Questions I received on the meaning of Kabbalistic words and the point in the heart:

Question: What is the meaning of the expression, “There are many thoughts in a person’s heart, but the Creator will save us from all of them”?

My Answer: Only the Upper Light can fill all our desires and thoughts by giving them the correct properties and forms.

Question: Does the point in the heart depend on the number of life cycles one has gone through? I just don’t understand why it is still dormant in many people.

My Answer: The point in the heart awakens when a person grows disillusioned in trying to fulfill all his earthy desires. It is for this purpose that he goes through a history of lives for many millennia!

Question: I have been studying Kabbalah for the past two years or so. There are two things that seem to confuse me and that could be because I keep on associating the meaning of “pleasure” and “desire” with our world. It would be greatly appreciated if you could expand on these two words for me or direct me to the place I can find the information.

My Answer: Pleasure is the sensation of a fulfilled desire – any desire. Desire is an aspiration to fulfill oneself with something one desires, with pleasure. However, in Kabbalah the desire is a desire for the Light, and the pleasure is pleasure from the Light.

Question: Is it possible to convey the essence of your lessons through sign language?

My Answer: Yes, if someone will understand it, for example, deaf people.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Preface to the Science of Kabbalah. Items 13-16
Laitman.com Post: A Kabbalist Feels the Same Pleasure As the Creator
Chapter from Book The Path of Kabbalah: “The Awakening of the Point in the Heart”
Chapter from Booklet The Secret Meaning of the Bible: “The Language of Kabbalah”

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Questions I received on physical observance and Kabbalah:

Question: I study over the Internet, and I am a secular person, but I am not clear on what to do about the commandments (such as Kashrut, Tefillin, Tzitzit, Kippah, prayers, and so on). Even after listening to your lessons on religion, I’m still not clear on this: is the path of personal correction enough or do I have to start observing the commandments in addition?

My Answer: Kabbalah encourages every person to remain the way he is. Only the Upper Light can correct a person; therefore one does not have to do anything else other than study (which includes the group, Maaser, books, dissemination, and for a man, it’s preferable to be married). All the corrections inside you will be done by the Upper Light (Ohr Makif).

Question: Should one observe the commandments or only study? And how do people get to the point of completely nullifying their egoism and attaining love?

My Answer: Live just like you did before, and study Kabbalah. The Light will guide you as to how you should change.

Question: Should a married woman who studies Kabbalah observe the corporeal commandments? If yes, then which commandments should she observe? And what is the spiritual root of a family’s ritual purity?

My Answer: The purpose of all the corporeal commandments is to preserve the boundaries of one’s existence, but not to correct one’s soul. We at Bnei Baruch observe them as a cultural heritage or tradition. Kabbalah does not obligate anyone to perform any physical actions.

Question: Aren’t the commandments that were commanded to us advice that we received on how to build the proper vessels suitable for our spiritual root? Then, once we acquire experience in building the proper intention, we will come closer to creating a vessel for the Light that will fill it?

My Answer: Certainly, you are correct. All 613 commandments are the correction of the 613 desires of the soul by means of 613 Lights that shine and correct them during the study of Kabbalah.

Question: If one is living in such a circumstance of being in a community where the outward observance of Mitzvot and Halakah are a norm, then isn’t one required to live in accordance to this social decor? One may remain inwardly “secular,” or constantly questioning the validity of their own intentions and desiring to know (not believe in) Ribono Shel Olam (the Creator), correct? May we be inwardly connected to the World Kli, studying with Ari Online, being part of the group, and yet outwardly walk in clothing of Orthodoxy?

My Answer: Of course, and this is what the Torah demands of you: while following the external rituals, to add their inner, true observance. Or in other words: to add the true Torah to the simple Torah. Kabbalah is referred to as Torat Emet – the true Torah, and also as Pnimiut HaTorah – the inner Torah.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Difference Between Spritual Correction and Ritual Observance
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Teaches Love and Bestowal, and Nothing Else
Laitman.com Post: Everyone’s Place Is in Union With the Creator, and You Don’t Have to Follow Religious Observances to Get There
Free online Kabbalah course

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

A question I received: As one who struggles with being an egoistic altruist, I’d like to know what advice you can give us when we wear ourselves down to the point where we are no good to anyone? My mother used to say, “If you don’t look after yourself; you can’t look after anyone else.” I haven’t yet been able to discern some kind of “magical line” that tells me to stop looking after others and look after myself.

