Question: Should I deprive myself of the pleasure of having a hearty dinner if I know that I would sleep longer afterward and consequently would have less time for the study of Kabbalah, communication with the group, and so on?

Answer: I would not recommend it.

I, for example, plan in advance what I can do to wake up for the lesson without fail. Moreover, I have to prepare for the lesson for at least an hour and a half: to read, delve into the material, prepare myself for certain sensations. Otherwise, how can I be accountable before my friends?

As I go to the students, I regard them not as pupils, but as my friends through whom I want to receive certain sensations. After all, I am not in the absolute state yet.

That is why I prepare for the lesson constantly: I familiarize myself with the topic of the lesson in advance and read excerpts on that topic. I tune myself similarly to the way a musical instrument is tuned before being played.

Moreover, you not only discuss tuning, but on the contrary, that you might not come to the lesson. Such a thing is completely unacceptable.
[260175]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/12/20

Related Material:
The Lesson Is A Chance To Connect With Eternity
Joy In The Desert
The Difficulty Of Conveying Through Words

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →

From a Variety of Methods, Choose One

Question: According to the Kabbalistic principle, in a group it is recommended to talk about spiritual terms from the primary sources. For example, if we read Talmud Eser Sefirot or The Book of Zohar, can we use terms from these texts to communicate with each other?

Answer: Yes, it is not prohibited.

Comment: There is also another principle. It is important to ignore other spiritual practices and techniques while studying Kabbalah.

My Response: Naturally. In order to attain a certain technique, you must delve into it. You should not make a salad of all kinds of methods and approaches. And there are lots of them.

There are eastern and western teachings, and scientific and psychological ones, and there are the teachings of Baal HaSulam and Rav Kook. The methods of Vilna Gaon and Baal Shem Tov have long been known, and so on. That is, there are a great variety of paths to the Creator. Therefore, in order to succeed, you need to deal solely with one branch.

Because I found my teacher and I was Rabash’s student and assistant for the last 12 years of his life, I follow this principle and try to adhere to it.

Rabash was the eldest son of Baal HaSulam, so we study the materials of Baal HaSulam and try to implement them as much as possible. Baal HaSulam wrote that we belong to the generation when Kabbalah must open to the world and appeal not only to the people of Israel, but also to the nations of the world. This is the way we act.

Question: For whom did your teacher write articles about the principles of working in a group?

Answer: He wrote them for his students and for those who would come after them in the next generation.

Baal HaSulam and Rabash did what the Ari and Baal Shem Tov did in their time. The Ari developed the wisdom of Kabbalah, and Baal Shem Tov developed practical Kabbalah.

Baal HaSulam did the same, paying attention mainly to the wisdom of Kabbalah and describing it according to the Ari. Rabash continued to develop practical Kabbalah. I cannot imagine what else can be done after them, that is, where there is room in Kabbalah to enter and add something.

Numerous written books only dilute the wisdom of Kabbalah. I do not think it is necessary. What remains for us is, perhaps, to adapt their works for beginners, translate them into other languages, and bring the method of correcting the world closer to the nations.
[258265]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/6/19

Related Material:
The Purpose Of A Kabbalistic Group, Part 11
The Purpose Of A Kabbalistic Group, Part 10
The Purpose Of A Kabbalistic Group, Part 9

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Under the Slogan of Love

Question: 98% of people believe in God, and they all say that God is love. On the other hand, we see that for hundreds of thousands of years, people have been killing each other in the millions. Why do we physically destroy each other while believing that God is love?

Answer: One does not apply to the other. People just say, “God is love,” just like a child repeats.

Remark: But there are people who devote their entire lives to the Creator.

My Comment: At the same time, they destroy each other, fight in the name of the Creator. There are such theories that by killing another, you give him paradise, as you deprive him of his sinful life.

Look at what people are capable of: going to death, blowing themselves up next to other people, and all in the name of a higher power.

Question: All the same, it comes from one force, there is nothing but it. So is the fact that people behave this way an evolutionary process?

Answer: This is a correction process.
[257417]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/7/19

Related Material:
Building The Future Society, Part 9
Building The Future Society, Part 8
Building The Future Society, Part 7

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Religion - No Comments →

Question: Suppose I chose a teacher and after two or three years I see that I have nothing to learn from him, and even know more than him. Such things happen in our world in music, sports, etc. Does it happen in Kabbalah?

Answer: Yes, the same can happen here. It is quite possible that it is worth changing teachers. But here you need to understand to whom you are changing. Either you change your teacher because you don’t want to apply more effort or because you have an urgent need for it because you cannot advance with the old teacher.

Question: Is there any particular connection between teacher and student?

Answer: The teacher is a conductor of the higher energy, higher light, and higher knowledge to the student. Therefore, it is important for us that the student is connected to his teacher because this connection does not vanish.

Remark: Earlier the groups were very small, and therefore a close relationship between the teacher and the student really existed. Today, you have millions of students and naturally, you know only a small amount of them.

My Comment: It does not matter who I know, it is important which of them considers oneself to be my student, one’s attitude toward me. To this extent, the student rushes with his or her inner movement toward me, and through me one receives contact with a higher power.
[257398]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/4/19

Related Material:
What Does The Teacher’s Greatness Depend On?
Student And Teacher, Two Levels
Spiritual Hierarchy

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the secrets of the Kabbalah?“

There are no secrets in Kabbalah and never have been.

The entire problem is only in society’s possibility of correctly accepting it, adapting to it, tasting it, and using it correctly for its development.

For example, it is written in The Book of Zohar that of the great Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai’s ten disciples, only Rabbi Aba could correctly expound upon the teaching so that it would be accessible, smooth, correct, and at the same time, hidden.

In other words, the concealment in Kabbalah is that it discusses the higher world, beyond our current perception of reality, which we perceive through our five senses. To perceive the higher reality, we need to develop an additional sense, called a “screen” (“Masach”) in Kabbalah. Such attainment is available to anyone who so desires, and the method is laid out in a way where it can be researched, attained and repeated by anyone. It is only a matter of whether one has a desire to attain a reality higher than our current one, and whether one applies oneself in the method according to the guidance of the Kabbalist teacher.

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Question: All citizens of ancient Babylon worshiped many gods. What does polytheism mean?

Answer: Polytheism is a natural evolution of man. We can see that even today such beliefs are preserved in the world, especially in the East.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam originated from Abraham. All other beliefs are based on polytheism, i.e., the existence of a host of gods, a multitude of supposedly all kinds of forces of nature, each of which has some special influence on nature and the destiny of man.

Question: Can we say that each of us is also an idolater? That is, if a person does not discover one force behind all matter, then one is an idolater?

Answer: I do not think that we deify these forces to such an extent. After all, idolaters were not stupid people; rather, they just saw that they were greatly dependent on various properties of nature but could not bind them together. Neither can we.

It was believed that the god of rain, the god of the sun, the god of night, the god of day, etc. were all great forces of nature on which a man is completely dependent and must worship to maintain good relations with them. After all, along with the fact that man deified nature, he felt his dependence on it.

Remark: People believed that there are certain forces that could be appeased and it could be best appeased by different priests who know exactly how to do this.

My Comment: Yes. Imagine an uneducated, ignorant peasant. He would rather submit a bag of grain and be sure that he will no longer have any problems either with the crop, or with drought, or with flooding rivers.
[258892]
From KabTV’s “System analysis of the development of the people of Israel,” 6/24/19

Related Material:
Short Stories: Polytheism Or A Single Providence
Short Stories: The Source Of The Spiritual Practices
Short Stories: Abraham’s Rough Path

Filed under: Ancient Jerusalem, Kabbalah Study, Religion - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the relationship between Kabbalah and the Bible?“

The Bible (or Torah) is sublime and spiritual, but, frankly, it can be a bit long on history with its lists of relations. You read about people marrying, divorcing, cheating on each other, and killing one another. A fair question might be: what’s so spiritual about that?

In the framework of Kabbalah, however, the Bible doesn’t tell stories of people. Instead, it presents relations between spiritual forces.

“First, you must know that when dealing with spiritual matters that have no concern with time, space, and motion, and especially when dealing with Godliness, we do not have the words by which to express and contemplate. …For that reason, the sages of the Kabbalah have chosen a special language, which we can call “the language of the branches.”—Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot), Part 1, Histaklut Pnimit (Inner Reflection).

The Bible shows the process of the correction of souls through higher forces. This takes the souls on their path of ascent as they rise in their ability to bestow. Characters such as Adam, Noah, and Abraham are not thought of as people who lived somewhere and wandered (or floated) around. They are considered forces that operate over desires that have to be corrected, within each and every one of us. For example, the story of the exodus of Hebrew slaves from Egypt represents not their freedom from physical bondage, but the acquisition of the first Masach (screen), the crossing of the barrier.

Some stories may seem to have no rationality or sanctity in them. When reading them, remember that these are not events, but stories of forces. They are not to be understood or justified in earthly terms.

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Q&A, Quora, Religion - No Comments →

When One Follows the Laws of Nature

Question: If I take care that my like-minded friends reach the Creator and this is the best thing I can do for them, is that enough? Does that mean I shouldn’t worry about fulfilling their many other desires?

Answer: No. It is said that the material aspect of a friend is more important than your spiritual one.

