Entries in the 'soul' Category

Nirvana and Games with the Leviathan Are Ahead of Us!

Nirvana and Games with the Leviathan Are Ahead of Us!A question I received: Hello to all the spiritual “sharks,“ to the people creating a revolution in love! I have a question about the great Kabbalists who have stopped reincarnating. Why did they agree to end their reincarnations? It’s such a shame! Instead of coming back here and helping us, helping Rav Laitman give lessons, disseminate, and correct the world, they are sitting up in nirvana, in the World of Infinity, connected to the Source of the soul of Adam HaRishon, at a time when we need them the most! If I were granted the final correction, I wouldn’t just agree to stop reincarnating and passively wait for the other parts of my soul to be corrected through suffering. I wouldn’t agree to “play with the Leviathan.” So why did they agree to it? Where is their conscience?

My Answer: I completely understand your egoistic anger about not receiving help from above, but I can’t share it with you! When a person ascends and matures spiritually, he gains a new understanding of the causes of what’s happening, the purpose of the world and the method of its correction. He reveals the integral picture of the universe and clearly sees all the causes, phenomena and effects. And when he reveals all this, he becomes “righteous” – that is, he justifies the Creator.

Continue studying and evoking the Upper Light, and then your “eyes” (your soul’s vision) will open and you will attain the same state as the great Kabbalists – you will become like them. According to nature’s plan, we must all reach the state where we understand and justify all of the Creator’s actions. So nirvana and games with the Leviathan are ahead of us! It’s written, “The purpose of creation is to please the creatures.”

Related Material:

Kabbalah Today Article: Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai
Article in Ha-Aretz: Latter-day Luminary
Lesson on the article: “What Is the Degree One Should Reach In Order Not to Reincarnate Again?”

Accept Reality the Way It Is – a Song About the Purpose of Life

A song performed by the Bnei Baruch band (with translation into English, Russian, French and Italian):

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE9UMt9o9GE]

The central Bnei Baruch group in Israel has several musical bands – this one is one of them. The band’s leader, songwriter and singer is Moti Mor – a famous Israeli lyricist and songwriter, musician and performer. The band performs many of our songs, and of course, all of the songs are about the purpose of our lives.

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Kabbalah Music

Why Do We Have to Keep Coming Back Here?

Why Do We Have to Keep Coming Back Here?Questions I received on what happens after death:

Question: My name is Daniel and I am fifteen years old. Recently I had a conversation with my uncle about the wisdom of Kabbalah. He said that people who study the wisdom of Kabbalah live forever, but this doesn’t seem logical to me. I would like to know what happens to the soul after death.

My Answer: It’s true: a person who has attained the life of his soul perceives his existence as eternal. But you probably think that eternal existence is impossible because you are connecting it to your body. Of course we can’t exist forever in the body, because this kind of existence is imperfect (egoistic). It was created to be brief (opposite to the Creator), and its only purpose is for us to correct it, to make it similar to the Creator. And the corrected state is eternal. Moreover, our temporary state is actually an illusion, given to us only to realize its evil, like a bad dream, so we would get an impression of it and separate from it!

Question: I really enjoy listening to your lessons and studying with you. You have revealed a beautiful world to me. Suppose that someone has crossed the Machsom, but then died before completing his entire correction. The next time this person is born, will he immediately perceive the spiritual world?

My Answer: No, but he will quickly go through all the preliminary stages and reach the state he attained before, and then he’ll go on from there. One must keep returning to our world until he attains the full correction, because a desire can only be corrected “from outside,” that is to say, while one is in this world, which is external in relation to spirituality.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Will Happen to the World If I Die?
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Babies – Physical And Spiritual

Physical and Spiritual BabiesI’ve received many requests to explain the correlation between a baby’s development in this world and the soul’s development in the Upper World. Here is an explanation:

The Talmud Eser Sefirot – the fundamental Kabbalistic textbook with over 2,000 pages of difficult text, has about 300 pages that talk about the soul’s intrauterine development in the womb (the AHP) of the Upper Partzuf (the mother – Ima, Bina). This development may continue for seven, nine, or twelve months – but usually it continues for nine months. It is followed by birth and then 24 months of nursing – which is also described in 200 pages of very difficult text.

What are these lengthy, complex descriptions saying in simple language? The soul begins its development with the point in the heart, when a person asks, “What is the meaning of life?” Next, the person begins developing his soul by attracting the Upper Light to this point. He first goes through preliminary stages called single concealment and double concealment, and then enters a state called conception (Ibur). In this state, he attaches to the Upper Partzuf, provided that he agrees to stay together with It regardless of all the difficulties! And the difficulties keep increasing, but by strengthening his connection with the Upper One, despite the disturbances created by egoism that keep pulling him back, he continually absorbs the qualities of the Upper One – love and bestowal. This process continues until he attains all of the Upper One’s properties by means of annulling himself. This self-annulment also prevents him from becoming a disturbance or a foreign body in the Upper One.

