Three questions I received on requesting from the Creator

Question: Does one pray to G-d or to the Creator? You have said that it’s written that the Creator hears no prayer other than to be able to bestow, because He is the quality of bestowal and this is the only thing you can ask of Him. And what about the “kibbutsnikim” in the Negev?

My Answer: Back then the desires of the “kibbutsnikim” and the Creator were the same. But in general, the Creator hears everything and everyone, but He reacts only to that which leads to the goal, to Him, to adhesion with Him. And He definitely hears and reacts to one’s requests for correction, for equivalence with Him. The Creator is a system of forces surrounding us. The Creator (Elokim) = Nature (HaTeva). We need to understand that He does not change His goal and action – at every single moment, everything is directed at reacting to our actions, in order to influence each and every person in such a way that they will be directed precisely toward the goal. This is how the Creator – this system of forces – reacts to our desires, thoughts, and actions. This is why Kabbalah says that He does not change. In other words, He does not change His influence on us, which directs us precisely to the goal.

Question: About the “kibbutsnikim” who asked for rain: How is it possible that they received something just by asking for it? I’ve asked for things a thousand times, and the most I received was a reason to regret the fact that I asked.

My Answer: Their requests did not contradict the Creator’s plans to have people settle in these lands. They were (egoistically) united with each other as one whole. They asked for the necessity and gave it everything they had. And it worked temporarily. But when they lost the desire to be united, they became opposite to the system of governing forces, and the Upper Forces evoked their disintegration.

Question: As I understand, a prayer is a person’s deepest and most real desire. So why is there is a custom to pray at certain times rather than when one feels like it? After all, one receives a response only to a real prayer. And what does prayer give a person, in principle?

My Answer: Religion does not deal with correcting the soul – changing one’s intention from “for the sake of oneself” to “for the sake of others and the Creator” in all of one’s actions, but rather it only trains one to make physical actions – the commandments of our world. Therefore, in religion to pray is to read at specific times something that was written for you by other people (by the sages of the Great Assembly, 2,000 years ago). One does not receive a response to such actions, and we see that religious people do not become corrected, but vice versa – as time goes by, their moral descent is becoming more and more apparent. However, such mechanical actions hold people within certain boundaries, and as such, during the period of the Creator’s concealment (from 0 until the 20th century), the religions had the role of providing life’s boundaries. This was established by Kabbalists, to last until our time, when “the point in the heart” surfaces in people and they begin the path of individual spiritual development.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: A Prayer
Article: The Difference Between Kabbalah and Religion
Chapter 7.1 from the Book The Path of Kabbalah: Prayer
Baal HaSulam Article: There Is None Else Beside Him

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A question I received: You say that Kabbalah is a science. That’s fair. The two forces of nature, bestowal and receiving. All of nature is nothing but bestowal, and man is the only element in nature that disrupts the balance, he creates disbalance, and this is why we suffer.

Everything is fine until we get to this point. But finally, when we get to the point where we need to fix the balance, you say: Ohr Makif. Hmm… Some light comes out of nowhere and corrects me. And what confuses me the most is that this light comes from a book. Could you please explain or define what “light” is in a practical and clear manner? I thought that Kabbalah was a science about forces, nature, desires, etc. In my perception Upper Light is not a scientific term and directly refers to something esoteric. Maybe you could make this notion more reasonable and comprehensible? What is this force that corrects us? Is this the force of bestowal? Then why is it called Ohr Makif? How can this “light” able to help prevent suffering on our path of development? Is it in any way related to the corporeal light?

My Answer: If I were you with your love for sciences, I would study “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (Pticha) or maybe I would even start studying Talmud Eser Sefirot! These texts explain several spiritual notions in a scientific language: 1. desire, 2. correction of intention from “for one’s own sake” to “for the sake of the Creator,” 3. fulfillment by the Light, pleasure, the Creator, to the extent of the corrected intention. There is nothing else in Kabbalah.

