Entries in the 'World' Category

Why People Studying Kabbalah Appear More Naive Than Others


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”

The Origin And Purpose Of Eastern Teachings

Dr. Michael LaitmanA 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”

In Search Of The “Bottom” For The Financial Markets


News Report: (translated from gazeta.ru): Analysts are eagerly looking for signs that the world’s financial markets are nearing the end of their collapse. Investors all over the world are waiting for the markets to finally hit the “bottom.” They’re hoping that this will be followed by a recovery, and then they will be able win back their losses, or perhaps to gain even more than before.

My Comment: The collapse will not be followed by a recovery. People are very far from understanding the cause of the collapse, because the cause lies deep in the egoistic qualities of our egoism and its opposition to the Creator. Even if the financial crisis will end, it will be replaced by another crisis, whether shortage of food and water or an environmental crisis. “The plagues of Egypt” will continue until we realize their cause – our egoism, called “the Pharaoh” – and annul it.

We must realize that the way out of the crisis is the way out of “Egypt” – out of our egoism. There is no other way.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Financial Crisis Is for Our Own Good
Laitman.com Post: How Long Will the Crisis Last?
Laitman.com Post: When Will Hunger Start Affecting Us?
Article: “Exodus – From Physical to Spiritual”
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 14 “Revelation and Concealment/Transforming Egoism to Altruism”

Why War Is Compatible With “Love For One’s Neghbor”

War Is No SolutionA question I received: In the last lesson on the article “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)” you explained that in reality the other religions do not contain the rule “love your neighbor.” You gave an example of wars that are fought over issues such as the right way to pray and the Caste system in Hinduism, and that these are all signs that religion do not follow the rule “love your neighbor.”

So how are we to understand the “wars against the seven nations” and the war with Amalek? I am trying to understand how these actions can be implemented while keeping the rule “love your neighbor.” I think that even if they are performed while keeping this rule, the future generations will make wrong conclusions about them and as a result, commit cruelty and destruction.

My Answer: Correction takes place precisely through wars and clashes between egoism and the Light. Take King David for example, whose Psalms are valued by the entire world because they are the highest manifestation of love to the Creator. He spent forty years fighting wars, and moreover, he was the aggressor. This is known as the “Conquest of David” (Kibush David), spanning from Egypt to Babylon, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and other territories that have Upper Spiritual roots (other territories don’t have such roots). Another example is Joshua, who conquered the Land of Israel and exiled seven nations from it. Moreover, it was the Creator’s prohibition to let them stay in that land. All of this is described in the Torah, and it happens in congruence with the correction of egoism and its replacement with “bestowal.”

In order to correctly picture the arrangement of people in our world, one must imagine the forces that govern them. If the actions happen according to the Creator’s directive, like the wars fought by Joshua and David in Biblical times, then it is equivalent to the correction of egoism (see Rashbi’s commentary on Beresheet). On the other hand, if the actions are based on man’s decision, then they are egoistic! Since those times, Israel has not fought any wars where it was the aggressor.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: War Means War
Laitman.com Post: Cain and Abel are Within Us
Chapter from the Book A Guide To The Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah: “Lesson 10”
Chapter from the Book The Kabbalah Experience: “The Messiah and the End of Days”

Why Am I Here?

Baal HaSulam begins the fundamental Kabbalistic text, the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” with the following words:

1. At the outset of my words, I find a great need to break an iron wall that has been separating us from the wisdom of Kabbalah…

2. Indeed, if we set our hearts to answer but one very famous question, I am certain that all the questions and doubts about the study of Kabbalah will vanish from the horizon. This indignant question is a question that the whole world asks, namely, “What is the meaning of my life?” These numbered years of our life that cost us so heavily and the numerous pains and torments that we suffer for them, to complete them to the fullest, who is it that enjoys them? Or, even more precisely, to whom do I give delight?

It is indeed true that historians have grown weary contemplating it and particularly in our generation. No one even wishes to consider it. Yet the question stands as bitterly and as vehemently as ever. Sometimes it meets us uninvitingly, pecks at our mind and humiliates us to the ground before we find the famous ploy to flow mindlessly in the currents of life as yesterday…

In order to help you answer this question, Kabbalah is now being revealed to you! By answering it, you will become human; while it is still a mystery – you’re still not!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Didn’t the Monkeys Come Down From the Trees?
Odessa Congress – October 2005: Lesson on The Last Stage of Evolution

The Purpose of Life In This World Is To Attain The Upper Goal


Two questions I received on the role of this world in the soul’s correction:

Question: I read that when a person dies who hasn’t developed the sixth sense (a soul), which enables him to perceive the Upper World, he returns for another incarnation. Then why do we mourn someone who dies? From the moment I began thinking this way, I don’t see any point in life. Things happen all around me but I feel that they’re not important to me.

My Answer: This is wonderful, because it means that you nearing the recognition that the entire meaning of life lies only in attaining the Upper Goal – the Creator, and that there is no other meaning to life on the earthy level! The higher meaning to the earthy life is to attain the Creator while living in this world!

Question: Is it possible to correct the soul in between two reincarnations, when the soul is not in the body?

My Answer: No. Correction can only occur while you are in this world.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Soul Is the Part of One’s Desire That’s Similar to the Creator
Laitman.com Post: Freedom from the Angel of Death
Kabbalah Today Article: Reincarnation
Chapter from The Open Book : “The Purpose of Reincarnation According to the Zohar”

Is Capitalism In Russia Realistic Or Necessary?


A question I received: Why doesn’t capitalism work in Russia like it does in the West?

My Answer: You are mistaken because Russia hasn’t experienced capitalism yet. However, today this is no longer necessary, if we do as Baal HaSulam wrote: provide people with an understanding of the world we now live in – a world that’s global and interconnected. In this new world, the competition changes from “who will receive the most?” to the spiritual competition “who will give the most in order to merit a greater connection with the Creator?” However, when it comes to technology and service, it’s still best to “learn what is good in the West,” as Vladimir Mayakovsky put it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Russia May Lead the Way to Global Unity
Laitman.com Post: The World Is Round
Laitman.com Post: The Beginning of Enlightenment

Why Do The Traditionalists Speak Against Me?


News Report (translated from Evrazia.info): On November 11, in the Marina Roscha Synagogue in Moscow, the chief rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, met with the director of the Ramchal Institute, Mordechai Shriki, one of the world’s leading Kabbalah scholars, and Pavel Zarifullin, the head of the administration of the International “Eurasian Movement.” The discussion was on issues of reviving traditionalism in Russia.

Rabbi Berl Lazar expressed a deep concern about the sectarian and charlatan activities among the Russian Jews, such as the pseudo-Kabbalistic false doctrines of Berg and Laitman. He spoke about the danger of sectarianism and the need to strengthen the orthodox traditionalism.

My Comment: I perfectly understand Mr. Berl Lazar: his patrons have lost billions, and therefore he also lost his share. People are getting smarter and no longer looking into his eyes so naively, nodding to everything he says. Traditionalism is in crisis. The elite is leaving him for Berg – this is fashionable; while people of sense are leaving him for Laitman – which is correct. Meanwhile, our poor Berl Lazar may remain with nothing but a long nose, poor indeed. Time is working against him! And that’s because the revelation of the Creator brings religion to an end.

Religion exists due to the Creator’s concealment, and as soon as He will be revealed to all – which will happen in our days – religion will end! See Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Will Become of Religion After the Full Correction?
Laitman.com Post: How Egoism Compares to Kabbalah
Interview with the Future: Part 2 “Realizing the Choice – A Chosen People”

Quantum Physics: A Journey To Flatland

We must come out of our world – “flatland,” where we perceive the universe through the quality of “reception,” and enter the next dimension, where we will perceive the universe through the quality of “bestowal” (outside of us):

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWyTxCsIXE4]

Related Material:
Quantum Physics Meets Kabbalah
eBook – Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life

America Is Waking Up

The Congress in St. Louis showed that America is really waking up. Americans have always considered themselves a nation of pioneers, a nation that discovers something new. And that is what’s going to happen: America is going to tell the whole world about Kabbalah, about the correction of the world and the attainment of its goal. But first, we have to tell America about Kabbalah. Our North American groups showed that they are ready to do so.

Here are some memorable moments from the St. Louis Congress:

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Lessons from the St. Louis Congress
Laitman.com Post: More Lessons from the St. Louis Congress