Entries in the 'spiritual work' Category

New Scientific Studies On Old Methods Of Happiness

Where to Send Logistical QuestionsNews Report (from Los Angeles Times): “Write letters, be happy” Steven Toepfer, an assistant professor of family and consumer studies at Kent State University, conducted a study to determine what would make people feel happier. He had students write one letter every two weeks for a six-week period… After each letter was written, the students took a survey that gauged their mood, their satisfaction with life and their feelings of gratitude and happiness. According to Toepfer, the students’ levels of happiness increased after each letter…

My Comment: Coming out of oneself and connecting to others is an old, time tested method of changing one’s life under the influence of the environment. By sending a kind letter, one not only receives the corresponding response on the level of this world, but also subconsciously receives an illumination of the Surrounding Light from above, because his action makes him similar to the Creator. So write letters!

News Report (translated from lady.mail.ru): “Want to feel better? Wash your hands!” Psychologists noticed that there is a connection between a person’s hygiene and his “clean conscience.” Many people wash their hands to get rid of bad thoughts. So it’s not a coincidence that physical cleanliness has been an important part of religious rituals throughout millennia.

My Comment: This works only on the level of our egoistic world. It doesn’t correct egoism, but only makes it more agreeable for interacting with oneself and others. The only thing that can correct egoism (from the intention “for one’s own sake” to “for others’ sake”) is the Upper Light, which created it in the first place.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam Describes the Conditions of Life in a Globalized World
Kabbalah Today Article: 125 Degrees to Happiness
The Pursuit of Happiness
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 21 – “Correcting Egoism”

New Spanish Blog For Children


In every Latin American country, there are groups and individuals who study Kabbalah and work together with us on its development and dissemination. The largest and strongest group of our friends is situated in Chile. Ingrid Solyar from the Chile group has created this friendly, colorful blog for children.

The Kabbalistic Definition Of Zion And “The Mixed Multitude”

Why Are There So Many Different Words In the Torah?Two questions I received on Zionism and “the Mixed Multitude”:

Question: What is Zionism? What does this have to do with Kabbalah and Bnei Baruch?

My Answer: “Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to man in this world” (Baal HaSulam, article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”). Zionism is a social movement in favor of returning to Zion (Israel). The Kabbalistic definition is as follows: the Land of Israel is also called “Zion,” from the word Yetzia – “exit” in Hebrew. Any person who exits the limits of our egoistic world and enters the Upper, Altruistic World, enters “Zion.” Mi Tzion Tize Tora (the Torah will come from Zion), means that when a person exits his egoistic state, he comes to the Light.

Question: During the last two lessons, you mentioned “the Mixed Multitude.” Who is this?

My Answer: “The Mixed Multitude” (Erev Rav) are the opponents of Kabbalah who prevent people from coming out of spiritual exile and revealing the Creator. And even after a person aspires toward bestowal and love, Erev Rav prevents him from advancing by any means possible. They came in Moses’s way when he was trying to lead the people out of Egypt (the spiritual exile) toward the revelation of the Creator. They also placed all kinds of obstacles in his way during the 40-year passage through the desert.

Today they also spread all kinds of rumors. They can no longer speak against Kabbalah, because this is no longer possible, but against the people who disseminate it, including our organization. It is written that they are Irei Hashem Ovdei Paroh – those who fear the Creator, but desire to remain inside their egoism.

The Gaon of Vilna (Agra) wrote in The Light of the Zohar, 3: 28 “Adam Ve Ishto”: “In the future Moses will reveal everything to us, unlike the way it is now hidden in the Torah in the form of stories intended for Erev Rav, who do not study the inner meaning.”

Related Material:
Kabbalists Write about the Wisdom of Kabbalah
Chapter from Book The Kabbalah Experience: “Spiritual Work”
Shamati #33: “The Lots on Yom Kippurim and with Haman”
Shamati #54: “The Purpose of the Work”
Baal HaSulam Article:” A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar”

Where Is The Boundary Between This World And The Spiritual World?


Questions I received from women on connecting spirituality with this world:

Question: I’ve been studying Kabbalah with Bnei Baruch for two years, and at the same time I earned a degree in Economics. However, I don’t feel any desire to advance in the material life. My family is worried about my apathy. Is it possible to balance work in finance with spiritual growth? Also, how can I influence my family, who think that a woman has to act the way society expects her to?