When he absorbs all of the Upper One’s qualities, this concludes the period of passively absorbing the Upper One’s properties – of developing in the form of an embryo. An embryo develops by passively receiving the Light, and this is why it is referred to as blood (Dam, from the word Domem – still), or a passive adoption of the Upper One’s properties.

Stated differently, the state called pregnancy ends when a person desires to go from nullifying himself to actively interacting with the Upper One. This compels the Upper One to push him away, in order to end the previous kind of interaction – similar to when an embryo remains in the mother’s womb for too long, and evokes rejection. The Upper One pushes the lower one away from Him and forces the lower one to begin interacting with Him more actively – to nurse. The Upper One does this by creating conditions that enable the lower one to receive the Light of Hassadim (milk). However, the milk still turns into blood (Dam) in the lower one.

This nursing period lasts for 24 months, and during this time the lower one gains active properties of bestowal (Bina, Galgalta Einaim). This level enables a person to exist in the complete volume of the Upper World, and to be completely independent of his egoism – to perceive the Upper One and learn from Him.

Knowledge of the laws operating in our roots and of how the Upper Forces operate, gives us an absolutely precise understanding of how to ideally and most correctly treat and raise a child, how to interact with a fetus and a newborn, as well as with a teenager and adolescent. It enables us to build the correct system of interactions, and to create the conditions for optimally realizing the opportunity we have in this life – to attain the purpose of our creation.

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Article: Spirit and Body

Preparing for Childbirth – a Conversation


I had a conversation that was recorded on the topic “Preparing for Childbirth,” as part of a series called “Family and Children.” I spoke with:

Dr. Yoel Shofaro – a specialist in treating infertility,

Hagit Telem – project manager at “Beit Kabbalah L’Am,”

Niv Navon – manager of the department responsible for disseminating our materials on the Internet.

We compared the processes of conception and the embryo’s development in the mother’s womb that take place in the root – the soul’s development in the spiritual world, with the branch – what happens in our world. Dr. Yoel Shofaro is one of the leading practicing specialists in the field of infertility treatment, and he explained what modern science knows about the conception of life and the main problems of infertility today. We compared this with cases of infertility in the Torah and the conception of our souls. Why did we talk about this? Because the most important event in our lives is when the Upper Parztuf – called “mother” (Ima) – is pregnant with us – with our soul!

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Article: Spirit and Body

A Conversation About Love


I had a conversation that was recorded on the topic of love. I spoke with Oren Levi, manager of our Hebrew publishing department.

We analyzed how the spiritual property of the Creator, “love for creation,” is expressed in action – “bestowal and fulfillment.” However, since creation is egoistic and opposite to the Creator, it interprets this as love for fulfillment and reception. Creation aspires to use and humiliate others, in order to feel more fulfilled than them. In other words, its love manifests in a completely opposite form than the spiritual quality of “love,” yet we refer to both of them with the same word, according to the law of “root and consequence.”

However, when creation attains equivalence of form with the Creator (when it acquires the aspiration toward the property – “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” which is attained only through the influence of the Upper Light that descends during the study of Kabbalah), it begins to comprehend the true meaning of the Torah’s words and of Kabbalistic notions, including “bestowal” and “love.”

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The Group Is the Place for Discerning All Your Spiritual Questions


Questions I received on how to work in a Kabbalistic group

Question: In one of your lessons you said that the people in the group are sent to me by the Creator, and if I will love them, then the Creator will love me. This is clear with regard to the spiritual, Kabbalistic group of friends. But in my daily life I’m surrounded by other groups – my family, neighbors, coworkers, and others. Are the people in these groups there by coincidence, or must I have the same attitude to them as to my spiritual brothers?

My Answer: In these other groups, you have to behave just like everyone else – function like a regular person, and conceal your spiritual questions and attainments. Otherwise people will feel that you are an “alien from another world,” that you are different from them, because you have different thoughts, decisions, and qualities – anti-egoistic ones. This will make them feel repulsed by you. So conceal yourself!

Question:
I don’t understand what this means: “Lower and nullify yourself before the group, but not before other people, so you could firmly feel that you are worse and lower than all the people in the world.”

My Answer: All your spiritual discernments take place in your spiritual world, in the single soul, or in other words – only relative your friends in the group. As for the rest of the world – consider it just a place where your body exists.

Question: Is it correct to say that spiritual development is when you constantly try to feel “What is the force of bestowal?” through your connection with the group?

