Two questions I received on our connections with other souls:

Question: You say that before the destruction of the Temple, the entire nation of Israel, millions of people, all had spiritual attainment for centuries. What was their contribution to our civilization? What role did those millions of people have? After all, we only use texts produced by a handful of individuals from that nation. Did those millions leave nothing behind except for their gene pool?

My Answer: They left us their spiritual gene pool – their corrections in the common soul. Moreover, they continue taking part in the world’s correction together with us, now. It’s because the spiritual world is an entity that exists constantly, where nothing ever fades or disappears.

Question: The souls are corrected via the correction of egoistic desires and return to their source – the one Soul. Through our correction we build our Kelim, and after our physical death we retain the sensation of the spiritual world in these Kelim. How are our Kelim connected to the souls that have undergone their corrections through us?

My Answer: The soul is the quality of bestowal that a person can acquire only while being in a corporeal body in this world. All that he feels through the soul before the body’s death is what he’ll feel after. Through this quality of bestowal, a person feels connected with the other souls – with those who have undergone corrections through him, as well as those through whom he, too, had undergone corrections.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Formula of the Soul
Laitman.com Post: A Kabbalist Feels the Same Pleasure As the Creator
Laitman.com Post: The Technique of Entering the Upper World
Chapter from Book Interview with the Future: “The Spiritual Gene and the Reshimot (Reminiscence)”
Lesson on The Introduction to the Book From the Mouth of a Wise Man
Lesson on Baal HaSulam Article: “Finding the Creator Within”

Filed under: History - No Comments →

A question I received: You have said that the current crisis is the first plague of Egypt. When will it end? Do you see an end to the decline and the layoffs?

My Answer: The crisis is not just a decline. Banks have stopped giving out credit loans out of fear that they won’t be returned. This is causing a rise in the unemployment rates, a halt in real estate and auto sales, a slowdown in production and a devaluation of resources. This trend can last for a long time, until people will learn the law of the global interdependence, which obliges us to change our relationships: to make sure that all our actions will have a positive effect on the whole world.

Here’s Hollywood’s depiction of the plagues of Egypt, which are an allegory:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F21hys4ZLXo]

Of course, we must “translate” what’s written in the Torah into its authentic, spiritual meaning, as Kabbalah explains it!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: It’s All for the Best (But We Can Get to It Faster)
Laitman.com Post: In Search of the “Bottom” for the Financial Markets
Article: “Exodus – From Physical to Spiritual”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

The Mexican magazine “Mercurio XXI,” which has a circulation of 40,000 all over Mexico, has published my article “Obesity: A Lack of Spiritual Food?”
The image on the left is the magazine’s cover:

Related Material:
Kabbalah Website in Spanish

Filed under: World - No Comments →

Three questions I received on women’s role in Kabbalah:

Question: What is the role of women within Kabbalah? I do not see women featured in this system, such as having the right to teach, apart from the children’s classes.

My Answer: A woman is the carrier of the aspiration for the Creator, whereas a man is the one who realizes this aspiration.

Question: When women are awakened spiritually, do they experience the same feelings as men?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: Do I have to meet my friends from the virtual group physically? I have been participating in dissemination every day for a year. My teachers say that the topics discussed in the meetings are very important, but I don’t feel that I need this. I connect with the group in my heart and in my thoughts, and I definitely continue to contribute whatever I can from behind the computer screen. Do I have to force myself to do something that my heart isn’t drawn to?

My Answer: You don’t have to force yourself because you are a woman. But if this question was coming from a man, he would have to participate physically any time there is an opportunity!

Related Material:
Kabbalah & Women

Filed under: Women - No Comments →

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”

Filed under: Egoism - 1 Comment →

Two questions I received on the arts and spirituality:

Question: In a previous blog entry, in response to the question of whether works of art are spiritual, you said: “All art was brought about by man’s desire to express himself, or in other words, by the desire for glory, to stand out, to prove something (even if it’s to himself), to express his way of seeing things.”

But you have also said that “A desire cannot be bad if it is accompanied by the intention to bestow.”

My Answer: In order to acquire an intention of bestowal, a person has to study Kabbalah for at least three years. Then, as a result of the Upper Light’s influence, the quality of bestowal will appear within him. There is no other means to correct your original egoistic intention and transform it into a spiritual one.

Question: An actor is connected with the audience and they understand each other. He gives fully of himself to them, and in return receives applause (fulfillment). The audience applauds with great emotion, giving all of their feelings to the actor, and in return they receive fulfillment from his performance. It is a mutual, yet egoistic connection. Should our adhesion with the Creator be something like this?

My Answer: In the example above you’re exchanging different types of pleasure. However, when it comes to the Creator, you must become similar to Him through the quality of bestowal, and this will determine the degree of your connection with Him.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Compared to the Arts
Lesson on the Shamati Article: “What Does It Mean That the Creator Hate Bodies In the Work?”
Article: “One Law” – Lesson 1

Filed under: Arts - 1 Comment →

Two questions I received on the financial crisis:

Question: What will happen to the American capital market? Is there any chance it will be restored?