Remark: I can’t even provide for my own material desires, and even less so for my friend!

My Comment: This refers to a society that exists only in order to attain the Creator. Then, all of its members will be in a state of mutual guarantee (Arvut) among themselves when they live by this only.

Everything else they need for food, for life, called “conditions necessary for existence,” they obtain together. They help each other in this. They will always have enough of everything because they will comply with the laws of nature.
[257093]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/7/19

Related Material:
The Method Of Correction, Part 9
The Method Of Correction, Part 8
The Method Of Correction, Part 7

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Lectures - No Comments →

Two opposites in one subject—this is the main point that determines the entrance to the upper world, to the spiritual dimension, that is, to the space where the Creator is the source of two forces. With respect to us, they are revealed as the force of evil and the force of good, Klipa and holiness, bestowal and reception, two opposite forces. However, the Creator has no contradiction and everything is connected into one.

It is only with respect to us, our sense and understanding, that this manifests itself as two forces that contradict each other. The more we begin to learn about creation, the greater the distance and conflict we see between them. Therefore, we cannot perceive spirituality, as it is written, “For in Isaac shall a seed be called to you, and offer him there for a burnt-offering.” One thing contradicts the other: on the one hand, you are ordered to kill him, and on the other hand, he must be the continuation of your path.

How is this possible? We do not understand this with our mind, and we must acquire the mind of the upper. If we exert in keeping these principles, we attract the reforming light, which builds a new reality for us. In this new space that we are revealing, which is called the middle line, these two opposite lines can coexist together, as one whole, completing each other.

It is very difficult, almost impossible to perceive. There must be a society and the reforming light from above that will connect the two lines together to the middle line. The middle line is the Creator. The revelation of the Creator, or the connection of two opposite lines, gradually leads us to the purpose of creation, to the end of correction. Step by step these opposites grow and connect more and more. This is our entire work.

We have already made enough preparation over many years and have gathered many people that are capable of making this step. The rest will become capable of it by clinging to those who have already gone through the correct preparation. It is like in our world, children born today in the 21st century join all the progress achieved before and go ahead of all past generations because they clung to their parents and received from them all that they have.

It is so also in a Kabbalistic group, no matter who is more or less advanced. If everyone tries to achieve the goal according to all one’s strength and preparation, he or she will achieve it.

I hope you have a serious attitude to this topic, because in the wisdom of Kabbalah, in spiritual work, in the attainment of the Creator, the upper reality and the perfection of nature, there is nothing more important than this principle of the connection of two lines. This combination of opposites is the spiritual space that is revealed to a person. When he enters it, he begins to feel the next world. There is no doubt that by working together we can advance and achieve all this, drawing everyone to this degree, that is, to the beginning of the true spiritual ladder.

From this moment onward, we always continue in three lines, in faith above reason. Then the entire Torah and the entire world become clear to us. All of reality begins to gain perspective, dividing into three lines and revealing their interaction. After all, now we do not know where the plus and minus come from and where they lead us. Yet, if we know how to correctly tie the opposites above our world and our earthly mind with the spiritual senses and mind, we achieve unlimited revelation, understand how the Creator is operating, what He does, and what we need to do to become like Him, becoming “like God, knowing good and evil.”¹
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 12/23/19, “Two Opposites in One Subject”

¹ Minute 0:20

Related Material:
New Life #751 – Connecting Opposites
A Struggle Between Opposites Or Harmony Between Them?
Harmony Of Opposites In Nature

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

Love Thy Neighbor

Question: The purpose of creation is to become like the general power of nature, the Creator, in terms of properties. His property is to bestow.

Baal HaSulam writes in his article “Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings” that one cannot just jump over and acquire the property of the Creator because one can deceive oneself.

To make sure that I indeed achieve this property, an image of our world was created with all kinds of creations: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and most importantly, human. I must correct my attitude toward people.

Therefore, as it is written in all the original sources, the basic law is “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” What does it mean? Everyone understands this in their own way.

Answer: “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is the goal that a person must achieve if one works on one’s correction. This goal is a very distant one, but in the beginning there are other preliminary stages of correction.

“Love thy neighbor as thyself” means that just as today I love myself and I instinctively, consciously, and subconsciously put myself at the head of the whole world and only through myself do I perceive this world, and only from myself onward do I look at the world, and only for my dear own self do I work and do everything, so I must change myself for the whole world, work for the improvement of the world only, and only feel pain for it as if it were my beloved little child.
[256811]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/7/19

Related Material:
The Method Of Correction, Part 2
The Method Of Correction, Part 1
The Soul Is the Property of Bestowal, and Without It We Are Animals

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Lectures - No Comments →