My Answer: You won’t be able to change without the Upper Light, but will always apply your egoism in different ways that appear altruistic, but are really egoistic underneath. Only the Upper Light which created egoism can correct it. We draw the Upper Light upon us through our studies. We have to approve of the way it will change us ahead of time, because right now we are unable to imagine our new, altruistic form.

Therefore, you should only study and “take less care” of others, until you understand how to do it correctly. Some people are unable to study; they can only “act.” They should follow the advice of Kabbalists on how to help others. Otherwise, the help turns into harm for the giver and the receiver.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Source of All the World’s Problems
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Raising a Prayer” – 2
The Path of Kabbalah – Chapter 3.1 “Altruism”
Free online Kabbalah course

Filed under: Society - Comments Off on What To Do If You’re An “Altruist”

Questions I received on hell and heaven, dreams, and mental disorders:

Question: I’m starting to get interested in Kabbalah, and my first question is: do heaven and hell exist?

My Answer: Hell is the recognition that one’s egoism is evil, and shame for using it in the present (no one is judged for the past). Heaven is the feeling of delight from being similar to the Creator, from aspiring to selfless bestowal and love.

Question: A few months ago I was watching your morning lesson broadcast where you explained that sometimes a person confuses the means to the goal with the goal – the hostess with the maid. Can you please explain this again?

My Answer: The most important thing in life is to always make a clear distinction between what is the means – the entire world, and what is the goal – the Creator. For more on this, see the “Introduction to Talmud to Eser Sefirot.”

Question: I have a question about dreams. I had a dream this week that my teeth broke. The dream was pretty scary, and the next day I read from a Kabbalistic book of dreams that this means something bad. I wanted to ask you what to do in this case?

My Answer: Forget the dream and aspire toward the goal.

Question: From your post, Psychiatry and Kabbalah, I still don’t understand: can people with Bi-Polar Disorder study? ? I am a person with this disorder and it is very important for me to know if I can study or not. I don’t want to be wasting my time.

My Answer: I allow it in such cases, but only in moderate amounts.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: On Life, Death and Free Choice
Laitman.com Post: Confidence
Laitman.com Post: Where Do Thoughts, Ideas, and Dreams Come from?
Introduction to the Book of Zohar. Items 13-18

Filed under: Q&A - No Comments →

Two questions I received on doubts that arise along the way:

Question: Many people describe the moment they first encountered Kabbalah as a feeling of: “This is it! I finally found what I was destined for!” During my first encounter with Kabbalah I too felt that I found the most correct solution. What bothers me is that I still have constant doubts about this path, and I constantly push these doubts away with the help of the studies. Why don’t I have a sense of confidence?

My Answer: Other people also have the same doubts about the authenticity of this path, because every person must find and verify the authenticity of this teaching for himself. As a result of the doubts, in order to come out of them, a person develops and advances.

Our path is to study for ourselves what the Creator created. Therefore, if a person begins to look at himself from the point of view of an outsider and treats himself “from afar” or “from outside,” this helps him to study the Creator. The doubts will accompany you all the way until your full correction, because they are constantly generated by the new degree that is being revealed and it still uncorrected.

Question: Am I advancing in the right direction by studying the science of Kabbalah if I don’t accept everything I read or hear? Some things go straight into the heart and I accept them with all of my soul, but there are also moments of analysis and doubt.

My Answer: The authentic study is always built on examination. However, you should examine yourself as well: maybe it’s your egoism checking how profitable something is for it? An examiner must rise above himself and his egoistic interests, and be willing to accept things objectively. This should be the result of your examination. Only an “animal” doesn’t have any doubts, since it works by primitive egoism.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: It Takes Time, Effort and Experience to Reveal the Upper World
Laitman.com Post: Strive for the Goal, and Leave the Rest Up to the Creator
Shamati #30: “The Most Important Is to Want Only to Bestow”

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

A question I received: Since egoism has to go through all the stages of its development, can we tell exactly what stage of development a person is going through by what his aspirations are in this life? If, let’s say, a person is drawn to knowledge, does that mean that he’s gone through all the other stages already? And should we force ourselves to develop, finding ways to stimulate our desires?