Ohr Makif is a force that influences us from a more corrected state, which we aspire toward. It responds to your aspiration in the following way: it pulls you to a higher, more altruistic state to the same extent you aspire for it. This is an interaction of two vectors of desires. The same mutual influence of forces also exists in our world, when a person aspires for any new thing. The difference is that when it comes to spiritual aspiration, this force that pulls you to a new state is referred to as Light, because it doesn’t just pull you through its influence upon you, but it also changes you, making you become like the new state, one that is spiritual and altruistic. The difference between this force of Light, and the force that pulls you toward a new state in our world is that, the force in our world doesn’t need to change you to pull you to something. Check it out for yourself to eliminate any doubts.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Physics of the Upper Light
Laitman.com Post: Will God Want to Repeat the Act of Creation?
Laitman.com Post: The Irrationality of Kabbalah

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Two questions I received on whether it is the Creator who is in control, or the person

Question: What comes first? My desire to advance along the path towards the goal, the understanding that everything happens for the sake of correction, without feeling the Creator and His intention to correct creation, or does one first gain the understanding that the Creator does everything in order to do benefit us through different means, and we want to fulfill His desire?

My Answer: This contradiction, “Who comes first?” or “Who governs?” will always remain with you, until the very end of correction. Who determines your thoughts, feelings, and actions – you or the Creator? This contradiction will disappear only once you merge with Him into one whole!

Question: I’m willing to accept the idea that I have to correct myself, but it’s difficult for me to accept the idea that everything is done by the Creator. When I experience a descent, then the Creator is doing this for my correction. When I experience an ascent, then the Creator gave it to me. However, I don’t feel that everything is predetermined. What should I do?

My Answer: Try to feel that everything that happens in your thoughts and feelings, and everything that happens around you – everything comes from the Creator! When you study Kabbalistic materials (Baal HaSulam) and make efforts, then during the study you attract the Light of Correction (Ohr Makif – Read item 155 in the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“), and gradually, as if out of a fog, this Light will reveal the Creator to you!

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A question I received: In Mesilat Yasharim (The Path of the Righteous), the Ramchal writes about correcting one’s qualities: Even though correcting the qualities of one’s animate soul bears no relation to the levels of the holy soul, nevertheless it’s unrealistic for a Kabbalist to be irritable, quick-tempered, use bad words (Lashon Ra) and have qualities that can harm others around him.

My Answer: The Ramchal says that it’s impossible to correct the qualities of one’s animate soul. Any attempt to correct our animate soul ends in failure, because it relates to the inanimate part of a person, which was given to us so we would grow our spiritual soul out of it.

The only thing we can and should change is the holy, spiritual soul: the part of the Creator in us. This part begins as what is called a “point in the heart,” expressed in a person as the question “What is the meaning of life?” – the question that brings a person to Kabbalah. It is this point that we need to develop.

As we develop it, we change, and such a change also has an effect on our earthly behavior. We can no longer harm others intentionally, because we have acquired qualities that won’t allow us to do so.

However, at the same time, our external expressions of anger, abruptness, and impatience may remain, because we perceive the harm caused by specific actions and phenomena more than others do. Moreover, one who ascends always slides back before taking a step forward, and when this happens, this person is just like everyone else. In fact, he is even worse than everyone else in such a state. This continues until the end of the ladder, as it is written, “Every person who is greater than another, has more egoism than him.” Moreover, it’s written about Rabbi Shimon that when he found himself in the deepest possible descent, as “Shimon from the market,” he understood that he was facing the final level of ascent! (It is written in The Book of Zohar that when Rabbi Shimon came out of the cave, where he spent thirteen years writing The Book of Zohar, he saw a peasant working the land, an act so distant from spirituality, that when he saw him, he burned him with his mere glance. However, these are secrets of the Torah…)

Related Material:
Chapter 12 from the Book Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Eradicating Egoism
eBook: Attaining the Worlds Beyond
Purchase Print Version: Attaining the Worlds Beyond

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Two questions I received on work and career in relation to Kabbalah:

Question: Is the study of Kabbalah in any way related to choosing a job or profession in the material world?

My Answer: A person cannot pursue several goals. Therefore, if one’s purpose is to become corrected, similar to the Creator, then his every action in this world becomes supplementary. Thus, it’s best to choose a practical profession, one that will allow you to provide for your family while leaving you time to study Kabbalah.

Question: I have been studying with you through Kabbalah TV and ARI Online for almost two years now, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to come closer to the Creator that Kabbalah gives us. However, I’m disoriented by the need to succeed in this world. Can a person be wealthy, while having an intention for the sake of the Creator?