My Answer: Your actions mustn’t harm your family, and everyone should feel that you are part of the family. You can study Kabbalah only if everything is normal in your regular life, and to the extent your free time allows for it.

Question: My daughter is so engrossed in Kabbalah that the rest of the world means nothing to her anymore. She puts Kabbalah before everything and doesn’t want to do anything else. She’s not interested in going to a university or working, and claims that she has the right to live however she wants to and doesn’t have to follow the social norms. I feel like we’re losing our daughter and the society is losing a citizen. She used to be a very successful student and this is the result. What should I do?

My Answer: Anyone you ask will confirm that I encourage people to get a profession, to create a family and so on, because the only way a person can correct his or her self and reach the Upper World is from a “normal” position in this world. Either your daughter doesn’t understand this or her profession isn’t practical; one that won’t allow her to make a living.

Question: Please help me understand the connection between spirituality and corporeality. On one hand, the material world is the world of effects, and on the other hand, it has nothing in common with the spiritual world. Where is the boundary that marks the end of spirituality and the beginning of corporeality, which isn’t connected to spirituality at all?

My Answer: The boundary lies in the gap between the two worlds, because they’re both felt within a person. One is felt in the intention “for the sake of oneself,” and the second – in the intention “for the sake of the Creator.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Get A Job
Laitman.com Post: Family, Children, Work and Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Corporeality Has No Effect On Spirituality

Kabbalah’s Solution To The Financial Crisis Differs From The Common Sense Solution

I participated in two conversations for the TV Series “The Butterfly Effect.” One was on the social economy, and the second – on the global solution to the economic crisis.

Speaking with me was Shlomo Maoz, the chief economist at Excellence Nessuah Investment House.

Shlomo Maoz is a famous international economist, who predicted a number of trends in the global economy, and whose forecasts and advice are valued in the financial market. In this case he again expressed the most correct solution from the perspective of common (egoistic) sense! However, Kabbalah’s point of view is different.

His advice on how to overcome the financial crisis is the following:
1. We have to return to “life at home,” work less, restrict the high-tech industry and the Internet, spend more time with our families and maintain a small community. The Internet is the source of the crisis because it has connected the whole civilization on earth into a “small village” (see my comment #1 below).

2. More women should be appointed to management positions because women make business less egoistic, more sensible and flexible, and less arrogant.

This advice clearly echoes the history of Ancient Babylon:
4500 years ago, the ancient Babylonian civilization – which included all of humanity within a closed area – began to experience a global crisis of a “small village”:

  • People discovered that everyone depends on everyone.
  • Every person’s egoism was exposed to the maximum (allegorically speaking, they wanted to rise up to the heavens).
  • Everyone’s hatred for everyone was revealed; people stopped understanding each other (allegorically speaking, their languages became confused).

Then two propositions emerged:
Abraham proposed for everyone to unite “as one family,” which is what Nature compelled them to do. This union could be achieved by using the science of Kabbalah that he revealed.

Others, led by Nimrod, were against this, and since the other path was egoistically clear to everyone, the majority of the people accepted it. Hence they scattered all over the earth, destroying the connections of a “small village” among each other and annulling the globalization.

This is what Shlomo Maoz proposes we do today. The proposition is correct and addresses the problem. However, in our time it cannot be the solution. It is similar to other “solutions,” such as how to break our relationships by means of another world war, or to discontinue our communication artificially. However, there is no going back because today our egoism embraces the entire civilization on earth.

The science of Kabbalah says that we cannot go our separate ways peacefully a second time. Instead, mankind will all but destroy itself by engaging in the Third and Fourth nuclear World Wars. Then only a few people will remain on the Earth, and they will nevertheless correct themselves (our souls) and will attain the goal of  creation – similarity to Nature (the Creator).

In the past, only a few people heeded Abraham’s advice. They later became known as Israel, which means “straight to the Creator.” Today, just like Kabbalah had predicted for thousand years, we find ourselves in the same situation. However, the solution isn’t to disconnect, as this will bring about Nazism and cause us to annihilate each other. The solution lies in creating an even greater connection with each other!

