Entries in the 'Religion' Category

Religion Is Just A Cultural Framework In Our World


A question I received: As a student of Kabbalah, I am finding myself questioning my religion (Christianity), but my faith in God is ever increasing. I want to keep a religious life but find myself with an urge (a pull) to convert to Judaism. This is a serious matter when looking at it from a Christian viewpoint. Your thoughts, please.

My Answer: The attainment of the goal of creation bears no relation to religion. Religions are no more than the cultural framework of a certain society. In this sense, they can continue to exist, but everything that’s above them can only be attained through the method of Kabbalah. This is true for any person, religious or not.

People usually abandon religion when they begin to attain Nature, the Creator. But later, once they see that religion is no more than a framework in our world, like a social club, they become ready to physically observe their religion.

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Article: The Difference between the Science of Kabbalah and Religion

The True Origin Of Religions


Two questions I received on how religions emerged from Kabbalah:

Question: Where is the proof that all the religions developed from Kabbalah? Are there any sources confirming this, other than Kabbalistic ones?

My Answer: This is a historical fact – read any of the books comprising the Torah, The Book of Zohar, and so on. Religions emerged 2000 years ago, as a consequence of the Jews’ descent from the level of Kabbalah – the level of bestowal and love. Their fall from that level led to the destruction of the Temple and the emergence of the Jewish religion, which came to replace knowledge, attainment, a perception of the Creator and a connection with Him.

Instead, in religion, people believe in something without actually perceiving the things they believe in. Because of this, other interpretations of the same religion later emerged – since no one sees anything clearly and people just presume things! This is how the other religions came about, although they describe themselves as new religions or new revelations.

However, before all of this began, the Jews perceived the One Governing Force of Nature – the Creator. This is what they described in all their holy books, such as the Mishna, the Talmud, The Book of Zohar, the Tanakh, and others.

Question: In one of your articles, you wrote that after the Jews were exiled from Israel, Christianity, brought there by Greeks and Romans, became dominant in the whole world. You also emphasized that they are not religions. If they are not religions, what are they?

My Answer: I don’t think you understood my article correctly. The three main religions – Judaism, Christinity, and Islam – are, in fact, religions. However, Christianity did not emerge from Romans or Greeks. It emerged in Israel, among the Jews, after the destruction of the Temple, and was later dispersed throughout the world.

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Kabbalah Today Article: Who Are You, People of Israel?

Religion Is A Harbor For People In Times Of Crisis


In the News (from Gallup): “Religion Provides Emotional Boost to World’s Poor” Gallup Polls in 143 countries reveal that among countries where average annual incomes are $2,000 or less, 92% of residents say religion is an important part of their daily lives, [whereas] among the richest countries surveyed ($25,000/yr or more) – that figure drops to 44%.

Societies naturally grow more secular as they modernize; religion is in fact a powerful positive force for disadvantaged populations – a literal form of “social security” – in times of crisis.

My Comment: The time of enlightenment isn’t here just yet. Kabbalah will enable humanity to reveal all of creation – this world and the Upper World together, and then the age of unfounded faith will be replaced with the age of Knowledge, as it is written, “And all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest.”

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Laitman.com Post: Who Believes In God?
Laitman.com Post: Why Religion Is Against Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: There Are No Fiery Ovens or Scorching Rods in Purgatory

The UN’s “Anti-Defamation” Plan Is In Line With The Book Of Zohar


In the News (from WorldNetDaily): ”U.N. to make ban on criticizing Islam mandatory?” Muslim-dominated nations at the United Nations are once again pushing a religious “anti-defamation” plan that would bar worldwide, all criticism of their founder Muhammad and his teaching.

“The U.N. now wants to make that anti-blasphemy resolution, making it a crime to criticize religion, in particular, Islam,” reports CNN’s Lou Dobbs.

My Comment: It says in The Book of Zohar that during the times when Kabbalah – the method to revive the world – will be revealed, the Muslims will rise and desire to conquer the entire world.

Announcement: Our materials are now available in Arabic. You can also contact us at [email protected]

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Inquisition In The 21st Century?


In the News (from AFP): “Afghan editor arrested for alleged blasphemy” An Afghan news editor has been arrested for publishing a newspaper article rejecting that religions, including Islam, were passed to humans through divine revelations. If found guilty under Afghanistan’s law, he could face a sentence ranging from a reprimand to the death penalty.