My Answer: That’s absolutely correct. There is only one creation – the common soul. To the degree you perceive it, and inside of it, you perceive the force that created it and enlivens it – the Creator. With every action you make, you must first define the objective of the action, and there is only one objective to all actions (whether they are unconscious actions taking place in all of nature, or conscious actions that we make) – to reveal the Creator in us.

Question: Baal HaSulam says that the only choice we can make is to choose the correct environment, in order for it to influence us. What happens once I’ve chosen the environment and I study in it? What should I do next? Where is my daily free choice then?

My Answer: The choice is the daily effort you make to be a part of the group. You’re incorrect in thinking that you made the choice when you came to the group. It was the Creator who brought you to the group (see the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” items 3 and 4), and now you have the freedom of will to participate in it by making daily efforts, in spite of your desire.

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We Build Our Soul By Correcting the Reshimot That Come to Us (Advanced)


Questions I received about Reshimot

Question: I’d like to ask about Reshimot: The point in the heart is a Reshimo, and Klipot are also Reshimot, but broken ones. What other kinds of Reshimot are “registered” in Kabbalah? There are probably more of them than elements in the periodic table!

My Answer: Reshimot accumulated during the common soul’s descent from its spiritual level of love and bestowal into reception and love for oneself. Altogether there are Reshimot from 125 levels of descent, and we have to correct them in the reverse order. By realizing these Reshimot in order, we ascend along their levels and reveal our spiritual senses, which feel the Upper Light, the Creator.

Question: How can a person tell what level are the Reshimot coming from, according to the special qualities of his individual soul? Do the Reshimot always come to help us grow and develop? And what about the Reshimot of the Klipot – why do they come to a person?

My Answer: Reshimot surface in us one after another, from below upwards, and they always become expressed in the form of broken levels (Klipot, the ego). By correcting them, we build our soul – the vessel in which we perceive ourselves, our spiritual life.

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Between the Lines – A Talk About Words and Letters


I had a conversation that was recorded titled “Between the Lines,” about words and letters. I spoke with:

Dr. Maxim Sokolov – an otolaryngologist specializing in voice and speech,

Shlomi Buhana – a doctorate student at Bar Ilan University,

Ben-Tzion Gertz – a writer and the host of the program.

Language or speech is what separates humans from animals. Our throat is a special organ where all the forces of the body and soul come together. The five parts of the lungs supply air through the vocal chords into the five parts of the mouth, and the latter divides all sounds into five groups. A letter’s sound corresponds to its outline, numerical value (Gematria), and the section of the brain that sends out commands to the vocal apparatus. And all this happens according to the five parts of creation and the four-letter name of the Creator. In short, there is still a lot more to talk about!

Related Material:
The Letters By Rabbi Amnon Saba – a Chapter from The Book of Zohar
An Essay about Letters, from the “Preface to the Book of Zohar”
The Secret of the Letters, Lesson 1: A Letter. What Is It?
The Secret of the Letters, Lesson 2: The Shape of the Letters
The Secret of the Letters, Lesson 3: Whoever Changes His Name Changes His Luck
The Secret of the Letters, Lesson 4: To Build the World with Letters

By Disseminating the Wisdom of Kabbalah, You Correct Your “Self”

By Disseminating the Wisdom of Kabbalah, You Correct Your \Questions I received on the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah

Question: In your post The Connection Between Spirituality and Corporeality, you wrote: “Our world is governed entirely from above. And every day we are becoming more and more convinced of this, because no matter how we try to change things, nothing goes according to plan.” With this in mind, how should we think of the daily efforts we make in dissemination? By disseminating, are we actually correcting others instead of ourselves?

My Answer: No. By disseminating, you correct your “self.” It seems like it’s outside of you, in others, but in fact it’s your spiritual body. So by bestowing and loving others, you’re really bestowing and loving yourself! It’s because this attitude to others allows you to acquire their desires and their Light.

Question: What results of our dissemination can we see today, in the world at large?

My Answer:

– A growing number of students
– An improvement in the quality of the students
– Progress in people’s understanding that the world has reached a dead-end
– People’s increased willingness to understand what Kabbalah is talking about
– The fact that we aren’t advancing by means of war, but by the realization of evil, brought about by merciful pressure from above.

Question: If our thoughts are way more powerful than any physical action, is it possible to do dissemination by thought alone? Is a physical action (i.e., working on a blog about Kabbalah) in this world really necessary?

My Answer: Kabbalists make corrections in the system of Adam (the common soul) by increasing the emission of Light on the uncorrected souls, and this is why many people feel an aspiration toward the Upper World. But this isn’t enough. Once you receive the aspiration and question about life’s purpose, you then find the answer to this question – the right books, teacher, and group. You can realize yourself spiritually only in this environment, by acting toward others the same way Kabbalists do, who perceive the Creator’s desire.

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Help Share Kabbalah