My Answer: We shouldn’t pay attention to our desires. They emerge in us without our control, according to the laws of the soul’s development. We should instead focus on correcting our intention: how we relate to the desires that emerge in us, whether we wish to realize them “for our sake” or “for the sake of others” (by connecting to the group and studying the authentic sources).

Which desires emerge and change in you is something that does not depend on you. It depends on a multitude of reasons – the inner ones within you, and the external ones that are determined by the general state of all the souls, the system you are in.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Intention and Action
Laitman.com Post: By Changing Our Intentions, We Change the Whole of Reality
Kabbalah Today Article: Cracking the Happiness Code
Article: “Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”
Article: “From the Mouth of a Wise Man – Foreword”
Chapter from Book Wondrous Wisdom: “Intention – Our Work”

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Two questions I received on religious observance:

Question: Weren’t the great Kabbalists such as Rav Ashlag , Moses Cordovero, and others religious? And why do you wear a Kippah (skullcap)!?

My Answer: You must distinguish between religion and a nation’s tradition or culture. When Baal HaSulam uses the word “religion,” he means only Kabbalah, which is for everyone. On the other hand, when he wants to speak about what we usually call “religion” in our world, he says “tradition” or “ethics (Musar).” See the article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose.”

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that even after the full correction of the world, when everything will be revealed to all and there will be no place for faith (because “Everyone will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest”), the traditions will still remain as people’s culture. This is why I, who already live in this future, still respect the traditions of my nation, such as its holidays and other customs. This is also why I wear a Kippah (skullcap) and observe the rituals.

After the general correction of all souls in their earthly, bodily form, the souls will unite together into a one true soul of Adam on the level of the World of Infinity. At the same time the part of the souls that gives them a feeling of this world will also be corrected, and hence the perception of matter will also disappear. We will then continue to exist only in the form of the single soul of “Adam.”

Question: Why are there spiritual actions that we need to observe on the earthly level (such as Maaser, study, dissemination, and the group), as well as actions that we don’t have to observe physically (such as laying on the Tefillin)?

My Answer: Because actions such as Maaser, study, dissemination, and the group are real, whereas the others are still irrational for now, on your level, because you don’t yet have a screen to observe them. Regarding the actions that have a consequence in our world and the Upper World, each action is realized on its level and higher. The traditions should be observed by those to whom they belong by birth. This is one’s culture. Those from the nations of the world (non-Jews) who want to advance spiritually, don’t have to observe the corporeal traditions designated to Jews.

When you will gradually acquire a screen and start working with it, this is called observance of 613 commandments (correction of your intentions over 613 desires of the soul from “for yourself” to “for the Creator”) through 613 corrections (Tariag Eitin) and 613 fulfillments (Tariag Pkudin). You will start observing them yourself, as it is written, “A person’s soul teaches him.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Religion’s Place In Our Lives
Laitman.com Post: Why Does a Kabbalist Wear a Skullcap?
Kabbalah Today Article: A Mitzva
Baal HaSulam Article: “Building the Future Society”
Shamati #77: “One Learns from One’s Soul”

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

Two questions I received on people who leave the study of Kabbalah:

Question: How should I regard a friend who has left the group and the study of Kabbalah?

My Answer: In Hebrew a “friend” is Haver, which comes from the word Hibur, connection. A connection is made only through equivalence of form, qualities, actions and goals. This person used to be like the other friends, but as soon as he left us, he stopped being like us and became different. Consequently, he is no longer a friend, because there is no connection. And therefore, he’s gone from my memory!

Even if I had a strong connection with him, it’s still so. There is no time in spirituality. Everything is determined by one’s state, or in other words, by the spiritual distance between two objects – the degree of their similarity.