My Comment: All religions are the same in that they are intolerant of anyone who repudiates them. After all, religion is founded upon stories and interpretations about things that ordinary people have never seen and have to believe in. And the belief is not really in God, but in the people who tell them about Him, in the way they describe Him and the conclusions they make. This is how all the religions emerged. Therefore, if we let religion be our authority, we’ll end up with laws similar to those in Afghanistan practiced everywhere.

Religions would have liked to dictate their rules to the society for all time, and the only reason this ended was that egoism developed and the public was given a new, scientific education. As a result, today religions and their rules are there to supplement the laws of the state and the society.

This is why the religions are so afraid of Kabbalah – because Kabbalah reveals the Creator to people, leaving no room for religious speculation about a divine reward and punishment for man’s actions, which is done to intimidate the masses and extort things from them.

However, religion is still in power in some places in the world, and there we can see the true essence of religion.

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What Americans Really Think About God


In the News (translated from Washprofile): What Americans really think about God and religion:

42% – God is male

1% – God is female

38% – God is neither male nor female

9% – God has arms, legs, a head, and other human body parts

48% – God has a body, but not necessarily a human body

27% – God does not have a body

29% – God has full control over everything

50% – God closely observes everything, but does not intervene

6% – God pays no attention to what is happening on Earth

53% – Christians, Muslims, and Jews believe in the same God, but pray differently

42% – The Bible is the actual words of God

37% – The Bible is affiliated to God, but should not be taken literally

14% – The Bible was written by people

56% of US residents are Protestant, 28% are Catholic, 2% are Jews, and 1% are Muslims. 3% practice Hinduism, Buddhism, the Baha’i faith, and other religions. One out of ten is atheist.

My Comment: People’s relationship with God is no better off in other nations. Humanity has to undergo many more changes to begin to feel (or reveal) the Creator as He had planned. However, Kabbalah enables people to reveal Him quickly by changing under His influence. Then everything will become clear as day and all of our preconceptions about God will disappear.

We have made great progress in revealing the physical world, which is open to our perception. But we have made no progress regarding that which is concealed from us. When modern scientists, politicians, or businessmen talk about God, it’s clear that they are no different from Neanderthals who used to worship images, spirits, and the signs of the zodiac.

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Laitman.com Post: The Creator Does Not Have Arms or Legs
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The Kabbalah Experience: Chapter 11 – “Concepts In Kabbalah”

New Study Says We Are Born Believers


In the News (from New Scientist): “Born believers: How your brain creates God” An experiment published in Science supports the idea that religion is a natural consequence of how our brains work. …Humans can anticipate future events, including their own death. “You’ve got to figure out a solution, otherwise you’re overwhelmed,” says anthropologist Scott Atran of the University of Michigan. When natural brain processes give us a get-out-of-jail card [religious faith], we take it.

My Comment: All the belief systems in the world (over 3800 of them) were invented by people. However, the three main religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – originated from Kabbalah, when the people of Israel fell from the spiritual level (the sensation of the Creator through the quality of bestowal and love) to the level of our world (where the Creator is concealed because of people’s unfounded hatred to each other). Because people lost their perception of the Creator, the Temple became destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land, which happened 2000 years ago.

When the Creator became concealed, so did Kabbalah, and people’s perception and understanding of the Creator was replaced by faith in Him. That is when Kabbalah was replaced by religion – Judaism. And later on, two more religions or branches originated from Judaism: Christianity and Islam.

In our times, people will once again begin to feel the Creator by attaining the quality of bestowal and love. Therefore, all the belief systems and religions will disappear, as it is written, “For they will all know Me, from the smallest of them to the greatest” (Yirmiyahu 31:33). The beliefs and religions will remain only as traditions.

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Laitman.com Post: In the Modern Era, the Psychological Support of Religion Is No Longer Enough
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Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

Why Religion Is Against Kabbalah


In the News (translated from Elementy): Research done on followers of the six major religions shows that people who regularly attend services are more prone to religious fanaticism and hatred for followers of other faiths, and are more likely to justify suicide bombers.

