated conjectures, but also the time of supporters of such [practically unfounded] views has already passed and their authority has been revoked. We should also thank the experts of materialistic psychology for that, which built its [realistic] plinth on the ruin of the former [practically unfounded philosophy], winning the public’s favor. Now everyone admits to the emptiness of philosophy [its conclusions], for it is not built on concrete [practical] foundations [but originates from assumptions of human intellect].

This old doctrine became a stumbling stone and a deadly thorn [for a regular person to understand] Kabbalah because where they should have been subdued before the sages of Kabbalah [that is, to correct themselves with its help, to alter their properties from egoistic to altruistic, and then study Kabbalah through their newly acquired qualities since it is the only way to comprehend the essence of Kabbalah], and assume abstinence and prudence, sanctity [the property of bestowal], and purity before the sages disclosed before them even the smallest thing in spirituality [the nature of bestowal and love], they easily received what they had wanted [instant external knowledge] from the formative philosophy [without correcting themselves]. Without payment or price [without exerting the needed effort in correcting themselves], they watered themselves from their fountain of wisdom [Kabbalistic books] to satiation, and [without setting a goal of self-correction]refrained from delving in the wisdom of Kabbalah [self-correction] until the wisdom has almost been forgotten from among Israel [replaced by useless arguments and observations].

Hence, we are [have to be] grateful to materialistic psychology for handing it [useless, groundless philosophy] a deadly blow. [At the present time, we see that philosophical contemplations are no longer taken into consideration. The “science” of philosophy continues to exist by inertia, and the word “philosophy” has acquired a contemptuous meaning.]
– Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: My Greatest Virtue Is My Deficiency
Laitman.com Post: Reveal The Book Of Zohar For Yourself
Laitman.com Post: What Is The Book Of Zohar And The Sulam Commentary About?
Laitman.com Post: Crossing The Narrow Bridge From Malchut To Bina

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

I am not an enthusiast of formative philosophy, since I dislike theoretically based studies [conjectures of the human mind, not founded on practical studies], and it is well known that most of my contemporaries agree with me for we are too familiar with such foundations [we have suffered throughout our history], which are rickety foundations [not based on practice]; and when the foundation fluctuates, the whole building tumbles [this is why philosophy is constantly changing, thereby exposing its past fallacy].

Therefore, I [as a Kabbalist and not a philosopher] have come here to speak only through critique of empirical reason.
– Baal HaSulam “The Peace”

Related Materials:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalists On The Essense Of The Wisdom Of Kabbalah, Part 8
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalists On The Essence Of The Wisdom Of Kabbalah, Part 12
Laitman.com Post: Philosophy’s Attempts To Discover Reality

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

However, understanding the meaning of the word “spirituality” [something of a different nature other than our material world, its sensations and thoughts] has nothing to do with philosophy. This is because how can they discuss something that they have never seen or felt? What do their rudiments [research and conclusions about something they have never perceived] stand on?

If there is any definition that can tell spiritual [properties of bestowal and love] from corporeal [receiving and hatred], it belongs only to those who [by altering their nature from receiving to bestowing] have attained a spiritual thing [obtained a property of bestowal] and felt it [through the property of bestowal a new attitude to their surroundings, meaning the spiritual world]. These are [only] the genuine Kabbalists [since such changes are possible solely through practical application of the wisdom of Kabbalah]; thus, it is the wisdom of Kabbalah that we need.

– Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Philosophy’s Attempts to Discover Reality
Laitman.com Post: There Is A Vast Difference Between Kabbalah and The Philosophy of Spinoza
Laitman.com Post: Use Your Profession in Philosophy to Explain Kabbalah

Filed under: Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →