Kabbalah Is The Method Of Revealing The Creator

Question: Who called the wisdom we are studying “Kabbalah”? Does this name refer to the time of the writing of The Book of Zohar?

Answer: The word “Kabbalah” first appeared in the book of Abraham. It means “receiving,” because the most important quality of the created matter is reception. Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah means a special quality of receiving the revelation of the Creator.

Question: Does it mean that such terms as “the science of Kabbalah” or “the wisdom of Kabbalah” were already known in the time of the First Temple?

Answer: Long before that, about 1,500 years before the construction of the First Temple. And whether before that, I cannot say.

In addition, a lot of books from Adam to Abraham were lost. We just do not need them and so they gradually disappeared. We do not know the books written by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob except The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah) of Abraham. Rambam mentions that Abraham wrote many books; however, we do not know where they are.

Question: Is Kabbalah a method or a book?

Answer: Kabbalah is the method of the revelation of the Creator. The Torah (from the word “Ohr – Light)” is the knowledge about the upper Light. And the rest: the Mishnah, the Talmud, and other holy writings are an addition to it, commentaries and so on. The Book of Zohar is also a commentary on the Torah.

All of it together is called the Torah, that is, the instruction for revealing the upper Light.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 6/4/17

Why Does Nature Punish Us? Part 1

Question: The earth is our common home but lately chaos has been ruling in it. Over the past year, a record number of natural disasters has occurred: severe fires, floods, and hurricanes that impacted entire countries as well as individuals, and resulted in enormous material and emotional damage.

The quiet life is coming to an end. It is known that the earth has gone through various geological periods, some of which were very unstable. Are these ecological catastrophes inevitable as a result of the earth’s natural course of development or are they something exceptional that can be avoided?

Answer: All of these catastrophes could have been avoided since nature only becomes unstable because people cannot balance it. Nature has always pushed us toward development by creating difficult conditions for us, such as heat, cold, earthquakes, and epidemics. After all, a person only begins to move when he feels bad.

We are egoists and we do not make the slightest movement if we do not feel that it will produce some benefit for ourselves.

Therefore, nature is forced to send us suffering in order to encourage us to develop. Then we begin to develop science and economics, and begin to study ourselves and the environment around us in search of a way to organize safer and more comfortable lives for ourselves.

All of this development is necessary only because of the problems we experience. It is known that if we want our children to succeed, we have to demand this from them and force them to study well. This is the same way nature has developed us throughout the thousands of years of human history. From the moment humans climbed down from the trees and left the caves, we have been continually developing as a result of the “human” problems, which are one level above animalistic ones.

This means that nature does not just beat us like all the animals, forcing us to seek food, burrow, and take care of our offspring, but it loads us with all sorts of problems designed to develop our minds and sensations. Due to this, we live, not just by animal instincts, but we have developed into a more human society. We must build our lives because our children need care for ten to twenty years as they grow up.

Nature pushes us, not only through the primitive desires such as food, sex, and reproduction, but it also directs us to develop science, economic systems, and education. It forces us to discover and explore new continents and to explore nature in order to improve our lives.

That is, nature pushed humans to become smarter. Human development is, thus, in contrast to the development of inanimate matter, plants, and animals. Besides, nature has directed humans to develop sensually and so we develop in the areas of culture, education, and art: painting, music, and literature, which all are determined by the present state of humanity.

We do not live like animals that meet for a short period of time to produce offspring and then split up. People build families and countries, and use language to communicate and pass knowledge from one generation to another. This is a whole system that differs qualitatively from the animate level of development.

However, all of this intellectual development is not enough because nature demands even more from us. It wants us to be connected into one general kind system, mutually complementing each other. Yet, we are not capable of this because, by our nature, we remain as egoistic animals.

Within each person, the same animalistic egoist remains hidden, and all of the knowledge that he has acquired through thousands of years of evolution has only helped him to use his environment more cunningly and for the purpose of greater personal profit. We create social systems that deter us from eating one another; however, we still try to profit from each other. That is, we implement boundaries that state: what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours.

Yet, this also does not work very well because egoism constantly grows and burns within us. Everyone wants to bend the whole world to suit himself. Thus, we are not able to unite into one common, harmonious system. This is the whole problem: human society, instead of progressing and becoming smarter, is beginning to descend and turn toward the source of all evil, becoming the most harmful creature on earth.

Humans destroy the inanimate, vegetative, and animalistic forms of nature, and poison the soil and the atmosphere. There are thousands of tons of cosmic debris that rotate around the earth, the remnants of satellites. We do not do wise or rational things because of our egoism and, therefore, we cannot be correctly included into the system of nature.

The general, integral system presses in on us according to the level of our development. From year to year, we were supposed to develop further and connect with each other correctly, in a beneficial way, thereby positively influencing human society as well as all the other levels of nature.

However, instead of this, we have revealed our complete oppositeness to nature and have become increasingly corrupted. Accordingly, our influence on nature has become worse and it is, therefore, not surprising that nature brings us many more blows than before.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/10/17

What Is A Blessing?

Question: The last of the portion of the Torah is called “Ve Zot aBracha” (And this is the blessing). What does it mean?

Answer: A blessing is the upper Light. It’s not simply a light, but the Light that corrects a person and humanity, creates it into a united form, such that this form exists in similarity and fusion with the Creator. It is similar to the Creator like a vessel and its fulfillment.

The Light that corrects us and makes similar to the Creator is called Torah. All we have to do is to learn how to receive the Torah and to correctly call it upon ourselves so that it can fully form and mold us.

A blessing is the highest state a person can achieve when he completely “clothes” onto the Creator. He is like a vessel that accepts the upper Light within himself.
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From KabTV ‘s “The Secrets of the Eternal Book,” 2/6/17

Research In The Science Of Kabbalah

Every science consists of three parts: basic research, practical research, and the popularization of the science including education.

If everything is more or less understood regarding the popularization of science, it is not the case regarding new basic research and applied science.

Question: Are there new basic studies conducted in the wisdom of Kabbalah, or does it all come down to studying ancient sources? Is the research spontaneous or is it coordinated by Bnei Baruch?

Answer: Studies on the wisdom of Kabbalah are conducted in Kabbalistic groups who make laboratories of themselves and examine how the changes in the group are affected by the upper Light, the surrounding Light (Ohr Makif). 

Question: If it is an applied science, a practical science, what is the essence and the direction of the study? Or is the role of the wisdom of Kabbalah reduced to merely supporting other sciences in the practical sense, sciences like quantum physics, for example, or individual scientists?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah does not support material sciences in any way, although they can use its findings. The role of the wisdom of Kabbalah is not so much about research but the practical use of the upper force, the surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), in order to change man’s nature.

Question: Is there a plan to popularize the wisdom of Kabbalah? I mean is there a system developed system to spread the wisdom of Kabbalah around the world in cooperation with different religions, science, educational institutions, the mass media, etc.?

Answer: There are studies of the wisdom of Kabbalah. But since it is necessary to change the nature of the scientist for the Kabbalist to study it, there is a need for a group in which such research can be conducted.

This cannot be done in the framework of university communities because none of those students studying Kabbalah academically want to switch from its theoretical study to its practical study in a group as the Kabbalistic sources describe. They eventually keep talking about the subject, about the field, without actually attaining the subject, the field, itself.

Everything you are asking exists in the wisdom of Kabbalah in a unique form because the Kabbalistic knowledge of attaining the concealed layers of nature is revealed to a person to the degree that he changes himself, corrects his egoistic nature, which is never required of any other scientist.
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New Life #907 – Spiritual Intelligence

New Life #907 – Spiritual Intelligence
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Summary

I ultimately discover that everyone is me and that all of reality is my system. Now we see the world selectively—what is more important and what is less important to me according to an egoistic intention.

Seeing reality as it truly is requires a new, altruistic program of perception. We need to see everyone as one system, but the present mind and feelings are not ready for this. We need to develop a new, spiritual intelligence: an absolutely new perception of reality, a global intelligence that will make it possible for us to feel an attitude of love toward all people like we have for our children.
From KabTV’s “New Life #907 – Spiritual Intelligence,” 9/12/17

Video: Play Now | Download

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Resistance To The Wisdom Of Kabbalah, Part 5

Question: Resistance to Kabbalah began back in the time of the Baal Shem Tov, and was provoked by the appearance of many related misconceptions: the Sabbatean movement, when Sabbatai Zevi declared himself a Messiah, Frankism, etc.

They used the Ari’s method and made a surrogate out of it, which attracted a lot of people to them. This caused fears against the Ari’s method and Kabbalah in general until today. How can these historical stereotypes be dispelled?

Answer: If you are looking for an excuse for accusing a movement you do not like, you can always find one. It is the same as when anti-Semites accuse Jews of all possible and impossible sins. It is the same aspiration to oppose the power of bestowal.

Is the Ari’s method to blame for the fact that Sabbatai Zevi took several proposals from it? There are many fictional theories supposedly based on Kabbalah: medical practices, cameos, magic symbols, notes, blessings. All of them use some terms from Kabbalah to show that they allegedly have power.

But we understand that there is no power in them, and eventually this emptiness will unfold, if not in this generation, then in the next one. All false stories die, except true Kabbalah. Kabbalists continue practicing the same method at all times, adjusting it to their generation and passing it on.

Baal HaSulam revealed the Ari’s method to the point that it had never been revealed before, and thus, wrote the Talmud Eser Sefirot, which is a commentary on Ari’s “Tree of Life” and also  The Sulam Commentary on The Book of Zohar. It is impossible to elaborate more on this method. And Rabash revealed work in a group for us, which had not been done before. Even the leader of Hasidism the Baal Shem Tov did not leave behind a single book about his methods.

By studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, we follow the methods of Baal HaSulam, and we use Rabash’s method to implement it in work in the group. If someone does not agree with this, then he will always find an excuse for accusations. But there are no other Kabbalistic books that describe a clear Kabbalistic method.

Ultimately, all resistance to Kabbalah is in favor of Kabbalists and only does harm to the accusers themselves. Criticism, published by ill-wishers, turns into another form of spreading Kabbalah. Gradually it becomes clear that opponents of Kabbalah have no idea about it and are not in spiritual attainment, and therefore, all their accusations are far-fetched.

Their attitude will not change, but will become even tougher as we approach the end of correction. This is called the “war with Amalek” when we spread the law of love of one’s neighbor as oneself, which is taught by the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Kabbalah appeals only to unity. We implement it through practical work in groups of ten, as Moses once did. The method of unification, which we obtained from Kabbalists allows us to reveal an upper force between us. Man exists in this world for this very purpose.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/17, Lesson on the Topic: “The Resistance to Kabbalah”

How Does Kabbalah Make A Person Free?

Question:  How does Kabbalah make a person free?

Answer: Kabbalah reveals to a person the full extent of his lack of freedom and explains the boundaries in which his freedom exists.

In our world, freedom from our egoism, from our nature, which consists of inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking parts, is possible. And only the method of Kabbalah delivers this outcome. The method of Kabbalah teaches us how to attract the higher power that lifts us above our animalistic egoism.

In actuality, we are very weak and unable to get away from our egoism. A person cannot pull himself out of a swamp. But with the help of the upper Light, which we can attract upon ourselves, we are pulled out of the material plain.

The so-called AHP of the upper descends onto us into Galgalta ve Eynaim of the one below, and we begin to rise; we transition from within the boundaries of our nature into a higher realm.

But, even there, we are still not free, meaning that we still cannot do whatever we want. Therefore, the concept of absolute freedom does not exist. Only the Creator has absolute freedom, but not the creation.

Creation can be in a state of freedom within its primordial, egotistical nature and, at the same time, seek equivalence of form with the Creator; in other words, seek to increase its attraction to altruism, to bestowal, and to love. In this state, a person feels completely satisfied and fulfilled; he does not have any deficiencies and feels unlimited freedom.

In addition, a person develops a sense of responsibility—he feels obliged to give, to help, and to fulfill others. A person feels that this state of an absolute lack of freedom is actually absolute freedom, achieved every time only by rising above his egoism, above all sorts of flawed sensations.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/2/17

The Law Of The World’s Management, Part 2

We cannot further increase our desires—now we need to change their use. But humanity does not understand this and therefore it is all confused about what is happening.

We have entered a period in which we no longer need a big desire. Therefore, the modern generation appears to be so tired and disappointed regarding further progress. Young people do not rush to attain a career or a family; they do not want to think about the future at all, which does not make sense to anyone.

And all of this is happening because, instead of the linear law of the growth of egoism, which everyone realized by himself, a new integral law, which requires us to connect with each other has begun to come into action. Now the development of the world depends on the strength of our connection, just like the cells in a body. The more kindness and reciprocity there is in our relations with each other, the further we will advance.

We see the same tendency in the development of technology; the more complex the programs and mechanisms become and the more internal components they contain, the more perfect the devices become. Progress is taking place, not by going deeper into concrete details, but due to their greater connection. All the technological development in recent decades is based on the creation of new connections between various elements.

But in human society we are not capable of such development because we, ourselves, are its elements. And we do not want to connect with each other. Therefore, we do not understand what the law of development wants from us. This is the biggest problem of humanity today, which is caused by a lack of understanding that we have entered a new era.

Baal HaSulam calls this period “The Last Generation” because people are beginning to understand that individual egoistic development is over and further progress is possible only through the development of the right connections between us. We have to understand that we belong to one system that is operated by the law of mutual participation and understanding.

All people should feel as cells or organs of the same body, properly connected with each other. When we establish such a connection, within it we feel a common force permeating all of nature, which is called the Creator. We ourselves create it through our right connection and reveal it inside Him.

This is the predestination of a person in this world and the call of our time. Humanity must now rise to this state. The sooner we become aware of the stages that are already embedded in the program of nature and want to realize them, the kinder and more pleasant our development will be. We will understand what goal is before us and will receive the correct response of nature to all our actions.

The final state already exists in nature and we are all perfectly connected to each other in it. This system is called Adam, the first man, that is, “similar” (domeh) to the general force of nature—the force of bestowal and unity. The correct mutual connection is called love in which each one understands the other’s needs and can interact with him correctly.

To love means to know how to provide the other with what he lacks and he can give me what I lack. In this way we realize the common, integral mechanism of all humanity. We have to understand that nothing excessive is created in the world. And if we know the system, we will find a suitable place for everyone that only that unique person can fill.

When a child assembles Legos, he usually has some extra pieces left. But this is only because he does not know the whole system. However, the one who created the system knew exactly where each part of it should fit and what its true function is.

Similarly, when we learn the whole system, we will understand how much each of us is needed in it and from this we will develop the correct attitude toward each other. After all, nothing excessive has been created in the system of nature.

If we understand that, in fact, the system of nature is integral, perfect, ideally interconnected, and that we do not see this because of our egoism, this attitude is called faith above reason.

That is, I am not guided by what I see and understand now according to my development, like a child who does not know how to assemble a puzzle, but I try to find the right place for attaching each detail in order to connect them to a complete system. This is called working above reason.

Therefore, we learn, search for, and study the laws of nature. We try to get to know each other and find out how we can unite in some form. While doing this, we discover differences among us, like children who pick up pieces of a puzzle but cannot put them together.

But, along with this, it must be understood that all the pieces of this “puzzle,” each person in our time, has already grown to his final state and has no other way to develop. If we push him and force him to develop as before, then mutations and malignant forms will appear in him.

And this is exactly what we see in our society and in our children because we do not give them a proper method of connecting with each other, which should be the next stage of our development. Only after studying the laws of correct interconnection will we understand, from them, the laws governing the world and will we be able to adjust our lives.
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