Entries in the 'Kabbalah Study' Category

What Is The Stretching Of Time?

laitman_537Question: In the articles of Rabash it is written that the stretching of time along the spiritual root is related to the Klipot (impure forces). What is the stretching of time?

Answer: Actually, time does not exist. Everything that we are doing in the present moment is preprogrammed and already known.

Moreover, just as there is movement in a straight line from past to future, there is also movement in the reverse direction from future to past.

In principle, we can change the past from the future, just as in our world we are used to changing the future from the past. These are interconnected and interchangeable processes flowing in both directions.

In physics, for example, if we choose to measure either the electron or the wave, then by this choice we predetermine if it is as an electron or a wave.

In other words, I choose a measurement instrument now, and what I am planning to study already knows, from the past, what I am thinking and rearranges itself. And then I measure it either as a wave or as a discrete particle. But in Kabbalah, this happens in action.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 7/9/17

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The Correct View Of The World

laitman_934Remark: In Kabbalah courses there is a section about the history of Kabbalah, which examines how the first Kabbalist Adam emerged, how he was followed by 20 generations until Abraham, what Abraham contributed to the development of Kabbalah, etc.

One way or another, we cannot get away from the fact that there is a timeline, eras, a certain sequence in transferring of the method. Anyhow, we appeal to world history.

Answer: The point is that no one, not even scientists, can explain all of Einstein’s physical experiments with time flowing backward. Scientists are faced with concepts that imply that time does not exist or flows backward, that space does not exist, etc.

Yet, we are in a more advantageous position relative to everyone else because we can offer people the practice of Kabbalah: to begin to expand your consciousness by including yourself in a ten, and then you will feel that the world is folded inside yourself many times over.

With your complex consciousness, you will be able to find the right view of the world. You will see that this world is inside you. Outside, there is only an imaginary field, a world of illusion. As a matter of fact, it does not exist. Everything exists only within a desire. Everything happens only in Malchut.

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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/16/17

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Kabbalah Lessons, Part 2

laitman_530Question: What exactly does one study in the Kabbalah lessons in order to reach the revelation of the upper world, the network of forces acting on us?

Answer: In essence, it is one force that is divided into many forces that are opposite to each other. We need to awaken its revelation through the study that is conducted in a group of ten people who are building increasingly friendly relationships between themselves. For this purpose, the preparation before the lesson is conducted.

Through our connection and penetration into the study material, we intend not just to learn what is written in the book, but to receive from it a special inspiration, a special force that will connect us even more strongly. As a result, we begin to reveal the network of forces acting on us and we understand that it does not exist somewhere outside, but between us.

The general force of connection called the Creator is manifested within our connection with each other, as it is written: “You shall see your world in your lifetime.” Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to the creatures in this world.

All this we achieve through connection in the ten, which is a means of achieving the purpose of creation. The first stage is to reach the love of the creatures, and this is exactly what is being realized in the ten. Then, from the love of the creatures we come to the love of the Creator, the general force governing the system of nature.

Question: So, what is the central subject of the study?

Answer: In the Kabbalah lessons, we study the very same network that connects us with each other that is called the system of the upper worlds. ”Olam – world” comes from the word “Alama – concealment”, that is, a concealed system.

Gradually, we begin to reveal it. Inside these worlds, this network of forces, we discover the connection that exists between us in the ten. This connection is called our soul, or Shechina, in which the Creator (Shochen) is revealed.

Question: Is the purpose of studying Kabbalah to feel the concealed reality or to understand it?

Answer: The purpose of studying is to feel the upper reality. Once we begin to feel it, we must understand it based on the sensation.

Question: What exactly do we want to feel?

Answer: We want to feel a special mutual connection between us that is constantly growing in quality until it reaches the degree of love. Inside this connection we begin to reveal a special force acting in it, which is called the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/20/17

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Kabbalah Lessons, Part 1

226Question: Why in studying Kabbalah is such great importance given to the lessons?

Answer: The study of Kabbalah is intended not for receiving knowledge like when studying other sciences and professions. Kabbalah assumes a completely different approach to study: the goal is not to learn the material, but to change a person’s nature.

The most important thing is to lead a person to such changes that will allow him to reveal the upper force and to see the upper world. Through the correct study in the Kabbalistic group, even in this life, he will reveal the force that elevates him to the new degree of consciousness, perception, and revelation, which is above this world.

Therefore, in Kabbalah it is not an academic approach to study with students just memorizing texts. Even if we wanted to study them theoretically, we still would not be able to do so.

After all, the Kabbalistic texts describe phenomena and actions that take place on a completely different level, not accessible to the attainment of a regular person. This is something that is not clear to us, not understandable, not revealed, and does not appear before our eyes in this world.

It is about the system that controls us, about the network of spiritual forces, that is, about two opposite forces of reception and bestowal that drive us. We need to study how this network operates, how it influences us, and how we must react to this influence.

If from our current state in this world we make efforts in order to react to this influence in a special way, then the upper system begins to gradually change us and oblige us to become similar to it.

This is the desired result of the study. The study widens our consciousness to such an extent that we see not just the material world, but the network of forces affecting the entire reality, this world, people, and everything in general. We begin to distinguish these forces, justify them, and connect with them. We can affect them and change our fate in this way.

Eventually, we correct ourselves to such an extent that we fully reveal the entire universe, the entire network of forces called the upper, next, hidden world, or the Creator. The study of the wisdom of Kabbalah should bring us to such results as it is written: “You shall see your world in your lifetime.”

The entire hidden network of forces controlling us is called the Creator. Therefore, according to the definition, Kabbalah is the methodology of revealing the Creator to a person in this world. During the time when a person still lives in this world, in his biological body, he must fully reveal the upper force, the upper system of governance.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/20/17

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Desire: The Engine of History

laitman_278.01Question: Having read your book The Destinies of Humanity, (Судьбы человечества) written with co-author V. Hachaturyan, I gasped with delight: How clearly you laid out the forces in the development of world history! But to this day, my friends don’t believe that history is propelled by individual desire. How can I explain this to them?

Answer: There are two forces in creation: the Light and its opposite, desire. Light is the force of bestowal, love, and fulfillment. The opposing substance is the desire to receive.

Aside from these two constituents, nothing else exists! Everything else comes from the juxtaposition of these two forces and exists between them: the world, world history, anything you can name.

No matter what we construct or create, it all consists of two opposing forces: electron and positron, plus and minus, north and south, etc. These two forces exist within everything that is created, depending on what level and to what degree they interact with each other. The correct use of both forces, in principle, brings comfort, health, etc.

The Creator is called the force of bestowal, the created being is the force of reception. An individual consists of both forces. Moreover, the force of the Creator acts as enlivening force because the desire to receive (created being) is completely dead, as ash, devoid of any signs of life. But, gradually, as the quality of bestowal enters it, everything then comes into existence from him. This is exactly how the universe, and everything within it, came into being.

Kabbalah investigates both forces on all levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human. Higher than the level “human,” that is, the spiritual human, nothing exists. When you begin to enter the material and feel the interaction of both forces, you discover absolutely all possibilities of attainment: you see where everything comes from and world history is then understood.

In everything, Kabbalists see all possible combinations of both forces. Any form, any appearance, all forces of nature exist as one against the other. There is no force that acts on its own, there is always something opposing it. Not one force manifests as purely positive or only negative; this cannot be! They do not exist outside of their interaction with each other because otherwise, we would not sense them; they would not manifest. The desire to receive exists only because it is brought to life by the Creator’s desire to give, fulfill, satiate.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/16/17

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Earthly Sciences And Freedom Of Choice

laitman_538Question: Is it possible to prove to a person that he is a slave to his own illusions?

Answer: If a person is in his illusions, he should not be touched. It is not that it is impossible to prove anything to him—it is not allowed! You should not go to a person and say: “You are a slave; you are a prisoner.”

He feels good. You have no right to upset him. However, if he comes to you and says: “I can’t take it anymore. I can’t breathe…,” then it is a different story.

Question: If it were possible to bring a course on the freedom of choice to schools or universities, would it be possible to prove this to students by showing them various scientific studies?

Answer: Only in a very limited way, depending on the level of development of the society, but not more: do not pull a person out of the state he is in.

The science of Kabbalah speaks about a person’s life in this world, how he is controlled by desires that are constantly evolving, etc. From this perspective you can explain everything. It is completely rational, realistic, correct, scientific, and here, there can be absolutely no contradictions or objections from the scientific or ordinary societies.

But as soon as you start talking about having to rise above egoism, problems start to arise. What does it mean: above egoism? As if it is in control of me? I do not see that it is; I do not feel that it is. And if it is in control and, at the same time, it also happens to be our nature apart from which nothing else exists, then how can I detach from it?

Remark: Several years ago, scientists conducted an experiment. They connected electrodes to a participant’s brain and asked questions that the subject had to respond to with a “yes” or “no” by pressing a corresponding button. It was shown that the response was formulated in the brain five to six seconds before it reached the person’s consciousness and he was able to press the button.

Answer: Naturally. An impulse and a command appear in the brain and only after that does the finger press the button through strictly mechanical control. The device used in the study was able to measure when the impulse appeared in the brain.

Question: That means that the desire appears within me five to six seconds prior to my even knowing about it. This proves that the individual has no freedom of choice. Is it worth investing in such research just to prove to people that decisions are made for them?

Answer: No one is making decisions! This occurs naturally in our body. You want to say that higher order signals are transmitted to an individual’s brain, which then develop within him, and then he carries them out? That is true. So what? All this is in nature!

Question: But this type of research could push humanity to the awareness that there is no freedom of choice and to the search for this freedom. Or not? You are a person of science; you don’t think that science will come to reveal the truth about the freedom of choice?

Answer: Science cannot prove this. It already hit a wall and is now in a state of crisis. Scientists themselves acknowledge this.
After all, science can only use what the egoistic individual who created this science possesses. And no more. Science exists only within the framework of human knowledge, within the framework of human nature.

Scientists simply calculate algorithms of their own egoistic tendencies, which they then apply to the world around them. Nothing more.

If we had a different nature, we would have different sciences. And physics and even mathematics would be different. We would see the world differently. In physics, chemistry, and biology there is nothing objective. It is all only relative to the individual.

Why was Einstein’s theory so revolutionary? Because he said that everything depends on the observer. And where is this observer? First, let us bring him to its original state, and then, from this state, we will see what actually exists in this world. After all, the initial state is a rise above egoism to the zero level.

This is the restriction (Tzimtzum) from which, according to Kabbalah, we begin our study of the world.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

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Letters – Forms of Interaction Of Two Forces

laitman_251Question: What is the principle of the name HaVaYaH—the four-letter name of the Creator?

Answer: Kabbalah came to us from Adam—a man who lived 5,777 years ago. He was the first to disclose and describe this science of the upper world, about the governing system of the whole universe and us.

It has been developing since then. “Kabbalah” in Hebrew means “to receive.” After Adam, a whole school emerged whose representatives called themselves Kabbalists, that is, those who “received” the higher knowledge about the governing system of our world.

Adam revealed that two forces operate the world: the negative and the positive. They are opposite to each other but work in harmony with each other and form all kinds of connections and interactions. One of them is the quality to bestow (1); the second is the quality to receive (2).

A horizontal line denotes the quality of bestowal, and the vertical line is the quality of receiving. In addition to them, there is a point (3), which signifies the beginning of creation. The whole universe consists of these three elements.

With their help, you can express any combination of forces, the state of any element of creation. Therefore, when we say that the upper Light acts, we mean that it acts upon the point.

The impact of the upper Light from Keter, which is still without any form, on the desire (the red dot) leads to the emergence of the initial point of the letter “Yod,” which then grows into a special tail denoting the further spreading of Light. That is, from the point (the quality of Keter) the letter “Yod “(the quality of Hochma) is acquired.

Continuing to evolve, the Light turns into a very interesting system, called “Hey”—a special letter or sign. It is how a special property—Bina appears, which changes to be similar to Keter. This, in fact, is the desire to receive, which while in Keter is just a point and must acquire the form of the letter “Hey” to become like Keter.

Further distribution of the letter “Hey” forms the letter “Vav” (Zeir Anpin), and the second letter “Hey” (Malchut).

Thus, Adam revealed that the governance of the entire system of the universe occurs through combinations of two forces and they are graphically depicted.

He derived forms of interaction between the force of bestowal, the force of receiving, and the point, and discovered only 22 forms of interaction in nature, the so-called “22 letters” plus five final letters that denote the endings of all influences. These comprise theHebrew alphabet.

The alphabet is an image of all possible combinations of two forces that exist in the universe.

Today, science reveals that this is the very first alphabet in the world. It came to us from the first man. And by the first, it doesn’t mean the first person on Earth, but the first one who revealed the upper system of governance. Therefore, he is called, Adam.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/5/17

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World History In The Light Of Kabbalah, Part 2

laitman_533.01Question: If we remove all of the lies from history, it will not mean that we will be left with the truth; in fact, we may end up with nothing at all. They say that history is written by the conquerors. Is that so? If we studied the history of those who were defeated, would it look completely different?

Answer: The fact of the matter is that there is no history. There is a fixed state in the beginning of creation called Malchut of the world of infinity, which contains the initial substance of all of creation. All the worlds and everything inhabiting them exists in Malchut of the world of infinity.

Kabbalah studies the four phases of the expansion of the direct Light. Everything starts with the Light or the Creator. The Light is called the Creator because it creates or begets. This physical substance it the quality of bestowal.

The Light, expanding from above downward, builds a desire that matches it; this is the first phase. It then evolves into the second, then third, and finally, the fourth phase, called Malchut. This completes the expansion of the four phases of direct Light.

All the rest takes place inside Malchut, which is an enormous will to receive.

Malchut, perceiving itself distant from the Light and opposite to it, does not agree to remain in this state and performs a restriction. After that, it decides that it necessarily has to be equivalent to the Light, meaning to perform certain transactions with it. That is how it gradually grows closer to the Light.

The most important thing about Malchut’s development is to build a state called “world” out of itself—and this does not mean our world, within which it builds creation, say, man. Let’s call him Adam.

The problem that Malchut wants to solve is: How does it juxtapose Adam with the world in a way where his entire volume (the yellow in the image) will be filled by the upper Light?

This is implemented by people who in our world try to become similar to the Light. They create a common desire that is similar to the Creator and reach the state of the full correction, called Gmar Tikkun.

This comprises all of human history.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/16/17

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World History In The Light Of Kabbalah, Part 1

laitman_229Question: How, according to which laws, does world history unfold? Is it cyclic? Does it repeat in every generation?

Answer: This is a complex question, not because it is related to history or geography, but because it is related to our perception of reality.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, there are two basic forces in the universe: the will to bestow or the positive upper force, the Creator, and the will to receive—the lower negative force, the creation. Both desires, interacting with one another, determine practically all of history.

Since their initial parameters and final states are set, we can describe all of these stages of the will to receive (creation) under the influence of the will to bestow (the Creator) in advance. In principle, there can’t be any surprises here.

The first part of the development of history happens completely under the influence of the upper Light, meaning the force of the Creator. In this process, creation feels the pressure of the Light and, being fully in its power, transforms under its influence, going through specific phases of development, the same ones that an embryo undergoes in its mother’s womb for nine months. This is why we understand absolutely everything that is happening.