My Answer: If a person is intensively working on his spiritual development, he will eventually have to change his daily schedule as to unload himself of extra work, and give that work to other people. He will only do what’s necessary. In general, his thoughts will be focused on spirituality and how to help the entire world in this regard. But he must provide himself with everything necessary, so as not to demand it from society.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah and Your Career
Article: Relationships (Section: The Purpose of Creation)
Article: Relationships (Section: Upbringing)
Article: Relationships (Section: Family)

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News Story: Why Are Men Going Off Sex?

“Men are increasingly going off sex due to stress, depression and the inability to talk about their problems, experts have claimed.

A team at a relationship counselling service has reported a whopping 40 per cent increase in the number of lazy blokes, admitting that, despite being physically able to have sex, they don’t have any interest.

‘They tend to be men in their thirties, forties and fifties and married. It is a serious issue. It counts as a psychosexual dysfunction, rather than just a relationship problem, because these men haven’t simply gone off their partner but off sex altogether,’ a newspaper quoted Peter Bell of the organisation as saying.”

My Response: The feeling of emptiness, the lack of fulfillment from the Upper Source – even if only subconscious – leads to general depression and the suppression of all bodily desires. Lately this isn’t just a problem, but a universally acknowledged fact.

However, the study of Kabbalah brings about an outburst of all desires and growth of egoism, both on a widespread scale and individually. It is written, “since the destruction of the Temple, only those who work to become similar to the Creator have retained the true taste of copulation.” Mainly, this refers to spiritual copulation – Zivug de Haka’a with the Upper Light, but it also has results in our world. It is talking about people who are working on the intention to bestow…

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A question I received in response to my post “Abortion – How Does Kabbalah View It?”: What does Kabbalah think of sex that’s not intended for reproduction?

My Answer: Kabbalah treats all expressions of egoism in our world simply as expressions of egoism, and we shouldn’t think about them. Instead, we should think about egoism’s essence – the intention “for one’s own sake.” If this intention was to become corrected and turned into the intention “for the sake of the Creator,” then all of our actions would become spiritual.

Related Material:
* One Law – article by M. Laitman

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Question for ML: Does sexual pleasure slow down one’s spiritual development? Should one reject sexual pleasure? Do these rejections lead to questions of “who” and “what”? I know that the Light that returns one to the source does everything, but do these kinds of games help with advancement in any way?

My Answer: The WHO and WHAT questions stem from egoism and are directed toward the Creator: who are you and what is this work you have given me? It is said that only the Light corrects, and it only corrects to the extent of the intention. All other restrictions only get one confused. Concentrate on intentions, on analyzing your desires, and not on physical actions. This is with the exception of moments when you are no longer able to think and direct yourself, in which case physical actions (such as singing, dancing, meals with friends) can pull you out of such lifeless states.

A Hassidic proverb (back when Hassidic Jews were still Kabbalists): Once when Rabbi Elimelech from Lizhensk said that fasting was no longer a service, he was asked: “Didn’t Baal Shem Tov fast often?” Rabbi Elimelech answered: “When Baal Shem Tov was young, he would usually take six breads and a pitcher of water at the conclusion of Shabbat and retire for the entire week. On Friday, when he was preparing to go home, he would lift his bag and, as he noticed its weight, he would open it and find all six breads untouched. It would always surprise him. Only this type of fasting can be considered real fasting!”

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We are capable of only one action – intention. There are no others. All of our physical actions are nonexistent, and so are our desires. Everything other than intention is inanimate, dead or halted – there is no motion in the spiritual, regardless of the fact that we perceive dynamic physical activity.

In summary:
1. The actions of our world (of inanimate, vegetative and animate nature);
2. The actions of a regular person in our world;
3. The actions of a religious person in his commandments and rituals;
4. The actions of a Kabbalah student;
– none of these are spiritual actions; they don’t exist in the Upper World.

Only…
5. The actions of a Kabbalah student
– are justified as preparation for spiritual actions.

Only our intentions of selfless bestowal are perceived in the spiritual world. When they appear in us, we appear in the spiritual world; when they disappear, we disappear from the spiritual world.
I compare this to acceleration – a derivative of motion. Like Einstein said, consider uniform motion as a state of rest, and see only acceleration.

My Current Mood: thoughtful

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