Question: Lately we’ve had some cases of friends who leave the studies. How should we behave around these people? I want to continue being in touch with them, but can they do the same with me? Are there events they shouldn’t attend?

My Answer: You have to make arrangements so that all who have left will have an opportunity to keep in touch with the group and to return to it. The only exception are those who cause harm.

Sometimes a person grows weak along the path and stops participating in the joint movement of the group, but later he is reawakened and feels a renewed desire to attain the purpose of life. He then reconnects to the group. We are expanding in breadth, and hence we shouldn’t set rigid conditions for anyone. The people who “fluctuate” may participate in everything other than the making of decisions. For further details, please be in touch with the coordinators of the dissemination in English department at [email protected].

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Path Is Available to Everyone
Laitman.com Post: There Is No Coercion in Spirituality
Chapter from Book Spiritual Search: “Thirteenth Talk: Equivalence of Form”

Filed under: Unity - No Comments →

Questions I received on spirituality during the crisis:

Question: I’ve been studying Kabbalah for several years. It was very easy for me to say that everything that happens, no matter how bad, is only meant to shows us where we strayed off the path – until something bad happened to me. With the possibility of being fired looming over me, my thoughts immediately strayed from the study and I’m having difficulty perceiving the lessons correctly. How do I keep moving in the right direction when all my thoughts are about how to pay rent and feed my children? And on a larger scale, can’t the crisis push many people away from Kabbalah? I mean, who cares about spirituality when your belly is empty?

My Answer: Evidently we have to continue building our path toward the Creator precisely out of these states and doubts. You will feel the rest for yourself from your states, and you’ll feel it even stronger than before.

Question: The Torah states that the Egyptian plagues passed over the houses of the Jews. Does this mean that now, in the time of imminent blows, people who study Kabbalah will feel these blows (plagues) in their corporeal life to a lesser degree?

My Answer: There’s no doubt that every person in the world who studies Kabbalah and aspires to draw nearer to the Creator, evokes the positive influences of Nature (the Creator). He is then drawn closer by these positive influences, instead of the negative corrective forces that push others from behind.

Question: You speak of the ten Egyptian plagues. What are the rest of the plagues that Kabbalah predicts will happen next?

My Answer: I hope to see a world that will “fly over” these plagues with the help of Kabbalah, by aspiring to acquire the quality of love and bestowal to others.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Passing Through the Crisis to the Promised Land
Laitman.com Post: The Current Crisis Is “The First Plague of Egypt”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Excerpts from the morning lesson: A person has to ascend from the lowest level called “our world,” where everything is concealed, to the highest level called “the World of Infinity,” where everything is revealed. The levels of ascent are called “the worlds” and they reflect the degree of our desires’ correction.

There is no fulfillment without a preliminary feeling of emptiness. When each of us corrects his individual desire (emptiness), we give shape to the Upper Force, revealing it to the degree of our correction. This is why we ask this Force for correction rather than revelation.

The fulfillment of the desire does not happen through reception, but through bestowal. Otherwise it’s impossible to be fulfilled. To be exact, it’s possible, but the fulfillment will be limited to our world and our lifetime. Any more than that is impossible. This is so in order to enable us to arrive at another method of fulfillment – bestowal.

Then, a person is fulfilled by his love for his neighbor, by bestowal, rather than by something coming from outside. Suffering is a feeling of uncorrected desires. We perceive them as suffering because they differ from the Creator.

In Kabbalah we study our future states, and this enables us to develop. The development of one’s soul is analogous to the development of a child: by desiring to be grown ups, we draw the force of correction upon us.

One must perceive problems and suffering as a chance to advance by overcoming them. Everything happens only for one’s advancement. However, if one prepares correctly, then instead of perceiving the pain of the suffering, one will perceive its direction and move along it. In this case, instead of perceiving the suffering, one perceives the path.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Special Power of Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Raising a Prayer” – 1
Chapter from Book Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Revelation and Concealment”
Shamati #4″ What Is the Reason for the Heaviness One Feels when Annulling before the Creator in the Work”
Baal HaSulam Igrot (Letters) P. 25

Filed under: Suffering - No Comments →