November 29, 2024
Archive for April, 2014
April 22, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Kabbalistic Sources
Baal HaSulam (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag) wrote the article “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar” (Maamar le Sium ha Zohar) when he completed his 21 volume commentary on The Book of Zohar. On this occasion he organized a big celebratory lunch or meal on Mount Meron, the place where the author of The Book of Zohar, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) is buried. Baal HaSulam recited this speech there. Afterwards people wrote it down, formatted it and it resulted in an article called “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar.”
Here he describes that the person’s entire task in our world comes down to becoming completely similar to the Upper Force, i.e. the quality of love and bestowal. To become similar to the Upper Force means to ascend to its level, unify with it, to become just as eternal and perfect as it, beyond any perceptions, problems, or that which happens on lower levels. All of humanity collectively must ascend to this level, which is the only level that really exists.
It is because all other sub-levels are below the World of Infinity. They exist only in our subjective perceptions, but not in reality. There exists only one state, the World of Infinity where creation (i.e. the quality of reception) and the Creator (i.e. the quality of love and bestowal) are constantly merged together in eternal and infinite existence.
Therefore, in order to reach this state, we should not move to another place, wait for time to do this to us or for someone else to do this for us. That’s impossible. The only path is when the person changes his attributes in similarity to the attributes existing in the World of Infinity. To the degree he is similar to these attributes, he ascends and comes closer to the World of Infinity. It is because in the spiritual world, just as in the physical world there are fields and all kinds of attributes between objects, they get closer to each other to the degree they are similar and separate from each other to the degree they differ. The same thing is true in the spiritual world, if our attributes will become similar to the attributes of the World of Infinity, or the attributes of the quality of love and bestowal, in any way, then we will begin to perceive it.
Today, right now our attributes are opposite to the quality of love and bestowal. We do not contain even a single attribute that is similar to the quality of love and bestowal and this is why we do not perceive it. If even one of our attributes was even slightly similar to the quality of love and bestowal in any way, then we would perceive love and bestowal in that attribute. Therefore our task is to invert our attributes, change them, as if turning them inside out, and make them opposite to our current attributes so they will be similar to the quality of love and bestowal, and then we will be able to exist on the same level as this quality, in a state of eternity and perfection. This is achieved by working on oneself in the heart and mind. This is what the person has—the mind and the heart (Mocha ve Liba). Baal HaSulam describes for us how to work on this in the heart and how to work on this in the mind.
Here he again talks about the fact that it is precisely we who have to do this in our time. It is because The Zohar became revealed, because he was able to create a commentary on the entire Book of Zohar and this is an absolutely precise sign that our generation can achieve the highest and best state already globally, by everyone, and enter the level of eternal existence.
He describes that this is why this is happening to us. In particular, here he describes the means to do this, saying that the most important means is to find the appropriate environment for yourself.
We know how the environment or the surroundings influences a person. I sign up to some club, attend a group of people, they tell me something, pass something on to me, and in this way I begin to become permeated by their ideas, ideals, and goals, and they become important to me. And so, I have to find an environment that will exalt and elevate the spiritual, and then I will unwillingly aspire to the spiritual faster than being pushed from behind by suffering. Therefore the most important thing for a person is to find the appropriate environment that will constantly influence, thereby constantly pulling the person forward. This is what Baal HaSulam talks about in the article “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar.”
The Free Kabbalah Course is based on the articles of Baal HaSulam and provides step-by-step guided learning from experienced Kabbalah instructors of Kabbalah’s basic concepts based in Baal HaSulam’s articles. Baal HaSulam was the first Kabbalist in history who wrote articles not only for Kabbalists, but for the broad public, in order to explain Kabbalah’s fundamentals, because he understood the need that would emerge in humanity to answer deeper questions about life’s meaning and purpose. Therefore, if you’re interested in such topics, we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …
April 21, 2014 at 10:22 am · Filed under Definitions
Noah, the well-known character from the Torah, represents a stage in one’s spiritual development, when one realizes one’s egoism is evil, and that the person cannot save himself from it because it is his entire nature.
One then understands that only the higher force, outside the person, can make a change. This is why the person builds the Ark. In other words, in response to the person’s appeals, the Upper Light creates the property of Bina (bestowal) in the person, and then he remains inside it so that his egoistic desires and properties will no longer rule over him. When he enters the Ark, he ascends above egoism and enters the realm of bestowal, isolating himself from his egoism, his nature.
Today every one of us and the entire world as a whole is beginning to feel that we are in a threatening state – the state of Noah before the flood. We are being threatened by the inner (individual) and outer (worldwide) flood (egoism), which we have brought upon ourselves and cannot overcome on our own.
The salvation from the flood is to hide in the Ark, meaning that for every person and for everyone together to acquire the property of bestowal, to ascend above our egoism. Everything will then reach harmony, just like all the species of creatures that were in the Ark, and we will make the transition to renewed life. [Source: Dr. Michael Laitman, “Noah’s Ark Is Our Only Salvation Today,” in Laitman.com – Michael Laitman’s Personal Blog]
How to Enter Noah’s Ark
Everything comes from above, from the same source, but if a person tries to set a strong environment on the right side to support him, by this he realizes his freedom of choice. And then on the left side, Nature organizes disturbances.
Caught between these two opposing forces, a person is completely confused; crying, feeling helpless to the extent that he needs to either escape or hope for a miracle.
Then, in this hopeless condition, when a person has almost drowned in the treacherous questions “Who?” and “What?” and cannot get out of them, the idea of the ark suddenly becomes born within. He understands that he will be saved only if he gets the property of Bina, bestowal, that will be higher than all his requests.