Therefore:

  • Mankind must resolutely restrain all extremists and people who aim to disconnect us, even if it will have to resort to physical coercion.
  • For the sake of survival, every person has to be satisfied with the necessities (see my comment #2 below) and contribute all the excess of his labor to the well-being of the entire society.
  • All mass media and educational systems must provide a global education for mankind.

My Comment #1: Today humanity is experiencing a period that’s similar to the mid-life crisis of an individual. The inertia to move forward that started at birth is running out. Now we have to progress consciously, by our own efforts. We have to understand where we are moving and why: what is the goal? When a person doesn’t understand his goal at mid-life, he starts resorting to extremes: earning a bundle of money,  remarrying someone younger, and so on. His greatest fear is to remain alone with his own thoughts and the ultimate question: “What is this all for?”

This is why now, as strange as it may seem, society is somewhat happy to encounter the financial crisis, because it can hold it accountable for all the incomprehensible negative phenomena it has been facing over the recent years, such as the lack of a clear direction for further development, a dead end in international relations, and geopolitical changes. Now there is an understandable common problem that has to be combated. All the rest can be put aside for the time being.

My Comment #2: Let’s recall an example of the right attitude to the world as told by the Biblical story about the heavenly manna. The people were instructed to gather exactly as much as they needed to eat in one day. All the excess would spoil overnight, because it didn’t belong to them! So, the current crisis is teaching us to get rid of the excess. When the crisis deepens and spreads even more, people will start thinking that it’s useless to make such great efforts to gather something that will spoil anyway.

For more on this, see the newspaper “The Nation“, the book From Chaos to Harmony, and my lecture in Arosa.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Talks on Globalization and the Financial Crisis

How Do You Choose The Correct Environment?

The Condition of Entering the Upper World Is Mutual GuaranteeTwo questions I received on choosing the correct environment:

Question: After reading the article “The Freedom” and other articles about the environment, I came to the conclusion that the environment is pivotal to one’s development and attainment. What should I do if I’m not sure that I’ve chosen the right environment and the right group?

My Answer: Keep studying and discerning this! Don’t rely on your own opinion nor the opinion of those around you. The answers should come on their own, from within you (from the Creator), without any external influence and without you eating yourself. Read Baal HaSulam and wait for the answer!

Question (from a woman): I would really like to understand what it means to “build your environment.” Should I look for the correct environment within the Kabbalistic group, meaning an environment within an environment, based on the principle that those who don’t give me joy and inspiration are not advancing along the right path and it’s best to avoid them?

My Answer: For a woman, there’s no such thing as a group; there’s only the environment. In it she interacts with the women she feels closest to. And she isn’t obliged to do anything more than that.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Advice for Beginners – Find the Answers Inside Yourself
Laitman.com Post: How Does “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself” Apply to Women?
Lesson on Shamati #42: “What is the Acronym ELUL in the Work”
Shamati #77: “One Learns from One’s Soul”

Our Desires Come From The Society

Three questions I received on balancing spirituality with this world:

Question: I heard you say at the children’s lesson that we should envy people who contribute to the group and love others. Should I lie to myself, telling myself that I envy those who contribute even though in reality I envy someone who has a new car, for example? Please give me advice on what to do according to Kabbalah.

My Answer: Continue studying; the group and the lessons will give you the feeling that other values are more important. This is better than surrendering yourself to accumulating things and later finding yourself disillusioned. The Upper World that will start being revealed to you will make you feel vastly more fulfilled than a new car. The car is important to you because society values it. But if your society will value other things, your preferences will change as well.

Question: Sometimes I get angry at the Creator, but in truth I get angry at myself because I ask myself, “Why is the process of correction so lengthy!?” And then I answer myself: “Because I don’t make enough efforts!”

My Answer: You lack the pressure of the correct environment.

Question: I’m having an inner debate: on one hand, I have a new job that’s interesting to me and gives me free time to improving my professional level in order to have a good permanent occupation in the future. On the other hand, I don’t have much energy left after the morning lessons, so I’m thinking of cutting them down, yet this bothers me. What’s the right attitude to have to this situation?

My Answer: You have to finish your professional education so you’ll be able to support yourself and your family, while keeping the study of Kabbalah “on a low burner.” However, in all other respects, devote yourself to the study of Kabbalah. If you keep this balance of time and energy, you’ll succeed in both.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Influence of the Environment
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah and Choosing a Profession
Laitman.com Post: Family, Children, Work and Kabbalah
Chapter from Book Kabbalah for Beginners: “Changing Society to Change Myself”
Rabash Article: “Purpose of Society”

Invitation To The 2009 International Kabbalah Congress!


The Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education and Research Institute is pleased to invite you to the International Kabbalah Congress taking place in Israel on February 2 – 4, 2009!

The 2009 International Kabbalah Congress will open its gates to more than 6000 Kabbalah students from over 52 countries across the world. The theme of the Congress is: “Connecting to Goodness.” Its goal is to connect our hearts, rise above the global crisis toward spirituality,obtain adhesion with nature (the Upper Force), and to reveal a new, spiritual world.

Why? Today the world needs a lifeline that will raise it above the crisis and suffering to a good existence and the revelation of the higher purpose of our lives. Our world doesn’t have such a lifeline. Only the Upper Light, which created us, can correct our nature. By uniting, we will realize the Kabbalistic method of correcting the world through the Upper Light.

The Congress will include my lessons, shared meals, workshops, friends’ gatherings, singing and cultural evenings

Everything is dedicated to the topic of unity and every person in attendance will have the opportunity to apply the principle of “Love thy friend as thyself.”

This year children and youth are also invited to the Congress and we have special activities planned for them.

We will be happy to see all those who understand that only by uniting can we set an example for the entire world.

Register for the Congress

The Solution To Our Social Troubles Lies In Correcting Our Egoism


A question I received: Lately we see parents doing awful things to their children, which shows that they feel extreme hatred for them. Why?

My Answer: This is an expression of people’s boundless egoism, which only keeps increasing. Lately we also witness many new relationships between the sexes and between generations. People want to curb procreation, they don’t care about creating a family and raising children. This is particularly apparent in large cities, where the native population is gradually being replaced by newcomers.

Another very difficult social and ethical problem that’s emerging is, “What should be done with the elderly?” The current economic crisis is going to destroy pension funds, and there will be no one to feed the senior citizens because the number of people working will be significantly less than those retired.

Furthermore, the young generation that’s able to work will find itself in a world that has completely exhausted its natural resources, a world that’s unable to feed them. As a result, there will be wars and hunger.

Or we can quickly correct ourselves and Nature through the method of Kabbalah, which will promptly bring people and the world to a state of harmony and balance!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Horrible Manifestations of the Ever-Growing Egoism

Correction Comes Only From Studying In Order To Evoke the Light


A question I received: I don’t understand the views of this world according to Kabbalah. You say that Kabbalah is against asceticism, and you also said that a Kabbalist has the biggest ego and wants to swallow the entire world. But in the Talmud it says, “The way of the Torah is to eat bread with salt, drink water from a cup, sleep on the ground, lead a life of hardship and labour at learning Torah.”

I also read this quote in Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “When a person, by means of his studies, reaches the level at which he wants nothing but spiritual elevation and at which he accepts only the bare necessities of life in order to sustain his physical existence, not for pleasure’s sake, this is the first step of his ascent to the spiritual world“ (Talmud, Psachim).

So, I’m confused by all of this. How are we supposed to behave in this world? Can you give me a precise answer?

My Answer: Before falling from the spiritual level 2,000 years ago, people could sustain themselves on the spiritual level (in love and bestowal) through restrictions and studying Kabbalah (the authentic, inner Torah). This way they were able to oppose the egoism that constantly increased inside them.

However, after the people fell from the spiritual level of “love for thy neighbor” into “unfounded hatred,” the sages of the Talmud made a special correction (addition) in the Upper Governance, as Baal HaSulam writes in item 11 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“.

Since then, only the “Light of the Torah” (Ohr Makif) can bring about a correction. This Light descends on a person who has gone through the proper preparation (in the group), during the study of Kabbalah with the right intention. It is written: “I created egoism and I created the Torah for its correction, because its Light returns one to the Source (to bestowal).”

Hence, only the correct kind of study will evoke the Light, which will make all the corrections and changes. So organize your studies – and relax!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do We Connect Our Points in the Heart?
Laitman.com Post: The Surrounding Light Influences Us Only When We Evoke It
“Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Items 39-44
Lesson on Shamati #69: “First Will Be the Correction of the World”
Lesson on Baal HaSulam Article: “Preface to the Book of Zohar”
Shamati #6: “What Is Support in the Torah, in the Work”