My Answer: The restoration will not happen quickly. As we undergo a change in our consciousness, rather than perish humanity will change its entire worldview: instead of caring for their bodies, people will spend their time caring about spiritual fulfillment.

There is no going back or repeating the past. Either we will take “the Path of Suffering” and enter a period of Nature’s blows until we find ourselves on the brink of extinction, while a small part of humanity (which will incorporate all the souls) will attain the spiritual goal of humanity.

Or we will accept the method of Kabbalah and completely restructure our lives in accordance with it. In this case, the planet will nourish us and we will stop being punished through natural and social crises. This is called “the Path of Light.”

We must understand that the banking crisis, which has already been replaced by the economic crisis, will grow into a social crisis – and then into an ecological one (lack of food and water, which can happen within the next ten years), then into a military one (Nazism), and so on, until mankind becomes completely savage. Alternatively, we can correct our egoistic nature using the method of Kabbalah. There is no other method, because all other methods lack the Upper Force, which created us and hence is able to correct us.

Question: Everyone’s talking about the crisis, but it’s hard for me to feel it personally. What can I do share this growing concern?

My Answer: The crisis will catch up to everyone.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Creator Will Get Everyone
Laitman.com Post: The US Market – A Chance for Recovery
Interview With the Future – “The Power of A Directed Desire”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Three questions I received on mental disorders, tattoos, and prostitution:

Question: You have said in a previous blog entry that “if a person is mentally sane, then Kabbalah will solve his psychological problems.” I suffer from conditions of ADD which moderately impair my abilities to retain much of what I read. Will reading and re-reading Kabbalistic materials help to alleviate this mental block? Also do you make appearances such as book signings, etc.? It would be an honor to meet you!

My Answer: The study of Kabbalah corrects a person, and therefore it definitely heals as well.

I sign books at every public lecture I give and at Congresses. That’s where you can meet me. I invite you to attend the congress that will take place in February 2009 in Israel.

Question: Is it wrong to want to display my respect and love of Kabbalah by tattooing scriptures on my body?

My Answer: Kabbalah says that we should only desire an inner change and inner observation, through which the Creator becomes revealed to a person. This leaves the externality, the bodily aspects, only their minimal (necessary) existence. The body is no object of concern, aside from the necessities.

Question: What is the spiritual root of prostitution? Why has it existed for millennia and continues to be so popular?

My Answer: Because it satisfies one of man’s primary desires, which are: food, sex, family (home), wealth, power, and knowledge.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: There’s No Sex Here!
Laitman.com Post: Hyperactive Children – The Result of Evolving Egoism
Laitman.com Post: What Do a Healthy Mind and Body Have to Do With Kabbalah?
Baal HaSulam Article: “Body and Soul”

Filed under: Health - 3 Comments →

Two questions I received on women’s problems in this world:

Question: Why is it that I can’t be as cunning, shrewd, and sharp witted as some of my friends who don’t study Kabbalah? Shouldn’t I be more egoistic than they are? But instead I’m not street-smart or calculating, and I don’t adapt quickly to different situations like my friends who still don’t study Kabbalah and are incredibly witty and street-smart.

My Answer: They are cunning in the animalistic sense, whereas you are above this and hence you appear naive on their level! Don’t worry: by making spiritual calculations you are gaining more in the long run, but they are harming themselves with their cunning ways.

Question: Can women take anti-anxiety medication and sedatives if they suffer from anxiety and other symptoms brought on by stress and fatigue? Does this interfere with Kabbalah studies?

My Answer: You can take it, it won’t interfere with your studies. But eventually you will feel that you don’t need these medications anymore.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Psychiatry and Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah – The Cure for Any Affliction
Attaining the Worlds Beyond, Chapter 23: “Spiritual Work”

Filed under: Women - No Comments →

A question I received: According to the Ari, the people of Israel were exiled to different countries in order to collect the “sparks” of the nations of the world into one large force, directed toward the Creator. Could it be that the Eastern meditations and teachings, used by many Israelis to come closer to spirituality, are these sparks, and therefore these teachings are necessary for us to develop?

My Answer: It is written that once Abraham revealed Kabbalah, he started teaching it to others who were interested in the opportunity to attain the purpose of life – the revelation of the Creator, adhesion with Him. These people became his students. However, there were others who still hadn’t revealed this desire, the question about the meaning of life – see item 2 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.” He gave these people another teaching as preparation.

Those who followed him – his students, are called his sons. Those who weren’t yet able to follow him, but listened to him, are called the sons of his concubines or slaves. It is written in Midrash Raba that he taught them religions and sent them to the East.

However, today we are only starting to rethink religions and beliefs. People must realize and feel that religions and beliefs were given to us temporarily, to last through the period of the Creator’s concealment in order to then be replaced with His revelation. When He is revealed, the only thing that will remain of them are folk customs and traditions. Meanwhile, all the nations of the world will unite under one Creator, and He will be revealed to them.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Everything Comes From Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Eastern Teachings Have No Connection With Kabbalah
Humankind vs. Human Kindness
Chapter from Book The Kabbalah Experience: “Beliefs, Mysticism and The Supernatural”
Chapter from Book Kabbalah Revealed: “Handling Desires”
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →