Kabbalah Course - Perception of Reality Lesson 1 - I and the Reality Around Me

By Michael Laitman, Ph.D

The wisdom of Kabbalah is a method of research to reveal the true reality

At the present moment we are in a certain state of perceiving reality. In our childhood we thought that the world was full of forces and ghosts, as told in fairy tales, and this was not observed by adults, but it existed for us, and we lived in that world. true reality

At a later stage this view of the world disappeared, although even today it seems to us that to some extent these forces do exist.
The truth is that we are constantly searching for them. We want to know about the world in which we exist, because without this knowledge we will not be able to survive, enjoy, to eliminate the feeling of uncertainty. We need to know how to answer the questions, "Who am I, what am I exactly, and what does tomorrow hide?" We are awakened by questions out of the desire to improve our situation, out of curiosity, and from the desire to understand the world better. These questions push a man to know the reality in which he lives.

Lesson 1

I and the reality around me

There are two parts of reality - I and what is outside of me

Balance - when my external sensation of the world and my inner sensation are at peace with each other.

I need to know who I am, what the nature of the surrounding world is, and how to achieve equality of form.

Can man construct his own reality?

What is the inclusive law of reality?

We are in a certain state of grasping reality.

When we were children, it seemed to us that the world was filled with forces and ghosts, like we used to read in story tales, that the grown-ups didn't see. We used to live inside that world. At a later stage, this sensitivity began to disappear gradually, although even today it seems to us that certain forces exist. The truth is that we are constantly searching for it. We demand to know the world in which we exist, since without it, it is not possible to exist, to survive, to enjoy and overall, to get rid of the sensation of uncertainty.
"Where am I, who am I, what am I, and what does tomorrow conceal from me?" People begin to contemplate these questions out of their desire to improve their situation. This arises out of curiosity, and a will to understand the world better. These questions are pushing us to know the reality in which we are living.

We research this reality in the same way that a little child wanders around a room and studies his surroundings. Later on he grows and builds instruments. We try to develop all kinds of means in order to research ourselves and the world around us.

The entirety of reality is divided into two parts: I, and what is outside of me. There are some, who claim that it is better to research the self and to change it, and with that to change the world around me as if to say, "I will accept the situation differently; I will relax and see the world as being better".

Others say that it is better to stay the way you are, and to "get the best out of the world, and adapt the world to yourself". We see that one way or the other, we are not doing so well.

The best situation, when I am really in harmony with the world, is when I achieve balance with it, that is, when I have full understanding, and when I am in equivalence of desires, powers, thoughts and intentions with the world. When I see that only one thing exists in the world, everyone understands me and everyone has the same desires as I do. This is called balance. There is a no more perfect state than being in that of balance with the world. It is comparable to the sensation of the fetus in the mother's womb. Everything in its surroundings is intended to take care of the fetus. There is no need for resistance, no need for building all kinds of walls of defense. This is what we are really searching for.

How can we attain such a state? In science this state is called homeostasis. 'Homeo' means similar and 'stasis' means equalizing states. Every body, vegetative, living, and of course man, aspires to reach this state. We are attracted to this state at many different levels in the sub-conscious, conscious understanding, forms of materials, liquids, thoughts, and in every level of desire of matter, inanimate, vegetative, living and speaking, in order to become equal in form to its surroundings.

Our aim is to know how to achieve equality of form, to become equal to nature, to merge with the surrounding world, to know how to achieve a state in which everyone will want what I want, and think like I think, where no one will have anything against me, or any desire to give or take something from me by force, where all would be done with love and tranquility. To reach this state, I need to know who I am, what the nature of the world around me is, and how to achieve equality of form.

That is the purpose of the wisdom of the Kabbalah. It teaches us how to reach tranquility, where my sensation of the external world and my inner sensation are in harmony. All of our research of the world and its content is accomplished by science, and for that there are many methods, many means and instruments and techniques that we develop. Year by year, generation to generation, we advance in this area. We can see that we want to reach the state of wholeness, tranquility and to be well, but we actually end up in the opposite state. This happens even though the tools are becoming more and more advanced.

Since everyone aspires for goodness, if you ask anyone in the world they will tell you this is so, then from where does the problem originate? The issue is that we do not know the general reality. We do not know how it behaves, how it is built and how it acts on us. We do not know why it is that we need to equate ourselves, to communicate, to come closer, and to attach ourselves. For that we lack finer vessels. The deeper we penetrate matter in our attempts to understand nature, both ours and of the external world, we see that we are not able to discover what nature desires, the purpose of its existence, nor the essence of every cell and component of reality.

There are researchers who study matter as it is - solid, gas, liquid and so on - and there are researchers who go deeper in their study of matter, to the level of molecules and the chemical relations between them, and the level of atoms and their interior. Some advanced researchers claim that all of these things disappear in some way at a certain degree of depth, after which they can not understand what is happening. This is not due to a lack of tools or instruments but because man is built in such a way that he cannot grasp it any further. Why is this so? Because the human only perceives reality on a simple level, which occurs in relation to the way he or she is present with reality. On more inner levels, the person already senses that reality is doing with him or her whatever it wants to. At the more interior levels the person begins to see that it is not one way or the other but that the person him or herself constructs his or her own reality; reality is but a copy of the person.

Modern scientists tell us that there is some limitation, beyond which our awareness is not capable of perceiving. This is the point of connection between science and the wisdom of Kabbalah. There are such methods of investigation by which we can penetrate into the causes, and understand with certainty why the world exists, what it wants from us, and how we can be at peace and harmony with it. Those who have already studied this and tell us about the results of their research are telling us amazing things. They say first of all that the matter surrounding us is not simply a substance. It is thought; it is the universal desire. They tell us that this universal desire surrounds the whole of reality, and that the general law of the entire reality is to accomplish good for everyone, for all components of reality. This universal law is benefiting not only from the outside into matter, but also within matter itself, inanimate, vegetative, living and speaking, within reality. We must take a step forward towards this desire, towards this thought, in order to equate form with it and attach to it, to understand, to feel and to connect with it.
That is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the wisdom of Kabbalah, because it helps us to receive that relation of reality to us, and in return to project our relation to reality.