These requests will remain, a person cannot completely get rid of them; it does not depend on him. But if in spite of all these problems, he enters the ark, deciding that these turbulent murky floodwaters, all these doubts and problems are not related to him, he can be saved. [Source: Dr. Michael Laitman, “The Ark of Unity on the Stormy Flood of Life,” in Laitman.com – Michael Laitman’s Personal Blog]
To learn more about how Kabbalah describes Bible stories and many other concepts at their root level, before they dress into the material world, it is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course. The reason is that many of the concepts and terms we have heard a lot about in our upbringing have completely different definitions in Kabbalah, and it takes a while to process them properly. Therefore, if you’re interested in this topic, then we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …
April 16, 2014 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Definitions
The movie Noah created a widespread buzz about the Bible story. Here is Kabbalah’s take on the Noah story:
1. The Story of Noah in a Nutshell
In a nutshell, the Bible story of Noah speaks of sinful people and the Creator, who brings a flood on the world. “Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations” (Genesis, 6:9). This is why he was the one chosen to survive the flood.
But he did not survive alone. Rather, he was commanded to build an ark and move into it along with his kin, and pairs of all the animals, and to remain in the ark for forty days and forty nights until the flood stopped.
The Creator made a covenant with Noah and his family that the flood would never return. As a token of the covenant, He placed the rainbow in the sky. More » [Source: Dr. Michael Laitman, Noah Parsha – Weekly Torah Portion.]
2. What Is the Meaning of the Story of Noah in the Bible?
“Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God.”
So begins the chapter on Noah, immediately confusing the reader with what appears to be a straightforward story about our world.
However, it confuses only those who aren’t yet ready to read the Bible differently, still finding the simple historical narrative about a person named Noah satisfactory.
Ask yourself, “Where am I in this story of Noah?” Or better yet, “What is the meaning of my inner Noah?” You must seek only one approach to the contents of this book: “Everything I read here is about me.” Noah, the righteous, his wife, kids, and all the animals, the ark and the Tower of Babel all exist within me. They are forces, desires that govern my inner and outer worlds. All I have to do is get to them and sense them, and the gates to all the secrets will open for me. More » [Source: Semion Vinokur. What Is the Meaning of the Story of Noah in the Bible?]
3. What Is the Meaning of Noah’s Ark & the Flood in the Bible?
Mayim (“water” in Hebrew) is the flood that will drown your spiritual embryo if you heed the body’s questions, destroying all that you’ve worked so hard to assemble within.
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April 15, 2014 at 8:38 pm · Filed under Articles, Books
The Middle Ages through the Prism of Kabbalah
The Middle Ages is a very peculiar period in history. views on when it began and when it ended seem to range from 2nd-5th century to 15th-18th century respectively, depending on the researcher’s field of expertise. Some mark the fall of the Western Roman Empire as its beginning and the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire as its end. others see the beginning of the Middle Ages as the time when Emperor Constantine the Great summoned the first Council of Nicaea, in 325 CE, and its end as the time when Martin Luther was excommunicated (1521) and the ProtestantChurch was established.
Kabbalah does not define any age as being in “the middle,” but it does consider the period between the writing of The Book of Zohar and the writing of The Tree of Life as a distinct period in the evolution of humanity. In a sense, the term, “The Dark Ages,” would be more suitable to describe this period in history, since this is roughly the period during which Kabbalists concealed their knowledge and made it a secret teaching, known to only a few.
Within this period, we will relate more to the processes that occurred between the writing of these books than to specific events. This should make it easier to see how desires, which on the human level appear more as ambitions, steer the processes that form the history of humanity.
The Cure for Humanities Ills
In Kabbalah, the period between the writing of The Book of Zohar and writing of The Tree of Life has a crucial role. Without it, the purpose of creation would not be achieved. To reiterate in a word, the purpose of creation is for every person to know the Creator and become like it. Abraham’s group was the first to achieve that. Yet, Abraham’s goal was not only for his group to achieve it, but for every person in the world. Moses helped Abraham’s cause by expanding the attainment of the group into the attainment of an entire nation.
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April 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books
Let us examine the sub-surface processes that unfolded between the writing of The Book of Zohar (also called The Zohar for short) in the 2nd century C.E. and the writing of the Tree of Life in the 16th century. These dates (very) roughly parallel the period between the Roman conquest of Judea and the onset of the Renaissance, or what we now call “the Middle Ages.” The goal is not to focus on particular events, but to provide a “bird’s-eye” view of history, showing how processes correspond to the evolution of desires. In the case of the time frame just mentioned, it is probably best to begin with the Roman conquest and the ruin of the SecondTemple.
How Unfounded Hatred Destroyed the Unity of Israel
The defeat of the Jewish revolt against the Romans (66-73 CE) caused the ruin of the SecondTemple and the dispersion of Judea. (The first Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century BCE, and was ruined by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.) This dispersion signified something far more important than the conquest of one nation by another. It reflected the extent of the Israeli nation’s spiritual decline. The Hebrew word Yehudi (Jew) derives from the word Yechudi (“united,” or “unique”), referring to the state of the Israeli nation of the time: perceiving (and adhering to) the unique force of bestowal that governs life.
Yet, the desire to receive is an ever-evolving force and requires constant adaptation. Constant effort is required to harness the newly emerging desires to work in unison—with the intention to bestow, and adhering to the law of yielding self-interest in favor of the interest of the host system. And because the desires evolve, the means to harness them must evolve accordingly.
Unlike animals, humans must constantly realize their place in Nature and choose to be constructive parts of it. However, if we act to the contrary, the negative outcome will not be immediately evident. This leaves us room to maneuver and to calculate.
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