Collective worship is a powerful way to strengthen people’s devotion to “their own kind” and hatred for “outsiders.” The phenomenon of suicide bombers is an extreme form of parochial altruism: people sacrifice themselves for the sake of “benefiting their own kind” (altruism), and their attempts to annihilate the outsiders (parochialism) are seen as “good deeds.”

My Comment: Religion is opposite to Kabbalah in every way (there is a verse that says, “The opinion of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the egoists.”) Kabbalah directs everyone to attain love for all people. It explains that everyone is “of the same kind” – we are all cells of one body.

Religion, on the other hand, generates hatred for “outsiders,” even to the point of self-sacrifice, which is done for the sake of killing those who are not “of your kind.” This is why religion will disappear when people will reveal the quality of “love for one’s neighbor.” Religions will then be reduced to folk culture or popular tradition.

In other words, religion will let go of all the aspects that regard the Creator, the Upper World, the after-life, and reward and punishment. This will happen because the revelation of the Creator will expose religion’s emptiness and lies about these questions.

This explains religion’s strong hatred of Kabbalah. However, Kabbalah tells people that they can keep their religion as their tradition, and in addition, supplement it with the revelation of the Creator. Still, the religious leaders will then lose their main bargain chip, “reward in the afterlife,” and will become leaders of folk culture and popular tradition.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Do the Traditionalists Speak Against Me?
Laitman.com Post: Religion Is a Cultural Tradition, Kabbalah Is the Method of Correction
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Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

Why Do Kabbalists Wear The “Jewish Hats”?


A question I received: I want to know why the Kabbalists wear “Jewish hats.” People around me believe that Kabbalists are “ordinary Jews” and follow the Judaism that says to serve God their whole life until they die and go to heaven, because they wear those hats and speak of the Torah. I try to tell them that I’m sure that’s not “the kind of Jews” that Kabbalists are.

What is the difference between “ordinary religious Jews” and “Kabbalist Jews,” and why do you call yourselves Jews if you know that that is going to confuse the whole world into believing that you are religious, though you are not?

My Answer: You’re right: Kabbalah has no relation to religion or to Judaism, and this is obvious from the way the religious Jews react to it. However, if there’s a Kabbalist who doesn’t come from Judaism, no one will take him seriously because Kabbalah was kept inside Judaism for millennia, despite the fact that ordinary believers did not know about it and did not study it. It was passed down through the generations from teacher to student, known to a few individuals in every generation.

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Laitman.com Post: Religion Is a Cultural Tradition, Kabbalah Is the Method of Correction
Laitman.com Post: The Difference Between Spiritual Correction and Ritual Observance
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

“There’s Probably No God,” A New British Advertising Campaign Says


In the News (from BBC News): “An atheist advertising campaign has been launched on buses across Britain” The campaign backers were exasperated at the excessive religious advertisement. The promotion carries the slogan “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

My Comment: There was a time when religion lulled the people, giving them psychological fulfillment, security, and hope. But for many centuries now, religion has exploited people instead of protecting them. The bureaucratic apparatus that it has created exceeds even that of the state.

The desire to rule over the minds of the congregation defines today’s religion, which is a political force. It does not matter whether there’s a God or not. Being free from the pressure of the psychological religious brainwashing is already a path to inner peace.

Kabbalah says that there is no world to come (or a world “beyond the grave,” waiting for us after our bodies die). There is only what we reveal in this world. If you attained or revealed more than the five bodily senses, then you will keep this perception even after your body dies along with its five senses. This perception will remain with you forever because bestowal and love are above egoism, and they raise a person above time, space, and change (motion).

The stages of one’s attainment of the universe are:

  • Olam HaZeh – “This world,” which is perceived inside egoism, also called the level of Malchut;
  • Olam HaBah – “The world to come,” in Kabbalah known as the level of Abba ve Ima of the World of Atzilut.” A Kabbalist ascends to this level during his life. And if a person doesn’t attain this level, then he has to be born again.
  • L’Atid Lavo – “Coming in the future,” the level of “Arich Anpin of the World of Atzilut.” It also has to be attained during this life.
  • Gmar Tikkun – “The End of Correction” (of egoism). It is when a person attains “the World of Infinity,” where everything is infinitely corrected.

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Laitman.com Post: Is Atheism Compatible With Kabbalah?
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“Attaining the Unity of the Universe,” Lessons 07.07.04 – 07.13.04