Because only one factor operates here, the upper Light, we know in advance which stages we will go through and how.

In principle, this is how humanity developed. And this program of creation presupposes a person’s reaction to the influence from above: the extent to which he can advance contrary to his egoism, on the side of the upper Light, the quality of bestowal, love and connection; or he does not desire this, cannot do it, does not understand how to act, and by that he seemingly opposes the Light’s influence.

And if he opposes it, then he naturally feels different. Then history includes greater forces of resistance on the part of creation and greater coercive forces on the part of the Light, the Creator. However, in general, the development of history is strictly regulated from the beginning.

Today we have reached a very interesting stage of development where we can acquire a certain freedom of will, allowing us to change our history and change the speed and type of our development.

In any case, we will develop according to strictly delineated, pre-set degrees. We will either go through them consciously, with understanding and participation, in which case the development will be favorable, voluntary, and welcomed by us. We will see it as good development from our perspective and the Creator’s. Or we will resist it like small stubborn children, not wishing to implement the program of creation.

That is, either it is unknown to us, as is the case for most of humanity, or we are familiar with it, like people who study Kabbalah and are obligated to know it, as those who have already gone through these states thousands of years ago. We have to try to correct our path, making it more conscious and good for us, but most importantly—for others.

Thus, all of world history was written from the beginning. This is why philosophers and scientists, when beginning to examine history, man’s behavior, the present, past, and future, are stumped when trying to answer the questions: Can time proceed backwards? Is everything predetermined? Where is our freedom of will? How does an elementary particle choose the form in which to continue its development—as a particle or wave, meaning light?

Physicists say that everything depends on the person performing the experiment. When he sets up the device to measure the elementary particle either as a wave or a particle, the particle knows about it in advance and behaves in accordance with the chosen device. It’s as if the present determines the past, meaning time that proceeds backwards. This is what physicists assert.

Kabbalah speaks about this much more simply. In principle, it does not relate to the concept of time because there is no time; we realize that which exists in the world of infinity in its final form. But since all of our states are set in advance, there are no surprises here—there is no present, past, or future, as if someone is playing a movie for us and we see its separate shots.

Everything has already been recorded on the film in advance, and we are only viewing it. This is our life. It is being played inside of us, but practically, we can say that it is being played in front of us.

We are the direct participants of this viewing, which is predetermined in advance, and we know everything that will happen and what we will do, except one thing—by being in the group and attracting the upper, positive force upon us, we can elicit changes.

However, we can’t change history itself or the course of events, but only our attitude to it, and then it will look completely different. That is because our attitude to it determines what we will see on those shots: war or peace, good or evil. We determine everything.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/16/17

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Kabbalah Is The Method Of Revealing The Creator

laitman_563Question: Who called the wisdom we are studying “Kabbalah”? Does this name refer to the time of the writing of The Book of Zohar?

Answer: The word “Kabbalah” first appeared in the book of Abraham. It means “receiving,” because the most important quality of the created matter is reception. Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah means a special quality of receiving the revelation of the Creator.

Question: Does it mean that such terms as “the science of Kabbalah” or “the wisdom of Kabbalah” were already known in the time of the First Temple?

Answer: Long before that, about 1,500 years before the construction of the First Temple. And whether before that, I cannot say.

In addition, a lot of books from Adam to Abraham were lost. We just do not need them and so they gradually disappeared. We do not know the books written by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob except The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah) of Abraham. Rambam mentions that Abraham wrote many books; however, we do not know where they are.

Question: Is Kabbalah a method or a book?

Answer: Kabbalah is the method of the revelation of the Creator. The Torah (from the word “Ohr – Light)” is the knowledge about the upper Light. And the rest: the Mishnah, the Talmud, and other holy writings are an addition to it, commentaries and so on. The Book of Zohar is also a commentary on the Torah.

All of it together is called the Torah, that is, the instruction for revealing the upper Light.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 6/4/17

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